Located near two malls and public transportation, this hotel is certainly cheap on points but it has a few blemishes to go with it.

Booking

We needed to be in Atlanta over Christmas week and found a reasonable points price at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead. We paid 12,000 Hyatt points per night for the Category 3 hotel. I found it interesting that a Grand Hyatt in a major city could be a Category 3 hotel, but perhaps I am just used to cities with a higher cost of living. Regardless, we were visiting family on this trip and the hotel was perfectly located for this purpose.

I also applied a Suite Upgrade Award on this stay, which was nice since we were here for six nights. The standard suite at this hotel is the Grand Suite.

If you’re looking for cash rates, expect them to vary between $200 and $400 per night. Given my valuation of 2 cents per Hyatt point, I’d be more inclined to pay cash when the rate is cheaper. And that’s exactly what happened on this particular trip.

Parking is $59/night for valet or $49/night for self-park. Since I was a Globalist on this points stay, I was able to get the valet parking fee waived.

Destination Fee

This hotel does have a $30 daily destination fee that covers the following:

• $15 F&B Credit
• Premium internet access (if everyone gets it, how could it be premium?)
• “Savings Passport” for use in the Lenox Mall and Phipps Plaza
• 24 Hour Fitness with Peleton
• House car service
• Local/800 calls
• Discounts to local businesses
• Sauna
• 2 Bottled Waters per stay
• Japanese Zen Garden
• Seasonal Outdoor Heated Pool

I think it’s a bit much to say this collection of benefits amounts anywhere near $30/night. But the good thing is this bogus fee doesn’t need to be paid by anyone when using Hyatt points. It’s also waived for Globalists when staying on an eligible cash rate.

With that said, it’s actually quite nice that there is no extra charge for having your pet stay with you. They even provide pet beds and bowls free of charge.

Earning World of Hyatt points

Full disclosure: in this section are refer-a-friend links where I may earn some points for referring. There is no requirement to use the below referral links to apply but note your offer may differ when going directly to the card issuer.

Chase has a couple of cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points that can transfer to Hyatt at a 1:1 rate:

• The Chase Sapphire Preferred card (refer-a-friend link) that offers 75,000 points for spending $5,000 in the first three months.
• There is currently a limited-time offer (refer-a-friend link) on the Chase Ink Business Preferred that gives an excellent 100,000 points for spending $8,000 in the first three months.

The Hyatt personal credit card (not an affiliate link) offers a 30,000 point bonus when spending $3,000 in three months. On top of that, you get 2X earnings during the first six months until you reach $15,000 in spend. At most, this is a 45,000 card for spending $15,000–and most certainly not the 60,000 bonus it claims disingenuously claims. But, on the bright side, if that $15,000 spend happens within the same calendar year, you’ll also get six elite night credits and a Category 1-4 free night certificate.

The small business version of the Hyatt credit card (refer-a-friend link) offers a limited-time 80,000 point bonus when spending $10,000 in three months. The main appeal here is the easier path towards earning elite status (5 elite night credit for every $10,000 in spend per calendar year), but it also gives up to $100 back on Hyatt purchases.

Arrival and First Impressions

Prior to our arrival, the hotel reached out to indicate that they are currently undergoing a renovation. This included an update to much of the shared spaces within the hotel as well as the main entrance. While it would have been nice to see the final product, it wasn’t too much of an inconvenience for us. We just needed to enter through the side door, but that’s where the valet crew was stationed anyways.

Given the hotel’s proximity to MARTA (the light rail system in Atlanta), we’d probably pass on renting a car the next time we are in town.

Once inside, we there wasn’t much of a main lobby area but there was a Christmas tree in the corner.

A small desk was used as the front desk during the renovations. It did seem like being here during Christmas week meant few guests in the hotel, making for an easy time checking in. The agent noted my upgrade to the Grand Suite (and didn’t offer any further upgrade), asked if I wanted a 4PM checkout, and described the features of the Grand Club.

The Room

Our room for this stay was 2021. The nice thing about the Grand Suite is that it’s a true suite with a separate living area and bedroom. Though the hotel common areas are still being renovated, the hotel confirmed the room we were given was already upgraded.

Living area

Once you enter the room, you’re immediately inside the living area, with a large TV, a few tables, and plenty of seating.

One thing to note is that table in the living room is not good with optical mice. That’s a shame given the room has already been remodeled.

The couch directly across from the TV was nice for sitting, but this isn’t how it normally appeared for us. That’s because the couch converts into a bed and that’s where the kids preferred to sleep.

If you do sleep out here, please do so on the bed itself. Five year old Char wanted me to sleep next to her on the chaise and that made for an uncomfortable night.

Also out in the living room is a small counter that hides a minifridge, teas, and the ice chest.

One other thing while we’re out here. There is a connecting door to another guest room, which is typical of suites. However, the door seemed to have an awfully large gap under the door. So large, in fact, that we could easily hear noises from the other room–when the TV was on, pretty much all conversations, and even loud snoring all night. To combat this, I had to roll up a towel to plug the gap a bit. Would have been nice if this wasn’t needed.

Bedroom

Leaving the living room, you’ll pass by a closet that has a couple of robes. But sadly there is no folding rack for your luggage. If you brought along a larger suitcase as we did, you’re going to be out of luck.

The bedroom was well-lit at night. Some of that had to do with the lights in the room itself, but much of it was from the lights outside. The bed was quite comfortable and I liked the decor in the room.

On each nightstand surrounding the bed were a couple of outlets.

The TV in the bedroom is smaller than the one in the living room. Oddly enough, it had a weird colorization going on where it almost looked partly burnt out. I thought this room was already renovated but maybe they reused an old TV from before?

Next to the TV is a small chair and table. I don’t have a problem with the size of that table given there is a living room to make up for it.

And, yes, you can already see some wear and tear on the wall behind the dresser already. Looks like someone banged the dresser into the wall and scuffed it.

The view from the room was quite bright at all hours of the day. You’ll need to keep your blinds closed when sleeping.

Bathroom

The bathroom certainly looks nice and arguably the most premium of the remodeled room. However, one of the faucet handles was loose–simply turn the cold water handle past where it turns off and it would turn back on. Whoops.

Shower pressure was a bit weak if you’re using the overhead nozzle. Instead, the recommendation is to use the hand wand. You’ll get better water pressure while only sacrificing a little bit of coverage.

Toiletries are the Grand Hyatt standard (Balmain).

Grand Club Lounge

On the 24th floor you’ll find the Grand Club. The hours of the club are 6:30AM to 10PM daily, with the following meal times:

• Breakfast: 6:30AM to 9:30AM (weekdays) or 7:30AM to 10:30AM (weekends)
• Snacks: 10AM to 5PM daily
• Evening Hor D’oeuvres: 5PM to 8PM (Tuesday – Saturday)
• Dessert: 8PM to 9PM (Tuesday – Saturday)

Since the purpose of our trip was to visit family, we were never in the hotel to see what was on offer for the evening service. However, we were able to experience both the breakfast and dessert courses.

The entrance to the lounge was a simple set of double doors. Once inside, no one asked for our room details–in fact, about half the time we were there, we didn’t even see one employee around.

There is a few areas for seating, but I imagine that if the hotel is normally occupied that there wouldn’t be enough space for all guests. Even with the hotel as lightly occupied as it seemed, it did get crowded quickly in the lounge. I did see some guests deciding to take plates back to their room and staff helped accommodate them in doing that.

In the corner was a computer and printer if you needed it.

Breakfast

So let’s start with the coffee machine. I don’t normally drink coffee, but Jenn does. She saw a sign that declared the machine inoperable but that you can join them at Onyx to get a free cup. She wanted to take them up on that offer and went downstairs. After a bit of confusion on where to get it, she found someone who was able to assist. However, while he was friendly, the barista didn’t know how to make a latte, asking Jenn if she wanted milk added to the drink. Uhh, OK.

Anyways, let’s get back to the lounge. Our first day, we came here about half an hour after it opened… and they ran out of food. What made this worse was that there was no lounge attendant available. Despite others attempting to knock on the door to ask for assistance, there was no answer. It turns out the attendant was on her cell phone… that wasn’t a good first impression.

Thankfully, after that first day, there were no other issues with the lounge running out of breakfast items.

As for what was on offer, I have to admit it was a little strange to see such a small variety. Most days there was only one variety of eggs available (cold hard boiled eggs). You’d also only find three warm dishes (oatmeal, bacon/sausage, and a rotating option). Pretty much aside from that, it’s safe to call this a continental breakfast.

The lounge breakfast here is definitely not something to write home about.

Dessert Service

So given what you saw for breakfast, what would you expect is available for dessert? Well for starters, there is a selection of alcohol available but most of the time it’s locked up. Even during the dessert hour, there was only one time we saw the machine available to use.

And when it was available, it’s not like the drinks are a steal. They want to sell you a large glass of 2022 St Chateau Michelle Sauvignon Blanc for $22 when you can buy the whole bottle for just $10. I wish it didn’t have to be quite that large of a margin they’re looking to make off the wines in the lounge.

As for the dessert itself, there were a few small cakes and some fruit available. That was really the extent of what was on offer. The cakes did rotate depending on the night, but there wasn’t much going on here. On the bright side, we did chat with a lounge attendant (not the same one from breakfast the first morning), which was a delightful conversation.

Recommendation: I’m tempted to say no, but…

Let’s count the concerns I have with the hotel first. While the room physically looks nice, I think the biggest problem was the lack of sound insulation. It almost sounded like guests in the room next to us were having a conversation in our room. That’s a problem if using the sofa bed in the living room. The other main disappointment was the lounge, which was arguably one of the weakest offerings I’ve been to in a while. That feeling isn’t helped by the experience we had on our first morning.

However, should that all be balanced with this Grand Hyatt only being a Category 3 hotel? Potentially, but I think it’s a bit of a disappointment that there are room design flaws in an already-renovated room. If you’re looking to be in this area of Atlanta, then perhaps the flaws might be easier to overlook. But from a purely objective standpoint, it’s hard for me to fully recommend it.

If you’re looking for other hotels in Atlanta, check out our review of the Marriott Marquis Atlanta.