Category: Hotels | Page 42

Hyatt Regency Santa Clara Review

July 23, 2022March 7, 2015

I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara for a weekend in October, 2014. The hotel is older, my guess it was built in the mid 1980’s, and has a large footprint of 501 rooms. The closest airport is San Jose (6 miles), a small airport that makes getting in and out easy.

I assumed it would be quiet on a weekend when business travelers were at home, but was I wrong! This is definitely a conference hotel (it is attached to the Santa Clara Convention Center in the heart of Silicon Valley). There were two conferences at the hotel (ironically neither were tech conventions); one was quilters the other was high schoolers. As you can imagine, I was disheartened to say the least. Luckily, the check in agent could tell I was not looking forward to a weekend with youngins, so he put me on the 13th floor away from the students. I thought he said he “upgraded” me as I am a Platinum HGP member, but it turned out that the only upgrade was that it was on a higher floor.

Aria Las Vegas Review

July 25, 2022March 4, 2015

This past weekend I spent three nights at Aria Las Vegas, one of the Vegas mega properties located in MGM’s CityCenter. Other hotels that share the CityCenter location are Vdara and Mandarin Oriental… as well as what is left of the Harmon (it is getting smaller each day as they demolish it). Aria, with 4,004 rooms, opened in December 2009 and is considered MGM’s top property alongside Bellagio.

I have stayed at the Aria five or six times, it is my go-to hotel in Vegas. Good location, luxury, and a great spa. I received a deal through Mlife that got me a rate of ~$200* for Saturday night and ~$130* for Sunday and Monday nights (*I include the mandatory $32 resort fee in this price). The deal also came with an included $200 resort credit that I could use at onsite restaurants, spa, or show.

The dishonest resort fee

July 25, 2022March 3, 2015

I believe the most deceptive practice in the travel industry is the resort fee. It is the complete antithesis to hospitality. It is a made up revenue stream that serves NO purpose except to increase profits. There is ZERO benefit to the hotel guest. At least with an airline baggage fee you have the choice and get a benefit of not having to schlep around your bag. Or with the prepaid fuel charge you don’t have to worry about filling up your tank before returning your rental car. But resort fees serve no benefit to the customer.

Note: Resort fee does NOT cover slippers. Sorry.

This weekend I stayed at the Aria in Las Vegas. Overall it is a great property and one that I’ve stayed at at least five times. The daily resort fee is $32.48; which is a significant amount. For my visit this ended up being an extra $100, or the price of one night. I basically stayed three nights for the price of four. On the Aria website it lists the amenities included with the resort fee:

Hyatt Regency Washington DC Review

July 23, 2022March 1, 2015

A friend of mine won a raffle put on by the Washington State Lottery that included airfare, tickets to an NFL Playoff Game, and two nights at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill.

We stayed at the hotel Saturday-Monday in January. The hotel overall was fairly quiet. Great location near the Capitol; but otherwise you will need to plan on a bit of a walk to anything.

On the weekend, prepare to travel a good distance for meals as there are no restaurants besides in the hotel and the hotel across the street. The food in the Hyatt is decent and moderate price, so not a big deal to eat there; but just realize you are eating in the hotel lobby. They have a nice shop that sells all sorts of snacks, water, drinks and even has a small cafe for coffee and pastries. The staff was great, always helpful and cheerful. We enjoyed talking with the doorman especially.

Radisson Fisherman’s Wharf San Francisco Review

July 23, 2022February 26, 2015

View from our room, over looking the courtyard and parking garage to the Bay. — View from the room, over looking the courtyard and parking garage to the Bay.

Today I read that the Radisson Hotel at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco is being transitioned into Hotel Zephyr. I decided to share here a review I wrote a year ago about my experience at the Radisson. I was actually very happy with the hotel, mainly because it felt safe and was in a great location on the Wharf. It also felt modern, so I am not sure how much work they will need to do for the transition.

I stayed for a weekend in November, got in late Friday and left Sunday evening. I booked directly through the Radisson website to get 10% off, however it was still expensive for what you get. But, this is the Wharf, and you are paying for the tourist location.

Hyatt Best Rate Guarantee can save you money

March 22, 2015February 25, 2015

Learn how to use the Hyatt Best Rate Guarantee to save yourself money on your next hotel booking.

One of my favorite websites is flyertalk.com, particularly their forum section. It has great reviews, tips on finding deals and guides on how to navigate frequent flyer programs. One of the threads talks about Hyatt’s Best Rate Guarantee. Basically the idea is that if you book on hyatt.com and find a cheaper rate on another website, they will match the price AND reduce it by 20%. It is a great idea to get customers to book direct instead of through other travel websites. The other benefit of booking direct through Hyatt is that you earn Hyatt Gold Passport points, not so if you book through another source. I have a number of Hyatt reservations coming up over the next few months, so I decided to see if I could find cheaper rates from other websites.