ZBigFam

I stay here frequently as I mattress run here. I use a decent Corp rate but is still over priced.

I look at the rooms as above average. I usually get upgraded to a corner queen and my last stay about a week ago they actually looked at my requests for my past stays in chicago and they made sure my room had everything waiting in it. It was impressive.

The food here is average the best. This is also the property that didn't want to give me a late checkout.

It's not the worst Hp I have stayed at (Oklahoma wins that award). I find it solidly average....


El bait shop is a dive bar in downtown des moines. They were made famous by being featured on a food show that showed their bacon wrapped tater tots.

MSPeconomist

Try the two HPs near on the outskirts of Milwaukee. They share a GM. Bad!

CloudCoder

I'm eager to discover this fact from my own experience. If such a discovery ever happens, it will need to be on a future stay:

- No bill under the door in the morning. I asked at front desk for a bill and they could not produce one. This isn't a _huge_ deal but really ...

- I asked if they could combine my next stay (one paid and one award night) so that I can check in just one time. Their reply (without even trying to do it): We can't do that. "Just come down to the front desk after your first night and we'll gladly re-key your room key for you". I'm not sure how to react. I contemplated "How kind and considerate of you to provide an actual key for me to use during my stay. I'm deeply moved." ... but no matter how much I practiced the spiel, I could not make it sound sincere.

- It goes without saying (and fully meets expectations) that the Diamond Welcome points did not post.

- On the bright side, they had no problem applying my Hyatt Gift Card at checkout. I suppose it's a blessing when you expect a long snafu yet the transaction is fast and effortless.

I'll try this hotel again, in hopes that they were just having a singular bad day.

ZBigFam

I almost always pay there with a gift card! I think I broke them in for you! Lol

CloudCoder

I owe you big time. The ease of the Gift Card transaction was the highlight of the stay, by a long shot. I'll stay again later in the week and will report back.

CloudCoder

The good:

• Hotel is conveniently located in downtown and directly on the Skywalk. Skywalk is open from 6 am to 2 am.
• Property seems to be in great condition.
• Staff is enthusiastic, energetic, friendly and pleasant ... without exception.
• Shuttle service to/from airport and to anywhere downtown. This was a nice perk recently during a sudden downpour while I was at a restaurant 7 blocks away.

The bad:

• Poor diamond recognition (although this did improve significantly on the second stay, perhaps because I tattled on 'em)
• IME a multi-night stay always requires having your room key reprogrammed each day. This seriously needs to be fixed.
• Points and Cash? Forget about it! "We don't offer that".
• Requests for Diamond privileges such as Early Checkin or Late Checkout are quickly and routinely denied. They don't even check to see if it's available: they simply say "we don't offer that here".
• "Come back at 8 am" seems to be the standard response for any request (e.g. paying with a gift card, etc.). Apparently the day-shift knows a lot more than the other shifts.

The promising:

• I had a nice chat with the general manager. Super-nice guy. He truly wants each stay to be smooth and hassle-free. He's truly sorry that previous stays have been difficult.
• He did explain some of the unique challenges. With just 93 rooms, it's hard to provide a late check out. (I explained that the Hyatt Terms and Conditions promise a late checkout ... period ... whether or not it's convenient for the hotel.) He said they'd try harder.
• He explained why they carefully control inventory, e.g. rooms are not available for one night but they're available if you book the whole week. If they sell all their rooms by the night, they could run out of space for their business customers who often book an entire week on short notice.
• He promised that my perception of the hotel's service will improve big-time, soon.

I'm gonna go ahead and stay there for the next three weeks, with full confidence in the general manager's assertion that things will get better.

PortlySpartacus

I've tried repeatedly for the past few months to get P+C stays, no dice. Why are they restricting this? On Monday I'm going to call the hotel to ask for an exception as I have been paying $150 average rate per night repeatedly at this hotel in DSM with many other options available...it doesn't make sense.

CloudCoder

Because they can get $150 a night! For an all-points stay, they bill Hyatt approx $135. For a points + cash stay, they get the $55 that the guest pays, then they bill Hyatt approx $35 (for a total of $90). It's hard to sell a room for $90 when they can easily get $150 or more. Their regular everyday price is approx $180.Good luck. I've tried many times, to no avail. "That's not a rate that we can offer".

ZBigFam

Let me know how that goes I believe I their first and last p&c customer (stayed first week of opening and paid with a gift card). I would like am exception as well.

ZBigFam

Interesting as the manager replied to my yelp review saying that I should be given 4pm late checkout no matter what as a diamond. If they give me issues I will show them my review next time.

CloudCoder

Welcome to Catastrophe Junction, Chapter Five, but with a happier ending this time.

• shuttle van from airport is not available because "our van is having its oil changed today".
• "We show that you are staying two nights" ... but my reservation shows four nights
• "There is a problem with your credit card, the charges were declined" ... perhaps if you charge the correct amount ($222.50) instead of $2222.50, it would go through.
• The room key does not actually open the room in which the swimming pool is located. "Yes, a lot of people are reporting that same problem" ... perhaps that might be a good reason to get it fixed??

Major improvements this week:

• 4 pm checkout? No problem. They now have a new-fangled "Late Checkout Sheet" at the front desk.
• Upgraded to a spacious two-room suite, comp.
• For the first time ever, the room key works on the second night of the stay, without needing to be re-programmed.

Hurray for incremental improvements!

MSPeconomist

As a Diamond, I was given the two room suite the first time I stayed here. On a later stay, the front desk person denied that the property had any suites and claimed that all rooms were the same except for one or two beds.

CloudCoder

I suppose that's why someone invented the Fire Escape Map Posted Near The Elevator. That document clearly shows the existence of huge rooms, tiny rooms, and all manners of rooms in between.

MSPeconomist

That floor plan/map is usually required by law to be posted on the back of every door, but somehow front desk agents have never seen it and have never explored the hotel beyond the front desk, or so they would like us to believe.

I had another HP try to tell me quite aggressively that all of their rooms were the same as he gave me a much smaller room behind the elevator. Garbage!

PortlySpartacus

I have two night coming up at HP DSM this weekend. Every time I stay here I get a room facing the interior and overlook the big industrial air conditioners and the ugly rust colored Ruan building. I have been upgraded to a suite before but it had that awful view.

Do you have any recommendations on room numbers that are suites but overlook the street?