Priceline Hotel: 4* DC (Convention Center-Capitol Hill) Grand Hyatt

[lizamead]

Started bidding on Dupont Circle at $50, adding all rebids in $5 increments up to $75. Started a new bid with CC zone only at $63, adding free rebids up to $75, then adding back in Dupont Circle at $80 - bid accepted at $80 for Grand Hyatt. I'm slightly bummed because would rather have had Omni in Dupont Circle, just for the free pool use (it's abt $11/day extra I think at GH), but all in all am very happy with this. Lowest GH rate online was $149/nt in general, or $134/nt for AAA, so overall I'm saving slightly over $100 total. (Rates for Omni were $300 range IIRC, although Westin Embassy Row, with better location but no pool, were under $200.)

[thereuare]

Nicely done!

Thank you for sharing your win and bidding history with the board. Looks like a very good deal (with enough money left over to go to swimming! :) )

Enjoy your stay.

[lizamead]

Very good point. That's a lot of swimming money saved.

I called earlier today to put in my room request and ask abt the pool, and the staff I spoke with were lovely, and all in all I'm very much looking forward to this trip (and this hotel).

[TravelGuy]

I'm slightly bummed because would rather have had Omni in Dupont Circle, just for the free pool use (it's abt $11/day extra I think at GH... (Rates for Omni were $300 range IIRC, although Westin Embassy Row, with better location but no pool, were under $200.)

It's $6 per room to use the pool at the Grand Hyatt, $11 for those who also want to use the fitness center.

Another nice thing about the Omni pool in summer, in addition to it being free, is that it's outdoors and quite large.

Although there's no pool at the Westin Embassy Row, guests there have pool privileges a short ways away at the Westin Grand.

[lizamead]

Thanks TravelGuy! That is great news abt the pool cost, because that's all we'd be using, not the fitness room. (Also a good tip abt the Westin's pool privileges - I'll be filing that tip away for sure.)

Yes, I would have liked the rooftop outdoor pool much better than a small indoor one. OTOH, if it storms, we can still swim...

[irobot]

It never ceases to amaze me how "upscale" hotels can get away with charging extra for what I would consider the very amenities that make them "upscale." Geez!

[shammes53]

We just recently stayed at the Grand Hyatt and found it great (we didn't use the pool), but we really would have like to have gotten the Omni Shoreham. On our recent vacation we stayed at several different properties along the way and I found that the nicest was the Hampton Inn in Carlisle, PA ($35 winning bid) While it didn't have the glitz of the Grand Hyatt, I found the room to be equal or better than the Grand Hyatt. We had a great non-smoking room with a king bed and sleeper sofa, microwave and fridge, nice bathroom and plenty of room overall. Throw in the free wireless internet access, free breakfast bar and nice pool, this property at *2 seemed a much better value than the Grand Hyatt was. Further proof the less expensive hotels are providing more (for free) than the big glitzy ones (at a lower price) Don't get me wrong, getting the Grand Hyatt for $90 was great, just staying in the city (great location) was well worth it.

My Grand Hyatt review:

Grand Hyatt Review