Last summer in DC over July 4th weekend, we spent two nights at the Park Hyatt on points and two nights at the Grand Hyatt using expiring Hyatt Category 1-4 free night certificates. This year, I wasn’t going to switch hotels and preferred the Park Hyatt as a Globalist for a couple of reasons. I knew I could confirm a suite in advance with a Suite Upgrade Award as they were selling standard suites when I booked a couple of months out. We also really enjoyed the breakfast benefit at Blue Duck Tavern last year and preferred that to the zoo at the Grand Hyatt lounge.

I initially booked using points (17k) for the first two nights and cash (around $320 + tax) for the third night as the points price was 20k for that Sunday night and I value Hyatt points at 2+ cents per point. Just before we left on our trip, I decided to rent a car so we could take a day trip from DC. Given that the Park Hyatt charges $59 for valet parking and that is waived on award stays for Globalists, I switched the third night to pay with points as well.

Pre-trip, the communication from the hotel was great. I got a welcome text the day before we left. In response, I inquired about a possible further upgrade from the standard Junior Suite we were assigned. The response was that the hotel could move us to a Park Suite, which offers a closing door between the rooms and an extra half bathroom compared to the Junior Suite. They did warn that we would lose the city view in the nicer suite. I wasn’t too concerned about the view as the hotel doesn’t really overlook anywhere that exciting in the West End neighborhood. I was pretty happy to get a complimentary upgrade to a premium suite this time as last year, they only offered us some sort of ultra-premium suite for an extra $450 per night, which we declined. The welcome message also offered us early check-in (as early as 10am!) which was great as our flight arrived at 11am.

We drove over to the hotel from DCA and arrived around 11:30am. The drive only took about 15 minutes once we exited the DCA rental car garage. Valet parking was quick and easy. During our stay, I never waited more than a minute or two for the car as you can request the vehicle using a text link that the valet sends to your phone. I did tip the valet a few dollars each time they retrieved the car for us.

We were able to check in early as promised. We requested that housekeeping send up some bedding for the chaise longue that is in the suite for our older daughter who was arriving by train late that night to spend the first two nights with us.

Here is our suite on the ninth floor:

The suite was clean if a bit dated. It did have a nice bathroom although the shower wasn’t as huge as the one in the junior suite. They had the Le Labo toiletries but the ones in the shower were in large refillable bottles attached to the wall. There was no welcome amenity set up when we arrived.

I waited a little while for the bedding, but when it didn’t arrive, I decided to visit the gym. We had no plans until later that evening as our younger daughter and her boyfriend were working. My wife decided to take a nap so I hung the “Room Occupied” sign on the outside of the door. There was no “Do Not Disturb” sign so I assumed that the occupied sign served that purpose. My wife texted me when I was at the gym that housekeeping knocked on the door several times despite the sign. When no response was heard, they tried to enter the room and my wife yelled out that she was sleeping. I complained to the front desk on my way back from the gym and they apologized. I waited again and they quickly sent up the bedding. There was also a welcome amenity sent up around 4pm consisting of a large bottle of spring water and some chocolate covered cherries.

I checked out the pool and hot tub for a while and while it was nice to have the pool available this year, the ceiling was starting to warp in that area. Here are some pictures of the pool/hot tub area and gym.

I assumed our issues with housekeeping were resolved, but that was just the start. In three separate housekeeping visits over the weekend, they somehow took or disposed of my swim trunks (that were hanging up on a towel hook to dry after my pool visit), my daughter’s travel-sized hair gel sitting on the coffee table, and some breakfast pastries in a Blue Duck tavern to-go bag also sitting on the table that we were saving for her to eat on her train ride. I let the front desk know each time these issues occurred.

Anyhow, we went to the bar for a drink before meeting our younger daughter and her boyfriend for dinner. We had met Luis the bartender last year as my brother has become friendly with him over his many work trips to DC. We caught up with Luis and he made us some great drinks. The kids joined us for a round as well. Unfortunately, when I checked my bill the next day, someone mis-entered (I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt) the total bar charge as $190 instead of $105. I texted the hotel to fix that issue, which they did, but it was another negative mark.

We had breakfast twice at the Blue Duck Tavern. On the first morning our younger daughter and her boyfriend met us there as we were headed out on a road trip right after breakfast. As a Globalist, you are allocated $120 for breakfast, which makes it easy to add a person or two without going over (or at least not by much). The food is very good. Here’s the menu. Note: I am not sure why anyone would pay this much for breakfast, but I’m sure some people do.

Here are some pictures of what we had over the two days.

As I checked out early Monday morning, I noticed that the hotel had charged me some amount for the room and parking for the last day even though all three nights were on points and this caused the valet parking charge to be added as well for that day. This was just the final service failure of many.

In the end, the manager gave me 20k Hyatt points, corrected the bill and wiped out all the actual charges (around $140 total from the bar and overage on breakfast). That’s a good service recovery, but it’s going to take some convincing to get Mrs. Emptynestermiles to stay here again after all the problems with the stay.

The Park Hyatt is a nice hotel that does not really live up to the brand as it’s getting a bit long in the tooth and needs a refresh. I was happy for the extra upgrade, but the service issues really clouded our stay and made it less relaxing. I think we’ll give the Thompson a try next time if we need a Hyatt property or perhaps the Conrad if we don’t need a rental car.

Up Next: Day Trip to a “Beach”

If you enjoyed this post (or have questions), let me know in the comments or send me an email at emptynestermiles@gmail.com. If you are thinking about opening a new credit card, please use one of my links.