Booking/Check-in

I booked a 2-night stay in a “Premier Park Deluxe” about 3 days before check-in at a great rate.

As I approached the entrance, 2 bellmen sprinted towards me to help with my luggage and escorted me to the check-in desk. The counter was spread out and quite spacious. They thanked me for my Diamond status, explained that breakfast was included for Diamond members and that it could be taken in the restaurant or ordered in-room. Because I’m still new to Hyatt, I was thinking that the breakfast was in lieu of the amenity, but the next question was what Diamond amenity I wanted. It’s a habit now to just say, “I’ll take the points” (1,000 points in this case), but I’m now regretting not hearing them out on food and beverage options. The agent then confirmed that they had me in a “Premier Park Deluxe King” and reached to imprint the keys– as she did it, I subtly asked if there might be any upgrade opportunities? She checked for a few minutes (I mean, what are they really doing on that computer? making it look like they’re pulling strings?), consulted with her co-worker and, about 3 minutes later, confirmed that they could move me up to a “Park Parlor Suite”….a move up of about 2 tiers (sample pricing based on a 2-night, midweek stay July 30-Aug 1, 2013):

– $469 Park Deluxe King/Twin
– $519 Premier Park Deluxe (618 sq ft) **BOOKED**
– $544 View Premier Park Deluxe
– $569 Park Parlor Suite (626 sq ft) **UPGRADED TO**
– $769 Park Suite
– $1,219 Park Executive Suite
– $2,469 Ambassador Suite
– $6,874 Presidential Suite

The bellman quickly approached with my luggage and gave me the nickel tour of all of the lobby dining options on the way to the elevator.

The Room

The first thing you’ll notice about the rooms and the property is that The Park Hyatt Washington (and other Park Hyatts, for that matter) does an excellent job of having very winding hallways, which prevents you from looking down the hall at a row of room doors. It almost makes you feel as if you’re the only guest.

My first impressions of the room: not necessarily “luxurious” but extremely nice. To some, it might seem a little spartan, to others, tastefully modern and sleek. The Park Parlor Suite was one of the longer, narrower rooms of the property and the windows opened up to another building, so it was a terrible view. You entered into the living room area with a large desk, 2 chairs, TV and a half bathroom. A recessed, nearly hidden door separates the bedroom:  again, a very large space with modern decor–bookshelves, light wood colored furniture.

The bellman, either extremely customer-focused or extremely bored, insisted on giving me the full tour of my room. It lasted at least 5 minutes, all the way down to detailing the location of the complimentary toiletries, shoeshine kit, bottles of water, etc.

The Bathroom

The bathroom was enormous! Equipped with a shower and a tub, both finished with a very rustic, yet elegant tile. According to the website, it is a: “spa-inspired” limestone bathroom with a separate soaking bath and rain shower.

The Gym

While it was a little hard to find (you take the elevator to the 3rd floor, walk all the way down the hall, take the steps down a flight and then walk over), the gym was great. It was clean, bright and, best of all, had windows across the length of it overlooking 24th street. There were more than enough cardio machines and they had a good selection of weights.

Right next to the gym are a pool and sauna– somewhat a shame that it’s all indoors, but a nice feature.

Lobby/Bars/Restaurants/Room-service

The property has 216 guestrooms:

• 28 suites
• 84 Park Deluxe rooms
• 104 Premier Park Deluxe / View Premier Park Deluxe rooms

The Park Hyatt Washington hosts three dining choices on the property:

1. The famed [highlight color=”grey/color”]BLUE DUCK TAVERN[/highlight]–a crowd favorite
2. A bar simply called “LOUNGE”–open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A little more casual than the Blue Duck Tavern
3. And the TEA CELLAR–serving “vintages” tea (never found out what that means, does it imply old tea?). Free coffee is served in the tea cellar in the mornings, but they also have an espresso machine that is open all day.

The Blue Duck Tavern Review

While I didn’t have a chance to try the Blue Duck Tavern for dinner, I really enjoyed their breakfast. I was the first one there at 7:15am, but slowly more people trickled in and the service was super quick. I ordered the SLOWLY POACHED EGG ($15) with charred corn, spinach and wild mushrooms. I liked it a lot although it was barely what I would consider to be a breakfast dish–very light and earthy tasting. The poached egg was very softly poached so really designed to just crack over the dish and mix around.

While the prices were the same as room service, it looked like the restaurant had a few more choices on the menu. Just to be sure what the deal was for Hyatt Diamond members, the server confirmed that you can order anything from the menu free of charge.

I already mentioned that breakfast as a Diamond member can be taken in-room in addition to the Blue Duck Tavern, so how could I not give the room service breakfast a shot at least one morning? I called to confirm that the included breakfast is the AMERICAN BREAKFAST ($32) which includes the “Continental Breakfast” + “A La Carte Eggs & Omelets” + fresh juice + hot beverage–basically anything from the menu.

The night before, I had sent my shoes off for the complimentary shine, requesting an 8am return…so what does The Park Hyatt do? Promptly at 7:59am, there was a knock on the door to deliver my freshly shined shoes, presented neatly in a wicker basket and wrapped in Park Hyatt bags. Then, just a a minute later and without missing a beat…breakfast was knocking on my door right at 8am–just as requested. The attendant wheeled in a cart, removed a  “silver” tray and then set all the dishes upon it. I had the EGG WHITE OMELETTE with goat cheese, ham and mushrooms. It was very fluffy, not noticeably oily or buttery. Since gratuity and tax is automatically included, the total came out to $47.04! The full amount, however, was removed at checkout for being a Diamond member.

Service

Much of staff was foreign, many of the wait staff and front desk agents had European accents. Likely a practical move to better accommodate international guests but also a good move to make the property feel international for sophistication reasons as well.

A previous review that I read was very well stated:  “Service uncannily there when needed and absent when not.” This was spot on of my experience, it started to feel like a mansion where service staff just disappear into the bowels of the building, using their own elevators, hallways and stairs. This feeling is probably attributable to the huge property and the hallways snaking around, leaving very little chance to see another guest on the floor or service staff moving about.

All staff was extremely professional, even the bellman (who might have just earned the title from bell boy just days before) that was still on his first month of the job.

BOTTOM LINE:  Unparalleled service, the serene property and excellent recognition for Hyatt Gold Passport elites makes the Park Hyatt Washington a top choice for D.C.