Hyatt Place Ann Arbor — Attraction in Ann Arbor

We are in Ann Arbor, Mi for graduation at UMICH so the rooms are a total ripoff to begin with - $2815 for 3 nights. Plus, you need to pay the full nonrefundable amount in advance, which I did a full year ago.||||When I arrived, I was asked for my credit card. When I looked at the charge, it was for the full amount. I said I had already paid that charge, but was told something must have gone amiss with my payment because there is no record of it. ||||I went to my room and looked up old emails and credit card records. I found a receipt from the hotel as well as a credit card statement for the payment. I immediately went to the desk and showed the evidence. I was told they have no record of my payment. I explained that I wanted a refund of my second payment. The desk clerk got the manager, who was nervous, but seemed to agree to my refund.||I went to dinner and then checked my credit card account. NO REFUND.||||I went back to the desk and the clerk reiterated that a refund had been issued and explained that it probably had not shown up on my account yet.||||I went to my room and called the cc company, who confirmed that NO REFUND request had been issued by the hotel.||||I returned to the desk with my report. The clerk would not take my word for it, so I called the cc company so the clerk could hear directly that no refund had been requested by the hotel. The clerk said I would need to speak to the general manager the next day.||||I returned the next day. The general manager recognized my name as having a problem, but had no idea about any details. She started by stating that I did not pay for the room a year ago. I was very angry at this point and had to review everything that had happened and pull up my receipts to prove once again that I had paid. She said there is a problem with their systems, which apparently gave rise to the failure to record my payment and the failure to make a refund request. Who knows if that is true or whether they just charge twice to see what they can get away with. In any event, she got on their direct account (which is not what the manager did the day before) with the cc card company and voided the charge.||||I called the cc company again and confirmed that the charge was voided. It was a simple process if they really wanted to void the charge.||||Assuming all of this arose from a known problem with their systems, which may or may not be true, why would they simply double charge me rather than acknowledge the problem and resolve it before forcing me to dig out year old records twice to defend myself? Their failure is particularly egregious since the hotel policy was that all reservations for graduation weekend had to be paid in full in advance so they were on notice that I could not have made a reservation without paying.||||I would avoid this hotel like the plague. They are either incompetent or dishonest. You...

I have now had the opportunity to stay here on two different occasions. On each occasion, I have felt like the staff is better here than at other Hyatts, even higher end Hyatt properties. I say this for two reasons. First of all, the staff responds promptly to any request I have. Secondly, they communicate with me both in a professional and also pleasant manner. They actually look happy to be working there and they make me feel that they actually care about me having a good experience at this property.

The free breakfast that is included in the price is actually good. It’s kept hot and kept fresh and laid out in a nice presentation. The overall hotel feels both newer and cleaner. I am a sticker for a hotel providing me a good experience based on me paying my hard earned money for a stay. I’m not always easy to please. Even still, this hotel passes my high standards.

The specific staff members I encountered were Zeb, Alex, and Tyra, in that order. They were all better than most other staff I have interacted with at any other Hyatt. Alex was great in that she interacted with me like I was a regular person. She was just super down to earth and also very responsive to any of my requests. Zeb was overall just very patient, like when I was getting out my credit card and license when checking in, and he also made sure I got the two bottles of water I was entitled to, without me having to ask for them.

Tyra had the most pleasant demeanor I have encountered from a hotel staff person in a very long time. She provided “service with a smile” and I never felt like I was bothering her. When I think about my overall experience at this property, she will be what I remember most. No matter what I asked for, she provided it with a positive attitude, making me feel truly appreciated. She ought to be considered for a management position or a trainer role. She should be considered the gold standard by which all other hotel staff are measured. She is an...

I typically reserve anything less than 3 stars for particularly bad experiences, and while this may have been an outlier, there were enough troubling things about this hotel that warrant it 2 stars. Now for the details.

House Keeping: They are severely understaffed. It is understandable that the housekeeping staff will clean the rooms that they need to make ready for new checkins first, but they are so understaffed that they can get to other rooms at around 5. And if you are in the room, you don't want them cleaning it. So, 6 out of the 8 days, we didn't have our rooms cleaned. When I called the front desk and asked if I could schedule it between 11 am 2 pm the next day, they flat out said no.

Elevator: This is a new hotel, and I expect things to work well. One of the two elevators was out for a whole day, and maybe part of the next day. Unheard of at a 3-star hotel. That led to delays, people taking the stairs, etc. Imaging taking the stairs with a ton of luggage.

Food: Their breakfast spread is good. No complaints. However, the restaurant at the lobby has very few items to choose from, and none for vegetarians (unless you want to eat just greens or a cheese pizza). We ended up going to Sheraton (next door) most days for dinner. Look at the Yelp reviews for Sheraton - for a hotel restaurant, they are great!

Credit card machine: Their credit card reader at the restaurant was out for 2 to 3 days. So they only accepted cash or you could put the tab on your room.

On one of the days, the housekeeping staff just left their cart in front of our door for the day. Really?

There are plenty of good hotels around. This maybe a symptom of it being a new hotel, but I'd say avoid...