Booking/Check-in

I booked a Standard King room about a week out using a corporate rate. The rate was appx 40% less than the standard daily rate at the time. In addition to the favorable rate, Hyatt was running a promo which gives 1,500 bonus points for Atlanta stays using the “ATL15” promo code. I think this promo has since expired.

We arrived at around 10:30pm on a Friday night and, despite the very late arrival, were upgraded to a Junior Suite. Funny enough, even though we were upgraded, nothing was mentioned about a Diamond amenity or breakfast so I subtly asked. At this point, the other desk agent pipes in, “Oh, you’re a Diamond? What you do want you amenity to be?” …A little odd since they just announced the room upgrade for being a Diamond.

The Hyatt Atlanta Midtown has a total of 194 guest rooms. We ended up with a 3-tier upgrade from Standard Room to Junior Suite.

1. Standard: 1 King, 2 Queens (365- to 432-sq.-ft.) BOOKED
2. Standard: Corner King ( 430-.sq-ft.)
3. Deluxe: 1 King, 2 Queens (470-sq.-ft. )
4. Junior Suite: 465-sq.-ft. two-room suite RECEIVED
5. Executive Suite: 1,167-sq-ft top-floor corner suite

The Room

We took the elevator to the 11th floor and found our room at the end of the hall. First impression: Everything is very new, sleek and modern. We found the decor to be “refreshing” and homey feeling. Upon entering the room, we found the living room:

Junior Suite: Living Room/Sitting Area

Junior Suite: Living Room/Sitting Area

There was ample seating:  a sofa and chair and a TV mounted to the wall. If my memory serves me correctly, the sofa was equipped with a pull-out bed as well.

Junior Suite: Living Room/Sitting Area

Following the hallway back was the closet:

And then the King bedroom:

Junior Suite: King Bedroom

Junior Suite: King Bedroom

One dead giveaway that it’s a new construction:  the carpet was extremely plush and comfortable for walking.

Call me crazy, but it looks like they’ve configured the hotel so that ~30% of the rooms are Junior Suites

View from the room:

The Bathroom

The bathroom was well done and quite nice. All shower- no tub. And the shower had its very own loofa, just like a spa!…(go with me on this one; it’s all about the little things in life).

Junior Suite: Bathroom

Junior Suite: Bathroom

The Gym

The gym had a good sized indoor lap pool.

Apart from that, it was a new hotel gym:

Lobby/Bars/Restaurants

Despite getting in pretty late (around 10:30pm), the bar was still going strong and why not have a drink to…uh…fully sample the offerings of the hotel:

There’s no club lounge, so Hyatt Diamond members will get free breakfast served in the restaurant. You’ll need to show your coupons; I had to request mine at check-in after I mentioned Diamond status. When we got down to breakfast, we learned that the Diamond breakfast voucher was good for the buffet only.

Seeing as how we were pretty late to the party (scrambled eggs can only warm under bunson burners for so many hours), we weren’t enthralled with that option and ordered off of the menu. It was this decision that we learned that the voucher was worth the equivalent of $14 value/person. Be forewarned that, by the time you order juice, coffee and a breakfast entree, it gets to be closer to $20/ head.

Despite the minor shortfall in value, the breakfast at Fork and Juniper was delicious.

Fork and Juniper menu

Fork and Juniper breakfast buffet

BOTTOM LINE: The Hyatt Atlanta Midtown is a good, new option for those wanting to stay in the Midtown area. They’ve got a quality restaurant, Fork and Juniper, onsite and, from what I can tell, Diamond upgrades will likely be plentiful.

The post Hyatt Atlanta Midtown Review first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

Booking/Check-in

I booked the base “Superior Room” at appx 2 weeks before check-in and received a corporate rate of $275. When we arrived, the check-in agent was very polite and extremely enthusiastic and happy to see us–a great trait to have as an employee that has dozens of check-ins/check-outs per day. He confirmed that we were in a “Superior Room” and offered us the welcome amenity of either 500 Starwood points, a $19 voucher per person to be used towards breakfast or a bottle of house wine (we took the $19 voucher). When I asked about the possibility of an upgrade, I was told that all they had available was the “Superior Room” that we had booked and, while skeptical at first, we discovered that a huge wedding was taking place that weekend and it appeared that they were near 100% occupancy. Quick note: Parking is valet only and costs $32/night with unlimited in/out.

Lobby

Superior Room – (440 square feet) — BOOKED and RECEIVED
Deluxe Room –  (440 square feet) – w/ A small Juliette Balcony
Grand Deluxe Room – (440 square feet) – privacy of a furnished balcony
Metropolitan Suite – (680 square feet) – 8 total – complete with a large bedroom and an inviting sitting area furnished with a sofa and armchairs
Caroline Astor Suite – (680 square feet)
St. Regis Suite – (1,000 square feet) – 19 total
Empire Suite – (2,800 square feet) – 1 total

The Room

We made our way to the elevator, then up to the 9th floor. The St. Regis Hotel occupies the first few floors and the St. Regis Residences have claim to the preferred higher floors.

Not sure how you make a hallway sexy but you managed to do it, St. Regis

Upon entering the 440 sq ft room, you first come across the “entry” or foyer–because no luxury hotel in their right mind would forgo this formal greeting area.

To think of all of noses that have been powered here

Although stuck slumming it in the base/standard room, it is a St. Regis standard room after all. This equates to highly automated luxury everywhere.

Floor plan of a “Superior Room”

Finally making it to the bedroom, we found a very well decorated and homey feeling room. Everything was in terrific shape with a rather “sturdy” feel throughout.

Pardon me, Lady Grantham, I’ll be on the Chaise Lounge

The room is highly automated:  all of the lights are one-button touch control with a few different settings to set whatever mood you’re trying to set. The A/C and the lights were controllable bedside as well via the phone system.

View of Buckhead from the bedroom window

The Bathroom

I always hate it when a hotel is nicer than my own apartment; I hate it even more when it’s much nicer. This St. Regis Atlanta fits in this category. You’ll enter to the dual-sink marble vanity. And, it wouldn’t be a St. Regis without a TV built into the mirror–because who doesn’t want to watch TV while shaving? This might be the single-most item that has completely spoiled me and made adapting back to normal, 99%-er real life totally miserable. #FirstWorldProblems….

The oversized tub comes complete with bath salts (not the kind that, if inhaled, will turn you into a flesh eating zombie–for better or worse) and resort-style French Door panels that open up to the bedroom.

Resort-style panels that open up to the bedroom

All surfaces are elegantly tiled, including the shower and bathroom.

The Gym

The gym is above average and on par with St. Regis’ standards. Other than that, not much to say here– didn’t use it but looks like it would get the job done:

Gym windows overlooking the pool

Lobby/Bars/Restaurants/Room-service

As with all St. Regis’, they had the ceremonial champagne sabering (learn all you want to know and more about “saberage” here: Wiki article). The St. Regis participates because it somehow pays homage to the St. Regis family? I participate because I get free champagne.

Astor Court Review

As a Starwood Platinum member, we were offered an amenity at check-in and took the vouchers for “complimentary continental breakfast.” The St. Regis Atlanta handles this by basically giving you up to $19 to spend per guest (a max of 2 guests) at the Astor Court restaurant.

The tone was really set when we sat down and McCown was offered a “lint free napkin” whatever the hell that means…the waiter further insisted, “we can get you a black napkin, if necessary.” I suppose this was since she was wearing black pants? Either way, I’m all for #firstworldproblems but let’s take it down a notch, St. Regis. I think we’ll cope with the lint.

Most of the choices on the menu are in the $14-18 range, with a few near $26 so, by the time you add coffee, tax and tip, you’ve quickly blown through your $19 voucher which really begs the question:  how do they think that $19 covers breakfast?

I ordered the FINEST LOBSTER FRITTATA ($26) because, well, why not? Apart from lobster and egg, it comes with fingerling potatoes, asparagus and herbs topped with a “Bloody Mary” salad and fresh horseradish. Again, why not? At first, I found there to be too much Bloody Mary salad celery on top but not enough tomato/spice taste. The lobster was somewhat chewy, but that figures. In fact, the whole thing was a little chewy/spongy, but it actually started to grow on me. It was packed with lots of potatoes, asparagus and some cheese. The lobster meat was hard to find but, when I found it, was great.

FINEST LOBSTER FRITTATA ($26)

McCown went for the SUMPTUOUS ST. REGIS OMELET ($18): fall mushrooms, herbs, white truffle oil, creme fraiche and an artisan cheese. It was great; such a juicy, moist and very well-cooked omelette. Basically, truffle oil galore with excellent mushrooms. And, anything with truffle oil is perfect.

SUMPTUOUS ST. REGIS OMELET ($18)

The Astor Court restaurant was enjoyable, no doubt. It made sense to eat with our $38 worth of vouchers. I doubt I would go out of my way to come here as a local, but wouldn’t have a problem returning as a hotel guest.

Service

As with just about any St. Regis, the service was outstanding. The check-in agent really seemed to go out of his way to be polite and enthusiastic and all other interactions with service staff were great, although none memorable, for better or worse.

When we came back to our room after the turn-down service, there was a shoe shine bag on the bed with a note announcing a complimentary shoe shine–uh, yes please. Similar to my teeth and the dentist, the only time these suckers get a deep clean is when someone else does it:

Sure enough, when we got back from breakfast, some freshly shined shoes were waiting for me:

BOTTOM LINE: Give me the St. Regis Atlanta any day. An upgrade would have been awesome, but I’ll never complain about their lowest-tier room. Never.

The post The St. Regis Buckhead – Atlanta, Georgia first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

This was the final show of the Winter/Spring 2014 RatDog tour. Doors opened at 6pm with a scheduled show time of 7:30pm, the band finally took the stage around 7:45pm and started off with an electric Help on the Way. I’m not sure how these guys have so much energy as they played from 7:45pm to 11:30pm with about a 30 min set break = 3 hours 15 mins of live music!

Here’s a photo album with 40+ photos from the show shot by “playindead”: Flickr – Ratdog 2014-03-16 by playindead

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

The post Bob Weir & RatDog – March 16, 2014 – The Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA Review and Setlist first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

The Deal

Award bookings on Air France/KLM routes have been reduced by 25-50% for travel between Jan 1 – Feb 28.

For those of us sitting in ‘Merica (and Canada), we’ll be most interested in:

All destinations below. Note: Everything is to/from Europe.

How to Get It

1. Head to Flying Blue here to see full list of routes: Promo Awards
2. Reference our How-to: Booking Air France/KLM flight post
3. Book between Dec 30, 2o13 – Feb 26, 2014.
4. Enjoy your savings!

Analysis

US to Europe awards are generally 50k in Economy and 125k for Business, making the ones listed above between 25% and 50% off. The kicker, however, is that you’ll still be responsible for fuel surcharges. This would be appx $264.94 for a roundtrip from Boston-ORD to Paris-CDG. So total you’d be looking at 37.5k miles + $264.94 in surcharges/taxes:

Example Boston-BOS to Paris-CDG award

What the flight would cost in $

Miles stretch analysis

A similar calculation on a business class (65k miles at promo rate) fare from Montreal-YUL-CDG, taxes/fuel is appx $687.25:

The good new is that there’s still pretty good availability on the routes:

Don’t forget: 

• “Reservations must be made exclusively on www.airfrance.com or www.klm.com (except for bookings for children, infants and minors, who are not authorized to book an award on the website).”
• You’ll still get hit with fuel surcharges!
• We’ve got a How-to Guide for booking flights with Flying Blue points.

BOTTOM LINE: You can find some good value in your Flying Blue points during this promo (don’t forget you can transfer from AMEX–> Flying Blue), but hefty fuel surcharges might make some routes a deal breaker, especially for economy (only 1.89 cent/mile). Business class (5.5+ cents/mile) or intra-Europe awards are a better value at the promo rates.

The post Deal Blitz: 50% off Air France/KLM Flying Blue Awards in Jan/Feb 2014 first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

BOOKING/CHECK-IN

The hotel has a rather grand entrance (quite fitting, no?), with a pull-through valet area situated pretty far back on the lot, getting you away from busy Peachtree Road. The valet will charge $32/night to park it for you; alternatively, you can leave the car with them for 15-30 mins and then park it yourself in Hyatt garage for $20/night. To access the garage, you’ll have to cross the street and take an additional elevator, though. I prefer the self-park for $20/night.

I’ve had 2 stays at this property recently– both stays booked at a special rate just a few days before check-in. Check-in has always been a breeze here, with the staff going above and beyond to welcome me for being a “loyal Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond member.”

Stay 1: I applied for the Hyatt Diamond Status Challenge earlier this year and this was literally my first Hyatt stay ever– and my first stay with Hyatt Diamond status applied. I booked a “Standard 1 King,” got to the check-in counter and was thanked profusely for being a Hyatt Diamond member. The agent explained that the hotel was at full occupancy for the night and that they had upgraded me to the “Luxury Suite.” This is an appx 4 tier upgrade.

Stay 2: I checked in around 1pm on a Sunday and, again, received excellent, enthusiastic service from the front desk agent. While I was technically upgraded from a “Standard 1 King” to a “Grand Club 1 King, ” (1 tier upgrade), this isn’t really an upgrade at all. The room is the exact same size but on the Grand Club floor. The agent then explained that, as a Diamond, you get free Grand Club Lounge access, which includes breakfast in the mornings. But, because there’s no club lounge breakfast on Mondays, they would instead give me free breakfast in the normal restaurant and an additional 2,500 Gold Passport points for the inconvenience. This is a true win-win. The lesson learned here: always try to have a Sunday night stay at this property.

• Standard: 1 King, 2 Doubles – 400 sq. feet. (1st stay BOOKED) (2nd stay BOOKED)
• Grand Club: 1 King, 2 Doubles – pretty sure it’s the exact same room as “Standard” but on Club floor with Grand Club access. (2nd stay RECEIVED)
• View: Corner King – 450 sq. feet.
• Executive Suite – 650-700 sq. feet. – Balcony & seperate sitting area
• Luxury Suite – 1,240 square foot – Kitchenette/wet bar – 1.5 baths. (1st stay Received)
• Governor Suite – 1,800 square foot – Kitchenette/wet bar AND furnished terrace/balcony – 1.5 baths
• Presidential Suite – 2,500 square foot – Kitchenette/wet bar AND furnished terrace/balcony – 1.5 baths

THE ROOM

Stay 1: Pretty awesome room, appx 3x bigger than the standard rooms with a large living room, wet bar, half bath, huge seating area and dining room table. A mini fridge was stocked with complimentary soft drinks and water. The king bedroom has it’s own door and oversized bathroom with jacuzzi tub and a seperate large shower.

Living room of Luxury Suite

Stay 2: The room felt kind of small, definitely not 400 sq feet worth. Well appointed, clean and fresh feeling. No idea when it was built/renovated but it is still in very good shape. Nice marble bathroom, quite spacious.

Grand Club King Room

THE GYM

Above average gym complete with sauna and steam room.

Sauna and steam room

LOBBY/BARS/RESTAURANTS/ROOM-SERVICE

You’ve got a few eating and drinking choices at the property:

• Onyx at the Grand — pretty good lobby bar, good atmosphere. Mostly drinks available, very light snacks.
  
• Onyx at the Grand Coffee Bar — full service coffee and snacks in the am.
• Cassis — full service restaurant open for breakfast and lunch. Because the Grand Club is closed on Monday mornings, I got a free voucher for breakfast in Cassis. The server explained the breakfast coupon was good for the FULL AMERICAN BREAKFAST ($22) or anything else on the menu up to $22.
• Grand Club — free for Diamond members. Breakfast in the mornings around 6-9:30am and appetizers from 5-9pm. Pretty typical club lounge– good place to grab some quick breakfast.
  

OTHER SERVICES

The hotel offers a complimentary shuttle within 2.0 miles of the hotel–that’ll allow you to get to just about anywhere in Buckhead (saving a good bit on cabs). Pretty cool outdoor Japanese-style Zen Garden and outdoor heated pool.

Source: http://www.travelpod.com/hotel/Grand_Hyatt_Atlanta-Atlanta.html

BOTTOM LINE: Great property in the heart of Buckhead. The standard rooms might feel a little small, but the excellent Hyatt Diamond recognition, attentive service and amenities like a sauna, steam room, heated pool, Grand Club access and free transportation within 2 miles of the hotel make this one of the top choices in the area.

The post Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead Review – Atlanta, Georgia first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

If you’re looking for a great lounge to pass some time at the Nation’s Busiest Airport:  Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (no big deal, only about 260k people pass through everyday! About 20% more than runner-up Beijinng-PEK), might I suggest The Club at ATL.

As I’ve said before in this post (JFK Terminal 4 Lounges/The Oasis Lounge), which lounge I go to is often a function of which one will let me in. The Club at ATL is by far the least exclusive of all ATL lounges–to get in you’ll need to show some credentials, your choices include:

1. $35 cash for a day pass
2. Priority Pass member card (free for AMEX Platinum cardholders)
3. Diners Club International card
4. Louge Club member card (free for Chase Ink cardholders)
5. British Airways Business/First ticket
6. Lufthansa Business/First ticket

The lounge’s bright, expansive floor plan with seating for 160 is situated on a corner with windows onlooking check-in and security at the new Terminal F & onlooking outside to the iconic “FLY DELTA JETS” sign. You don’t have a front row seat to the runway and airport operations, per say, but you can still do your fair share of plane watching. Most of the view is really the parking deck drop-off area of Terminal F.

The lounge is by no means huge, but it’s floor plan works well. They make things pretty well spread out, with a small partition to break up the space. Best things about new lounges: the power outlets! You’ll have no trouble powering up your devices here. Lots and lots of pretty comfortable seating. If this place were full, you could imagine a scenario where it feels a little like everyone is on top of each other.

The food options are leaps and bounds better than Delta SkyClub’s offerings, but could disappoint the seasoned international traveler–like the BA/Lufthansa passengers who have likely been to fancier lounges. On my visit, they had 2 different soups, a veggie bar, and a few sandwiches and wraps to choose from. This might actually come close to being a bonafide substantial meal, much more so than Delta’s cookies and carrots. They’ve also got chips, Oreos, cookies etc…”Premium Food” is available for around $9-11, including larger sandwiches and salads in a refrigerator. No premium hot options are available, though.

There is a large bar, with a nice atmosphere–all around well designed. A small diving wall separates “the bar” from the main room, giving it all a nice feel. You’ll find the drink choices to be much better than Delta SkyClub too, only 4-5 items are considered premium with a huge amount of complimentary choices. Things that you would assume like Patron, Crown, Grey Goose, a few of the wines and champagne etc… were available for an additional charge. However, the likes of Jack, Jim, Tanqueray, Johnny Walker Red & Black, Jose Cuervo, etc. and many beers were all complimentary.

Best of all: a real espresso machine. I’m always rather suspicious that the coffee makers in SkyClubs just shoot out a warmed, pre-brewed coffee concentrate of sorts. While it’s still automatic, and thereby far from perfect, this machine was rocking whole beans that were ground and then brewed to order. Much, much better–well done “The Club,” well done.

Other amenities: A Business center with 2 computers available. The bathrooms were brand spanking new, in great shape and equally as nice. A large selection of newspapers & magazines, most are actually in German (thanks for the supply, Lufthansa–if only you’d also provide Rosetta Stone, I might have a fighting chance). Shower suites–nothing too fancy but they’re brand new and get the job done.

BOTTOM LINE: ATL is Delta country, so it’s nice to have a 3rd party lounge option that is (gasp!) better than a Delta SkyClub–in quality, food and drinks. The Club at ATL is my new go-to on longer layovers (since terminal F is out of the way for the typical domestic traveler).

The post The Club at ATL – Atlanta’s Newest (and best?) Lounge first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

I can get into a bad habit when I find a good restaurant. Especially when I only have an opportunity to eat there every so often. This is how I’ve been treating One Flew South, the awesome sushi restaurant at Atlanta’s Airport (ATL)–I have returned at every opportunity. But, this time, I forced myself to explore the other options and had read some good things about Café Intermezzo in Terminal B.

It’s half book store, half cafe-style restaurant, which results in an always-busy-feeling atmosphere and, in the land of Chilis, TGI Fridays and other typical chains, Café Intermezzo can offer a slight change of pace–and, in my opinion, much better food options.

Plus, it doesn’t hurt that they have a very solid wine and beer list for an airport and lots of coffee concoctions with espresso from their authentic Italian espresso machine.

Their menu is a mix of traditional cafe fare, then larger entree-sized portions of some Italian classics. So, you’ll find a wide array of sandwiches, paninis, burgers and wraps and a bunch of heavier pasta-type dishes followed by a huge pastry list.

I ordered the [highlight color=”grey/color”]STRAWBERRY SPINACH SALAD WITH GOAT CHEESE MEDALLIONS ($13)[/highlight] and added salmon: strawberries, mango, red onions and candied walnuts tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette, topped with baked goat cheese medallions. Just about everything about this salad was delicious, the fruit was all fresh and in season. The salmon portion was huge– closer to a dinner entree size and turned out to be a great addition. And, most importantly, the breaded and lightly fried goat cheese was predictably amazing.

STRAWBERRY SPINACH SALAD WITH GOAT CHEESE MEDALLIONS ($13)

Keeping in mind that ATL is the world’s busiest airport and likely means a higher than normal stress environment for servers–the service was fine. But, if ignoring that fact, the server was a bit short, seemed quite rushed and, ironically, was a bit slow. This might not be your best bet if looking for a quick meal, but it is worth it if you’ve got a bit of time to spare.

BOTTOM LINE: Quality Italian cafe fare in a busy, lively atmosphere–while One Flew South (in Terminal E) is still my first choice, I’ll definitely be back to Café Intermezzo.

The post Café Intermezzo Review – Atlanta Airport first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

Source: delta.com

The sleek Asian decor is bright and open feeling with light-toned wood surrounding you on all sides.

I know what you’re thinking: Sushi in an airport?! I’m guaranteed to miss my flight now. But this place is fast. My [highlight color=”grey/color”]SEAWEED SALAD ($8)[/highlight] was up within 5 minutes. This is a pretty standard but tasty dish. The crisp, chilled seaweed is soaked in a sort of sesame oil dressing–not too dense or salty–making for a very refreshing starter. It is topped with carrots and a soy egg–a hard boiled egg cooked in soy sauce and sugar.

By the time I finished the salad, the sushi was on its way to the table (within 15 mins of ordering, so no need to worry about that flight). Featuring tuna, salmon and hamachi and then topped with spicy mayonnaise, white seaweed and bourbon eel sauce, the [highlight color=”grey/color”]KAMIKAZE ($14)[/highlight]  is both interestingly named and delicious. I mean, “Kamikaze” (per Wikipedia) literally refers to: “suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied vessels.” Like I said, interesting name for an airport restaurant. Politics/political correctness aside, the sushi is good. Only complaint is that, despite having 8 pieces, the roll was a little small for $14–it would hardly be filling by itself.

BOTTOM LINE: Looking for a calm oasis amidst the world’s busiest airport? One Flew South is your place. The excellent food, upbeat atmosphere and stellar service doesn’t hurt either. Turns out you can in fact get a quick sushi meal.

The post One Flew South – Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport first appeared on Weekend Blitz.