Grand Hyatt NY Gets An “F” For Accommodations!

 

Grand Hyatt Hotel New York City

I just returned from a business trip to New York where I gave a presentation to a group of travel industry professionals. The conference went well, but that is not my reason for writing this. The problem was with the Hotel.

The conference hotel was the Grand Hyatt in New York City. This is a very large business hotel located right next to Grand Central Station on 42nd street. I was excited about staying at the hotel as I really enjoy the Hyatt brand. 

 

I arrived at 1250AM in stead of 1030PM as my flight was late from Chicago due to weather in the New York area. So I am now very tired, somewhat wet as it has been pouring rain for the entire trip from Newark Airport to the Grand Hyatt Hotel and I had to wade through the rain to get to the Super Shuttle Bus. I walk into the lobby of the Grand Hyatt and proceed to the Registration Desk. Now remember it is 1250AM on Thursday morning and there are at least 12 people waiting in line to check in. Now that would not be so bad, but there is only one desk clerk handling the check in and to add insult to injury, there are approximately 15 self service check-in kiosk that all say “OUT OF SERVICE – SEE DESK CLERK TO CHECK IN.” So now I am very tired, I have a bad headache and I am standing in a line that is not moving at all. 

 

20 minutes later I make it up to the desk clerk. I give him my name and my reservation number. He types it into the computer and then I see that look on his face that I have seen to many times before. You know the look of bad news at 115 in the morning. So he tells me that the room I reserved was not available. My heart dropped! I said you have to give me a room. He tells me that he has a queen size smoking room. I said to myself, “how bad could a smoking room be?” So I say to the desk clerk, I just need a room to sleep in, I will take the room. 

 

So he gives me the key card and I proceed to the 15th floor room I was assigned. I get to the room and open the door and walk in and then it hit me. This room REAKED of smoke! Oh did it stink, it just knocked you over. It smelled like someone chain smoked no-stop for a week! But again, I was so tired and I had this terrible headache and I just needed so sleep. So I climbed into the bed and fell asleep. 

 

When I woke up, I really look around the room for the first time. The window shade was all stained and looked as if someone threw a cup of coffee on it. The lights on the night stands did not work properly. The Desk lamp shade was broken and had a hole in it.  There was a floor lamp that was leaning over like someone bent the base.  And the final straw, the wifi in the room did not work.

 

I walked into the bathroom to take a shower. The bathroom look pretty good, so I get into the shower, close the curtain and turned on the water. I adjusted the temperature and then the tub started to fill up. Ok, so the drain was running slow. I hit the shower button and the shower turned on. It started to spray nicely around the curtain and on to the floor. I could not get a good flow onto me, but it did a great job of making a puddle on the floor of the bathroom, which I could not stop.

 

I was really frustrated by this time. I got out of the shower and threw two towels on the floor to soak up the water. I then dried myself off with a third towel, at least they gave me 4 towels and they were not the usual fluffy Hyatt towels, they were very scratchy and thin towels.

 

The service was just fair throughout the hotel. The public areas were very nice, but the service was poor at best. I stay in lots of hotel rooms during the year and this was a stay that I want to forget. I cannot recommend the Grand Hyatt in New York until they do something to improve the quality control of the rooms and the attitude of the staff.

Delta Queen Reborn As Chattanooga Hotel

 

The Delta Queen On The Mississippi

A welcome befitting a Queen, the 82 year-old Delta Queen Steamboat arrived in Chattanooga on Wednesday February 11. Hundreds of people turned out to welcome the Queen to Chattanooga which will be it’s new home as it will become a floating hotel.

 

Ambassadors International, which owns the Delta Queen has chartered to Harry Phillips, owner of Chattanooga Water Taxi and Fat Cat Ferry. Mr. Phillips has hired  Sydney Slome, owner of Chattanooga’s Stone Fort Inn, to manage the Delta Queen Hotel. The hotel is slated to open to the public in April. The hotel will have 87 cabins and can hold 174 guests.

The Delta Queen was built in 1926 and has a steel hull and a wooden superstructure. Currently the Delta Queen cannot legally operate overnight cruises at present because its congressional exemption from fire safety laws was allowed to expire on Oct 31, 2008. 

The Delta Queen will host Dixieland jazz bands, cabarets and musical revues. Tours of the vessel will also be available.

So if you are planning on visiting Chattanooga this summer, you may want to book a cabin on the historic Delta Queen.

Some Free Transportation in Las Vegas from The Travel Doctor

 

Looking North From The MGM

There is all types of ways to get around the City of Las Vegas and the Strip. But did you know that there are numerous ways to get around for free.  The following are just a few ways.

The Barbary Coast Casino offers a free shuttle between the Orleans Hotel, Gold Coast Hotel and the Barbary Coast. The shuttles run every 20 to 30 minutes from 9AM to Midnight. 

If you love trams like I do, then you will enjoy the two free trams on the Strip. The first one runs between Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay. There is a local tram that makes all three stops and there is also an express tram that runs nonstop from Mandalay Bay to Excalibur. The trams run every 3 to 7 minutes 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. The second free tram runs between the Mirage and Treasure Island. The shuttle runs every 10 min and starts at 9AM and ends at Midnight.

The Rio Suites has free shuttle service between Caesar’s Palace, Bally’s, Paris and Harrah’s. The shuttles run every 30 minutes. The Shuttle’s start at 10AM and run to 1AM Monday thru Wednesday and to 4AM on Thursday and Sunday.

I hope you try these free ways to get around Las Vegas. I have and I really had fun! Let me know if you try it by leaving a comment.

The Duce Bus in Las Vegas

 

Deuce Bus on The Strip in Las Vegas

If you need to get around the strip in Las Vegas, and you don’t want to spend a lot of money, you have to try the Duce Bus. For just $2 a ride or $5 for unlimited rides for a 24 hour period, you can see Las Vegas.

The Duce bus is a public bus, but it is clean and comfortable and best of all, it is a Double Decker bus. So if you are lucky, you can sit in one of the 4 front seats on the upper level and see the Strip like you have never seen it before.

They run about every 5 to 10 minutes during the day and every 20 to 30 minutes during the wee hours. But they run 24/7. Update to The Deuce click here I used it this past week and I loved it. So the next time you are in Las Vegas, try it.  Here is a link to my update page and some pictures of the bus inside and out. Click the link for pricing and unlimited ride options.  

www.thetraveldoctor.wordpress.com/2008/10/20/the-deuce-bus-las-vegas-revisitedor-do-you-call-it-duce/