thecoldhandoftechnology

(EDITED with stay updates) Here tonight, didn't realize today was the public opening when I booked it; talking to the Hyatt staff it sounds like they have about ten overnight revenue guests tonight for opening. For those familiar, it is about a block from the Hyatt Place across from Health Partners. Light rail station is short block away straight out the front entrance, path is well lit and easily walkable even with luggage though it is NOT covered. New build of course, eight stories, looks like they have one large and one junior suite on each guest room floor. For those who are also meeting planners, it looks like they have some nice function spaces, I hope to look at those tomorrow.

Lots of (free) parking which would seem to have been sized to accommodate functions as well as overnight guests, I imagine (hope) they will offer Park and Fly as an option.

Compact reception area and lobby runs lengthwise along the front of the property; cozy with a fireplace that reminds me of the HR Downtown MSP on a smaller scale, and a small social space that is actually behind the front desk. Greys and sand colors predominate, with tangerine and red soft seating as color accents for those who are interested. Checkin was very efficient and Midwest super friendly of course, I’m guessing I may have been the agents first checkin but she did a great job and in particular hit all the Diamond particulars spot on.

Inline with the lobby is the bar and restaurant. Small but well curated selection of Minnesota beers on draft at the bar. Adjacent is Urbana the restaurant, I was too late for dinner so I can’t comment on that for this visit. Next to that is the Market which has grab and go food. Grabbed a sandwich to go at checkout and thought it was very good. Bartender Frank was great, friendly with great suggestions and happy to offer a sample of a beer.

I booked a King and was upgraded to a Club Floor king. (For anyone checking in in the next few days, the property management are doing a small ribbon cutting for the first guest in each room, I generally prefer as little fuss as possible but I thought they handled this very nicely, and it fun to enjoy that “new hotel smell”.) Rooms were nicely appointed, mostly in grays, with the same color accents as the public spaces. I found the room size to be perfectly fine and well laid out but some might look for more space. A built in module had drawer space, ironing board, hanging space, and a small refrigerator stocked with a couple of bottles of water. Bathroom had a glass enclosed shower, though baths are available in other rooms. Semi separated room for the stool, and a nice vanity with great lighting for the mirror, I found the vanity space more than adequate. Very comfortable divan by the windows. Ceiling heights were very tall, 10’+ at least on the 8th floor which makes the room feel spacious. Large TV was wall mounted opposite the bed, with a decent selection of HD channels. There was a round table with adjacent outlets which served my needs for work, but for those who are interested, there was no desk in this room. Small but interesting point, ice is available, pre-bagged in drawer freezer units. Not sure if that is the plan moving forward, but I found it was very convenient to grab a bag, however it did tend to freeze into a solid mass that required a bit of breaking up to pour into the bucket.

Public internet was free and was 1.5 down, and (oddly) 3 up. There are options for faster guest internet that I haven’t tried, but at least for the 10 of us here, the speeds are fine.
As I recall, Gym has four treads, a couple of steppers, a couple of bikes along with free weights and yoga equipment, it overlooks the lap pool. Cool towels and dispensored water are available. Smaller lap pool has 3-4 foot depth, with nice lounge chairs surrounding.

I can confirm that the Second Floor Lounge is OPEN but not staffed or stocked. Size looks fine and it is well appointed. I understand it will open on Wednesday the 24th, 2016. Meantime Diamond guests are offered breakfast in Urbana, and the managers who walked me to my room were kind enough to offer a couple of complimentary drinks and an app for Diamonds at the bar until the Lounge officially opens. Kudos to the property for fitting out a proper lounge, while breakfast in the restaurant is generally superior in selection, almost to a person, our travelers always appreciate the opportunity to grab breakfast at a lounge just to avoid the lines and wait in the restaurant.

INHO, great to see a FS Hyatt in the airport area, and for a brand new property on their first day their execution was great, better in fact then a lot of long term properties.

mediator

Thanks for the report! Do you know if Diamond still get breakfast at Urban after the lounge is officially open?

MSPeconomist

My guess would be no from the way the hotel phrased the breakfast arrangement this morning.

Note that it's Urbana, not Urban.

I'm waiting for Big Ten fans to order Champaign in Urbana.

MSPeconomist

Hyatt toothpaste fans will be pleased to know that there was a 0.75 ounce tube of Colgate Total Clean Mint in its box in my bathroom (club level), which BTW has a nice deep bath tub.

SFOPhD

Since I've spent the day working, road warriors might be pleased to know that premium internet speed is ~10 Mbps down and ~10 Mbps up. More than solid enough for web use and video conferences.

I'll post pics in a bit. FT is giving me errors when I try to upload them. Basics: solid hard product and wonderful staff.

thecoldhandoftechnology

That remains to be seen, but I suspect they will follow the customary protocol of having Diamonds have breakfast in the lounge. It appears the lounge will be open 7 days a week, but that of course may change based on occupancy patterns.

thecoldhandoftechnology

LOL. Corrected the restaurant name along with a few other things, thanks!

mediator

I am staying at this hotel tonight. During checkin I was told the club lounge is not open. Funny the website is still selling the club room! How should I approach the manager for closed lounge compensation?

MSPeconomist

That happened when they first opened too. At that time, Diamonds were offered free breakfast (order from the menu), tip included, as required by HGP, plus an appetizer and two drinks in the evening either in the bar in the restaurant if you want to have dinnerr in the hotel.

You should get a bunch of extra points (IIRC 2500) too, but mine haven't posted yet.

peteropny

And it won't post automatically now, a couple of weeks later, you're going to have to follow up on it.

peteropny

Just ask for the closed club points (DN) at the front desk.

mediator

Thanks, already spoken the manger and he promised the closed club points. I already received the regular points and night for this stay. Will post a short review tomorrow.

ZBigFam

will be staying here next week over the weekend, any idea if the lounge will be open then?

EDIT
Just called them and the lounge, once again won't be open. They said they are waiting for business to pick up before they open the lounge.

MSPeconomist

This sounds like they're not doing as well as expected. Perhaps their rates are too high for the area and what it is. Their obvious competition for higher tier MSP airport hotels would be the Radisson Blu and JW Marriott, both new and actually located at the Mall of America. Farther away, we have the Westin Galleria Edina and the newly renovated Sheraton Bloomington (former Sofitel), but they don't offer transportation to/from the airport. To me, it's not reasonable that the new HR's prices are higher than these properties.

mediator

During my stay last week, the front desk told me the airport shuttle is still being set up.