My Second Stay At Grand Hyatt Washington, DC

In full disclosure, I was given the suite for free. I was offered a comped due to problems with a previous stay.

In August, I held a small get together for the blog's anniversary in a suite at The Grand Hyatt in DC.

The stay did not go so well, as I wrote about here. Problems with the suite and staff made my stay feel like I was staying at a Hyatt Place rather than a Grand Hyatt. In the morning, I spoke with a manger, who was apologetic and offered me a free night in a suite, just contact him. At the time, I was skeptical that this "offer" would be honored.

Since I try to be an honorable man, I wanted to give you an update. Two weeks ago, I contacted the manager to try to secure a suite for last Saturday night. I had an event in the city and wanted host friends for an after party. My email went unanswered for close to a week, but ultimately, the manger confirmed my reservation for my free suite night.

The stay was 1000% better than my last stay. At check-in, I was thanked for my Platinum status and immediately asked if I would like the traditional 2pm check-out and free newspaper. I accepted the late check-out and declined the paper.

The Grand Suite was exactly the same as the one before except on the 9th floor.

Here is a video tour of my last suite:

                         

Unlike my last stay, the chiller/refrigerator and whirlpool hot tub worked. Both of these helped make the after party much more fun, we had time to do this:

Instead of spending time doing this:

Also, this room had electronic controls for the curtains, my last room did not.

Where the stay was lacking was the staff on the "guest line." I forgot a cork screw and waited a few minutes before it was answered. About 15 minutes later, I noticed that I did not bring toothpaste. Again I had to wait a few minutes to speak to someone. Both times, the person who answered the phone seemed bothered by my call, but told me the item would be on there way.

Overall the stay was much better than my last. Lets call the last stay outside of the normal. I would definitely have family stay here.
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Hotel Review: Fairfield Inn and Suites - Winchester, VA

As I wrote here, my friends and I went to a drive-in movie theater. We didn't want to drive home after the movie, so we decided to get a hotel room for the night.

Since Cash Back Boy was in the group, we had to stay within the Marriott Brand. The cheapest Marriott was the Fairfield Inn and Suites located on Front Royal Pike.

The AAA rate got the cost to $103 all-in. This Fairfield was one of the renovated hotels. Just walk into the lobby and you can feel how the fresh and modern this hotel is:

Our room was on the second floor. The room was a suite with a king bed and pull-out couch:

                           

The room was very modern with bright ascents

The room was clean on first inspection. When we pulled the sofa bed out, we found some surprises:

Hairs

Stains on the Comfrtable

The hotel has a gym with a few treadmills, an elliptical and weights machine:

In addition, the hotel has a pool and whirlpool:

Right outside the pool was a deck area with lounge chairs and a table with a few chairs:

The hotel has hot breakfast until 10am. However, I did not make it. Cash Back Boy went down and informed me their was eggs, bacon, cereal, bagels, some yogurt and fruit. Not to shabby:

The hotel was good enough for a quick night. The room was somewhat clean, the location was perfect, but the customer service was great. Small things go a long way:

I would defiantly come back to this hotel.

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Hotel Review: Austin Country Inn and Suites

After a great night at the Hyatt Regency, my sister and I moved on for two nights at the Country Inn and Suites. The hotel is located north of downtown Austin in the St. John neighborhood. My sister was thinking about working at a school near the hotel and I though it important that we spend time in the neighborhood.

We booked the trip very last minute. The hotel is a category 3, costing 28,000 Gold Points a night. However, one of the unique benefits of having the Club Carlson Visa Card is that you get the last night free on award nights. Therefore, 28,000 points got us 2 free nights at the Country Inn and Suites. Due to our late booking, the cost for one night was $150; costing us $300 for the stay. Trying to keep the cost low for the trip, I spent my points which were earned by applying for the Club Carlson card. The Cash + Points offer was not available when we booked, but that would have been the option I would have chosen.











The lobby has a homey feel to it:

The check-in was a breeze. They did not recognize my Gold status, they did not thank me stay nor did they ask for a credit card. She just hand us keys and sent us on our way.

The hotel is old and had a funky smell. I could not pin point what it was, but both my sister and I both noticed it.

We were given a room on the third floor at the end of the hallway. This is where the real fun began as we found a surprise in our room. And no it was not a welcome gift or at least I hope it was not a welcome gift!

As you can see, at 62 seconds in, I find ants. Lots and lots of ants in the room. Some of them dead, others limping around and others trying to get out.

We quickly walked back downstairs to the front desk to ask for another room. The front desk attendant was  very apologetic and "upgraded" us to a Queen Suite. The only real difference was a couch. I don't now if a having a couch automatically makes a room a suite, but I'll go with it.



The hotel had a very small gym.

And an outdoor pool. It was very nice to jump in the pool after spending all day in the Texas sun.

The hotel serves breakfast every morning. I did not try it, but my sister did. She said it was average, but adequate.

As I stated here, one of the weirdest things we encountered was the spinning shower head.


               

Cool to look at, but not very practical.

One last compliant was the wireless internet was slow. Almost AOL dial-up slow.

The hotel would not be a place I would stay at again. However, the hotel served it purpose as being close to the school, she wanted to work at. We spent time and got a real feel of the neighborhood especially at night.

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The Suite Life @ Austin Hyatt Regency

On my recent trip to Austin, I decided to stay at the Austin Hyatt Regency.

The hotel is located off the South Congress Bridge, where one can view the bats at dusk.

The hotel's parking lot/garage is under renovations. One has two options, self-park for $10 a night or valet at $24 a night. I valeted, because the self park option was limited and tight. However, the parking situation was not a surprise to me. There were notices about the lack of parking on the Hyatt website, I was told about the parking situation when I called to book an upgrade and received an email from the hotel a few days before arriving. I applaude Hyatt for their proactive communication.

The reception desk is to the left of the lobby. Check-in was smooth. They welcomed us to the hotel, acknowledged my Platinum status and asked about my parking choice. What was not discussed was our breakfast vouchers. I booked with a AAA rate that provided for breakfast for 2 each day. It wasn't until later that I noticed the lack of vouchers. A quick call to concierge gave me the answer: charge it to the room, it would be removed later.

I decided to use one of my suite upgrades provided to me by my Chase Hyatt Visa for being a platinum member prior to applying.  We were given keys to room 503 and 504.

When we opened the door, my sister and I were pleasantly surprised:

This was my first real suite. So, I was giddy like a child in a candy shop. The suite had two double beds, a living area and two full baths. The suite can turn into a three room suite by the unlocking of this door below. The room next door has a king bed and another full bath turning the suite into a two bedroom, three bath suite.

The views from the room were amazing.

The lobby of the hotel has plenty of places to sit and relax. It was inviting, but also invoked a night club feel at night.

There is additional seating outside on the patio with multiple TVs and fire pits. Great for warm Texas nights.

Also, on the ground level is the gym which is open 24/7. The gym was a good size for the number of rooms in the hotel. Each elliptical and treadmill had its own TVS. The gym was stocked with cold towels, dry towels, headphones and citrus flavored water.

The pool is located outside and opened late.

The hotel has a business center on second floor. The center has four computers, but the price to use was extremely expensive. $6.95 for 15 minutes...exessive.

Breakfast is served in the Southwest Bistro located on the second floor.

As I stated, the AAA rate came with breakfast for two of us. The breakfast buffet was amazing with every option that one could want. I especially liked the fried french toast with the berry compote.

My sister ordered off the menu and got the Austin Eggs Benedict, which she enjoyed:

 

Our bill came to over $50 and was removed, as promised, on my final folio.

The hotel is located on the southside of Austin, but it is a short walk over the bridge to the major tourist bar scene. If walking is not your style, there were always cabs right outside the hotel waiting for fares.

This is was amazing hotel stay. The staff was attentive, the product clean and modern and food amazing. I wish I could have afforded to stay here more than one night.

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