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.