I decided to spend the last weekend of 2012 at the Hyatt Place Buckhead. I have stayed at this property in the past for many reasons. Free Parking, Free Highspeed Internet. Great Brewery/Pub right outside the door. Close to many things in Buckhead, with the ability to have a shuttle take you to many of the eateries and malls in the area. Across the brand, Hyatt has really made strides with the Hyatt Place name in not only making it a better alternative to other budget brands, but also one of the best alternatives to the other business brands. One of the strides is a fully integrated Audio Visual interface that allows you to connect your iPad or Lap top, or other devices to the large screen TV in the room. Great for presentations and the such.
This interface was one of the main reasons why I selected the HP over Embassy Suites, or the Grand Hyatt and Westin, which was closer to the "heart of Buckhead."
Checking in was effortless, and we were able to get two rooms right next to each other. The front desk staff is REALLY friendly and helpful. And while all of them were always smiling and helpful, Arianna (I think that is her name) REALLY stood out and probably kept me sane as the stay started go from great to "oh what now?"
I like that the HP has now taken points from the higher end of the brand such as the Andaz and now the front desk act as a concierge checkin in a way and come from around the desk to hand you your room key and give you a mini tour of the facilities, instead of just pointing. But if you are in a rush and want to save time, you can still check in and check out at the kiosks.
I had three main issues during this stay though, and why the low marks. As I told the young lady when I was checking out, this was the worst stay I have ever had at this HP, or any other for that matter. Yet, they probably have one of the best front desk staff that I have seen in a long time.
1) The main purpose I selected this property was because of the audio/visual set up. The first room that we checked into, the connection was not receiving power. I put the trouble call in, and 6 hours later when we got back to the room, the only thing that was done by the Maintenance was put an extension cord to the desk. When the maintenance came back to the room, the guy simply told me, "oh, it doesn't work." REALLY? I don't know too many people that put in trouble calls for working items. He then said that they would have to remove the wall to access the power for it. Which frustrated me even more, because while I would probably assume, that 80% of the guests that stay at the property never even use the connection, for the 20% that does, what then? Really would you like to get on an airline that only got to the destination, 80% of the time?
The front desk was expeditious in giving us another room on the same floor, but because of the time, was unable to keep us and our guest together, which I understood. When we got to the second room, there was power to the switchboard, except this time, the board was not connected to the TV. I did manage to get it working correctly and was able to use it.
2)One of the perks of the Gold Passport program with Hyatt was the ability to have a late check out of 4pm which is one of the most awesome things out there in my opinion. Especially on late travel days. The ability to go out and sleep in the next day, makes for a very restful stay. That is until you get a knock on the door that has DND on it at 1220p asking if you are checking out. I told him that we had a late check out, and had no more issues and went downstairs to verify so. Got the new keys for our room and our guests' room after finding out that their door was knocked on as well. What became down right unbearable though is that our guests had two more calls and an entry, even with the DND on the door.
3)Entry on a DND without calling to the room first, I think is unacceptable. I did not find out about it until we were well on the road, or I would have turned around as well.
That being said, the young lady on checkout did all I felt she could, and within 20 minutes, the Property manage had called me on my cell phone to try and make it right. I can't say that I would never stay at this property again, and because of the service, I would even STILL recommend the property, but really hope that this property can not only get refreshed in its rooms, as it is one of the older HPs in the brand, but also have some training done with the support staff. The Maintenance and the Housekeeping staff are just as important, if not more vital as the front desk/service staff as far as customer experience goes.
p.s. and while it isn't as big as the three things I mentioned, I ordered a Chocolate Lava Cake from the desk. She was about to serve it cold, REALLY? Even when she heated it up, the lava never melted. Let's work on that.
Room Tip: Avoid rooms that end with 14/16 for they are right behind the elevator.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
