TX Dallas Hyatt Regency Downtown

[forress]

We stayed here for a couple of nights for the proximity to downtown and the JFK museum. This hotel is big and hosts many conventions and events. There was a line during our check-in, we had to wait. That was not a big deal but the front desk was in such a hurry to check everyone in that it felt very impersonal and more like we were in a conveyor line. Definitely not the same Hyatt we experienced elsewhere.

The location was hard to find when driving by car because it is at the intersection of several major highways in downtown Dallas. You have to navigate through some off ramps and on ramps if you are getting off one of the highway exits. Luckily we had a Garmin GPS and that helped tremendously.

This hotel is part of the Reunion Tower and Arena complex. It looks modern on the outside but the room's were a little dated circa the 1980's. It reminds me of the Hotel Pennsylvania in NYC. The bathroom was small, old manual thermostat, old clunky 27" TV, old carpeting, and the gym had old equipment w/o AC. We had a Priceline reservation, they might have given us a dated room but I have a feeling all the rooms are the same.

There is a big parking lot on the premise of the hotel but they restrict it for valet parking only at an unreasonable price of $20/day. We saved money by parking a block away (albeit down a small incline) at Reunion Blvd West for $10/day or less if you park by the hour. It's called Ace Parking which is directly to the left of the hotel. There is an attendant there 24/7, no in/out access but you don't have to deal with the busy valet. We were there when they honored Ross Perot one night and the hotel was more crowded and the valet was a giant mess. It looked like midtown Manhattan gridlock, we were glad we did self-parking.

The Reunion Tower and restaurant is closed until at least Dec 08 for renovations. If you get a good deal for this place, it's not bad because of the location but otherwise I would stay elsewhere.

Pro's:

Location (within walking distance to JFK museum and the West End area)

Con's:

Dated rooms

Impersonal staff

Old equipment at Gym

Ripoff for Valet

Hard to find by car without GPS