Review: Hyatt Regency Austin

Despite the announced drought conditions in Austin, it was raining so hard when I pulled up to the hotel so no outdoor shots.  The hotel does have valet service which came in especially useful for this stay.

This was a one-night stay so it wasn’t worth using a confirmed suite upgrade for.  And yet, when I checked in I was upgraded to a 2-room suite.  Now, this wasn’t the Presidential suite but a decent suite nonetheless.  I’d never stayed at this property before, so I was continuing a pretty decent streak of new Hyatts where I received an unannounced upgrade.

The entry room was the same size as a standard hotel room.  It had a couch, TV, dining room table and a partial wet bar with a bathroom.

It was still raining the following morning, but I did still have a reasonable view of Lady Bird Lake and downtown Austin.

The bedroom was pretty standard.  While the bed was very comfortable, the room was definitely showing a bit of wear.  It was perfectly fine for my purposes of a quick one-night stay and replying to e-mails.  I enjoyed dinner at Max’s Wine Dive with two friends.  I had a bit more wine than normal, so a workout the next morning was not in the cards.

Wifi is free for Diamond members.  It was easy to access and the speed was just fine.  After doing some work I headed down to meet Randy for some breakfast in the main restaurant.  The guest wing tower and lobby are a bit reminiscent of an Embassy Suites.

There’s no club lounge in this properties, so Diamond guests get breakfast in the main restaurant.  I wasn’t told of any restriction on the breakfast benefit at the front desk at check-in (in terms of dollars or being restricted to the buffet).  I ordered straight off the menu and charged it to my room.  When I was checking out there was no breakfast charge on my bill.  I informed the front desk agent I thought there should be some charge since I had tipped more than the customary amount.  She told me that the restaurant had taken care of the whole charge, and that they normally only bill the extra if the tip is over 15%.  This tip definitely was, so I’m not sure if they reduced the tip or ended up paying the extra to the employee.  I’ll hope for the latter.

All in all, a perfectly reasonable stay.  And, the unexpected suite upgrade was a nice touch.  This was my second hotel stay in Austin (first time was Sheraton Austin).  At this level of property, I would definitely select the Hyatt over the Sheraton.