dtwdoc

If you're looking for a specific manager which may not be listed on the website, you may want to call the Diamond line

Gunner14

Thanks for the tip. I've sent an email to the generic address but if I don't hear back I will certainly try your suggestion.

Gunner14

Quick recap of our three night stay at this property.

Had booked three nights, the first as an award, and the second two nights as a paid stay upgraded to splash suite using a DSU. I saw that the splash suite was also available for the first night and while I fully recognize that I wasn't entitled to it I reached out to the property asking if I could be confirmed into the suite that night (did not hear back).

Upon arrival, check-in was smooth. I was told that I had been upgraded (my assumption was just the first night) to a terrace suite (1011). The host escorted us to the room and showed us around. The room was fine but not particularly impressive. A lot of wasted space and the terrace is next to useless when it's 30 degrees outside.

The next morning we had breakfast in the restaurant and after a ~5 minute wait had a pleasant experience. Total came to about ~$90 and nothing appeared on the bill. After breakfast I inquired about when we could move over to the splash suite. The host seemed confused and went and got the manager. The manager told us that we didn't need to switch rooms and had been 'upgraded' for the 3 nights. I said that we would prefer to switch. I left it with her to figure out and she called up about 30 minutes later stating that we could just leave our bags packed and they would move them over at some point that day.

That afternoon we moved to the splash suite (505). How the terrace suite is considered an 'upgrade' I'm not sure. There is no comparison in my opinion and the splash suite is hands down a better suite (size, view, tub, bathroom, living room are all much better).

Our second morning at the restaurant was an absolutely horrid experience. We had called down 15 minutes prior to 'reserve' a window table. Upon arrival we were taken to a table in the middle of the restaurant. When we inquired about the open table, we were told that it was reserved for someone else? We tried to explain that the table was, in fact, reserved for us but just got a firm "No." Interestingly enough, the table sat empty for the next 45 minutes until they added 2 more place settings and a family of 4 came in. Our waiter was equally as helpful. We had three interactions with him. The first of which was "Drinks?". Then the next was "Are you ready to order?" and then flagging him down to get the check at the end. He didn't bring the food, never checked on us throughout the meal (I sat without coffee for about 30 minutes), and was just very short overall. Not a good experience. This check was slightly less and also was removed from the bill.

The final day we had breakfast in the room, which arrived quickly and was delicious. This bill was about $100 but was also removed from the bill. $75 sounds like a generous allowance but in practice it's easy to exceed that without any real extravagance.

Overall, a very good stay with the exception of the terrible restaurant experience. We would go back in heartbeat (location cannot be beat) but would probably just stick to room service breakfast.

ThreeA4Me

"Terrible" is a tad harsh

Kacee

Sounds right to me. When breakfast costs $100, that level of service qualifies as "terrible" in my book.

Matches my limited experience, btw. I found the staff at breakfast to be inexperienced and borderline incompetent. I don't think the restaurant's paying very much, and it shows.

dtwdoc

I agree, some of the waitstaff seem poorly trained. I wonder if could in part be due to transferring some of the employees to the PHNY (as per the PHNY thread). On one occasion during my most recent stay, breakfast was completely botched. Extremely long wait (obvious that my order had not been processed), coffee came out wrong, etc. HOWEVER, the waiter promptly offered to cover the bill. I was on vacation and was in no rush (and actually didn't even realize half of the errors) so didn't care.

Gunner14

Not really. The level of service was appalling even for a diner, let alone a 'high-end' restaurant.

Scifience

Stayed here for two nights this past week and overall had a fairly good experience.

Had an "Extra Large View Double" room for three people, as booked (no upgrade, likely because they had few other rooms with the two beds required given I was traveling with my parents). Room and bathroom were both quite large and very nice. The room overlooked the public library and 5th Ave, but we didn't have any complaints related to street noise.

My only real complaint was with breakfast: service was fine, and the food was good, but the $75 credit is a joke. With three people, we managed to spend ~$150 including 18% gratuity each morning sticking to juice, coffee, and one entree each. I politely noted that I thought this was within the limits of the diamond breakfast at checkout, and after some grumbling and me having to offer to pull up the T&Cs on my iPhone, the charges were removed...

Hyatt really needs to address this somehow. Either crack down on the offending properties or update the T&Cs (perhaps with a scaled $xx per registered guest credit, or property-specific restrictions like DSUs), but the current situation is incredibly confusing and really tarnishes what would otherwise be great guest experiences.

MDWCommuter

I have one night booked on C+P for May 2015, but I booked it months ago. Now trying to use a DSU and being told that it's not available to use DSU on C+P bookings even though suites are available.

I haven't gotten more than a few pages back in this thread, is that typical for this property?

dtwdoc

No, that doesn't sound right. Unless things have changed VERY recently, you CAN use a DSU at this hotel. However, I believe this is based on standard suite availability... Did you talk to someone on the Diamond line or at the hotel?

mmgm

From my recent experience they have become reluctant to use DSU with C+p.

dtwdoc

Did you try to use your DSU through the hotel or the diamond line?

MDWCommuter

I called the Diamond Line, although it wasn't particularly sparkly today. So maybe it's a case of the B team working on a holiday.

mmgm

I contacted the hotel.

RTW1

C+P + DSU comes out of a different inventory than fully paid rates + DSU. It's more restricted, not just at this property.