It’s rare that a big city business hotel inspires nest-envy. They are, after all, designed for guests who value a fax machine over Frette. But nest-envy is exactly what I felt when I checked into my one-bedroom city view suite on the 30th floor of the slick Grand Hyatt Seattle. True, the lobby, elevators and hallways are all business with dramatic lighting, sedate colors, rich materials and lofty spaces. Six different exotic woods (including Wenge and Bubina) were used throughout the hotel from the elevators to the boardrooms and huge slabs of backlit onyx are mounted on hallway walls.
Art also plays a big role in the sophisticated and urban look and feel of the public spaces at The Grand Hyatt Seattle which proudly displays an impressive fused glass installation by Roger Nachman in the lobby plus framed antique maps and other works by art-world icons like Willem de Kooning throughout the property.
But my room instantly felt like home thanks to a charming doorbell and a true entryway complete with a mirror for out-the-door-check-ups and live plants. Just a few more steps into the room I came face-to-face with a million dollar view of Puget Sound through floor to ceiling windows in the living room and bedroom.
Handy automatic blinds raise and lower the enormous curtains needed to cover the massive windows with just a flick of a bedside switch, but there was an odd lack of any other type of in-room technology: no CD player, no DVD player, no iPod dock—though there are plans to add them soon along with XM Satellite Radio. Another thing that was missing was drawers. With not a chest, bureau, dresser or even a shelf in sight, my underwear ended up being shoved into the bedside table.
Like so many hotels, The Grand Hyatt Seattle has gone gaga over its bed, going so far as to call it The Grand Bed. However, I found the feathery topper to be a bit lumpy and the opulent bedding to be a bit much—a feeling that was not helped one bit by the silly squares of cheap chocolate that were left on each pillow at turn down (if you happen to love the bed—or many of the other in-room amenities—you can pick one up for your own home while barely lifting a finger thanks to Hyatt at Home.
Despite (or maybe because of) the room’s quirks, the overall effect was like being in an elegant city apartment and it’s not just the suites that pamper, welcome and inspire. Standard rooms are generously sized—300 to 400+ square feet—and they, too feature amazing views and plush appointments including Portico bath amenities.
Access to the hotel’s comfortable-as-a-living-room Regency Club on the 27th floor is a note-worthy complimentary amenity for all guests staying in a suite (113 of the hotel’s 425 rooms are suites). Here you can enjoy coffee and tea all day, an expanded continental breakfast (including pastries, homemade granola and fruit) and nightly hors d’oeuvres (including freshly made spring rolls, crudités platters and cheese and nuts) with a full cocktail selection and surprisingly affordable wines ($4 per glass). Guests who are not booked into suites can gain Regency Club access for $50 per day.
You can feel free to have that second spring roll since The Grand Hyatt Seattle has the best hotel fitness room I’ve seen in a long time. Part of the Hyatt Stay Fit program, the light-filled 1,000 square foot facility is open 24 hours a day with five treadmills, four elliptical machines, two stationery bikes, exercise balls and free weights. There’s also a relaxing lounge with magazines, an elegantly tiled Jacuzzi plus saunas and steam rooms.
If you prefer to workout in privacy, you’ll find a 15 minute jiffy yoga video on the TV in your room and the hotel will even deliver a yoga mat for you to use. For outdoorsy types, the hotel offers a GPS device to help guide you through a run or walk.
You won’t need a GPS device to find the nearby and shockingly good-value O’Asian Kitchen, which features authentic Chinese cooking and enormous portions (get the salt and pepper calamari). Nor will you need any help navigating the blocks immediately surrounding the hotel where you’ll find more shopping than you can shake a credit card at, including Pacific Place and its four stories full of more than 100 shops including Tiffany & Co.,Restoration Hardware, L’Occitane, Max Mara, Cartier and a rare-as-hen’s-teeth Fourth & Towne.
Grand Hyatt Seattle
721 Pine Street
Seattle, WA 98101
Phone: (206) 774-1234
Our review of this hotel was originally published by iTraveliShop
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