I spent the night before American’s Boeing 787 inaugural flight at the Grand Hyatt DFW.

Now, I had stayed at the Hyatt Regency DFW just about three weeks earlier. Here’s how I decide between them.

• The Hyatt Regency is directly across from terminal C. They send a shuttle for you, but it is a very easy 2 minute walk across a parking garage, so it’s faster to do it on your own.

• The Grand Hyatt is inside of terminal D (outside security).

The Grand Hyatt is the better hotel, it’s genuinely nice and I do not mean ‘nice for an airport hotel’. But I will decide on the basis of which one is more convenient.

My bet was that American would launch an inaugural flight from the D terminal, if only because there would be enough space in the area around gates to be able to hold an event — with food and speakers — in addition to passengers for a full widebody aircraft (albeit a small one). While some folks speculated in the days prior that the plane would depart out of the A concourse, that didn’t make sense to me.

I chose the Grand Hyatt DFW because I expected a flight out of D, and it was going to be an early (7:10am) departure with speeches prior to boarding. I wanted to be at the gate before 6:15am.

The hotel is a Gold Passport category 3 property (you can use a Hyatt Visa free night there, since those work on up to category 4 hotels). I booked it with as a cash and points award night for 6000 points and $75. Not only is that a better deal than 12,000 points but it would be elite status-earning to boot.

The hotel is right beside the D22 security checkpoint.

I’ve stayed at the property before and much enjoyed it, though this time was even better (though I was given a complimentary suite upgrade on my last stay, and not on this one).

When I checked in around 2pm I was told I was assigned to an accessible King room. I believe that’s the only room type that was available on cash and points when I made the reservation. I did note that I preferred a regular King in the reservation notes, but no upgrade or adjustment had been made.

I asked if they could check on another room, and they did manage to assign me to a King with a view of airport operations (although a floor higher than 4 would have given me a better perspective, above the parking garage).

The hotel actually faces the Hyatt Regency.

I do like the overall design of the room, and it’s almost too nice for an airport property — let alone a Gold Passport category 3 hotel in the US.

The bedroom was large and inviting, with comfortable chair by the window and a desk.

The desk area didn’t have enough outlets, but I always appreciate an outlet at the bedside as well and they do provide that.

The bathroom is attractive.

One thing that’s improved since my last stay is Diamond elite benefits. The hotel now offers elite breakfast either in the restaurant or via room service. Since I planned to leave the room around 6am I actually used the breakfast door tag, placing it on my door before going to bed and selecting the first delivery window of 5am – 5:30am.

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Diamond benefits were spelled out in this letter. It was explained to me at check-in that I could pretty much order anything I wished because breakfast was for up to 4 people. The letter mentions if you order room service that you pay the delivery and service charge, but those weren’t on my bill.

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My breakfast was delivered at 5:20am and chiliquiles were the perfect way to start the day.

The hotel’s bar was crowded with frequent flyer types anticipating the next day’s festivities — this was the hotel of choice for many, and a meeting place for others (as was the Centurion lounge).

This is definitely my preferred property at the DFW airport, but I’d go farther than that. There’s a outdoor pool overlooking the airport. I could see this as a nice getaway for an airplane geek in its own right! Spend the weekend here, relax in a nice hotel, look out at the planes.. and then make use of the rest of airport facilities as-needed.