Very nice, grand, and expensive
by - Written: Jul 07 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nice rooms, beautiful building.
Cons: Little "extras" add up very fast.
The Bottom Line: Too much money and too many addons. Seems chintzy for a "full-service" hotel.
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| mistsy's Full Review: Hyatt Regency Houston |
This hotel is a downtown conference hotel amidst the many tall buildings of Houston.
Upon entering, if arriving by car, you will first be confounded by the many one-way streets and then be shocked by the cost of parking. $25 for valet or $15 in a nearby garage linked by a skybridge to the hotel. The self-parking is not hotel-owned.
Once inside, the Hyatt soars majestically above and around you. The central covered atrium is nearly 30 stories tall and ringed by the many rooms, each affording an exterior view.
The lobby/atrium is enormous and features a bar and a restaurant or two, all very expensive and beyond our budget. The next floor is a flurry of meeting rooms for conferences. Atop are 20+ stories of rooms.
We had a lower floor room and asked for a higher one but were told they were refurbishing bottom-up so lower was better.
Check-in was easy although service is soarly lacking for a hotel of this standard. There was no one at the reception and we were asked to use the self-checkin machines. I guess that's what the world is coming to - self-service replacing full-service.
Anyway, once in the room, it was very, very nice. Beautiful furnishings, attractive linens, clean, spacious and comfortable.
Standard amenities are to be expected such as hair dryer, cable tv, coffee maker, etc. We were impressed with the thin, flat-screen tv. Big and beautiful. We actually found real glasses instead of plastic! Still, they were tiny so not much of a drink available from them.
A little fridge would have been a nice addition. Otherwise, it was a room that was worthy of the standard of the hotel.
That little bottle of water sitting so temptingly close to the ice bucket will set you back $5.75.
There is a restaurant called Spindletop up on the 20 somthing floor. All we had to see were the prices. The food was probably good but many of the dishes were things we could make at home with less fuss, less view of course, but at a tiny fraction of the cost.
There is a 24-hour gym and an outdoor pool. The pool area is pretty disappointing. There is just small pool amid industrial things like vents and pipes, not much landscaping, and no jacuzzi or poolside service. At this level of hotel, amenities count and Hyatt falls short here.
Internet is wireless and there is a business center (expensive) if you want to use that. The wireless is based on a "plan" so you have to buy so many days or a day pass and it's, of course, expensive, at about $20 per day.
If you are paying the rack rate for the hotel, you will feel like all these little extras are little "convenience" charges as they will be a small portion of your overall cost. You probably will feel a little impinged upon as well. This rate is easily $200.
If you paid a Priceline price, well, you will feel like you are being browbeaten like on an airline flight - everything is extra and much than you would pay outside of the hotel.
Keep that in mind as our $55 Priceline bargain came to $75 with taxes and fees, $15 for parking, $20 for internet, etc., etc. You can't park on the street either... those meters are $2 per hour!
Nice place, too costly.
Recommended:
Yes
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