Hyatt Regency Dulles — Hotel in Herndon

I think I’m done with this place after my third or fourth try at this point.

Seems lots of reviewers here are impressed by silly things like clocks in mirrors - meaning they don’t travel often.. Yet, some of the complaints are ridiculous too.. “Dry air?” Come on. Grow up.

After three years spending 75 nights a year at the Westin down the street, I switched back to Hyatt and figured this would be equivalent. After the first 3-4 stays this year, the place has worn on me and all its idiosyncrasies are just annoying.

First, the person who reviewed and said the place has “plenty of parking” must have arrived on an off day or time of day, or goes to bed at 4pm. The parking lot fills up at night COMPLETELY, and you’ll either end up walking from behind the building at night, circling for half an hour, or having to park illicitly in the surrounding office park and walking a block. Nothing else you can do. I asked the front desk if it often fills up, and their answer was yes and their advice was to “get back early”.

They insist on you using their third party app now for all parking - this because they sell parking now to people too cheap to park at Dulles. This “side biz” of theirs means the place fills up with non-guests, and these people crowd their shuttle too.

Second, there’s something strangely annoying about the guests who tend to stay here. I don’t know what it is, but they’re all loud and rude, walking in when you’re trying to exit the elevator, letting kids scream and run around the bar area at 11pm, smoking pot in their rooms, or otherwise being continuously a pain. This week some guy who looked like a Saudi trust funder tried bossing me around to help with his luggage. Excuse me? Mind your own business. Nevermind when the weird D-grade real estate scam conference groups show up and get blasted until 1am. Charming. Overall the place seems to attract a clientele that has no concept of respect, manners, or personal space. Make of that what you will.

As for the front desk - yes, generally friendly. But there are a couple of folks depending on the shift who just cannot apparently be bothered. It’s luck of the draw, and when you get those couple of people, expect to wait and be ignored.

The bar / restaurant is massively overpriced like any hotel bar, but this place a little excessively so. Order anything beyond a burger and a beer and you’re gonna pay out the nose - and even those basics are a bit nuts. The bartenders are generally gruff and robotic - which is whatever, but not really a plus. I guess this is because half the guests are always asking for freebies and extras, which I witnessed every time I was here. Again, this hotel seems to attract odd and specific clientele.

Last, the rooms. I haven’t had the water pressure / temperature problems others have, but the beds, not great - and that’s the least I ask for. Yesterday housekeeping seemed to make my bed by putting the sheet in the wrong orientation or using one too small, so I’m sleeping on a seam all night. I had to re-make my own bed at 1am, just what I want to do after a long day. That and the pillows are like floppy bags of feathers or sand - you seem to get a selection of the worst ones they have. I have yet to leave here without neck pain. I don’t know why so many Hyatts love these floppy feather pillows that feel like bags of mush, but they’re all over the place here.

Housekeeping seems to come by at random times so half the time you get missed depending on what time you leave in the morning.

The final straw today was trying to sleep in a bit on Saturday morning and being awoken by a hammer drill in the room below. Lovely. Thanks, maintenance.

Overall, not horrendous, but the sum total of the quirks and annoyances tell me this should be a one-time-stay hotel. I think I’ll happily take my business elsewhere for the rest of the year, and doubt they’ll miss it with the get-rich-quick conferences, giant loud families, sports teams and foreign tourists. Not a good hotel for the regular...

I have stayed here several times since my last review.

We always have a great experience at this hotel and this visit was no exception.

Antoin checked us in and made us feel very welcome. My 18 month old LOVES Antoin so much that he literally looks for him at every hotel we stay at.  Antoin is wonderful and certainly an asset to the Hyatt team.

Jose at the front desk is always so helpful and friendly.

Lobby bar was busy in the evening but service was great. We ordered salmon sliders and a globalist burger and both were good.

Breakfast buffet was well stocked and Rosa, our server, was truly excellent.

1128, 2 queen room. I really like the setup of this room. Its a different setup compared to other queen rooms we have stayed in here. It''s great for when you are sharing the room with young children because the bathroom light is far from the bed area.

1428 is a double queen room. It was on the corner at the very end of the hallway. Very quiet, which was perfect for us.

1408, king room, was very clean and comfortable.  Great bed and comfortable bedding. Thermostat worked great.

We love this hotel and will continue to stay here when we fly in and out of dulles or when we have events in Northern VA.

PREVIOUS REVIEW Just stayed 4 nights with my family in room 1012.  My room was very clean. I'm a bad sleeper when traveling but Hyatt beds definitely help.  This room had a plush pillow top mattress and the really soft and light bedding I've come to expect from Hyatt. They had two sizes of pillows (standard size/not overly filled and queen size which was very thick) which i found to be a really nice touch.  I prefer a thinner pillow and my partner prefers a thicker one and this way we were both happy.

Jose and Rachel are always fantastic and we always look forward to seeing them at the front desk.

Antoin, that I assume is the manager now,  was FANTASTIC!  Always professional and very friendly. Truly excellent and my 1 year old son absolutely LOVED him.

Breakfast buffet was great with a good variety. We especially love all the fresh fruit options.  We really liked all of our waitresses but Beatriz was especially good.

The only hiccup of the trip was with housekeeping. They mistakenly came into our room at 830a on our last day and woke up our 1 year old (typically wakes at 10a) and since he wasn't able to go back to sleep it made for a cranky overly tired baby for the rest of the morning and early afternoon.

When I checked into the hotel on the app I selected no service during our stay and we hung the occupied sign on the door but housekeeping entered our room 3x in total while we were in the room...thankfully, only once while baby was sleeping.

We continue to love this hotel and will be back next time we have an event to attend in Northern VA or...

I was disappointed in this "four star" hotel. The Lobby is beautiful, and the restaurant (I only had the breakfast buffet) is very good, with attentive waitstaff and an above average food selection, including a made-to-order omelette bar. Quality of the food was excellent.

My main complaint is on the room side. In short, the decor is showing signs of age; I felt that I was being nickel-and-dimed; and the amenities we're not up to "four star" standards.

It started at check-in: it was 9 o'clock at night and there was a line six people deep. No big deal, I suppose, but the last thing I want to do after a long day of travel and meetings is wait to check in for 10 minutes. Then the elevator - the people in the elevator are barely out when the doors slam shut, never to open again. The elevators themselves are worn and dingy, the buttons almost unreadable and layout confusing. No one mentioned that you have to validate your room key before you can push the floor button, making a weary traveler like me mad and confused the first time. There's a small sign that I didn't see. The hallways are showing signs of age, and were absolutely freezing the first two days I stayed.

Other Negatives: The room layout is odd, I felt cramped and penned in. There is a large "dresser" where the TV sits in the middle of the room that takes up a huge amount of space, and it was in rough shape, rather ugly. There were definite signs of age and water damage throughout, spots on lampshades and walls, etc. Fixtures were cheaper and older, towels are fine grit, amenities were OK (although I couldn't get the shampoo to lather no matter how much I used). Toilet is practically on the floor and shallow, making it difficult for taller people like me to get on and off, and not get your hands wet when wiping. Gross. The coffee maker was dirty and old school (what, no Keurig? Learn from Wyndham, guys) and the water bottles they put in the room? Three bucks each unless you're some higher rewards member, which I didn't notice until day two. Not what I call hospitality. There's a small shop in the lobby with stuff, but I really wanted a vending machine on my floor so I didn't have to take the elevator to hey a quick drink. That's annoying.

Other Positives: there are robes, though I don't use them, and the desk was spacious and (most of) the furniture was well appointed. Every one - even the guests - were very friendly and helpful, although I generally keep to myself. Hotel was easy to find (though the road there was torn to pieces) and parking was free and easy. The mini fridge actually refrigerated stuff, which is rare. My $6 of water was ice cold the...