Review of the Hyatt Regency at Reston Town Center

The Reston Hyatt is a gorgeous looking hotel at the Reston Town Center in the expensive, trendy outskirts of Washington, D.C. The lobby is beautiful, the staff professional and friendly. I look at this as a business person's hotel and not a place someone bringing their family would consider unless money is not an object. Considering my employer's special rate of $259/night that's a bargain. I checked on Travelocity.com and both came up with a nightly rate of $315 per night. My employer occupies two buildings a short distance down the street so our corporate rate probably reflects a good negotiated rate due to the number of our employees who stay here.

Arriving at the Hotel

Upon arriving I found there is a choice of free self parking or valet parking. Since my company won't reimburse us for valet parking I opted to park it myself and WALK!. The lobby was beautiful. Looking around I saw a Panera Bread store right off the main lobby. First thought was that I will save a bundle of money on breakfast. The hotel restaurant is very expensive ($21 for breakfast buffet). What I was somewhat upset about was that my reservation was for a king size bed. Although I didn't check in until 8:30 pm I was told there were no rooms available, YET, with king size beds. Since check-out is in the morning I wasn't quite sure why it would take that long to have a room ready with the bed I requested.

But what I also found out was that co-workers who arrived either later or the next day couldn't even get rooms although they had confirmed reservations....and although the corporate was $259 some got charged over $400. I think the manager of our group had a "chat" with the hotel about all of this.

Room 628
Oh yeah...The room! I almost forgot! As I said, they didn't have any king size beds available so I took 2 doubles. I have always liked a hard mattress and this room has a very firm bed. But most of the hotels I stay in now like the Marriotts, Hiltons, and Hampton Inns have new mattresses that are soft but still firm. I wish these Hyatt mattresses were like that. This room was a nice size but my recollection was that the last time I was at this hotel there was more sitting room. There's a full-length mirror in the room which is nice to have rather than using just the mirror in the bathroom.

Trying to be comfortable
Getting the right temperature in the room was difficult if you like it a little cooler. When I walked into the room it was way too warm for me, although the thermostat indicated it was 68 degrees. I set it down to around 59, but it never got any cooler in the room. I told the front desk about it the next day and they sent someone up to fix it. It was down to 66, but I'm telling ya, it still felt like the thermostat was incorrect and it was well over 70. Even some of my co-workers who came in from Florida and like their rooms warm said even THEY were too hot overnight. The last night I stayed it was somewhat better. I set the thermostat as low as it could go, around 50 degrees and it got to about 65 in the room.

Keeping up with the Marriotts - NO Smoking
I am incredibly sensitive to cigarette smoke. If there is one person smoking in a restaurant and he's all the way on the other side of the restaurant I can smell it. When I'm in a crowded restaurant and there's a ton of smoke, my eyes and throat close up and I have to run outside to clear my eyes and so I can breathe. My son is even worse. So checking into a non-smoking room in which a previous guest has smoked is something I just can't take. I will always ask for another room.

One thing I REALLY liked about this hotel is they followed the lead of the Marriotts. This is a completely non-smoking hotel!!

Bathroom
Very large, clean and bright with the usual shampoos, conditioners, and body lotion. The towels during this stay were very scratchy. It would nice to have a little bit softer more fluffy towels but perhaps that's when they disappear with the guests. The shower pressure is adequate. This room had a standard hair dryer (NOT a wall mounted one).

Other Stuff in the room
The coffee that comes with the included coffee maker was awful. It's a one cup coffee maker. You stick the pouch of coffee in the basket, put one cup of water in and the coffee drips directly into a provided cardboard coffee cup

The phone calls from the room are typical for hotels. For local calls and the 950 area code (not sure where that is) there is a $1.00 access call per charge plus zone charges. Long distance are bill at AT&T's rates plus a 75 cent access charge and additional 25 cents per minute.

The television has about 30 channels. That's kind of meager when you consider there's multiple sports channels, but there was enough for me watch in order to fall asleep. Thankfully, the remote had a sleep button to set. I find it really annoying when I stay in a hotel on a business trip and there's no "sleep" button so I have to wake up at some point during the night, find the remote, and turn off the TV.

Gripes

I found that on some mornings there's a Washington Post at the door and other mornings there isn't one. I found the same problem the last time I stayed there, as well!

I also feel that if you're spending between $260-$355/night in this high rent district I would expect some extras. So why not add the Internet connection for those prices or free local calls?

Most of the larger chain hotels slip your 'bill' under your door on your last night so you can review the charges and then choose to check out at the front desk. Well, THIS hotel does not deliver the charges to you. I understand that you can check out if you have a laptop and connect to their web site, but other than that, there is no check-out via the TV. You check out at the front desk to get your receipt.

Checkout was quick and friendly. The front desk clerk asked me about my stay and when I told her about the comfort issue she took off a $35 charge on the bill for the bar

Hyatt Regency Reston
1800 Presidents Street
Reston, VA 20190
703-709-1234