Hyatt house (Summerfield) - Gaithersburg,MD - REVIEW - MASTER THREAD
Aug 30, 2009, 11:03 am
Decided to do a last minute trip to DC prior to the kids going back to school.
Had a really good rate at DC Grand from Thursday-Sunday but wanted to get a jump on the week. Decided to stay Wednesday at Summerfield Suites and play it by ear for the Thursday. Actually we stayed here for the first 2 nights and moved to Grand (big mistake).
First thing about the location. Hope you have a GPS 'cause the hotel is on a side street that isn't really marked. Called the location prior to get directions and couldn't really understand them -- only exit off highway and not much else. Once we actually found the place was very pleased.
It's not in the same office cluster as the other chains nearby. It's a bit off the beaten path. You definitely need a car but comp shuttle in 5 mile radius is offered up till 8ishPM.
We checked in at 6:30PM.. surprised we didn't hit any traffic on beltway coming from CT. Evening offerings were going on. It was the cookout Wednesday theme. Didn't realize that there was soft drinks for kids on tap as well as beer and wine. Check in was quick. Had one bedroom king room.
Room was clean, up to date with a nice size plazma tv. It wasn't terribly spacious but adaquate (traveling w/2 kids). Unfortunately in the summer the location is very noisy (crickets or such) and even with windows etc shut could hear them inside. After a while it wasn't an issue w/ a/c running and tv. At night I guess it turned into a filter since we didn't have any problems sleeping either in living room or bedroom. In the AM didn't hear any outside traffic and nearly overslept for the breakfast. Unf. we got there exactly at 9:20AM and they were clearing things out. Was able to grab some eggs to take back to sleeping son. There were the usual assortment of cereals, yogurts scrambled eggs and one breakfast meat. It wasn't very busy then but I guess it was 'cause we were late. Next day they had eggs and cheese blintzas as well as bacon (very crispy and not terribly fatty) in additions to muffins, breads and topings. Got there around 8:30 and by 9AM the rush came in. Seemed to be a few extended families since the accomodations suited them. Items were replenished quickly though the staff at times had a hard time keeping up with crowd for plates.
We had a few problems in room but when addressed by front desk (at around 10PM at night) were handled quickly and didn't need additional reminders.
Decided to stay another night and postpone moving into DC. Since DH and I have GP accounts decided to have one night on each account to maximize points (m/c bonus, G1 and Diamond) and was told "no problem". When we finally checked out there was a bit of a problem. I had booked the second night on the internet and it seemed that they merged the 2 nights onto on folio. Had it fixed though it took a bit longer than I had hoped.
There was defintely a mix of guests at this location, weekly regulars who commute home on weekend, large families and some transient. Was surprised to see that the pool actually had a lifeguard on duty all the time. The exercise room had a nice assortment of equipment and was accessible at all hours.
All in all we will definitely return to this location if we plan to return to D.C. and especially with their cheap weekend rates would make an ideal MR for FFN hopping with weekend rates going for $68 pp. with breakfast included, no charges for parking or internet and the comp shuttle to Metro station. Also there's a supermarket less than a 5 minute leisurely stroll if you're staying longer (full stove/oven, fridge) to make things quite comfortable.
Carolyn
Jun 1, 2011, 5:37 pm
HYATT house Gaithersburg
200 Skidmore Blvd Gaithersburg, MD US 20877
Not very good... (1 Photo)
HYATT house Gaithersburg
I have only been here one night(out of three) and have to say that this place has a lot of room for improvement.
Check In
Parking - I got in late around 11:00pm. Check-in was smooth and was given a room on the first floor(more on that later). Went to park the car and could not find a spot. This is a suburban hotel and they should have adequate space for everyone to park their cars. Not the case. Ended up parking along one of the curbs and I was not the only one to do so. However, today I came back around 5:30 and there was ample parking.
Room
Insects - Like I mentioned I was assigned a first floor(accesible) room. Walked in and started settling in and noticed an ant crawling on the side table in the living room. Was willing to forgive that but I walked over to the kitchen area and saw a bug fly out of the sink. Called down to the FD and was told the ants are a known issue on the first floor rooms. So, if this is a known issue why would you put people there?? Was given a third floor room. Next day I come back and decide to call GP CS(because of issue #3) and as I am on the phone with them, I notice the same type of flying bug hanging out on the blinds in the living room(now on the third floor). Clearly, they are having a problem and cannot get it under control.
Free Internet - Apparently, they just got a new wireless internet provider. And, unless you are a fortune teller there is no way of knowing. The info card in the rooms are from the old provider. No one said anything at check in. I spent 20 minutes trying to get online and calling the previous provider's CS line until I gave up and called the FD. You will need a username and pw. Finally, I get online. Now I know that Free Wireless internet can be slow because of all of the people using it. But this was unbelievably slow. I wanted to check my work email and needed to download about 7.5mb in attachments. It literally took 30 minutes just to download my unread emails. It was a trip back in time to 56k dial up.
Service
I spoke to the manager prior to the second bug and internet issues and he offered me 3500 GP points. In my opinion that is not really enough since this is such a problem filled stay(and I've only been here 1 night). The person that took my complaint at GP CS was great and said he'd need to forward my complaints to the Management here since I am still staying and offered to follow up with me after checkout.
Dining
There are some good things about this hotel, the suites are a good size, especially for one person, lots of room to stretch out. The breakfast is a good spread with eggs, bacon, waffles, cereal, yogurt, fruit etc. They had a cookout today with burgers and hot dogs which was nice.
Overall
Overall, I don't think I would stay here again especially considering that I am paying a higher rate than I would normally pay at a FS property. There are also many other options to choose from in the area.
EDIT: Attaching picture of the bug and I did a speed test and the result was 0.06Mbps which is the equivalent of 60K, slight faster than dial-up internet.
Last edited by newtraveler123; Jun 1, 2011 at 6:09 pm Reason: Attaching picture
May 6, 2014, 5:04 pm
Had same parking problem as another has noted. Saw many electric company trucks, but eventually did find a spot way in the back.
Very helpful friendly staff, good breakfast, large suites, etc.
But haven't stayed at a HH for a year and isn't there supposed to be happy hour food and beer & wine? Seems to have disappeared here, but there is a nice bar if you want to pay.
Nov 27, 2017, 2:04 pm
Nov 28, 2017, 1:24 pm