I checked into the Grand Hyatt in DC earlier this week. Or, should I say, I tried to check in. There was a long line at the desk, but no line for elite check-in. Of course, there was nobody working elite check-in, either.
I shouldn’t have been in a rush to get helped, because I learned that my room wasn’t ready. Check-in time is 4 p.m. It was 6 p.m. I was dealing with a trainee, who brought over a manager. The manager explained that the guest before me had a late check-out. Ok, that might have been 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. It might even have been 4 p.m. I understand a guest not leaving until 4 and the hotel not being able to check the next person into that room right at 4, though this is a very large hotel with plenty of rooms. It was already 6.
I suggested an upgrade to a specialty suite. It was only a one night stay. She deadpans “I will credit your account 20,000 points” and walks away, leaving me to the trainee.
They took my phone number and promised I would receive a text as soon as my room was ready, which I was told would be 20 – 30 minutes. In my entire life I have never actually received the promised text when my room became ready. I found a seat in the lobby next to a power out and began working. After 50 minutes I returned to the desk to check. No text, but the room was ready. Never believe that you’ll get the text. It doesn’t happen. Or if it does it comes long after the room is ready.
The club lounge at this hotel is still closed, but they say it is opening in November. In the meantime they do breakfast buffet coupons for an unimpressive spread in a soulless basement room that’s their breakfast restaurant. They also provide a coupon for an appetizer and drink in the restaurant, which they don’t have to do.
I didn’t do the restaurant, opting instead to order some char kway teow from a nearby Malaysian place. And that prompts me to share one travel tip that I find more useful more often during my travels than almost any other – it is cheap and easy but comes in handy surprisingly often.
I’ll frequently have dinner with people wherever I am, but I may get in late somewhere or just have work to do. There’s a lot less hotel room service these days. So I’ll order DoorDash or Uber, and frequently they don’t bring utensils to eat with.
I hate this. I go to the front desk, and there’s a line. They don’t have anything for me. Maybe they send me to the restaurant, that doesn’t want to help. I end up with something but it’s a friction point. So I just carry a few plastic forks in my laptop bag at all times. I use these far more often than you’d think.
Are there any Hyatt Regency or Grand Hyatt properties in the United States with open lounges?
The following properties either don’t have a lounge or don’t have an open lounge:
Hyatt Regency San Francisco SFO
Hyatt Regency Orlando MCO
Hyatt Regency Milwaukee
Hyatt Regency Sarasota
Hyatt Regency Greenville
Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh PIT
Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center
Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach
Hyatt Regency Houston IAH
Hyatt Regency Wichita
This is a big blow to second-tier elites who have lounge access passes. They never get to use the passes.
I was there in May and the club lounge was open with one of the best lounge atatendants ever.
@Gary I travel everywhere with my titanium spork (Snow Peak has one for $10) if you want a reusable alternative.
Great tip about the plastic forks. Not something I would have ever thought to pack, but I can see how they are very useful. Thanks!
Yes @FNT Delta Diamond – there are open lounges, including:
Hyatt Regency Jacksonville
Hyatt Regency San Francisco SOMA
Grand Hyatt San Francisco SFO
Grand Hyatt Nashville
Grand Hyatt Atlanta Buckhead
There’s a list in a thread on FlyerTalk.
Plastic forks and spoons are a travel must if I am staying at a hotel and want to eat street food.
May I suggest a camping fork which is heavy duty plastic (won’t break) and reusable
Great tip.
@ FNT Delta Diamond
Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego had an open lounge when I was there last year. Pretty good food too. Liquor drinks were $5. Beer/Wine may have been free.
Closed lounge @ Hyatt Regency Baltimore, but breakfast buffet with omelette station was much better than a lounge breakfast would have been.
and as @ptahcha states, check flyertalk for a more comprehensive list.
Let’s face it! Rather Marriott or Delta ur screwed! They don’t have to care then have millions& millions of travelers tied to linked cards! 100,k-200k for domestic flights. Terrible international
100k for regulars rooms!
We miss the old days!
With the Congressional Black Caucus ‘s Annual Legislative Conference in town this week, I’m not surprised the hotel was swamped. The GH is usually people’s second best option in the area outside the Marquis.
The situation where the prior occupant was granted late checkout and they remained in the room until 4pm is actually quite common. As I reported before, it happened to me at Hyatt Regency Tokyo, where, to the hotel management’s clear annoyance (with the policy) and embarrassment, they were not able to check me in until 6pm. They made me wait in the hotel bar/coffee shop/restaurant for room to be ready and permitted to order anything I desired…on the house! Lucky for them I decided not to be fussy about my check-in being delayed for hours…
“Guaranteed” late checkout is great the one who got it but not for the one checking in in the same room, which is why Hilton, a better run hospitality company, will never guarantee late checkouts. If you need it, you must request it, and if it is not available you won’t get it and must plan accordingly. The trick is to request late checkout at check-in. It’s never failed, and I’ve never had to wait for hours to be checked in at a Hilton hotel either 😉
Ever since Covid, I have a bag I always carry for eating convenience”. That bag contains 2 large plastic plates, 2 plastic bowls, 2 large plastic mugs, a plastic electric kettle, instant coffee and powdered creamer, napkins and large zip lock bags. Also 2 metal silverware sets each containing a fork, butterknife, spoon and chop sticks and even a metal straw and straw cleaner. I added a steak knife and a larger serving spoon to each set. I carry it all in a Thermos cooler bag 17in x 13in x 5in. The cooler bag even matches my luggage. No coffee pot or keurig in room, no problem, coffee in two minutes with the kettle. Dinner delivered to the room, I transfer everything to real plates and use real utensils. Makes travel much easier!!
@ DCS — Hilton’s weakest Diamond “benefits” are their pathetic food credit and their bs “late” checkout. Hilton is the WORST on these benefits. But go ahead and gaslight like you always do.
As Hyatt Globalist and IC Royal Ambasaador, a late 4 PM checkout is NEVER a problem and a full breakfast amd lounge access are FREE. Out of housands of stays, I can count on my fingers the number of times that my room wasn’t ready when I needed it at Hyatt, and IC is required to provide a temporary room while your suite is being prepared. Your poor planning is not the hotel’s fault. Your choice of lame loyalty program is your fault.
I did the same once at a Hyatt House. I waited a good amount of time after what they quoted and went to the desk. Before I could get a word out, the pissed off front desk asked me if I had a text.
Some hospitality there, huh.
@FNT Delta Diamond Hyatt Regency Chicago’s Club is open as of Sept 2023
I agree with Gary on the waiting for a text that the room is ready. One could spend untold hours sitting in the lobby waiting if and when a text message will come. This happened to me recently at the AMS DoubleTree Centraal Station. After my third inquiry at the front desk they assigned me a better room. That’s the “power” of Gold at Hilton Honors, that and begging and pleading since One just arrived from Austin.
Buy yourself some reusable plastic sporks. I never travel without one. About $3.50 or so each. Avoid steel or titanium as TSA on a whim maybco fiscate them.
I bought a set of very sturdy plastic travel utensils in a case from the travel section of CVS. The packaging even says TSA compliant. I they were $8 and are great..sturdy, washable and reusable.
@Gary, did you actually get the points in account? I’m still waiting for 15k points I was promised at same Grand Hyatt last summer for service delivery fail. Reached out to customer service and all I got was “will open investigation with hotel”. I think hotel just uses giving points as way to get rid of customer and not actually deliver on it. I decided to give up and just never stay there again. For all of the greatness of Hyatt program, hotels themselves have just gotten worse and worse.
Sad how much customer service has deteriorated across the board.
But I would be super happy with 20k points which is enough for many decent properties.
I bought several UCO spork double-ended camping fork/spoon combos with knife (-ish).edge – heavy nylon/plastic. One in each travel carry-on. The titanium ones are nice, but more likely to cause TSA issues.
For Japan trips, a set of plastic chopsticks or a few disposables is also great to have.
Lacquered chopsticks are a good travel alternative to plastic chopsticks. They are light weight and easy to clean.
How was the char kway teow? I haven’t found a good one in the States yet…
@George – honestly the best char kway teow i’ve had in the U.S. was probably at the Famous Foods food hall at Resorts World in Las Vegas
@FNT – Grand Hyatt Nashville has a very solid club lounge.
@DCS – if you’ve never been kept waiting at a Hilton then don’t play the lottery because you’ve used up a lifetime of luck. My most recent time where I had to wait for hours past check in time was at the Conrad in London this May as a Diamond.
I carry unified airline plastic or wooden utensils for my delivery or take out orders. I also sometimes find limited service hotels have metal utensils and microwaves available for guest use.
Earlier this year I discovered some limited service major chain hotel in a Nordic capital where I can book rooms for as little as around $39 per night off-peak and they have a microwave and metal utensils available for guest use at all hours of the day and night. Amazingly, they even include an ok breakfast for all guests without any surcharge for the included breakfast. [More commonly the hotel wants 3-5 times the very low prices on off-peak nights, but it is no glitch.]