Certainly the location is perfect. There are doors for street level and Riverwalk level. You go out the Riverwalk level door and there is a water taxi stop right there. But it's a short walk to the shops and restaurants, and a short walk to the Rivercenter Mall and the Alamo. Perfectly situated. And we got a great price - roughly $90 per night. That was grand!
On our first night there, as we went outside to go for an evening stroll along the Riverwalk, I immediately realized that I needed a coat and went back upstairs to get one. When I opened the door to the room, I noticed a flyer on the floor that hadn't been there when we left. Pizza. Somebody wants to deliver pizza. Good food in Achiote, the hotel's restaurant - dozens of restaurants in easy walking distance and someone wants me to order delivery pizza? But that's not what bothered me about the pizza flyer. The fact that it was under my door meant that someone who was neither an employee nor a guest of the hotel was roaming the halls freely stuffing things under doors. I found that disturbing. What other people might have been in the hotel and for what purpose? It didn't make me feel warm and fuzzy. I took the flyer and stopped by the concierge desk. They were suitably distressed, thanked me for bringing down the flyer and promised to get security right on it. (A better response than I got from the Marriott Courtyard two years earlier - that young lady looked at me like my hair was on fire and informed me that they had no control over who entered the hotel. Note that I have not stayed at the Marriott Courtyard since.) So when I found another flyer the following night, I assumed that the display of concern was more for show and I decided just to collect the flyers and speak with the manager when we checked out.
But let's get back to why the Grand Hyatt wasn't quite so grand. There's a sign in the bathroom that says the bed linens will only be changed on request. That should save them a bundle in laundry! And it saves water and I truly don't mind. I sure don't change the sheets at home on a daily basis. I'm okay with that. Of course there's a system for replacing towels. You hang it up if you intend to use it again and leave it on the floor if you want it replaced. I think this system is fairly universal. But no one told the maid at the Grand Hyatt. She left a towel on the floor and a wet washcloth in the tub. That doesn't happen at the Comfort Inn and it shouldn't have happened at the Grand Hyatt. I didn't mind that they weren't replacing the toiletries on a daily basis. But I did think that when the shampoo was half gone that they should have replaced it. But they didn't. Again, not what I expected from a Grand Hyatt. The bathtub didn't drain properly, either. By the time both of us had taken a shower the tub was over half full and I have no idea how many hours it took to completely drain it. I know we had an exceptionally good deal on the room, but even though it was a budget price, it's not a budget hotel.
When Linda booked our rooms back in September, there was an offer to attend the roof top New Year's Eve party for $17. Not knowing in September what the weather would be like in December, she decided that we could book that when we arrived. All weekend long the weather forecast for New Year's Eve included rain and thunderstorms. We were so pleased on New Year's Eve when the fog started to lift and the rain stopped. It would be a good night to be at that roof-top, poolside party. Mark and I went to the concierge desk to get tickets. Imagine my surprise when they told me the price had gone from $17 to $35. Surely he thought we'd wandered in off the street. That price couldn't be for hotel guests. "What!?! You let random people wander the halls, you don't replace the toiletries, you don't pick up dirty towels, the bathtub doesn't drain and you want me to pay $35 each to stand on the roof and watch fireworks???"
That certainly blind-sided the concierge and that was when Mark told me to go sit down and leave it to him. I'm not sure what he said, but when it was all said and done we had free passes to the rooftop, a three day supply of toiletries was delivered to our room, the bathroom was cleaned, the tub was drained and the bed was remade."
Happy New Year!!
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