tinnub

My wife and I stayed at the Fair Lakes VA Hyatt on 11/06/04 and were
very disappointed. Upon check-in we asked about breakfast the next
day and were told it was from 6:30 until 11:00. At 10:15 we were
told in the restaurant that only the Champagne brunch was available.
When we said that we were told the regular breakfast was served until 11,
the host removed the sign and said we were wrong. I went to the
front desk who them talked to the host who then agreed to let us only pick
from the eggs, meat and potatoes, which was only what we really
wanted. After returning to our table at 10;30, the host told us
that the heat on the food was turned off at 10:00 a.m. because of the the brunch and that was why we were required to have the Champagne brunch. It was a safety issue for us. Of course that was after we were told to
choose that food and had already eaten it.
When the bill came, I used the breakfast certificate that I was
given at check-in and was told I need two. I then went back to the front
desk and was told "our policy is one per room". That is opposite to
the Diamond benefit guide. I filled out the customer service form
and the front desk mgr. apologized, but still didn't understand. I
think he just wanted to say he was sorry, but they did credit the cost of
the second breakfast.
I emailed Karen at GP who forwarded the email to Hyatt and 10 days later still no response. I guess they are too busy working on changes to the GP program.
Like other stays with service issues, it is becoming hit or miss, with the hotels essentially having the final say on Diamond benefits. The T & C of Gold Passport are meaningless.

tinnub

Recieved an apology today from the GP concierge who said they would take steps to improve the service and insure it would not happen again. The response also confirmed what we believed, that all registered guests in a Diamond's room are entitled to breakfast certs. if there is no RC club or it is closed.
I am glad they finally responded and that they do take these things seriously.

TrojanHorse

FL is the worst of all the DC area hyatts.. i've spent many a night here as our office was a 1/4 mile away.. I can't stand this property.. thank goodness we moved next to the Reston Hyatt which is so much better than the dump at Fair Lakes.. but if you have to be in FL.. get an end room those are cool

thezipper

I'll second that! those end rooms are like 2x the size of the other rooms!

tinnub

Now you tell me. Eventhough Diamond, didn't get the better room. All in all a bad stay!

NJUPINTHEAIR

I just received an e-mail notice from Hyatt stating the following:



Hyatt Fair Lakes has completed a $4.5 million guestroom and corridor renovation. Guestrooms are updated with a sophisticated new look featuring the Hyatt Grand Bed™ with a pillow-top mattress, a Herman Miller desk chair, contemporary artwork and marble surrounded bathtub.


http://fairlakes.hyatt.com/hyatt/hot...d=2126&start=5


It does appear from photos 5 - 10 that the rooms have been renovated, but the proof is in the pudding. Anyone stay there lately?

Also, its room rates are fairly inexpensive on weekends.

thezipper

By Stay... do you mean actually going to the room? The rooms are nice... but the suite they have needs some work. The renovations are similar to what they did over at Hyatt Dulles... base rate of $98 on the weekend nets about 4,500 points a stay thru Dec.

azepine00

I stayed there a month ago on a regency floor and the room was pretty nice. I recall blueish-greyish style with artwork on the walls.
That was my only stay there so I can not compare to what it was in the past but I'll gladly return.

NJUPINTHEAIR

Thanks for the replies. Probably will check it out as part of FFN earnings now that it is not horrendous. I think the tripadvisor reviews must be pretty old as I recall them being not so thrilled with the hotel.

Now, I don't have to travel to Dulles on a mattres run!

soccerpapi

Hi,

I stayed at the Hyatt Fair Lakes three nights last week.

The rooms were very big, almost like a suite with a separate seating area with a couch and love seat and appropiate tables and lamps. The room was in excellent condition and I remarked to a friend that it seemed that the hotel had been remodeled since I stayed there about the same time last year.

The bed was very comfortable, it felt like it was new. They had the new stereo and it sounded really good. The bath products are high quality, the coffee in the room is a nice touch and very easy to make. Really good quality iron and iron board in the room, it was easy to touch up some dress shirts.

The staff at the hotel including the front desk team, the bell staff, waiters and waitresses and bartenders were all very friendly and accomodating.

One of the bellmen was very helpful with driving directions. My friends said the Hyatt shuttle bus will take you to a mall for shopping and the driver of the shuttle bus was very courteous.

The breakfast buffet was tasty with lots of choices and the beer in the lounge was cold and served in a chilled glass.

Parking is free and the area is very pleasant to go for a walk or a morning run.

I would recommend this hotel for business or pleasure. Hyatt management is doing something right with this hotel and its employees. It is defintely worth staying at, especially if you like a hotel with nice, clean rooms and good service from the hotel staff. It would make a great romantic or family weekend getaway. It would also be a nice base for out of town guests over the holidays.

I hope this helps.

soccer

richee

Fair Lakes has no Regency club.... thus no regency floor.

I was just there last night. I end up staying there several times a year. Service is always friendly and they treat Diamonds well. I am usually given an "Executive Room," one of those large semi-circular rooms at two ends of the building (image No. 5 in the photo-link provided by NJUPINTHEAIR). But not this time.... they put me in the Presidential Suite on the 14th (top) floor.

I also stay at Hyatt Dulles a lot... an almost identical building. There, I have never ever received a room upgrade there in about 2 dozen stays as a Diamond. Any one ever get a ungrade at Dulles?

NJUPINTHEAIR

Hate to tell you this but got the Prez suite at IAD -- nice but nothing truly spectacular.

Thanks for the info re Fair Lakes!

thezipper

Agree... Prez suite there is outdated, but the Junior Suites aren't too bad... see my yahoo photos link in my profile for some pics

soccerpapi

I think you meant the previous poster who mentioned the Regency floor, as I did not mention this in my post.

I believe this hotel calls rooms on the 12th and 14th floors - Business Plan rooms that allow access to a Business Plan office on the 14th floor. The Business Plan rate I paid also included the cold breakfast buffet, with an upgrade to the hot buffet for USD4.00, payable at the restaurant.

Have a good weekend all.

soccer

SoManyMiles-SoLittleTime

I stayed there quite often last year. Pic 5 is one of the end rooms with the panoramic windows. One big room, unlike their regular rooms that have kind of divider with a sleeping area and a living room area. I like the panoramic rooms better. But the pix don't make it look like they've done much renovation.

As noted, staff is good, no RC, good breakfast buffet in the coffee shop/ restaurant.

As for how points are assigned, it seems to be a bit of magic. Some stays seem to have big numbers with lots of bonus, week later it'd be the basics.