A great hotel located in a prime spot in Oakland, California. Both service and breakfast were on point but the gym seemed a bit crowded during our mid-week stay.

Booking

Since this hotel was a Category 5 hotel, I couldn’t use one of my many available Category 1-4 free night certificates. Standard award nights here cost between 17,000 and 23,000 Hyatt points per night. Cash rates here can get a little pricey, but we were able to lock in a $149 nightly rate. At that cash rate, it didn’t make sense to book using points.

Earning 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) has a limited-time offer of 100,000 points for spending $5,000 in the first three months. It has a $95 annual fee.
• There is currently a limited-time offer (refer-a-friend link) on the Chase Ink Business Unlimited that gives an excellent 100,000 points for spending $8,000 in the first three months. There is no annual fee.

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 60,000 point bonus when spending $5,000 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

We pulled up to the hotel and quickly found a valet agent who helped us park the car. This hotel did not have a self-park option. While Hyatt Globalists can get free parking including valet, that benefit is only offered when paying using points or a free night certificate. Since we were paying cash, we had to pay just like everyone else.

The hotel lobby looked beautiful and was nicely appointed. The ambience felt very inviting and looked like a place where locals might gather. The front desk greeted us with a smile and, after a few pleasantries, provided our room keys and sent us on our way.

I should note, however, that the hallway to the room felt eerily dark at times. I believe it’s because they rely on natural lighting at certain spots but there isn’t any natural lighting at night. It would feel safer if they installed lighting all the way through.

Hotel Room

We arrived to our assigned room (4426) and found two queen beds, each with four pillows. Even in the room, the décor was tasteful and there was plenty of interior lighting. The beds felt comfortable and given we were assigned a room facing an interior courtyard, there was no street noise.

While the room has a desk, it was unfortunately a bit difficult to use. Both Jenn and I were working remotely on this trip while we visited family. The desk is fairly narrow and the high gloss surface made it difficult to use a mouse. And for that matter, there were a variety of side tables in the room, but none were that great for using a computer. We ended up just doing what we could on the beds. It wasn’t the best set-up for working remotely, but we managed to make it work for us. The wi-fi speeds were thankfully fast enough for us to both work at normal pace.

The closet in the room was a beautiful armoire that also housed the in-room safe, an umbrella, and a robe. Even though it wasn’t needed for this trip, having access to an umbrella is pretty convenient and one of those things you don’t really think about until it’s too late.

The hotel bathroom was nicely decorated and modern. The shower controls were located on the small wall with the glass wall above it. The unfortunate part of the shower is it’s missing a shower door, making it difficult to stay warm while getting a shower. And we had to reach around the corner to turn on the water without getting sprayed with cold water. So while the bathroom looked great, there was definitely some room for improvement.

I mentioned earlier that our room faced an interior courtyard. There honestly wasn’t much to see outside the window, and looking straight down offered insights into other people’s rooms. It seemed like the floor below us had rooms that included the outdoor area. I wanted to take a better picture of the outdoor area, but every time I looked outside, someone was occupying their outdoor space. Out of respect for their privacy, I didn’t take a picture. But note that if you do get a room on that third floor, don’t assume you’re alone.

Hotel Breakfast

One of the perks of Hyatt’s Globalist status is the complimentary breakfast received for two adults and two children. When checking into the hotel, the front desk mentioned breakfast is included at Otto’s, the hotel restaurant in the lobby (not via room service), but did not specifically reference a stated limit. Everything was taken off the final bill, including the tip, which is one of the main reasons I pursue Hyatt’s Globalist status.

For breakfast, we ordered a variety of dishes from the menu. The kids got milk and the grown ups got orange juice. Char’s favorite dish was anything that included fruit, so we made sure to satisfy her needs. Everything tasted freshly made and I don’t recall ordering anything we didn’t like. I initially thought the white sauce on the fruit would have been off-putting for the kids but they actually didn’t seem to mind it–we described it to them as a yogurt sauce and it didn’t have a strong taste, so they seemed to accept the description.

Service seemed to be a bit slow, as there appeared to only be one person working the entire front of the restaurant. You could either order from the table or up at the counter, but it ultimately depended on where that server was working.

Odds and Ends

I stopped by the gym with the hopes of being able to use it but found it quite crowded whenever I went. I ended up unable to take a picture of the gym (since I’m sure the last thing people want to think about while working out is how they look on camera) but it seemed to be of fairly decent size and had plenty of natural lighting. Despite a good number of exercise machines, this place seemed to be pretty popular. I’m not sure if that’s just the luck of the draw, but be prepared to come here at off-hours or find time to wait for your preferred machine.

Service

The front desk staff was pretty charming and the restaurant staff (which really was just the same one person we interacted with on both days of our stay) was friendly and professional. So I don’t have much to say about them. But I do want to note the housekeeping staff as we had a bit of an odd interaction with the housekeeper. At check-in, we received a 4pm late checkout, one of the key benefits of Hyatt’s Globalist status. At most Hyatt hotels, this isn’t a problem and we get to leave in comfort at any time up until 4pm. However, we kept getting knocks on the door starting early (around 10am) and then practically every hour after that. The housekeeper didn’t seem to understand that we had requested a late checkout. After confirming with her that we did receive one, she continually followed up with us to see if we were done. Around 3pm, she also attempted to guilt-trip us by saying we were her last room to service and that if we wait until 4pm, we will make her stay late. We chose this hotel in part because of the 4pm late checkout, which is helpful when we were both working. We were on calls and of course being bothered by constant knocking wasn’t ideal. We left shortly after 3pm, taking our calls on the road, but the interaction left us frustrated.

On the other hand, we also did need someone to come up to fix the shower drain shortly after arriving. Despite our fears from the last hotel that we would experience slow service, someone was in our room and had the drain fixed within five minutes of calling. The speedy service was certainly a breath of fresh air.

Recommendation: Yes

Despite the small service snafu, the Kissel Uptown is a solid, modern hotel that seemed perfect for both a quick stay and a potentially longer one. I’m not sure I would attempt to stay here when visiting nearby San Francisco, but if Oakland is your destination, it’s hard to say you’ll go wrong here. Yes, it would be nice to avoid the parking charge, but it’s hard to expect that when visiting a big city with a high cost of living. The next time we return to the area, I feel comfortable in saying we will be happily back here.