Hyatt Place Des Moines/Downtown — Hotel in Des Moines

September 8, 2023 – September 10, 2023 We came into town for what should’ve been a wonderful, peaceful weekend for our granddaughter’s 1st birthday party. All was well “OUTSIDE” of the hotel. Upon arriving, checked in. Desk clerk, really nice (thank you Peggy). Went to our room, it’s a must I check bed linens before I lay my head!! NASTY/DIRTY! I phoned down to front desk, was asked if I wanted linens changed or a room switch OF COURSE ROOM SWITCH!!! Was placed in a more spacious room with CLEAN linens so happy once again. Saturday morning breakfast – THE BEST & TRULY the only thing the Hyatt has going – thank you to the kitchen staff (which I only saw one lady the whole time; but it was clean and plenty). Saturday before leaving the hotel to start our day, my husband noticed not one but TWO charges debiting funds from our account that totaled to $276.61. Stopped and spoke to desk clerk regarding the charges and unfortunately wasn’t able to advise. Stated a note would be sent to manager. We went about our day and later that night, ANOTHER (3RD DEBIT) of $263.09 was taken. NOW I’m upset (as nothing bothers my husband). Once returning back to the hotel, stopped to inquire about the charges (although a nice guy – Thank you Joshua) wasn’t able to provide an answer as to why the charges were there. On top of the charges, my husband went down to get two wash clothes (since they were UNDER STAFFED) and I knew it’d be forever getting the towels. He comes back with hand towels??? I was getting ready to say hun, I asked for…… he states, “this is all they had”, front desk clerk tells him he’s been trying to get housekeeping to leave bath towels for last couple of nights and still hasn’t received them. Anyways, 4am had a flight so never got to do a face to face with the manager of the hotel. Returning home, the debit for FINAL hotel stay was pulled $301.61. So for 2 nights a total of $841.31 was pulled from our account for what should have been ONLY $301.61 (room and parking). Of course I call the hotel, Joshua is obviously the only one that works there because he’s the only one I’ve been able to get a hold of and speak with. A.M call he tells me that the manger explained the card was routed wrong – WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN??? As I explained to him, we arrived, showed identification and placed card in their machine for payment transaction and by doing that we get multiple charges? Joshua states, the person that checked us in should not have ran the card and it was already done during booking. He asked did I remember who checked us in, YES, PEGGY. He states well Peggy knows not to do that so she would not have done that. My rebuttal, well she did and we now have multiple charges. Joshua was going to speak with the acting manager of the day Monday, September 11, 2023 once they came in and get back to me. Hadn’t received a call as of 2:15pm so called myself. Again, Joshua answers and informs me that the extra charges were authorization charges and would fall off in 10dys. So to sum it up- NOT ONE authorization charge but THREE AUTHORIZATION CHARGES???? NO, I’M NOT BUYING IT and then 10dys WE DON’T GET OUR MONEY BACK UNTIL…… HYATT PLACE DESMOINES NEVER AGAIN! Here’s a tip – NEW MANGERS, MORE STAFF, GET A NEW DRYER (reason told why there’s dirty,...

Upon our arrival - the Friday night before Memorial Day - we were told that the elevator was out of order and that we would need to be escorted back and forth to our room using the “condo” elevator. Overall, our complaints about the elevator are not that the elevator was out, but how the whole situation was handled. The front desk clerk was surly, simply told us it was out, did not apologize. When we needed to get to our room, she acted put out to leave her spot, stomped to the elevator, hit some buttons and walked away. A little customer service would go a long way. We live in a hundred year old house, we would have understood and commiserated.

Note: said staff person spent time typing on her pink cell phone between guests checking in / answering queries.

I also want to add that when the SINGULAR staff person would escort us to the usable elevator, she would leave the front desk unsecured, exit the front door, walk 15 feet (approx.) to the condo entrance, go through two doors and call the elevator. This would result in her having NO view of the front desk, of any customers (or other people) entering nor ability to hear the phone. In a situation like that, a second person should have been staffed to ensure safety of guests.

We chose to walk down the stairs (5th floor) rather than calling for an escort. That’s when we discovered that the hotel floors we completely accessible to outside access; anyone could come in off the streets, walk up to a hotel floor and lie in wait for guests. As a woman who travels alone a lot, and chooses the big name hotels for safety, this didn’t sit well with me. On our last morning, we actually witnessed a version of this happening; the hotel is near the YMCA and other places that appear to be low income housing/shelters. We watched as a very disheveled woman walked in the doors, past the front desk, helped herself to some of the hot breakfast, TOLD US that she lived nearby (she was quite chatty) and then walked back out, pocketing fruit, and other snacks.

When we returned after dinner the first evening – and also the next evening – when the front desk person was alone, we observed that she had what appeared to be a personal tablet setup at the desk and was engaged with watching that screen rather than greeting guests. I took a picture of the tablet and the cords stretched across the desk. I cannot recall being greeted with anything other than a “yes?” when we first checked in. We walked by the front desk a dozen times over the weekend – all without greetings.

Adding fuel to the fire: broken coffee maker in room, broken ice maker on the floor, garbage in the breakfast area when it was closed. Overall, just not a very impressive hotel.

Summary: • Problem: elevator out, poor communication and lack of customer service • Safety Issue: hotel floors accessible to public • Safety Issue: front desk left unattended multiple times • Safety issue: hotel staff allows/ignores people coming in off the street • Problem: Staff using personal devices

Overall, I feel that I received a no-tell motel level of service for name brand hotel...

This Hyatt hotel should not be a Hyatt hotel. It fell so short, and was far from what we expect from Hyatt. We are hyatt rewards members because we always feel valued and have enjoyed the hospitality we receive at all of their hotels, but not this one.

We had three different rooms booked at this hotel. One room had no soaps in the shower, while another had a shower head that only provided a few streams (and this was a room upgrade as well). Another room looked out onto graffiti that said "Smoke meth". One room had a toilet that ran the entire time, while the fridge also "clicked the entire duration".

They ran out of parking, there was no true valet; so if you didn't get there early to check in good luck parking anywhere close to the hotel. You then had to pay to park without valet.

We asked for extra blankets for the pull out sleeper couch in one room, and they "ran out" of blankets with no other options provided.

There is no hospitality list - no list of suggested places to eat besides the market inside the hotel that had absolutely nothing. They promote using the skywalk on the website but when we stayed in July there was absolutely no way to access it. There was construction everywhere and it was poorly labelled. The skywalk as a whole felt very inaccessible and over rated.

The fitness center had 2 treadmills - one was broken prior to getting there, and the other broke while in use.

The pool was dingy, it had eyelashes around the edges, balls of hair, and not to mention was very cold.

If you have stuck around this long, the staff is the final straw. They were very rude, and inconsiderate. One member of our family politely informed staff that the "waffle maker" wasn't working properly and they proceeded to get huffy and say "oh yes it is you just aren't working it right". Then she later realized it was in fact malfunctioning.

All of this to be said I am beyond frustrated by this experience and I even tried to let this simmer before writing a review. However I cannot and do not wish this upon others if they are planning a trip. With 3 different rooms, 3 vehicles, and 10 people in our party this was a complete buzz kill for our family vacation. We stayed 2 nights and wish we would've skipped this hotel...