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Old Apr 21, 2007, 9:16 pm
  #23  
Snoopyo
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: YOW
Programs: AC down to Orange lol, Marriott Silver?
Posts: 3,217
Thumbs down Hyatt Place Atlanta Buckhead - significant teething problem still

Okay, I originally made a reservation at HP Airport South for entertainment rate of $79 due to a late incoming flight but HP cannot tell me if that rate would earn stay credit and be eligible for the HP bonus offer. The next rate up is the AAA for $89. Thus I decided to go instead for the Buckhead one for $98 and move to an earlier flight since Buckhead seemed to be a nicer area with things to do on a Saturday night.

Check in was okay. Apparently they just went through training at another HP in Atlanta (Alphrette?) last week and the staff a guy in his mid to late 20s and a young girl about late teens or early 20s had very little idea of the Hyatt GP.

I asked about diamond amenity point and they described the bonus points - no clue. I booked on hyatt.com but my reservation in the Amerisuite system do not have my GP number. I have to ask them to put it in and I had to ask him to put me down as a Diamond under membership type They are still renovating the galley / guest kitchen and the grounds leading to the hotel entrance is under massive construction outside with turned earth and this is also true in the open space next door. Definitely not very appealing.

Got to my room and the room itself was rather nice with a large plasma TV and a comfy looking sitting area and nice new bed. I realized quickly that the walls are paper thin. I can hear the people across the hall from me through 2 sets of closed doors I very rarely go and ask for different room but I did it this time. Another guest was getting keys rekeyed and she said there were people knocking on her door in the middle of the night last night. Apparently, there is a wedding party, prom guests and a hen party in the hotel for tonight :O If I had known, there was no way I would have booked HP Buckhead and I would have either kept HP Airport or gone for one of the full service Hyatt. I am getting too used to travel to reasonable hotels to be in one with a lot of kids on spring break type mode. When I returned from dinner, the hen party was outside and there were 3 security people and 2 front desk staff.

In addition to the construction, the partiers, there are little things still not fully up and running. The first room on the 7th floor had a safe but the new one on the 3rd did not. That does not give me much comfort when the hotel has 3 security guards in the lobby and outside at 10:30-11:00pm. I travel with laptop, ipod, cash, cc, etc which I typically want to put in the safe. They never disclosed to me that the new room did not have a safe.

But despite all the security guards, when I reported that my cordless phone handset does not work and I can only make calls on speaker phone, the front desk guy could not come up.

Other stuff that is lower is the scale of irratants: the styrofoam cups are pretty chinzy for coffee... HP should get their own cups printed for wax cups or use mugs. Also, I did not find anything about Atlanta in the room, like the basic free tourist magazine. When I checked out the Grand Hyatt, I talked to the concierge and got information there.

The Grand Hyatt Buckhead down the street was so much nicer and they would have given me access to the RC. It is small but perfectly fine and I see an evening appetizer spread and free computer with printer and they would have . I think their rate was maybe $189 and I found out I can get my client's corp rate for a bit less and AAA rate for around $149. If I had known how much teething problem the HP Buckhead has and multiple party groups, I would have stayed at GH Buckhead and forget about the bonus points.

It is a shame, I like the concept but I think it takes a while to work out the teething issues and to bring the quality up from the Amerisuite standards which is a low cost low service extended stay property.

I have called customer service and mentioned that the website should really say if the hotel is still under renovation and/or when it is opened so guests can judge if it might still be in its "teething" stages....

I am very surprised that the rate on the website shows $199 during the week. I would be extremely unhappy if I paid $199 and had a lot of issues.

BTW, HP Buckhead do have some kind of shuttle that runs 7am to 9pm within 2 mile radius but it was not there when I checked in and it was not there when I left for dinner so might not be something you can count on.

Last edited by Snoopyo; Apr 21, 2007 at 10:14 pm
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