This hotel is the worst I've stayed in in years. There's nothing specifically wrong with it, but it's a collective bunch of failings that start the minute you walk through the door from Self-Parking. The ceiling tiles are damp and stained, the carpet smells of years of neglect and heavy traffic. The constant whirr of air conditioning is very noticeable. The emphasis on conferencing is also immediately obvious, and as you move throughout this hotel, you notice that everything here is geared toward facilitating mundane and boring meetings nobody likes to go to let alone overnight at.

As you descend the creaky elevator to the foyer, the 1990s style reception desk sprawls behind you as the concierge and valet booths peer at your arrival through the elevators. Check-in was bad, but she was 'in training' so I cut her the slack that was building since I first set eyes on the place. Tired and weary after a long drive from Las Vegas, we went upstairs to find the room. Narrow, dark, damp-smelling corridors fed out either side of the elevator section to the high-gloss brown painted flush doors. This really was getting me worried. The keycard didn't work first, second, third or fourth time. Luckily I had the foresight to order 2 keys and the second one worked after a few attempts. Still no sign of improvement.

Entering the room, you're greeted by a short walled section in the tiny room housing the narrow-door closet and the bathroom which had been recently renovated, most likely removing the bath to fit the shower/wetroom concept business travelers love. The bedroom itself is badly laid out with the bed facing the window, a narrow and uncomfortable couch-type thing. The only sign of an improvement was the massive 42" LG LCD TV. But it looks akward in the tiny room and in any event had terrible picture reception from the very bad cable selection of channels.

This hotel is just plain out of date. Nothing in it is any way inspiring or relaxing. The room service menu is sparse and only till midnight (given this is a city center location, I thought this kind of odd!). The minibar is stocked with the same over-priced stuff you'd expect. The internet service is Wireless but has bad signal. Here it costs $9.95 per day. A rip off considering how slow it actually is. Less than 1MB by my calculation. The air conditioning unit is very loud too. I assume it's the same in all rooms as they're all on ducting.

The morning after the night before didn't bode well. We were woken at around 9am by the sound of a man using a power-washer outside the front of the hotel. I'd stupidly left the window ajar so as to not suffer the noisy air con unit but this guy was really giving it to the sidewalk with the power washer and didn't give up for a full hour at least. So that ruined the night. Looking to the left of the guy using the power-washer, I noticed the sliver of a pool that was advertised. It looked cold and un-inviting.

Out of spite, I refused to use any of the other revenue generating sections of the hotel, after finding out that Hyatt had charged the full bill to my credit card upon booking two days previously. This had really pissed me off. No deposit or anything, before entering the hotel the full charge had been placed. That night a new type of hosing was being debuted outside the hotel, this time washing down the terrace of what looked to be one of the bars. This went on late into the night, after 1am at least. Unbelievable. I cannot understand how much water was wasted there in 2 nights - and the price of it in the room!

I left the following day and settled the charges for the miserable bottles of water in the minibar and the overpriced internet fees. On exiting the hotel, it was clear to see that the only focus and major revenue generation for this hotel is the conferencing. The rooms are more of an added convenience to conference-goers in the hope that they're too tired to notice the lack of detail or care to attention in the house. I was going to raise my feelings on the above matters with the check-out clerk, but she seemed more interested in getting me to OK the minibar and internet charges to notice my complete indifference to the place. It wouldn't have done any good anyway I think, as it's clear that guest services are just a side order on the main course of business meetings. I have a feeling that if I returned in 10 years it'd still all be the same.

I really really cannot emphasize enough how overpriced and under-quality this hotel is. Over $500 at the end for 2 nights mid-week. No perks. None. And parking was charged for too! An absolute joke. Avoid this hotel at all costs unless it's not you picking up the bill. And if you're visiting for conferences, stay somewhere else - it'll do you good to get out of the place.

In all my years I've never been more maddened by a hotel. Never again. Ever! Nothing really warrants staying here - even if it is across from Capitol Park.

By the way, of all the cities I've visited, I've never noticed as many homeless guys as I did in Sacramento. Be it around the Capitol area down to the Governor's Mansion, or in Old Sacramento or on the outskirts. I don't know what it is, but it's very unsettling - and I'm not easily unsettled by such things.