Coffee Breakfast

When I was early on in high school I watched the pilot episode of Beverly Hills: 90210. Back before it became just an evening teen soap drama, it started as a fish out of water story — Minnesota teens dropped into the fast-paced extravagant world of Beverly Hills (as portrayed through the lens of Hollywood).

I expect this to begin as something of a reverse-90210, I’ve written about how I believe that a hotel should offer 24 hour room service, or at least access to a fresh pot of coffee (with fresh milk, not a package that requires no refrigeration) 24 hours a day. So take what calls “Mr. Fancy Pants” and drop him in Minnesota, or a limited-service hotel property.

The truth is that I’m incredibly economical in my hotel stays, I’ve rarely spent even 0 a night for a room and simply use all of the travel savvy I can muster to get the best deals possible on the nicest accommodations I can find. But that usually means staying in at least full service properties.

I chose the for the location, which happened to work on this stay. Plus I need Hyatt stays, this would be number 23 of the year (and I’ve since racked up my 24th).. 25 stays re-qualifies me for Diamond status with Gold Passport.

And I was excited to try out a new brand, the sum total of my sense of what a Hyatt Place is was “a limited-service hotel where you get an Egg McMuffin in the morning.”

There was no wait at check-in, even though the desk doubles as the place where you buy food from a case that resembles where Starbucks keeps their muffins and salads.

I was asked whether I had any preferences for where I wanted my room, and I told the check-in clerk to just pick the best one for me, that one he would want if he was staying.

He handed me a key and wrote the wireless internet access code on the key envelope. Internet access is free for all guests at Hyatt Place, but it’s password protected, and as I found out the next morning that password would change without notice.

I was wished a good evening and ushered on my way, but I stopped and asked, “I was wondering whether there are any Diamond benefits here?”

He looked a bit confused and said “I think you’re all set!”

As I walked off to the elevator he ran after me and said, “You get to choose 500 points or a drink, which would you like?” I chose the points.

The hotel just opened in August and as a new build it’s immaculate and it’s modern. You can tell that much of the furnishings are inexpensive, there are granite countertops in the bathroom but on top of cheaper wood. And the elevator reminded me of my college dorm (or the Sheraton Frankfurt airport).

Still, it was perfectly functional all around and I would stay here again in a minute, in fact the rooms were better than my usual Marriott or Renaissance in Boca Raton (although the newly redone public spaces at the Renaissance are nicer).

I had a room looking directly out at (and on the same level as) the pool, which I worried would mean noise and also a lack of privacy. But there wasn’t any noise, and the blackout curtain meant no one could see in.

The room featured a flat screen television and DirecTV which was capable of rendering HD channels appropriately.

The room was large with a small, partial screen ‘separating’ the bedroom from living area, it actually works and the large L-shaped couch was comfortable. Great for relaxing and working both.

There’s coffee supplies, a single cup coffee maker, and a refrigerator for guest use (as opposed to a minibar).