Hyatt or Marriott-1st timer

[pkmingo]

I see this has been discussed before but can anyone share their thoughts on which is better at this time? Both say they have been recently renovated. Have a 2 bedroom king suite at the Hyatt reserved and 2 rooms at the Anaheim Marriott reserved. The marriott is about $30 more per night for the 2 rooms. We are looking to stay there for 5 nights before the last 2 nights at the GF. The Hyatt people tell me that the 2 bedroom suite is in the north tower if that helps. Thank you for any suggestions or comments you may have!

 

[Uncle Buck]

I'd go Hyatt.

The North Tower is impeccable. The Hyatt is the first stop on the shuttle route which uses full-sized busses and not the silly little trollies.

The rooms are very clean with french doors separating the living space and the bedroom area. Each room has a fridge. We had a Kid Suite which had bunkbeds in a separate room (instead of a sleeping area), but both rooms had TVs.

The staff is very efficient and helpful. The bellhops offer tons of information on your way up to the room and give you a nice orientation of your room, including points of interest in the view from your room. Our corner room caught the top of the Sun Wheel and Maliboomer at DCA as well as Edison International Field, The Big A, and the Crystal Cathedral.

The hotel is primarily a businees-oriented property, so the prices in the restaurants are steep. The only real drawback to the place is the parking, which I believe we paid $14/night for valet (but we never waited more than 2-3 minutes for them to retrieve our car).

Avoid the hotel restaurant infavor of all the nearby restaurants (Red Robin, Outback, Joe's Crabshack). There is a Target within walking distance.

 

[bavaria]

Have stayed at both over the years.....

Pros and cons...

Marriott pros:
- brand new guest rooms in the whole hotel with duvets
- wide choice of restaurants
- walk across to the Hilton if you need more options
- walk to Disney (1.5 blocks)
- great service
- Starbucks

Marriott cons:
- sometimes big conventions make you feel left out (but then they don't usually use the trolley, etc so you benefit)
- no in room coffee makers

Hyatt pros:
- junior suites in the new tower are great - separate seating area
- across from Target and restaurants
- good service

Hyatt cons:
- can't walk to Disney
- south tower rooms are old!!!! late 80's maybe
- Starbucks is more expensive than at Marriott
- small pool next to bus stop

Hope that helps. I still recommend the Marriott due to all new rooms and proximity - with Hyatt it's luck of the draw, unless you specifically reserve a suite.

 

[pkmingo]

Thanks for the response. We have reserved 2 rooms at the Marriott and a 2 bedroom suite at the Hyatt. The suite is less expensive w/AAA discount but the Marriott does look nicer - still trying to decide. Any other comments welcome!!!!

 

[MandaMom]

You have a very tough decision. If you don't have a car I would go for the Marriott I love both hotels and both have their plusses and minuses.

I absolutely love both the hotel lobby restaurants I believe that the name of the Marriotts is Cafe Del Sol and the Hyatt restaurant is California Grille. Both were very good and clean with friendly servers. At Marriott's Cafe Del Sol though they give your child a bucket full of toys and crayons. Children under 3 eat free and children 3 to 11 I believe are $1.00. You can't beat that.

Pool comparison's Marriott wins slightly because although both hotels house 2 pools the main Marriott pool located to the right of the front desk and behind Cafe Del Sol is a lovely free form pool which is partially covered. Half the pool as well as the hot tub is covered by a wooden gazebo type structure. The other half is exposed this half is closest to the restaurant patio from which you can order yummy frozen drinks for the pool.

The new Hyatt pool is more than adequate, clean and set to a perfect temperature. The enterance to the pool is located just to the right of where the shuttle bus picks up for DLR. I believe this is the pool intended for the use of the South Tower guests since it is more easily accesible from this Tower. ( Which is where you will be since you booked a King Suite )

The rooms at the Marriott are adequate in size. They are very clean, housekeeping is excellent. There are wonderful down covers and if you have a King bed you will have a nice oversized chair and a desk with an office chair . Your TV will be housed in a nice armoire and in this armoire you will also get a small refrigerator.

At the Hyatt in the North tower we stayed in a Kidsuite so your accomodations may be different. We loved the contemporary decor we had a large round mirror in the adult suite part of the room and besides the comfortable king bed there was an armoire that housed a tv and a refrigerator. In the nicely tiled and impeccably clean bathroom they have marble countertops a coffee maker and hairdryer. The bathrooms are much bigger than the Marriott bathrooms. Huge Armoire for your clothing instead of a conventional closet. This armoire also had 2 drawers. My daughter simply loved the bunk beds and her little tv and sitting area. PM me if you would like pictures of the room. Unfortunately I only took pictures of my DD room and not my own but I also have bathroom pictures.

Location of the Marriott is very good and walkable if you don't have a car. It is located right next to the Convention Center. Have never used the shuttle here always used a car. Parking is $11.00 a night and can be fairly inconvienient if you have to park in the structure as opposed to the lot which is where the valet usually parks the cars but is opened up to guests when occupancy is low. We much prefer to park in the lot even though it is outside because otherwise you have a long haul from your room past the gift shop, the pizza hut, all the banquet rooms and then you'll probably need to wait for the elevator to get to the floor your car is on.

The Hyatt is situated in a convenient area right across the street from Target and also a lot of good restaurants.
- Bucca Di Beppo
- Red Robin
- Joe's Crab Shack
- Outback
- Carrows is good for breakfast and is located right down the street on Harbor on your way towards DLR from the Hyatt. It is clean and very good. Only 3.99 for a power breakfast eggs, breakfast meat, hashbrowns and your choice of toast or pancakes. My DD, DM and I ate at the Hyatt the first morning there and paid 42.00 without tip and then we ate here for about 15.00 not including tip. The Hyatt breakfast was great but the Carrow's one was better for the value. Check it out.

Hyatt is a lot farther then Marriott is from DLR but it didn't take us that long via their shuttle which also picks up at Embassy Suites, Crowne Plaza and the Hilton Garden Inn. We don't even notice the very slight difference between driving from the Hyatt to DLR versus driving from the Marriott to DLR.


I guess if I had to choose I would select the Hyatt North tower but not the South tower rooms. The rooms you receive at the Hyatt will be a lot bigger then those at the Marriott.

Hope this helps

 

[nwdisgal]

Great, throrough reviews! I am also going through this debate on which place to stay at. Anyone who has stayed at the Hyatt - are the suites at the Hyatt in the North Tower only? I am interested in reserving a Kids Suite, but only want to do this if they are in the new tower.

 

[MandaMom]

nwdisgal


All of the King Suites and Kid Suites are only available in the North Tower. The South Tower or the original Tower is strictly regular hotel rooms and are very 80's. Meaning they really need to be remodeled. If your reservation is for a suite you have absolutely nothing to worry about. I have included 4 pictures below for those of you who are interested.

HERE IS THE BATHROOM LOCATED TO THE RIGHT OF THE KIDSUITE. THERE IS A DOOR THAT SEPARATES THE KID'S ROOM FROM THE ADULT'S ROOM

THIS IS THE ADULT ROOM, THE ARMOIRE CONTAINS THE TV REFRIGERATOR AND MICROWAVE. Sorry I did not take very good pics. I did not take pictures facing the bed.

THIS IS A PICTURE OF THE KIDSUITE TABLE AND CHAIRS AND TV WITH REMOTE

PICTURE OF THE KID'S BUNKBED'S.

My pictures really do not do justice to the rooms. This is because I have not figured out how to take really nice pictures indoor i.e. when using flash with my camera. I hope this helps someone out we really enjoyed the Hyatt.

MandaMom

 

[nwdisgal]

MandaMom - Thanks for the information and the pictures! I am so glad the suites are in the North Tower. I lived through the 80's once and that was enough