During a weekend visit to Houston in June of 2007, we booked a room at the Hyatt Regency for $55 per night. After reading some of the less-than-enthusiastic reviews online, I was initially disappointed that we got the Hyatt, but our experience was definitely positive.

To start with the highlights, the Hyatt has a magnificent lobby. It is an open interior lobby, and the hallways on each of the 30+ floors look out over the space, filled with classy furnishings and lots of vegetation. Though this may seem trivial, the glass elevators were fantastic. There were two sets, one facing the interior lobby and one facing the street outside, and it was fun to ride in them, strictly for the views. It was also nice that there were so many, as we never had to wait more than 30 seconds for an elevator, even though there were over 900 rooms on over 30 floors.

The check-in and check-out were both quick and seamless. The staff at the front desk were efficient, and they answered all of my questions. And they never treated us with any less courtesy, even though we were Priceline customers.

The room itself was fine, if unspectacular. The king-bed was comfortable, with plenty of pillows for my wife. The orientation of the room was rather unusual, with the bed actually positioned in parallel to the entrance into the room, rather than the standard perpenticular orientation. Though this may be hard to understand with written description, it provided extra privacy with the bed not against one of the walls into the adjacent rooms. I was happily surprised to find a Sunday newspaper outside our door. Finally, the bathroom was spacious, and the rest of the furniture in the bedroom was solid, quality stuff.

In terms of negatives, there were several. First, the parking situation is a pain, even if understandable due to the downtown location of this hotel. The Hyatt has a valet service, but I wasn't interested in paying $30+ per day for parking. So, my wife and I drove around the block a few times and actually found an open parking lot (not a garage) where we could park for $6.50 per day that only required us to walk two blocks to the hotel entrance. I was glad that we found this option, but it would have been nice to have been provided a cheaper option by Hyatt.

I was also frustrated that the hotel charged us for everything. We had to pay $.50 for each local phone call, and it cost $10 for 24 hours of internet access. For a hotel of this quality, there's no excuse to be grubbing for money at every opportunity. Those basic features should have been included with the room.

There was a phone in the bathroom, which would have been nice, except it didn't work. We also had a mysterious blinking light on our phone. We followed the prompts to determine that someone had left a text-message for us, but the operator and the front desk attendant were unable to tell us how to retrieve that message.

Ultimately, we had a surprisingly pleasant stay at the Hyatt Regency Houston, after arriving with low expectations. It's clear that it was built a few decades ago, and it shows its age. However, it was built as a quality hotel, and it remains a fine place to stay in Houston. If we end up staying here for our next trip to Houston, that would be fine with me (especially now that I know what to do with parking!!).

My wife and I stayed one night while in town to see an art exhibit. We got a very competitive rate throught the hotel website. This is a decent, somewhat upscale hotel. It is not particularly distinctive, but the downtown location allows adequate, if not immediate, access to points of interest in the city. We had a quiet upper floor room with a very good bed. The room was decent sized, but was nothing spectacular. I'd stay here again for one or two nights as necessary but wouldn't make in the epicenter of a vacation here. I've stayed in better Hyatts.

We booked this hotel on Priceline for $65. We were offered a King size room upon check in and the room is a great size. Though the places to eat around this hotel were closed on the weekend (closest was 10 blocks away so said the front desk) - there was one HUGE bonus. We came in for the Cardinals / Astros game and they offered a free shuttle. It dropped us off right outside the homeplate entrance and was waiting for us after the game. This was a great and FREE service. Very nice perk in the freezing rain!

My company reserved rooms at the Hyatt for a five of us for a convention about 5 months in advance. Upon check-in at 9pm I was told they had oversold the hotel and would have to provide a room with a full bed rather than the king that was booked.

The room given was actually a living room for two connecting rooms. This room was uncomfortable, contained only a Murphy bed without a full set of sheets, and was exceedingly small.

I requested a room change and refund for the remained of my stay, part of which I was given by the hotel. Regardless, I had an absolutely horrible night sleep the first night due to unbelievably horrible accommodations.

While I doubt this experience will happen to many, you should be VERY careful when booking a room at this hotel during busy times. I know I wasn't the only individual who had these accommodations and was told by a hotel employee that they frequently oversell rooms on busy nights and are forced to place people in these living rooms. It was the worse experience I've ever had at any professional hotel.