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Hyatt Regency Morristown REVIEW - MASTER THREAD

Hyatt Regency Morristown REVIEW - MASTER THREAD

Old Aug 14, 2005, 7:46 am
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Hyatt Regency Morristown REVIEW - MASTER THREAD

MORRISTOWN - Hyatt Corp. will take over management of Headquarters Plaza Hotel in September, the hotel general manager said Friday.

The property, owned by Fifth ROC-Jersey Association, is undergoing renovation in anticipation of the change.

The change was reported in a layoff notice filed with the state Department of Labor. However, general manager Paul Joseph said Friday that all 225 current employees will be hired by Hyatt.

Source:
http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?...d2cWVlRUV5eTI=

No offense but this hotel does not look like the next Park Hyatt Tokyo
http://www.hqplazahotel.com/index.htm
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Old Aug 14, 2005, 9:22 am
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^^^ thanks for thinking of me ...

This one may be just a bit too far to drive, but in a pinch, any Hyatt is a good Hyatt, particularly since my local hotel is starting to charge more on the weekends. A nice drive north through northern NJ is always nice on a Sunday afternoon

That gives me 4 in the state I can use if the need arises ^^
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Old Aug 15, 2005, 12:59 am
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It's less than half a mile from the train station, I might take the train there from NYC.
Originally Posted by Mary2e
This one may be just a bit too far to drive, but in a pinch, any Hyatt is a good Hyatt, particularly since my local hotel is starting to charge more on the weekends. A nice drive north through northern NJ is always nice on a Sunday afternoon

That gives me 4 in the state I can use if the need arises ^^
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Old Nov 3, 2005, 12:41 pm
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The public areas look nice, much like Jersey City Regency, but the rooms look a bit low rent. Though they do have grand beds.
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Old Nov 4, 2005, 5:39 pm
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Originally Posted by Tummy
The public areas look nice, much like Jersey City Regency, but the rooms look a bit low rent. Though they do have grand beds.
Disorganized chaos is the best way to describe this place this evening. Check in took forever; front office staff is friendly and well meaning, but they have to make several stabs at seemingly every transaction. Everything appears to be (understandably) new to them.

Some common areas are nice, others are pretty raw, especially the elevators. My room (1/2 way or so up the tower) is well appointed, and shows little wear.
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Old Nov 4, 2005, 7:42 pm
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Does it have a nice gym and pool?
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Old Nov 6, 2005, 12:26 pm
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I drove by the hotel on Speedwell Avenue in Morristown last week and noticed the Hyatt sign out front, and thought to myself, "Gosh, when did Hyatt take over the Headquarters Plaza Hotel?" I made a mental note to check out flyertalk.com to see if anyone had stayed at the hotel since its conversion to Hyatt, and came across this thread.

I haven't been inside the hotel for many years now (1995?), but I recall that it was a bit run down and in need for renovation back then. I certainly hope that Hyatt has budgeted some money to make the renovations to bring the hotel up to Hyatt standards.
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Old Nov 6, 2005, 12:37 pm
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Originally Posted by PT22064
I drove by the hotel on Speedwell Avenue in Morristown last week and noticed the Hyatt sign out front, and thought to myself, "Gosh, when did Hyatt take over the Headquarters Plaza Hotel?" I made a mental note to check out flyertalk.com to see if anyone had stayed at the hotel since its conversion to Hyatt, and came across this thread.

I haven't been inside the hotel for many years now (1995?), but I recall that it was a bit run down and in need for renovation back then. I certainly hope that Hyatt has budgeted some money to make the renovations to bring the hotel up to Hyatt standards.
I agree, back when I used to live in the area this place was dodgy at best. The pictures look nice though, but I would imagine most of us know (and probably learned the hard way!) that those can be deceiving.

I look forward to the trip reports.
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Old Nov 7, 2005, 6:01 am
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Hyatt Morristown report

Might as well start a new thread for current and future reviews on this property.

I stayed here Nov 4-5.. only a few days after they officially opened for business. The location is pretty decent - right off the town center and next to a movie theater with shops and restaurants right outside the door. The Morristown train station was about a half mile away or so.. not too bad. Parking is available free via underground garage - make sure to get your ticket validated by the front desk!

Check-in was relatively fine.. the front desk guy didn't know what 1-800CHECKIN was until I showed up but that's how people learn new things, right? Luckily, his supervisor had a clue. Hyatt renovated the interiors nicely - tan is supreme here with a nice waterfall by the open-air bar just past the lobby (which also means open smoking area - yuck). As a Hyatt nobody, I was given a room on the 10th floor which seemed like a decent standard sized room. The elevators are the only visible reminder of what the hotel used to be like - a bit of a shock after all that modern tan design in the lobby. In fact, riding in them (slow!) was a bit depressing. Hopefully they'll finish these in the future.

Room: King bed was a bit higher than usual - possibly because it was a pillowtop mattress sitting on a tall boxspring. Very comfortable bed with lots of pillows. Reasonable selection of cable TV channels. Bathroom was not cramped at all - Portico Spa amenities. Good water pressure in the shower. There was a chair w/ottoman and desk off to the side. Internet access is limited to wireless (managed by Wayport) and price wasn't displayed anywhere. Supposedly they offer wireless adaptors if you need to borrow one.

Facilities: There was a wedding reception in the ballroom that evening - big Jersey hair was spotted. A miracle their cigarettes didn't set off all that hairspray. I asked about the gym and they said it was adjacent to the hotel - to get in, I could walk outside and over to the gym or enter it through the building complex. Sounds like a third-party arrangement - maybe someone can verify ?

Overall I would stay here again - not bad for a renovated property.
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Old Nov 7, 2005, 3:28 pm
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Someone mentioned the train. What would be the closest NJ Transit station to the hotel on the Trenton-NYC route to the hotel? Will be headed up there next week.
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Old Nov 8, 2005, 11:26 pm
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Originally Posted by IAD777
Someone mentioned the train. What would be the closest NJ Transit station to the hotel on the Trenton-NYC route to the hotel? Will be headed up there next week.
The Morristown station is on a different line than the Trenton-NYC line. The Trenton-NYC line is the Northeast Corridor line; and I think that the Morristown station is on the Morris-Boonton line. You have to switch in Newark or maybe the Secaucus station.
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Old Nov 9, 2005, 7:10 am
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The transfer would have to take place at the Secaucus station. The Morristown line goes through Newark Broad station whereas the Trenton line goes through Newark Penn.
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Old Nov 9, 2005, 1:58 pm
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I'm in day 3 of a 4 day (three night) stay at this hotel. It's not a brand new hotel as I had originally thought. It was actually an independent hotel that Hyatt took over. They are still doing a fair amount of renovations. The common spaces are set up to look trendy, in a minimalist fashion.

There are 16 floors in the hotel. Self-parking is free for hotel guests, valet parking is $15/day. Internet access is Wayport wireless and $9.95/day billed directly to your credit card-I could not find an option to bill to my room. Oddly enough, I could not find a data jack in my room either. For those of you without wireless, you might want to call ahead. I'll update this post if I find out otherwise this evening.

As a Diamond guest upon check-in I was presented an amentity card. I chose the 1,000 points, and don't remember the other choices except that there was the choice of drink (I noticed the wine was 357ml.) or food. Unfortunately, I'm about 18 nights short of hitting Diamond this year--this will in all likelyhood be my last stay as a Diamond until I requalify. There is no Regency Club so they gave me coupons for free buffet breakfast.

The hotel doesn't have its own gym. They let you use a gym nearby which you can walk to via the inner walkway. The best way to explain the inner walkway is that this hotel is connected to the buildings surrounding it which are all connected to each other. So you can access the variety of shops, a Clearview movie theatre, the gym, etc. without having to go outside. That being said, I did make it to the gym twice. They have a pool, large workout facility with plenty of aerobic machines, weight machines and free weights.

Feel free to ask any other questions--I'll do my best to log back in later on tonight and get them answered.

Last edited by vivrant; Nov 9, 2005 at 2:01 pm Reason: typo
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Old Nov 9, 2005, 3:32 pm
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I am well acquainted with the GM of this property. He was brought on board to oversee the complete renovation of the hotel, which is to be done in stages. Public areas were first, and many conversions were done before Hyatt would even re-brand the property. So....after reading some comments in the thread, I will tell you that the work is far from done. Rooms will be renovated, etc. The gentleman who is now running the property was brought in to turn the property around and make it in to the "new generation" of Hyatt. Knowing him as I do, I have no doubt that this will be a top-notch property in short order. At the risk of souding like a know-it-all, I'm sure he would be pleased to hear comments and to resolve any problems that may arise.
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Old Dec 8, 2005, 9:30 am
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Hyatt Morristown .. could do better!

Recently stayed at the Hyatt Morristown, and this place has the air of a hotel that needs serious modernisation and a general service overhaul.

The reception area is nice and spacious, with a good degree of decoration
The bedrooms are in need of a massive amount of rennovation. Small bathroom with cracked wash-basin, half used roll of toilet paper, and luckily for my next door room neighbour .. they had a lucky night, but I got to hear rather a lot through some very thin walls!
The breakfast was very low grade, quite overcooked / steamed, and I had to ask for coffee etc after 15mins as the staff were going everywhere except to our table!Hopefully, the takeover by Hyatt will resolve these issues.
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