IK in Seattle

I stayed at the Manchester Saturday night. At check-in I was told they had just opened the new tower that day, and I could 'break in a brand new room' if I wanted to.

The room decor was pretty standard. I had an end room on the 22nd floor. It looks like the RC will still be in the old tower; so most Diamonds will be put there by default.

The few employees I came in contact with were very friendly, and obviously very excited and proud of the new addition.

The new lobby between the towers was impressive, but they were not using it yet.

RMC500

Having stayed in both, I would definitely recommend the Hyatt over the Marriott. Although both hotels sit side by side, and you can easily walk from one to the other, all of the Hyatt rooms (at least in the "old" tower) have water views, and the public areas are much nicer and more tranquil. In contrast, on my previous stays, the Marriott public areas were always jammed up, noisy, and full of conventioneers, the rooms are not as nice, and many of the rooms have non-water views.

IK in Seattle

I have stayed in the Original Tower, but the last time was a couple of years ago. I don’t think there is a significant difference in the rooms between the new and original towers. Since the RC will be in the original tower, that is where most Diamonds will want to be. If you are not going to have access to the RC or if it is closed, I would pick the new tower just for its ‘newness’.

The room I had was an end room, which is preferable since it is about 25% bigger than a standard room and had sweeping views of the harbor and Seaport Village. I suppose you can ask for a suite and see what happens, normally I don’t request rooms that a better that what I paid for just based on status. I prefer to be surprised with what type of upgrade I’m given.

I’ve never understood how this hotel gets out of participating in promos like FFN. I could understand something like the Park Tokyo, but why the Manchester? It does not seem very team playerish.

NJUPINTHEAIR

IK in Seattle:


Thank you for the info! I think that the reason that certain hotels can opt out is due to their decision to opt out of certain aspects of promos and redemption reimbursements from Hyatt.

I read a news article recently that stated that San Diego leads the country in hotel occupancy rate at around 88%!!

I am positive that the stat is far greater for hotels located near the convention center -- as the Manchester Hyatt, certainly is. Moreover, there had to be some reason why they went to the expense of building a second tower, and I would hazard a guess that was the reason. If so, it would not make any economic sense for that property to participate in the redemption of FFNs.

At least one can take solace with the fact that there are other Hyatt where one can redeem FFNs in the San Diego area, and the fact that you can still earn FFNs at the Manchester Hyatt, but I certainly understand your point.

Again, many thanks for your observations and advice!

SEA_Tigger

I attend San Diego Comic Con every year and usually stay at the Hyatt (before they started construction of tower 2).

Only received an RC room once (never been more than basic Gold with Hyatt, as SDCC is my only Hyatt stay a year on average) and I found it pretty small, but then they probably gave me the smallest one there. The hallway is cool, though, since it is floor-to-ceiling glass. The "regular" rooms I have been were bigger, but all were nice.

I find the staff very helpful, but my compatriots have reported the exact opposite on their two SDCC stays, so they now pick the Mariott. This year, I also chose the Mariott to be with them.

I received a corner room with a view of "Carrier Row", which was part of a hospitality suite (I'm a Silver in Mariott). The rooms are quite small, but the staff were truly amazing. The lobby is humongous, but yes, it can get crowded.

I'll probably keep with the Mariott since I need the nights (I do a majority of my stays (all leisure) at Mariotts), but I find the Hyatt to be a more spacious property.

westcoastman

There are far better Hyatts in the world and almost every single one of them DO NOT opt out of the FFN promo. I find their lack of participation particularly disturbing and will not patronize the hotel despite the fact that the rooms at La Jolla are so run down.

Most may disagree with me but the hotel really boils my blood by opting out so I appreciate the opportunity to get this off my chest...

777 global mile hound

I am going to put my vote in for the Hyatt Manchester.
A very good staff and a hotel who has had the same outstanding GM for many years.
They know how to solve problems in house should they occur.
They also know how to for the most part to welcome guests and take care of them
Not to say this is a hotel with a perfect team.
It will be facinating how this property holds up with another tower to manage.
On my last few stays prior to the new grand opening not a single hitch.
The rooms are basic hotel guest rooms nothing special.As a Diamond I have never had anything other then a guest room.
But the views combined with Gold Passport perks and some of the better service in San Diego makes this a strong choice.
The public areas look exceptional.

The Regency Club does a great job and currently has a can do team of eager to please staffers.
Its the total sum of all of the parts that make this hotel so satisfying.



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AA & Starwood,Marriott Platinum
Hyatt, Hilton Diamond
Swissotel Club Gold
U/A 1k

NJUPINTHEAIR

OK, I can post again and I am just back from San Diego. I have a surprise for you and that is that although I usually tout the Hyatt properties over the Marriott properties, what I have seen of these two is the opposite.

OK here is the scoop. My wife checked in first under my Marriott Gold status and was not assigned a room on the Concierge Lounge floor, but was placed 2 floors below -- on the 22nd floor, with a marina and aircraft carrier view.

In all honesty, I was expecting the hotel and the room to be somewhat tired looking from what I had read, except from our good friend Paradocs, and he was correct!

Like the new Hyatt Tower, the tower that houses the Marriott Concierge Lounge, is a newer tower, as well, although I don't know the age differences.

From what I could see, the older Marriott Tower has many water view rooms with balconies, while the newer tower does not have many with balconies, at all, as mine did not. However, there were rooms in my tower that did not have water view rooms, and I assume that the older tower also has rooms that have no water view.

Contrary to my expectations, I was pleased with the size of my room, and I was not even near a corner. Perhaps the newer Marriott Tower rooms are larger?? I do not know, but I was satisfied with the room size the decor, the bathroom size, etc.

The one thing that was awful was that the mattress was a mushy foam job and I hate that. However, that was remedied by my requesting a bed board.

The hall and room carptets were quite new, and as Paradocs had described. Maid service was excellent each day with a pleasant room deodorizer left after after they had departed. Each night at around 7 PM I saw someone vacuuming the hallways.

The conciege Lounge was nice and was always open -- something that the Hyatt lounge is not.

I had the breakfast in the Marriott Lounge -- standard Cont'l breafast -- sorry, did not have any evening hor doeurves, or cookies, but it is open from 6:30 AM to 10 PM daily. After having talked to one of the hotel managers describing my surprise and happiness with the hotel, he thanked me for my comments. He was instrumental in replacing the standard coffee in the Concierge Lounge -- the Something Bean -- which is still in each room -- with Starbucks -- and I had advised that one really tastes the difference!! Hyatt already has Starbucks in their lounges, as I recall, but as I have noted, the Hyatt Regency Club at the Manchester closes for some time after breakfast -- when I visited the hotel.

Moreover, I liked the public areas at the Marriott, and the floors were gleaming and well waxed. The business center was efficient, as well, and finally, it is a bit closer walk to the Gaslamp quarter than the Hyatt.

As for the Hyatt, I ventured over there to see the property and to decide whether I was going to relocate us, and I chose not to.

The lobby is far, far grander than the Marriott, this is true. The Regency Club is a bit smaller, but is decorated in a more formal way than the Marriott's club, and as I noted, it was not continuosly open.

The room that I was shown was a 2 bedded room without a marina view. Admittedly, they would have been able to satisfy my requirements for a King bed and a marina view later, had I actually checked in later, but I was not impressed with the size of the room that I was shown and this was in the original tower, where the Club was located. So too, the decor wa a bit more tired, IMHO, than my room at the Marriott.

Finally the clincher was the fact that the Marriott pool and surrounding area wins hands down as it has a "waterfall" backdrop and it shaded by various trees and palm trees. The Manchester pool, as seen only from above, was a standard large concerete surrounded pool.

I do not know of the health club facilities at the Hyatt, but at the Marriott, one leaves the hotel via the 4th floor, and the club -- and six tennis courts for use by hotel guests, appear to be on top of the San Diego Convention center. The Health club was well stocked with equipment, as well.

Given the above, I chose to remain at the Marriott. I am sure that I also would have enjoyed a stay at the Hyatt, but given that inertia wins over moving, the fact that my room that I already had at the Marriott was quite large for my needs, the staff was extremely diligent in meeting my needs -- I forgot to add that as I was not able to go to the Concierge Lounge on the last day as my plane was leaving at 8 AM and the lounge opened at 6:30 AM, I was about to just forget about the breakfast until one of the attendants -- Tina -- who has been there for 14 years, gave me 2 breakfast Certs for a Health Start Breakfst -- which allowed me to have room service to deliver it to my room at 6 AM free of any charge -- although I did supplement the service charge with a gratutity which was not required. Inasmuch as the pool was also nicer, and the fact that Marriott has a double points promotion at this time, I surprisingly did not stay at the Hyatt but I have no regrets that I did not.

Inasmuch as the Manchester Hyatt does not participate in a FFN redemption, in any event, if I were going to stay again in that area, I certainly would consider the Hyatt, but I think I would be partial to the Marriott property, between the two.

RTWSTARALLIANCE

Preface: In SAN for service.

Rate: AAA rate BREAKF of $152.15. Includes breakfast buffet for two. GP2000 also.

Transportation: Cab from SAN commuter terminal less than $11 including tip.
$7 to downtown office.

Check-in: I called upon arrival into SAN to make sure it would be ok to check-in. Stated I was a Diamond member and to come on over. Upon arrival the room they had blocked was not yet available as it was 9:00 AM. Agent was able to find a full bay facing room on 38. Given RC access. Old tower which contains RC. As D given amenity choice and asked for buffet AAA coupons. Picked imported cheese, breads, small fruits and juice combination. Nantucket Nectars juices. Nice.

Perks: As noted above. A good value for this Hotel.

Room: The room is very standard. Nothing special. Renovated but furniture dated.

Communications: HSIA 24 hours $9.95.

Location: Close to everything in downtown area.

Closing: I would stay again. Here for a conference next month. Be advised as the floors get higher in older tower rooms are not on both sides but either or. Also design of building will obstruct some views. Still very nice. My room was near elevator bank.

Also be advised rooms towards to backside get noise from train tracks and there seems to be lots of emergency vehicle traffic with sirens.

SEA_Tigger

Checked in today and find that the South Tower is a nice improvement over the North (based on past experiences). They gave me 2085 which is a corner room (xx85 and xx86) and is about 25% larger floor plan then the "regular" rooms. Has views of the Marriott, Convention Center, and downtown from the three sets of windows.

Visited the RC on Wednesday as a guest of monitor. Extremely small, but they did put out a hot spread including chicken terriyaki skewers, chicken salad, fruit and cheese plate, and an assortment of drinks.

Pool are looks nice, though not as big as the Marriott's.

You do hear the freight trains, as well as the trolleys (though the latter are much better muffled), so if you are a light sleeper, consider ear plugs as the freight trains come through around 1am, on average.

bbbb

Its open everyday year round.

RTWSTARALLIANCE

I did have a chance to visit the Lounge on Friday evening. The spread and offerings were very nice. I was actually pleasantly surprised. A card in the room indicated the RC Lounge is open on the weekends. I left this morning before the Lounge opened. Someone please post the times if you have a chance. It was necessary to have the agent input the G2 code on my reservation again. I left with a invoice showing G2. A good stay. The walls are a little thin and that train sounds its' horn as it passes. Regards

RTWSTARALLIANCE

Preface: At Hotel for five nights for meetings. Second stay at Hotel. Room and tax paid by corporate.

Rate: Negotiated corporate rate. We had a room block and frankly the allocation of any special rooms was very limited due to the conservative nature of this firm. So it was ALL about status for this stay.

Transportation: I had received a couple of cab vouchers but frankly the rate from SAN to the Hotel is so low did not bother to use them. I also decided not the rent a car because of lack of use and the self parking fee of I believe $20 per night.

Check-in: All about the status. Since this was my second stay in less than one month and I knew the chances of a upgrade out of our room block were low I faxed the GM directly. The day before arrival I received a call from the Hotel. They had blocked a Business Plan room with a full water view and of course I had Club access because of my Diamond status. I asked about using a Diamond Suite upgrade cert and was told to check on day of arrival at desk.

The check-in desk was EXCELLENT. The agent worked hard. I was first offered a room/parlor suite combination but was told I would need to move on the last night. The agent worked harder and got me the same thing for all night in the Seaport Tower on a very very very high floor with a view of the carrier Midway. I was also given my choice of a Diamond amenity and Club access.

Perks: As noted above. Regency Club Lounge is on 32 in Harbour Tower. Must have a coded card key to reach this floor.

Room: I had rooms 62 and 64. 64 was a regular room and very nicely done. 62 was a parlor suite. You enter a marble entry with a full bathroom and closet. From this you have a living room with comfy side chair, full sofa and another frankly less comfortable chair. A cabinet contains a murphy bed. The entertainment center contained a tv along with combination radio/cd/dvd player. I had a dining room table for eight and a full kitchen/bar set-up absent stove. The frig was a full size and the area contained a sink. I have now been in both Towers and the Seaport if definitely nicer. Only disadvantage is the Club is in the Harbour Tower. The room combination was perfect. We had a party in that room every night.

Communication: HSIA $9.95 24 hours.

Location: Excellent. We walked about and found the location ideal.

Closing: I have never ever been so pleased to have status with a hotel chain. My Hyatt Diamond card worked great and I am very thankful of the staff for taking such good care of us. I did use the Spa and it was ok. Not over the top but just ok. They do have a private pool which many were happy to pay the I believe $5 fee to use. Much more private. The workout facilities were also nice.

SEA_Tigger

I too like this property. I stayed for the final night of Comic Con and they parked me in an xx86 twin corner room in the Seaport Tower and it was wonderful. If you need a King, ask for an xx85 room in that tower.

The Regency Club was nice (I was guested in) with a nice chicken salad, cheeses and fruits and terriyaki chicken skewers on offer.

The front desk staff were very nice. I was staying via the convention travel agent on a convention rate, so Hyatt GP couldn't help me (no visibility to my reservation), so I stopped by a couple days early and had them add my GP number (probably helped me get the xx86 room - I am a Platinum) and the GP2 bonus.

RTWSTARALLIANCE

I also contacted our meeting director and had my GP number put on my res. BTW. In the Seaport Tower rooms 51 and 52 are great.