Hyatt house Raleigh Durham Airport REVIEW - MASTER THREAD
Nov 4, 2011, 6:19 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SFO
Programs: UAL SPG Hyatt
Posts: 570
Hyatt house Raleigh Durham Airport REVIEW - MASTER THREAD
Hi everyone. Just checking in on the Hotel Sierra near Raleigh Durham Airport. Did not find any masterthreads on it. Anyone stayed there recently and have a review / comments to share?
Thanks,
SometimesFlyer
Thanks,
SometimesFlyer
Nov 5, 2011, 3:20 pm
#2
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Boston-Atlanta Metropolitan Axis
Posts: 208
This property has been around for a couple of years so it has been under the Hyatt umbrella since the Hotel Sierra acquisition (not sure when that was). Adding the "Raleigh-Durham Airport" suffix may be new though - it's a few miles away from the airport and located right beside Lenovo's North American headquarters.
I've never stayed at the hotel but I've had drinks at the bar a few times and it seems quite nice.
I've never stayed at the hotel but I've had drinks at the bar a few times and it seems quite nice.
Nov 17, 2011, 3:04 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SFO
Programs: UAL SPG Hyatt
Posts: 570
Staying at the Sierra RDU right now. Here are impressions and a mini-review.
Location :
- Easy freeway access, with multiple routes to the main freeways in the event one is unavailable. Easy access and convenient location near airport as well as getting to Raleigh, Durham, Cary or Chapel Hill
- Located in quiet area, almost deserted at night. You will want a car to get to anything.
- Airport shuttle available but I did not use it.
Building
- Modern lobby. Front desk directly ahead as you enter. Restaurant/breakfast area on right. Bar to far right. Elevators access to left.
- Clean lines, great hallway colors and configuration. Hallways across entire building are staggered so you don't get that "long corridor" look. Offset at each 1/3 or so.
- From fire exit map, appears to have a variety of rooms. I'm in a 1 bedroom suite. Nice kitchen with 2 burner, microwave, fullsized fridge, coffeemaker. Well stocked with more kitchenware, glassware, etc than I can think of using.
- Living room area has tv and couch. Bedroom has another TV. Closet, single sink and the access to bathroom.
- I was quite impressed with the quality of the furniture. Solid wood, functional, nice dark colors. General feel of quality. To be real honest, some pieces would not feel out of place at a St Regis.
- Overall pleasant hard product.
Food/breakfast/bar/drinks
- Complementary breakfast is included. Nice buffet with omelets to order, scrambled eggs, sausages, potatoes, french toast sticks, fruit, juices, coffee, etc.
- Bar area open at night had decent selection of beers and wine.
Ambience/general
- Staff were nice and friendly. Very accommodating.
- I think they are trying to maintain some sort of a "dignified" feel to the place. No TV in bar area. TV in breakfast area was on mute and CC only. I asked about turning it on but the staff said it was on mute as "policy". No problem with me.
- They seem to get a good number of guests who stay for extended periods of time. I ran into a group from asia who needed some help with direction. I think they were visiting Lenovo or employees.
Location :
- Easy freeway access, with multiple routes to the main freeways in the event one is unavailable. Easy access and convenient location near airport as well as getting to Raleigh, Durham, Cary or Chapel Hill
- Located in quiet area, almost deserted at night. You will want a car to get to anything.
- Airport shuttle available but I did not use it.
Building
- Modern lobby. Front desk directly ahead as you enter. Restaurant/breakfast area on right. Bar to far right. Elevators access to left.
- Clean lines, great hallway colors and configuration. Hallways across entire building are staggered so you don't get that "long corridor" look. Offset at each 1/3 or so.
- From fire exit map, appears to have a variety of rooms. I'm in a 1 bedroom suite. Nice kitchen with 2 burner, microwave, fullsized fridge, coffeemaker. Well stocked with more kitchenware, glassware, etc than I can think of using.
- Living room area has tv and couch. Bedroom has another TV. Closet, single sink and the access to bathroom.
- I was quite impressed with the quality of the furniture. Solid wood, functional, nice dark colors. General feel of quality. To be real honest, some pieces would not feel out of place at a St Regis.
- Overall pleasant hard product.
Food/breakfast/bar/drinks
- Complementary breakfast is included. Nice buffet with omelets to order, scrambled eggs, sausages, potatoes, french toast sticks, fruit, juices, coffee, etc.
- Bar area open at night had decent selection of beers and wine.
Ambience/general
- Staff were nice and friendly. Very accommodating.
- I think they are trying to maintain some sort of a "dignified" feel to the place. No TV in bar area. TV in breakfast area was on mute and CC only. I asked about turning it on but the staff said it was on mute as "policy". No problem with me.
- They seem to get a good number of guests who stay for extended periods of time. I ran into a group from asia who needed some help with direction. I think they were visiting Lenovo or employees.
Nov 18, 2011, 11:18 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SFO
Programs: UAL SPG Hyatt
Posts: 570
To add on a couple other observations
Gym :
- Small, some equipment in need of repair. 2 machines are out of order. There are signed posted and it appears that some work is in progress.
- Ceiling a little too low! If you are 6ft tall, get on the treadmill and you better watch your head.
Beds :
- These things are comfortable! Firm, with what feels like a topper of some sort. 4 large pillows.
- They call it a "Luxe" bed on the website. I took off the sheets and it was a Simmons Beautyrest, quite like the Westin heavenly beds. Didn't look to have a crazy thick pillowtop but there was a separate polyfill topper.
Others :
- Instead of the throwaway little bottles, shampoo/showergel/lotion is in the large sized pump bottles. Neutral scented Gilchrist & Soames.
Breakfast remains a highlight. The food was nice and fresh. Staff at breakfast were really friendly and makes for a great start to the day. I may just stay again for this.
Gym :
- Small, some equipment in need of repair. 2 machines are out of order. There are signed posted and it appears that some work is in progress.
- Ceiling a little too low! If you are 6ft tall, get on the treadmill and you better watch your head.
Beds :
- These things are comfortable! Firm, with what feels like a topper of some sort. 4 large pillows.
- They call it a "Luxe" bed on the website. I took off the sheets and it was a Simmons Beautyrest, quite like the Westin heavenly beds. Didn't look to have a crazy thick pillowtop but there was a separate polyfill topper.
Others :
- Instead of the throwaway little bottles, shampoo/showergel/lotion is in the large sized pump bottles. Neutral scented Gilchrist & Soames.
Breakfast remains a highlight. The food was nice and fresh. Staff at breakfast were really friendly and makes for a great start to the day. I may just stay again for this.
Last edited by SometimesFlyer; Nov 19, 2011 at 2:49 pm Reason: (Updated bed info)
Dec 14, 2011, 11:33 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SFO
Programs: UAL SPG Hyatt
Posts: 570
I'm starting to become a fan of this hotel ... repeat stay on trip this month.
Posting a couple other items which may help.
- There is a new SUPER/MEGA/MONSTER walmart just down the road, about 1 mile away. 24 hours and you can stock up your kitchenette for the extended stay. Very convenient.
- Laundry service. The hotel does have a service but I discovered a full service dry cleaner and laundry just across the parking area. (I must have been blind the last time.) Reasonable prices and quick turn.
- Hotel will also accept packages for you. I was not charged a handling fee but did not ask if this was standard.
Posting a couple other items which may help.
- There is a new SUPER/MEGA/MONSTER walmart just down the road, about 1 mile away. 24 hours and you can stock up your kitchenette for the extended stay. Very convenient.
- Laundry service. The hotel does have a service but I discovered a full service dry cleaner and laundry just across the parking area. (I must have been blind the last time.) Reasonable prices and quick turn.
- Hotel will also accept packages for you. I was not charged a handling fee but did not ask if this was standard.
Jul 29, 2016, 5:51 pm
#6
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Sammamish, WA
Programs: Hyatt Explorist; SPG Gold; Hilton Gold
Posts: 160
I don't know if this is something a mod can do, but this thread should maybe be renamed the Hyatt House Raleigh Durham Airport REVIEW - MASTER THREAD, as there isn't one currently, and @SometimesFlyer did a nice job getting it started back in 2011.
To give a more recent update, we stayed here for 3 nights July 14th -17th to avoid some family drama while attending a family wedding in the area. Overall it was a nice stay. We booked a King as that's all it showed available & were able to get 2 queens when we got to the property, and the beds were very comfortable. I also requested top floor in the booking & we were given top floor.
Pros:
-Large, comfortable, & updated rooms
-Comfortable beds
-A/C worked really well, which you need in NC in July
-Nice, spacious bathroom
-Good location, & several shops & restaurants nearby. A coffee shop, awesome beer store, & a few restaurants are across the parking lot from the hotel. Several others are a short drive down the road near the Walmart.
-Near the airport without being so close you hear the noise.
-We didn't eat breakfast here but it is included.
-Free shuttle to the airport & to other area locations such as shops/restaurants.
Cons:
-The walls are a little thin, we heard music thumping, people talking, & dogs barking from surrounding rooms multiple times, but it never bothered us while sleeping (we do use white noise machines).
-A/C can be a little tricky b/c it has energy saving sensors where it detects when you leave the room or something & turns off. So if one person leaves the room it will go off and you'll have to turn it back on manually, but then sometimes it would get out of whack. Once we accidentally turned the heat on just trying to turn it up 2 degrees-not what you want when it's 100 out! We never fully got the hang of it, but it does work really well when it's on.
Our biggest con was an odd situation with a rude housekeeper. We had the Do Not Disturb sign on our door, which at Hyatt House are blue & say Goodnight really large, then under that do not disturb. The other side is a different bright color & says Good Morning & please clean the room or something like that. Either way, the 2 sides are very distinguishable.
We were sleeping in our last day b/c we were out late at the family wedding, & around 10:30am we were awoken by loud knocking on our door from housekeeping. My husband opened the door to the lady asking if they could clean, & he said we had the 'do not disturb' sign on, & she argumentatively said, 'Nuh-uh, that says goodnight!' So he replied, "what does it say right under the goodnight?" and then she finally admitted it said do not disturb, but also said, "Well I'm new!' like it was an excuse, and again, she was very rude and argumentative to him the whole time. He called down to the front desk to report her & the front desk manager was very apologetic & gave us a late checkout of 4 (we are Diamond anyways). All in all it was just an odd experience, hopefully they reprimanded the housekeeper.
This got quite long; Overall I would recommend this hotel & I would stay there again.
To give a more recent update, we stayed here for 3 nights July 14th -17th to avoid some family drama while attending a family wedding in the area. Overall it was a nice stay. We booked a King as that's all it showed available & were able to get 2 queens when we got to the property, and the beds were very comfortable. I also requested top floor in the booking & we were given top floor.
Pros:
-Large, comfortable, & updated rooms
-Comfortable beds
-A/C worked really well, which you need in NC in July
-Nice, spacious bathroom
-Good location, & several shops & restaurants nearby. A coffee shop, awesome beer store, & a few restaurants are across the parking lot from the hotel. Several others are a short drive down the road near the Walmart.
-Near the airport without being so close you hear the noise.
-We didn't eat breakfast here but it is included.
-Free shuttle to the airport & to other area locations such as shops/restaurants.
Cons:
-The walls are a little thin, we heard music thumping, people talking, & dogs barking from surrounding rooms multiple times, but it never bothered us while sleeping (we do use white noise machines).
-A/C can be a little tricky b/c it has energy saving sensors where it detects when you leave the room or something & turns off. So if one person leaves the room it will go off and you'll have to turn it back on manually, but then sometimes it would get out of whack. Once we accidentally turned the heat on just trying to turn it up 2 degrees-not what you want when it's 100 out! We never fully got the hang of it, but it does work really well when it's on.
Our biggest con was an odd situation with a rude housekeeper. We had the Do Not Disturb sign on our door, which at Hyatt House are blue & say Goodnight really large, then under that do not disturb. The other side is a different bright color & says Good Morning & please clean the room or something like that. Either way, the 2 sides are very distinguishable.
We were sleeping in our last day b/c we were out late at the family wedding, & around 10:30am we were awoken by loud knocking on our door from housekeeping. My husband opened the door to the lady asking if they could clean, & he said we had the 'do not disturb' sign on, & she argumentatively said, 'Nuh-uh, that says goodnight!' So he replied, "what does it say right under the goodnight?" and then she finally admitted it said do not disturb, but also said, "Well I'm new!' like it was an excuse, and again, she was very rude and argumentative to him the whole time. He called down to the front desk to report her & the front desk manager was very apologetic & gave us a late checkout of 4 (we are Diamond anyways). All in all it was just an odd experience, hopefully they reprimanded the housekeeper.
This got quite long; Overall I would recommend this hotel & I would stay there again.
Jan 2, 2017, 7:47 pm
#7
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Durham, NC (RDU/GSO/CLT)
Programs: AA EXP/MM, DL GM, UA Platinum, HH DIA, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Platinum, Marriott Titanium, Hertz PC
Posts: 33,857
Stay Report - 12/24-25
Location: Pretty much an airport hotel in name only. Most of the RDU Airport hotels are clustered near exits 283 and 284 on I-40 or by Brier Creek north of the airport. This hotel is six miles from RDU in a sleepy part of Morrisville just off I-540 and NC-54. It's near a lot of office parks and some apartment complexes and not much else. Thankfully you can get a cheap Uber to pretty much anything.
Hotel: This was my first Hyatt House but you can consider me quite impressed. It felt like a Hyatt Place but with better rooms. There's a large breakfast area as well as a small bar with a pool table in front. There was coffee and water available 24/7 too which is quite nice as well as a fitness center and business center.
Check In: The only detraction. I was an additional guest on the room and I checked in first and the agent was thoroughly baffled by this and struggled mightily to figure out how to process it. Thankfully she was also friendly, just in need of some training I guess.
Room: Really really nice. Sometimes extended stay rooms are a bit bare bones but this was like a good hotel room with a kitchen. There was nice glassware in the kitchen too along with a nice sized closet and a good bathroom. Some negative points for the TV placement but that's just me being nitpicky. Overall quite nice.
Other: The shuttle runs every half hour all night to the airport. Breakfast is free and starts at 6:00.
This hotel is frequently about $72 on weekends and as long as you don't mind being a little far from everything it's a good hotel.
Location: Pretty much an airport hotel in name only. Most of the RDU Airport hotels are clustered near exits 283 and 284 on I-40 or by Brier Creek north of the airport. This hotel is six miles from RDU in a sleepy part of Morrisville just off I-540 and NC-54. It's near a lot of office parks and some apartment complexes and not much else. Thankfully you can get a cheap Uber to pretty much anything.
Hotel: This was my first Hyatt House but you can consider me quite impressed. It felt like a Hyatt Place but with better rooms. There's a large breakfast area as well as a small bar with a pool table in front. There was coffee and water available 24/7 too which is quite nice as well as a fitness center and business center.
Check In: The only detraction. I was an additional guest on the room and I checked in first and the agent was thoroughly baffled by this and struggled mightily to figure out how to process it. Thankfully she was also friendly, just in need of some training I guess.
Room: Really really nice. Sometimes extended stay rooms are a bit bare bones but this was like a good hotel room with a kitchen. There was nice glassware in the kitchen too along with a nice sized closet and a good bathroom. Some negative points for the TV placement but that's just me being nitpicky. Overall quite nice.
Other: The shuttle runs every half hour all night to the airport. Breakfast is free and starts at 6:00.
This hotel is frequently about $72 on weekends and as long as you don't mind being a little far from everything it's a good hotel.
May 19, 2017, 7:56 am
#8
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Sacramento, CA
Programs: AA Exec Plat, Hyatt,Marriott,BA,AS
Posts: 4,425
As a Lifetime Globalist, we have stayed at many Hyatt House hotels over many years. This is the best we've experienced. The rooms are very quiet, housekeeping is impeccable, and the breakfast simply wonderful. In addition to a nice buffet they offer made to order omelets that are very tasty. On the evening we arrived we also had a light dinner at the bar and it too was excellent. But the best feature of this hotel is the staff, from Mark (the general manager),to the front desk agents, the breakfast staff, and the housekeepers. Every single one of them is genuinely friendly, welcoming and very personable. We couldn't have been happier with our stay here.
Oct 16, 2017, 3:51 pm
#9
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: BER
Programs: BAEC GGL/GfL, Lufthansa SEN, Hilton Diamond, misc other stuff
Posts: 1,374
I've had a pretty bad experience here a few days ago.
Arrived at late night and did not get any Globalist benefits/welcome. I am not sure what this even might be.
My reservation was supposed to be 'away from the elevator' and it was right next to it. Since it was midnight (and 6AM body clock) with an early start the next day I didn't care about that.
As mentioned before the a/c works with sensors at thus it was off for the day. The display showed 88 degrees. While running the a/c was horribly loud and I completely turned off the fridge.
Still I had lots of noise in the room and it turned out that the fridge in the next room was rattling like crazy and even caused the tableware on my shelves to rattle.
While this could have been fixed by moving to another room (didn't try) they could not fix the WiFi. The advertised 'high-speed internet' is artificially limited to 1.5Mbps (that's like 150kBytes per second and not enough for screen sharing, video conferencing, Youtube/Netflix) even though there was clearly more capacity available.
I checked out the next morning and relocated to the Hyatt Place Durham/Southpoint roughly 10miles up the road. Their WiFi is limited to 5Mbps.
I have no idea why these companies would do this when the whole area is full of IT companies and customers.
Arrived at late night and did not get any Globalist benefits/welcome. I am not sure what this even might be.
My reservation was supposed to be 'away from the elevator' and it was right next to it. Since it was midnight (and 6AM body clock) with an early start the next day I didn't care about that.
As mentioned before the a/c works with sensors at thus it was off for the day. The display showed 88 degrees. While running the a/c was horribly loud and I completely turned off the fridge.
Still I had lots of noise in the room and it turned out that the fridge in the next room was rattling like crazy and even caused the tableware on my shelves to rattle.
While this could have been fixed by moving to another room (didn't try) they could not fix the WiFi. The advertised 'high-speed internet' is artificially limited to 1.5Mbps (that's like 150kBytes per second and not enough for screen sharing, video conferencing, Youtube/Netflix) even though there was clearly more capacity available.
I checked out the next morning and relocated to the Hyatt Place Durham/Southpoint roughly 10miles up the road. Their WiFi is limited to 5Mbps.
I have no idea why these companies would do this when the whole area is full of IT companies and customers.
Jan 13, 2020, 7:14 pm
#10
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
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Posts: 100,404
Is this the HH with RDU and also Brier Creek in its name?
I'm confused in that I think the Brier Creek hotel is newer and closer to the airport, but I wouldn't expect two HH properties to both claim to be RDU airport hotels.
I'm confused in that I think the Brier Creek hotel is newer and closer to the airport, but I wouldn't expect two HH properties to both claim to be RDU airport hotels.
Jan 13, 2020, 11:57 pm
#11
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 575
The Hyatt House Raleigh/RDU/Brier Creek did not open until after April 2017. Those pictures and this thread is for the other Hyatt House! That one is the Hyatt House Raleigh Durham Airport. I 100% would stay at the brier creek one. Newer and closer.
I don't understand why hotels do that. There are two Residence Inn's and Holiday Inn Express and Suites near there, both having airport in their name.
Jan 14, 2020, 2:05 am
#12
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: RDU
Posts: 679
The other HH is in a plaza with some small eateries (limited hours) that are an option if you don’t have a car. But the property is older and shows it, even with some refreshing of the rooms.
Jan 14, 2020, 7:31 am
#13
Join Date: Feb 2005
Programs: Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hyatt Globlist, Hilton Silver, Amtrak Select Plus, UA Silver
Posts: 2,025
Agree that the Brier Creek one is nicer. I've stayed many nights with awards (Brier Creek) and is one of the best value using points in the area. There is a pool and a very large gym (they even have a rowing machine). Will be staying at the BR again in 2 months.
The RDU HH is much older. It was nice back in the day but is now very out dated IMO.
The RDU HH is much older. It was nice back in the day but is now very out dated IMO.
Jan 14, 2020, 9:29 am
#14
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
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Posts: 100,404
Is there a thread here for HH Brier Creek? I couldn't find it.
BTW, I also noticed an airport HP at RDU which seems equally close, but appears to be older. It prices about the same as HH Brier Creek for my date, so to me the choice was a no brainer.
BTW, I also noticed an airport HP at RDU which seems equally close, but appears to be older. It prices about the same as HH Brier Creek for my date, so to me the choice was a no brainer.
Jan 14, 2020, 11:12 am
#15
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: RDU
Posts: 679
I'd probably put the HP in last place out of the three... The noise isolation is not so good and you can definitely hear planes. It is also older furnishing wise... Perfectly serviceable, but if the cost is equal between the three, it is a no brainer.