Recently stayed here for three nights at the end of a long road trip. Really excellent property!

I used a Suite Upgrade Award to reserve a one-bedroom River View Suite, which I believe is basically the highest suite category here (excluding the Presidential, which obviously isn’t upgrade-eligible), so understandably wasn’t upgraded beyond that one. I was placed in the corner suite on the seventh floor (746, second-highest floor, in the southeast corner). Although it’s on the corner of the building, it only has windows facing east, not south.



Suite location


One nice thing that you notice upon walking into the bedroom of the suite is that there are separate thermostats for the living room and bedroom (so you can keep the bedroom a little cooler for sleeping)—and they both respect either an auto fan option or an always-on option, set by the user (which is normal, but I encountered a few on this trip that didn’t have that choice, which was bothersome when it came to sleep).



Separate thermostats for the living room (right) and bedroom (left)


The bathroom can be accessed from both the living room and the bedroom. It’s nothing huge, but has a dual-sink setup and a nice shower with a dual showerhead. (Toilet seat was a little cracked in the middle, but not a big deal.) There were several little paper amenity kits provided on the counter in case the guest needs, say, a dental kit, “vanity kit” (not sure what that one contains, they just have those plain-text labels on the outside), etc., which I thought was a nice touch in case a guest either forgot or realized they needed something. (Of course, many of those items I think can be requested from the front desk, but this way they’re already there!)















Now, I feel like when you reserve a suite, there’s usually a desk, table, or other surface you can sit at to eat, work, etc., in the living room portion of the suite. Strangely, that’s not the case here; there’s no dining table, and there’s only a desk in the bedroom. One thing I like about a suite is the ability to set your laptop up in the living room, so it’s separate from your sleeping space (and if the screen wakes up in the middle of the night, its blinding light doesn’t wake you up). On a related note, this desk also happens to be one of the heaviest I’ve ever felt; it’s no easy task to decide you just want it in the living room for the duration of your stay. But—not recommending this option, mind you, or saying that I did this or anything—but with some furniture sliders from Target and a little determination, well…the desk does seem to fit quite nicely along the front window of the living room, looking out toward the river (just, obviously, if a person hypothetically did do this, they should of course slide it back how it was before checking out). (Actually, the name of the suite is a bit of a misnomer, as you’re not looking out at the Iowa River itself—it’s blocked by trees you can’t really see over—but rather, an artificial but beautiful large pond behind the hotel, which Google Maps labels “Iowa River Landing Wetland Park,” with a metal walkway you can use to walk or bike over the water.)





Beautiful fountain you can see from the room; it creates a nice rainbow effect when the light is just right!







A sign from the above-mentioned wetland park


There’s plenty of parking in the garage next to the hotel, which (as others have mentioned) is $8 a night, but has two levels of covered parking plus a surface level on top; there was always ample parking available while I was there (seriously, there was barely anyone even parked above level one). If you park on the surface level in the right spot, you can see your car fairly easily from the room—but it was unusually hot while I was there, and I drive a black vehicle, so I opted for the shade of the second floor. There’s plants/ivy (or something?) growing on these lattices on the outside of the garage, blocking the view of most of the garage, so especially with an east-facing room (river side), it’s difficult to park where you can keep an eye on your car and keep it out of the sun, if you care about that like I do, and the light differential makes it hard to see into the garage during the daytime anyway—but if you do the math and park in just the right spot on the second level, it’s possible to (barely) see your car at night (the garage is well-lit) through a little hole in the plants on the outside. (Side note: the garage is not directly connected to the hotel, so you will have to walk outside a bit (uncovered) to get there. This is probably just bad luck on my part, but they were washing the windows when I arrived, so I couldn’t use the main exit from the garage’s elevator lobby toward the hotel; I had to walk all the way west back toward the vehicle entrance, then backtrack all the way back east toward the hotel, with my suitcase and backpack in tow. At least I didn’t have to deal with any stairs! And while there’s only one elevator, in the middle of the garage along the south side, it’s glass and offers a nice partial view of the wetland park area.)



Daytime view of the parking garage from the suite


View of the hotel from the exact spot I parked in, in order to have a view of my car (at least at night) from the suite, i.e. the final two windows on the 7th floor


If you park there, you can (barely) keep an eye on your vehicle at night, while keeping it sheltered from the sun during the day. It always seemed like a very safe, secure area, though.


This is one of the (relatively) few Hyatt Regency locations with a Regency Club lounge that’s open (which I got access to as a Globalist). Breakfast here goes until 11 am Monday through Friday (with a sign directing you to the main restaurant on weekends, but I was only there during the week), and the buffet even includes hot items like scrambled eggs and a meat option, as well as a spread of fresh fruit, pastries, and other standard options. The first day, the meat was bacon, which was delicious and thick-cut (and not greasy!). The second day, I got there a few minutes before it was supposed to close, and it had already been taken down (I was usually one of the only people in the lounge, so I don’t think they were expecting someone to grab breakfast at 10:57, lol), but the attendant kindly offered me whatever I wanted since it was still on her cart in the back, so I asked for some of the scrambled eggs and bacon with some mixed berries; she said today the meat was ham, not bacon, so I asked for that, and was expecting a couple small pieces of that typical cold-cut-looking ham… and she brought out a plate with two of the biggest ham steaks I think I’ve ever seen, especially for a breakfast buffet like this!! This Regency Club does not skimp out on the good stuff. The only place I could argue they ‘skimp’ is that the coffee/espresso machine doesn’t have decaf, only regular, though I asked the attendant about that, too, and she grabbed me a decaf from the restaurant (as I unfortunately can’t have fully-caffeinated coffee anymore, but still love the taste). Incidentally, the Regency Club was closed on the second afternoon I was there, booked for a private event, but when I checked in, they gave me a free appetizer coupon for the restaurant to compensate for that (totally unprompted but appreciated!). They also gave me two Regency Club drink vouchers (beer, wine, or well drink), which I think were intended for a happy hour from 4:30 to 6:30 pm in the Regency Club, but I was there for about 40 minutes on Thursday during that time period and there was no attendant to order a drink from; I asked the front desk, and they told me I could redeem them for a drink at the bar/restaurant, which I was able to (got a Sutliff hard cider, though I ended up not using my second voucher).



Incredible breakfast that goes until 11 am!




Breakfast the second day - I actually got two of those big ham steaks but didn't think to take a photo until I'd already started chowing down, lol!




Beautifully-decorated space!


Tea selection


Afternoon cookies


Afternoon fruit and nuts


Espresso machine, which unfortunately only has regular, not decaf


Club closed one afternoon for a private event, but the front desk proactively gave me an appetizer voucher at check-in to make up for it


Food during afternoon happy hour - but there was no attendant to order a drink from; asked the front desk and was directed to use my vouchers at the main bar instead


Club info/hours, drink vouchers


Speaking of the bar/restaurant, Watermill, it’s absolutely excellent. (I don’t think I’ve found a full-service Hyatt yet that doesn’t have an excellent restaurant!) I ended up using that free appetizer coupon the day I arrived and getting a trio of brisket sliders (without the onions) as my meal, along with a side Caesar salad and an old-fashioned, and they were all great. For dessert, I tried the “cornbread shortcake,” not really sure what to expect—never heard of a cornbread-based dessert—but wow, highly recommended! Got a sirloin steak and a Manhattan the second night, and while the steak was a little undercooked (ordered medium-rare, came out still pretty rare), they cooked it up a little more and it came out perfect the second time. Great side of broccolini, too. (I didn’t realize this until I saw a sign the day I was leaving, but apparently old-fashioneds are $5 off on Wednesdays, so I should’ve gotten an old-fashioned that day instead—it’s literally my usual drink order, but of course I picked that day to switch it up!) Went for the filet the last night, and it didn’t disappoint.



The very well-stocked bar


The WiFi was fantastic here. My laptop and phone autoconnected, and I assume it auto-chose the premium option since I get it complimentary as an elite member, but Speedtest gave a result of 110 Mbps down, 140 up! Fast and reliable.

There’s a nice indoor pool and hot tub on the first floor. There’s also a neat room next to that area, labeled Pool Lounge, which has a microwave, some tables and chairs, a couple board games, and a giant upright Connect Four game, which I suppose would be a fun area for families to hang out.





Microwave and board games for guests to use




(Forgive the darkness, I took these photos at night, but during the day it's nice and bright)




All things considered, this is a really outstanding Hyatt Regency; very glad I stopped here on my trip, and I’d be glad to stay again if driving back through the area!