Thank GOD we didn't rent the Hyundai Accent!
Written: Apr 15 '03 (Updated May 23 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Gorgeous rooms; incredible views; wonderful service
Cons: Very expensive; indoor pool a bit small; no window seat (sorry sundogg)
The Bottom Line: Best hotel room I've ever had, in a beautiful hotel, with first class service. You can't go wrong.
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| sarahalm's Full Review: Park Hyatt Los Angeles |
In early February 2003, I was scheduled to work in Pasadena, California for three days. As long as I had to make the cross-country journey, I decided to drag my loverboy along and tack a few extra days of vacation on to the beginning and end of the trip. G and I decided to stay two nights at the beginning of our trip at Disneyland, and two nights at the end of our trip in Hollywood or Los Angeles proper. So, as usual, I did some research, hopped on Priceline, and started bidding. I chose "Los Angeles -- Central" for my area and bid $71 for a four-star hotel; sure enough, my Priceline luck held and I got the fabulous Park Hyatt Los Angeles! (For more info on using Priceline to get hotels, check out this review: Priceline Hotels.)
Arrival
We arrived at the hotel on a Thursday evening, from Pasadena. We had rented a car for the week, so we drove to the hotel following directions I printed from the hotel's website, which is accessible via www.hyatt.com. The hotel is located at 2151 Avenue Of The Stars in the Century City area of Los Angeles. We had no trouble finding the general area -- which is beautiful -- but we had a little trouble getting to the hotel. It turns out that Avenue of the Stars (isn't that a cool street to stay on?) is on sort of an overpass over the cross street we came in on, so we went right under the darn thing! Still, it didn't take us long to figure out and we drove up to the hotel minutes later.
Avenue of the Stars is a huge boulevard of the sort only found in LA. It's got to be four lanes each way, with a massive grass island in the middle. The island in front of the Park Hyatt was accented with a really cool fountain.
When we pulled up to the hotel we were in awe. It was even more beautiful than the pictures on the website made it seem. The building stretched up in a set of staggered towers, in sort of a semi-circle shape, with a big wide circular driveway in front.
We pulled into the circular driveway in our rental car, and the very first thought to pass through my mind was: "Thank god I upgraded this rental!" See, being the cheap traveler I am, I had rented a car through Priceline for the ridiculously low price of $84 a week for a compact car. When we arrived at the rental car office, we were told we would be getting a lovely 2-door Hyundai Accent. But, the woman at the counter told us, the weather was expected to be beautiful all week, and for just $10 a day more, or $154 total for the week, we could have that cute silver Mustang convertible right out front... For once in my life, I did it. I whipped out that MasterCard and went for the Mustang. And thank goodness I did, because I would have felt very silly pulling up at this fabulous hotel in an Accent!
Anyway, a very nice young man in a neat uniform came over to the car and opened my door for me. He told G, who was driving, that parking was strictly valet, but that we could come and go as often as we liked. He helped us unload our luggage, and gave us a valet ticket. G started to put up the top, but the valet stopped him: "All of our parking is underground, sir, and only those with a security pass can enter the garage, so you can feel free to leave the top down if that's more convenient." Cool.
Parking
As noted, parking is valet only, and there are no self-park lots in the immediate area. Parking is $23 a day, which made me say "ouch", but that's about standard for LA. We were always able to get our car immediately when we wanted to leave -- we just pressed the valet button on the phone when we were nearly ready to leave our room, and the car was waiting when we got downstairs without fail.
A doorman smiled and held the door for us as we entered.
The Lobby
Okay, wow. Wow. The lobby is beautiful. Warm wood, marble, fresh flowers, sunshine, luxurious rugs and very comfortable seating all around. Straight ahead is a restaurant called the Park Grill. We did not eat there, but we discovered that in the mornings, there is a dark wood sideboard set up with free coffee and tea and large paper cups with tops (even those little cardboard sleeves to keep you from burning your fingers) for guests to take their morning coffee with them.
To the right is the front desk, a long wooden counter, which was staffed with three or four smiling young women. On our way there, we were greeted pleasantly by the concierge and a man who appeared to be a bellman.
Check-in
There was no wait to check in, and the woman helping us was very polite and efficient. I caused a bit of a stir looking for my drivers' license, which I needed to check in (for security reasons, I was told) but eventually we got a room key and headed on our way, declining the offer of assistance with our luggage.
Elevators and Hallways
There was never a wait for an elevator; all of them ran smoothly and quickly. The elevators and hallways were spotlessly clean and nicely decorated. The halls seemed almost like halls in a private home or a club; there were framed prints on the walls, that coordinated with one another but were not identical or part of a "matching set." The carpets were clean and well kept, and the paint and wallpaper was in excellent condition. There were windows in the hallway, which is unusual in hotels, and brought some welcome natural light.
We had to do a bit of walking to get to our room, and the hallways at first seem confusing because there are many turns, but in fact you can't get lost because the turns only go one way -- the hotel is not designed in a linear model, but sort of a jagged line. Hard to explain.
The Room
Oh yes, the room. Ahhhh, the room. I love this room. This may be the best hotel room I have ever stayed in. In fact, I am 99% sure it is. We entered a narrow hallway. On the right was the bathroom, then a nice-sized closet, which housed an iron & ironing board as well as two luggage racks. On the left was a large desk. Then the room opened up to a large, square shape.
The entire wall on the left was lined with huge windows, as was the entire wall at the back of the room. The windows sported both sheer liners and heavy light-blocking drapes in an attractive taupe pattern.
The desk was a lovely dark wood number with a telephone, a fax machine, and an internet hookup. The desk chair was adjustable, on wheels, and extremely comfortable. Best of all, with the drapes open, you could sit at that desk and look right out the window at the Hollywood Hills.
Beyond the desk was a dresser, also of dark wood and with plenty of storage space. Then, in the corner of the room was an armoire, on top of which was the Television. The TV had pay per view movies, as usual, plus very good cable service. Inside the armoire was a minibar, as well as an ice bucket, wine glasses, water glasses, a bottle opener, napkins, and drink stirrers.
On the right hand wall was the bed. This was one big, huge bed. Seriously, have you ever heard of a California King bed? Well, this was one of those -- appropriately, since we were in California. It was massive. I kind of missed G since I didn't bump into him all night, but aside from that flaw the bed was wonderful; very comfortable with a cozy bedspread and lots of different pillows to choose from.
Perhaps best of all, the back wall, between the TV and the bed, was all windows. To be precise, sliding glass doors. ONTO OUR OWN LITTLE DECK! The small deck was large enough to accommodate two chairs and a table comfortably. We were in the front of the hotel, so the driveway and entrance were directly below us, but straight ahead was downtown LA and beyond that the ocean. To our left was the Hollywood Hills and imagine my thrill when I discovered I could actually see the HOLLYWOOD sign from my own room!!!
Because of the non-linear design of the hotel, many rooms have decks, but they are not right next to or across from each other. In fact, we were able to leave all of the drapes on the left side of the room open full time without worrying about people looking in, which meant we were able to fall asleep looking at the stars and wake up to the sun over the mountains. Amazing.
The Bathroom
The bathroom was just as beautiful as the rest of the room. Marble everywhere. A generously sized vanity area. One of those bowed shower curtain rods to make the shower roomier for co-ed showering. Loads of soft fluffy cotton towels. Luxurious bath amenities. And not one but TWO bathrobes, so we didn't have to fight over them! There was a hair dryer that actually dried my hair. And kleenexes that didn't scratch my face. Nice.
Hotel Facilities
The hotel has two pools, one inside and one outside. Only the indoor pool was open when we were there because it was so cold by LA standards (70 degrees). The indoor pool was very nice but rather small. Next to the pool is a nice hot tub/spa. We spent a lot of time in the hot tub, and we were always the only ones there. Usually, we saw only one or two people swimming laps in the pool.
The outdoor pool is on a huge patio that overlooks LA. There is a bar outside that is probably open in warm weather, and lots of deck chairs. The view is stunning. In fact, you can enjoy the view from the indoor pool and the hot tub as well, because again the wall is all windows.
There are several exercise bikes at one end of the pool deck, looking out at the City. There is a separate workout room as well, which is small but well-equipped. The locker rooms are clean and well-stocked with grooming products. Each has a sauna and steam room; these looked nice, but we did not use them as they were not co-ed. But perhaps the nicest feature of the health club is the water. They have large pitchers of ice water with lemon slices in them available for guests to pour in large plastic cups with lids and straws. Just a nice touch. There is also a juice bar which sells drinks and snacks.
The health club offers massages for an additional charge by appointment, and has special massage rooms available.
Dining
We did not eat at the hotel, but it does have a formal restaurant, a casual restaurant, and a lounge. Of course, there is also 24-hour room service from an extensive menu, and a catering menu.
Location
Century City is a cool area of LA, home to several major movie studios. The Park Hyatt backs right up to the Fox movie lot, and the roof of the hotel is one of the only places in LA that you can (legally) look down into a working movie lot! We wandered around the pool deck area until we found a place we could see from. We saw some trailers and a few people walking around, but with no binoculars it's hard to know who it was. Let's say, Robert DeNiro. Okay? Seriously, it was a unique experience and worth seeing. Also, the studio buildings are painted with some really neat murals.
Just down the street from the hotel is a huge shopping mall complete with a gourmet grocery. Our first night at the hotel, we went to the grocery and bought a bottle of wine, a few cold dinners and some chocolates, and brought it all back to eat on the deck. It was decadent and wonderful. The mall is massive and has everything you could ever want. Best of all, it's an outdoor mall, so you can enjoy the California sun while you shop!
At one of the large hotels near the Park Hyatt they had set up an ice-skating rink for the months of January and February, which was apparently open to the public. We didn't check it out, but the whole thing seemed kind of weird to us.
There's not much else in walking distance, but nobody walks in LA anyway! We discovered that our hotel was an easy drive from everywhere. Beverly Hills is only a few minutes away -- and if you don't want to drive, the hotel has a limousine that will take you there to go shopping or to dinner! We couldn't afford to shop or eat in Beverly Hills, so we didn't get to ride in the limo, but we saw lots of other (fancier) guests getting in it!
Our hotel was a quick drive from Hollywood, where we checked out Mann's Chinese Theater and the Walk of Fame. Also nearby was my favorite thing in LA: The Farmers' Market. This used to be a real farmers' market, but is now small shops and restaurants. There is live entertainment at night, and some great, affordable food. The farmers' market has free parking, and is connected by walkways and a trolley to a beautiful shopping center that looks kind of like Disneyland's Main Street -- no joke, it's that clean. If you go to the Farmers' Market, try Bob's Donuts. Mmmmmmm....
Just up the road from the Farmers' Market is the La Brea Tar Pits, which a lot of people think is boring but I think is cool. And it's free to walk around, if you don't want to go inside the visitors' center!
Basically, you can get anywhere in LA from this hotel quickly and easily.
Service
Service was wonderful. We were always greeted with a friendly "hello" or "good evening" when we saw a staff person. We were treated like respected, valued customers, even though we were young and not decked out in designer clothes and even though we were staying there only because Priceline let us!
There was turndown service each day. One night, we were changing when the maid arrived; she was very nice, and offered us clean towels if we needed them. She also gave me a whole handful of the little chocolates they put on the pillows. That'll win me over every time.
The room was cleaned perfectly after our first night, and we never saw a room service tray in the hall for more than a few minutes before it was picked up. The attendant at the health club was friendly. The front desk staff was helpful. The room service staff brought us ice on request. All in all, a well-run place.
Conclusion
What can I say? I loved this hotel. I felt truly pampered and I was so relaxed after my stay that I really had that post-vacation glow. I highly recommend it.
You can also check out www.fodors.com for other reviews of this hotel.
Other Hyatt Hotels
I have reviewed a couple of other Hyatts -- check out these reviews and you will see how much hotels within this chain can vary!
Grand Hyatt New York City
Hyatt Regency Alicante
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
sarahalm
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Location: Finally summer...
Reviews written: 28
Trusted by: 26 members
About Me:
Working too much to read, rate or review these days... hope to be back soon!
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