Hotel's $112 Rate SOLD OUT for Friday and Saturday Nights

[sarcasticwriter 0]

Just wanted to spare you ponies the aggravation I just went through with the Hyatt.

 

You can't get the $112 rate for Friday or Saturday nights. It's sold out, per Amy Taylor, the hotel's Director of Revenue Management

 

The TL:DR version is that I called six times, was transferred eight times, spent about 70 minutes total time on hold. I only went to that much effort because I was told early on by two different reservations agents that $112 was the rate, but something was wrong with their computer system which was preventing them from fixing it, and if I called the in-house reservations team on Monday, it would be resolved.

 

It was never resolved.

 

Please, save yourselves the frustration!  The $112 rate is gone for Friday and Saturday!

 

EDIT TO ADD: I shot the BABScon site an email about the rate, so they've already updated their website. Carry on!

Edited March 24, 2014 by sarcasticwriter

[Simon 4,557]

Well, just as a heads up, Hyatt will combine multiple reservations, so you can book the $134.10 a night rate for Friday and Saturday and make separate reservations for Thursday night and Sunday night through the convention rate if you're staying one or both of those nights as well, and then call in advance or tell them when you check in that those reservations are all connected and they'll fix it so you don't have to switch rooms or check in again.  That way it'll only cost about $40 extra for the weekend.

 

But also keep in mind that the $134.10 rate that's on Hyatt's website isn't refundable and charges your credit card in advance.

[Diva Pony 345]

If they sell out completely, just know that there are quite a few hotels right along that same road.  Not sure what the rates are but they would be walking distance.  Just google San Francisco airport hotels.  Any time I have flown out of SF and needed a park and stay I have gotten excellent rates along there.

 

The good news is that with the Hyatt filling up, that means we can expect great attendance for the Con.  We all want it to be a huge success so this will be the first of many Babscons to come.

[sarcasticwriter 0]

If they sell out completely, just know that there are quite a few hotels right along that same road.  Not sure what the rates are but they would be walking distance.  Just google San Francisco airport hotels.  Any time I have flown out of SF and needed a park and stay I have gotten excellent rates along there.

 

The good news is that with the Hyatt filling up, that means we can expect great attendance for the Con.  We all want it to be a huge success so this will be the first of many Babscons to come.

 

I decided to cancel my reservation at the Hyatt and go with the Holiday Inn Express that's a three minute walk down the road.

 

Their rate per night is $108, plus they serve a complimentary full hot-cooked breakfast, which apparently saves a ton of money over the Hyatt's high-priced restaurants. And the Holiday Inn Express has Max's, a deli/cafe restaurant attached to their property. The menu looks pretty reasonable for lunch and dinner.

 

(I tried to find menus for the Hyatt's restaurants to estimate my food budget, but couldn't turn anything up. That's a terrible sign.)

 

Between saving on the rate, saving $20+ a day on breakfast, and punishing the Hyatt for their bad guest service approach with reservations, it's a great value!

Edited March 25, 2014 by sarcasticwriter

[Diva Pony 345]

I decided to cancel my reservation at the Hyatt and go with the Holiday Inn Express that's a three minute walk down the road.

 

Their rate per night is $108, plus they serve a complimentary full hot-cooked breakfast, which apparently saves a ton of money over the Hyatt's high-priced restaurants. And the Holiday Inn Express has Max's, a deli/cafe restaurant attached to their property. The menu looks pretty reasonable for lunch and dinner.

 

(I tried to find menus for the Hyatt's restaurants to estimate my food budget, but couldn't turn anything up. That's a terrible sign.)

 

Between saving on the rate, saving $20+ a day on breakfast, and punishing the Hyatt for their bad guest service approach with reservations, it's a great value!

Complimentary breakfast is huge!  You did good!

[Simon 4,557]

Okay, for anybody who still wants to book a room, try this because I think it'll work.  Instead of booking through the link on the convention site, go to Hyatt.com and in the Corporate or Group Code box, put in "G-HAEL".  That's the convention's group code, and from what I'm seeing, it's letting you get the $112 rate on the remaining hotel rooms that aren't in the block.  Of course, I already have a reservation so I can't test it all the way and it might just be because of a cancellation, but I thought I'd tell you guys anyway.

 

 

 

(I tried to find menus for the Hyatt's restaurants to estimate my food budget, but couldn't turn anything up. That's a terrible sign.)

Eeyup... their food prices are pretty high.  Their breakfast buffet is $20 (though that was the price if you pre-order that when you book, it's probably more expensive at the door).  And on Sunday they have an even more expensive breakfast buffet that's about $45 (I couldn't even begin to try and imagine what they could have there that would make any breakfast worth $45 for me).  And then they have a deli that has no prices online except for some mysterious package of food that they don't say what it includes that's around $15 a day.

 

As for lunch, they do have a cafe menu here: http://sanfranciscoairport.hyatt.com/content/dam/PropertyWebsites/regency/sfobu/Documents/all/SwiftwaterCafeLunchMenu00052013.pdf  I still can't get over the fact that their $15 salad doesn't include meat...

 

 

They don't have a dinner menu for the Cafe since apparently the Cafe isn't open for dinner every day, but they have one up for the wine bar: http://sanfranciscoairport.hyatt.com/content/dam/PropertyWebsites/regency/sfobu/Documents/all/CascadesMenu09052013.pdf  How their wine bar charges less for a salad at dinner than the Cafe charges for one at lunch, I cannot even begin to explain, but I suspect they went through a bit of the wine themselves when they were coming up with prices.

 

Long story short, you definitely will save money by staying far away from the hotel's restaurants xD

 

 

 

punishing the Hyatt for their bad guest service approach with reservations

Eh, it's a hit and miss with any company's customer service.  I've had to call Hyatt several times over various reservation changes and issues, and I had great customer service.  I think the problem you had is that the normal Hyatt reservation line is a generic customer service center for all their hotels, so they only know what the computer tells them about the hotel rate and don't necessarily have all the information that the actual hotel does.  So they thought it was just a computer issue because they saw the $112 rate and that rooms were available, but then when you got in touch with the actual hotel they knew that the block was sold out.  

[easymac 106]

The prices are consistent‎ with most high end hotels that I have stayed in (and high end restaurants as well). Yes you will be saving some money eating out in town, but you have to factor in what you will be missing while you are out trying to find some place to eat. 

I am speaking from personal experience on this, as in taking about 2hrs (round trip) to walk from Bronycon to a place to eat (that was not very far from the con) eat and finally return. Yes i did save time, but i did miss con time, so it is up to each person to decided on what they want to do. 

Edited March 26, 2014 by easymac

[sarcasticwriter 0]

Eeyup... their food prices are pretty high.  Their breakfast buffet is $20 (though that was the price if you pre-order that when you book, it's probably more expensive at the door).  And on Sunday they have an even more expensive breakfast buffet that's about $45 (I couldn't even begin to try and imagine what they could have there that would make any breakfast worth $45 for me).  And then they have a deli that has no prices online except for some mysterious package of food that they don't say what it includes that's around $15 a day.

 

As for lunch, they do have a cafe menu here: http://sanfranciscoairport.hyatt.com/content/dam/PropertyWebsites/regency/sfobu/Documents/all/SwiftwaterCafeLunchMenu00052013.pdf  I still can't get over the fact that their $15 salad doesn't include meat...

 

 

They don't have a dinner menu for the Cafe since apparently the Cafe isn't open for dinner every day, but they have one up for the wine bar: http://sanfranciscoairport.hyatt.com/content/dam/PropertyWebsites/regency/sfobu/Documents/all/CascadesMenu09052013.pdf  How their wine bar charges less for a salad at dinner than the Cafe charges for one at lunch, I cannot even begin to explain, but I suspect they went through a bit of the wine themselves when they were coming up with prices.

 

Long story short, you definitely will save money by staying far away from the hotel's restaurants xD

 

Eh, it's a hit and miss with any company's customer service.  I've had to call Hyatt several times over various reservation changes and issues, and I had great customer service.  I think the problem you had is that the normal Hyatt reservation line is a generic customer service center for all their hotels, so they only know what the computer tells them about the hotel rate and don't necessarily have all the information that the actual hotel does.  So they thought it was just a computer issue because they saw the $112 rate and that rooms were available, but then when you got in touch with the actual hotel they knew that the block was sold out.  

 

 

My goodness, Simon, I bow before your superior searching skills. I scoured the Hyatt website and went to Google looking for menus and turned up nothing (although it should be noted I have an anti-script add-on running in my browser, so sometimes certain links don't appear at all. I lost a computer to a piece of browser script malware and would rather look dumb in these situations than lose another!).

 

But your links do reinforce my decision to switch to the Holiday Inn Express! Comparing the menus, I'd probably rather have lunch and dinner at Max's (http://www.maxsworld.com/17/maxs-restaurant-and-bar-of-burlingame) even if I was staying at the Hyatt. If going to Max's for lunch and dinner means the opportunity for a brief stop at my hotel room, all the better.

 

As for the Hyatt's customer service - I should explain that I'm not a diva or anything, it's just that I personally *know* they can do better.

 

I work for a high-end hotel chain myself, one that, unlike the Hyatt, actually places guest satisfaction as its absolute highest priority. We don't put guests on hold, we never transfer them more than once, and every employee is empowered to override any rate or policy if it means making a (reasonable) guest happy. I would NEVER refuse to adjust a measely $37 off *one* night for a guest who reasonably believed they were getting the wrong rate (and then was told it was the wrong rate by hotel representatives). I'd just adjust their darn rate and maybe give them an upgrade if they still sounded even slightly annoyed. I've done it hundreds of times.

 

That's probably why my chain is ranked so much higher on the JD Powers list than the Hyatt! *smug*

The prices are consistent‎ with most high end hotels that I have stayed in (and high end restaurants as well). Yes you will be saving some money eating out in town, but you have to factor in what you will be missing while you are out trying to find some place to eat. 

 

I am speaking from personal experience on this, as in taking about 2hrs (round trip) to walk from Bronycon to a place to eat (that was not very far from the con) eat and finally return. Yes i did save time, but i did miss con time, so it is up to each person to decided on what they want to do. 

 

Max's (http://www.maxsworld.com/17/maxs-restaurant-and-bar-of-burlingame) is just a few hundred feet away from the Hyatt - only about a 3-4 minute walk. It's within sight of the hotel.  Even if you are doing most of your eating at the Hyatt, just having some variety might be well worth an 8 minute roudtrip commute!

 

Using Google street view, it doesn't look like there's much else in the neighborhood for food, though. Bit of a bummer, that!

[easymac 106]

 

Max's (http://www.maxsworld.com/17/maxs-restaurant-and-bar-of-burlingame) is just a few hundred feet away from the Hyatt - only about a 3-4 minute walk. It's within sight of the hotel.  Even if you are doing most of your eating at the Hyatt, just having some variety might be well worth an 8 minute roudtrip commute!

 

Using Google street view, it doesn't look like there's much else in the neighborhood for food, though. Bit of a bummer, that!

Thanks for the H/T i might pop over there at some point. I would've post the menu for the Hyatt as well, but I saw that Simon had posted it as well...

[sarcasticwriter 0]

Thanks for the H/T i might pop over there at some point. I would've post the menu for the Hyatt as well, but I saw that Simon had posted it as well...

 

Well, if nothing else, having to leave the Hyatt property to go to Max's might mean Max's will be less-crowded than the Hyatt restaurants at peak meal times.

 

But then again, it might be busier. Hard to tell how big Max's is from the pictures.

 

And again, I bow before superior menu-searching skills!

[Bolt the Super-Pony 62]

There's one last discounted room on both Friday ($112!) and Staurday ($157) nights (two rooms total)!