I recently concluded a stay at this hotel for a three-day professional conference I was attending. The primary conference hotels over at the Hynes Convention/Pru Center were booked, so I wound up taking advantage of a special (well, not-so-special....) "prepay rate" online at Hyatt.com for this property. At the end of the day, I was reasonably satisfied with the Hyatt Regency Boston (Financial District/Boston Common), but I have to admit that it didn't bowl me over. I'd probably stay here again IF the rates were better than competing hotels in the area, because at least now I'd be prepared to be underwhelmed, which might help me get a better experience out of the stay.

Here are the particulars, broken down by the categories I usually use to rate hotels. Also please note-- this review is based on ONE three-day stay. While I think it's probably reasonably accurate... certainly based on that stay... I've found that even better hotel reviews come from multi-stay patrons, so I'm going to be a little more generous than usual!

INITIAL EXPERIENCE/LOCATION: Took a cab from Logan Airport ($22.00) to the hotel because my flight was very early and I didn't feel like using the T. On the way back TO Logan, however, I discovered how very easy it is to get there for two bucks-- the hotel is adjacent to the Downtown Crossing (red/orange lines) station, and if you take the SL1 Silverline "Logan Express" from your arriving terminal to the South Street Station, you then jump the red line toward Alewife (the lines are all very clearly marked) for one stop and you're there (about 20-25 min.). With respect to the hotel's proximity to T stops, the other good news is that if you need the Green Line to go to other major venues downtown (as I did, to the Pru Center), you simply exit the arrival lobby, walk half a short block to Washington St., then turn right on Avery (past the Ritz-Carlton) and the Boylston St. Green Line station is right there on the edge of Boston Common. In terms of rapid transit access, the hotel is pretty nicely placed (also around drug stores, fast food joints and other out-of-hotel small shopping and dining experiences, which is good... and less expensive than gift shop/room service!).

The location, if you have business in the area, is very good and virtually everything you could possibly need except a specific address can be found in and around the Common. The block the hotel is on feels reasonably safe and clean, and is dotted with parts of the Suffolk U. community as well. It's not what I'd call the most picturesque part of Boston and it's not like you're going to see a lot of touristy stuff or great scenery right from your hotel room, but then again, that's why it's called the "Financial District" hotel (also the Theatre District) and that's why there are T stops nearby to take you to the Boston Tea Party site and Faneuil Hall. :)

Anyway, I arrived in the lower lobby, which is basically just an area with elevators to take you to the main lobby on the 3rd floor. Initial experience was that the lower and main lobbies are nice-- you get the sense that this is a Hyatt property from them, at least. While pretty basic and not visually overwhelming, the main lobby is clean, neat and reasonably well laid-out. Bar and business center across the lobby from the concierge, which is next to the main desk, which is just diagonally across from the guest room elevators... easy to understand and a non-offensive, if not remarkably plush, arrival experience.

STAFF: everyone I came across there was very helpful, and I think the staff are probably the Hyatt-Financial District's greatest asset at the moment. The check-in lady was very helpful and accommodated some requests I had very politely and efficiently. On the few occasions I used the Concierge, my requests for info and help were quickly and politely fulfilled. Room service and maintenance personnel were friendly, warmly greeting, pleasant just to trade quick chats with as well. One of the Assistant Managers helped with a room problem I had (see below). Generally, if this review were based solely on the people there, it'd probably be a five-star review.

ROOMS: this is why it's NOT a five-star review (laugh). I could go on for many paragraphs detailing every minute of my very traumatic experience with a dodgy air conditioner and its LOUD failing, clicking relay switch... but let me try to be more concise! My first day I got a room that had climate control problems; couldn't hold a reasonably cool temp in the room, and the system was LOUD to boot. Two different maintenance calls resulted in people calling me back to tell me that they had messed with their computer and rectified the situation from afar-- but both times they were WRONG about this. Finally, at 3 am in the morning, a maintenance guy had to come up and mess with the A/C; by 5 am, when I still couldn't sleep because of the noise and ongoing problem, I got moved to another (adjacent, thankfully) room. While the Asst. Mgr. apologized and was helpful about this, I didn't get much more considering that their badly-maintained room had just cost me an entire night of sleep (well, about 45 min. of light snoozing from sheer exhaustion before the A/C woke me up again) and I had a very important business day ahead!!! At the very least, a half-night's room credit or something (or a free night) would have been in order.

Room conditions for business travelers are very important, particularly mechanical issues that keep you awake. You're there to WORK, dammit, and if noise from ANYWHERE is keeping you from doing it, the hotel should move heaven and earth immediately to solve the problem and make you happy. This is where, in my opinion, the Hyatt dropped the ball on me. Fortunately, as I noted above, I FINALLY got moved into another room. It still had issues of maintaining a decent temp. in the room (in fact, the thermostat wouldn't let me go up OR down at one point, but the fan control still worked), but at least it was a livable temp from an A/C unit that didn't click and rattle all night, so I stayed in that room for the rest of my visit.

My experience with other stuff in BOTH rooms leads me to the following other conclusions or bits of hopefully helpful info:

* bathrooms are nicely laid out with all needed goodies and water pressure is very good, but they use these curved shower bars to (allegedly) give you more room in the shower that primarily make it really hard to keep the bathroom door open!

*closet space is good, robe is appreciated but wasn't used;
hallways are clean and orderly, with easy access to ice machines.

* the rooms themselves have adequate pod coffee makers, coffee and condiments. Do yourself a favor if you're a big soft drink fan like me-- don't pull the $5 Pepsi cans out of the in-room fridge... walk to the CVS pharmacy BEHIND the hotel and pay $1.50 each for the 20 oz bottles!!!

* also about the rooms themselves-- you are likely to notice that many of the rooms (at least MY two...) need some TLC in the ole maintenance dept. Carpeting in both of my rooms was badly in need of replacement. Air vents desperately needed cleaning. Bathroom/closet doors had chips, dings, etc. Lamps, TV, plumbing fixtures and other electronics, however, were in average order in my first room and above-average order in the 2nd, so I think the overall quality of your room at this Hyatt is a bit like buying a scratch-and-win lottery ticket-- you can win or lose by the end of the game, but either way, it's not going to be SO life-changingly big a deal (unless you get a room like I did that's desperate to keep you awake with a major mechanical issue that goes resolved all night! Can you tell I'm still a bit grumpy about the way an alleged Hyatt handled that?!!!).

Oh... the TV is pretty basic, as well. Don't expect anything approaching your selection of channels from cable or satellite TV at home. But all of the major broadcast and some of the major cable networks are on the system, so you'll probably survive. Ironically, the best selection of TV channels I've ever seen STILL comes from a chain suite/extended stay hotel in (of all places) central Mississippi. If THEY can do it, why can't a major luxury chain hotel in central BOSTON?! Quick note on internet service: wired will cost you $9.95 a day, while wireless will cost you a little more with a T-Mobile account. I used the regular wired access (they provide the cable), which worked reliably and with good throughput speeds for the entirety of my visit. Wish they offered it as a free perk for Gold Passport members or something, though.

* BEDS/FURNITURE-- comfortable, with down mattress-toppers and lots of pillows. Definitely above average in the old hotel bed category, though not the MOST comfy I've ever experienced. Furniture in both rooms was adequate (one big chair w/hassock, small coffee table, desk w/chair, dresser), but not overwhelmingly impressive in terms of variety, comfort OR condition. Generally, again as with some other categories here, my opinion was "ah, it'll do." For the amount charged per night, however, I'm of the opinion that more allegedly upscale places like this should be providing more than "it'll do;" they should make their patrons feel as if they are in a truly top-class hotel from second to second of the stay.

ROOM SERVICE/DINING: Didn't eat in any of the hotel restaurants, as they struck me as pricey and with a menu that, while adequate, didn't offer me quite the range of dining choices I would have preferred. I *did* have room service breakfast on my last morning there-- the three-egg omelette with choice of fillings, served with potatoes and choice of toast ($17). The prices for room service were semi-unreasonable from a "regular human" perspective, but reasonable from a business-oriented upscale hotel perspective (plus tax and 18% service/gratuity charge, of course!). It was tasty and convenient, so I don't have anything to say but bon appetit! about that. :)

You can enjoy the in-house dining, I suspect, if you're willing to pay the prices for it. Gift shop snacks are available for highly inflated prices (as with everything else in the gift shop, but hey, I suppose you're paying for the convenience!), but there are a pretty fair number of decent restaurants within walking distance from the hotel, and easy access to the T puts virtually the entire city within your reach, as well. For quick and inexpensive meals, as I discovered, there are a couple of Quiznos restaurants nearby, including one on Washington St. that'll deliver to the concierge desk of the hotel for a $2 charge! A food court in the 400 block of Washington includes a few major chain restaurants, including fine Scottish dining (McDonald's) for the weary money-conscious business traveler. :)

IMPORTANT NOTE for those who, like me, like to have the odd extra soft drink and/or snack and/or bottle of OTC painkillers handy!!! As noted above, there is a QVC pharmacy within very easy reach of the lower lobby of this hotel-- about three-four minutes' walk out of the hotel, in fact, and for two and a half of those minutes, you're going to be staring at the big approaching QVC sign at the corner! Snacks, drinks, small food items, medicine, contact lens equipment, books... well, you name it, you'll be able to find it at decent prices at these big chain kinds of pharmacies. They are lifesavers in most urban hotel environments, and being close to one-- as the Hyatt Regency Boston is-- is definitely a plus in my book. :)

Last but not least, I used the Business Center to print some stuff out that I'd collected via email up in the room on my laptop. Good business center-- useful equipment, decent pricing if you're organized and can get to all of your stuff quickly ($5 for 10 minutes on a PC, inclusive of printer access), nice lady behind the counter. A+ to the Business Center... it was helpful!

CHECKOUT/DEPARTURE-- easy-squeezy. I used video checkout, since they had my credit card info on file. Left the key in the room, took the elevator down to the lobby, then another elevator to the departure lobby street level, walked for about three minutes around the corner to the Downtown Crossing T station, and 35 minutes and $2.00 later, I was at Terminal A of Logan Airport.

All in all, I really WOULD consider staying here again, particularly if the rates were good and/or specials were running compared to other hotels in the area. I don't think it'd be my FIRST choice on future visits to Boston, however, and while the people and location are very definitely in its favor, the property itself still has some serious work needed by good maintenance, repair and design folks before it can be considered one of those truly memorable upscale-type experiences that most Park Hyatts (which is admittedly the next level up in the chain, but I grew up thinking the Regencies were supposed to be pretty good, too!) or other similar hotel names are. Not a good sign that I kept looking at the front of the Ritz enviously as I'd pass it on my way to the T station (laugh)-- although I didn't check the Ritz's rates this time around, but I suspect they weren't nearly what the Hyatt's were... so props to my choice in THAT regard.

Grade: B to B+ on this trip, Hyatt. But remember that your guests expect an A or better out of your brand name!

Recommended: Yes