Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Memphis — Hotel in Memphis

I don’t write reviews lightly. They can seriously impact a business. That being said, this needs to be written.

The Caption is a gorgeous hotel, with outstanding architecture and design and wonderful execution.

The awesomeness stops there. Parking is not clearly marked at all and you have to circle around behind the alley to get in. Valet is the only real option other than a local offsite parking garage. I’ll touch on the clusterF that is their valet in a minute.

Check-in was clunky as the front desk person was no where to be found…pretty much the entire time we stayed there. We were there during the massive Memphis in May event, which was 200 yards down the road - a smart hotel would staff-up. I’m convinced that there is less than 5 employees who operate this entire hotel (and the adjoining one next door).

After we finally found someone to get us in, we went to the room. Which was beautiful, with an awesome view, and 1/4 roll of toilet paper. Multiple calls to the front desk were never answered, nor was a text to the customer service text number they have on their app. Finally tracked down housekeeping on a different floor and grabbed a few rolls.

They have a great little coffee shop, bar, and breakfast cafe downstairs. The coffee was outstanding and the gentleman working the coffee shop was very nice. Breakfast took 20 mins to arrive, which was way too long for the crowd and the minimal menu, but it was really great. That was the last decent experience there.

Fridays breakfast took 35 mins and was cold when it finally arrived. The young lady working the register was cold, short, and clearly distracted by her phone. Very inattentive and acted put-out to make a coffee that was on their menu (latte).

We called for our vehicle which took 45 MINS to arrive. Yes, 45. I had to track down a manager at the Hyatt property next door (they’re adjoined and share valet services) before they finally were able to call up my truck. It took an hour in total and made us very late to our event.

When we returned that evening (7pm) there was no staff to be found downstairs at all. Front desk, coffee shop, bar…all abandoned, with customers looking around for service.

The next morning was the same - ordered coffee (drip brew this time to avoid the attitude of the “barista”). My breakfast took 30 mins and I watched it sitting in the pass for 10 mins before finally asking that she grab it for me. She did while rolling her eyes.

We departed early Sunday morning, and tried one more time on the coffee. Same girl, made eye contact with (we were the only ones there), then turned around and kept looking at her phone and wiping the counter. After a minute of silence we finally said “excuse me, can we order?” She sighed and walked over reluctantly. We asked for cream and she said they didn’t have any. I told her that I had just seen it in her fridge when she opened it and finally she gave it to me. The entire experience was honestly laughable.

I figured valet would be more of the same, so I called it 45 mins early. When we went down it was not there…shocker. Again, 25 more mins of chasing an employee next door who could make a call (no one at the check-in desk of either hotel). After over an hour we departed. There was no one at the check-in desk to check us out, and the app gave no option either, so we left our keys and walked out.

This hotel shows great potential, but the staffing situation (especially during one of Memphis’ biggest events) was abysmal. Worst I have EVER seen, and I travel for a living. As much as we loved the location, there’s no way we’ll return. Horrible customer service can ruin a...

Room was clean enough. I checked the bed for bugs and was relieved to find that there were none. The shower stall is a little small and the water drain is metal. So you can hear the water making a ping! sound constantly while you shower. I overheard another guest saying that their shower head dripped water so they had trouble sleeping because of the noise. Also the faucet for the sink is on the right side instead of facing you so it was awkward using the sink.

The walls are thin. When the room above and next to you is being cleaned you can hear a lot of noise from the vacuum and swiffer bumping the walls. I never heard my neighbors talking. The view of the Mississippi River was great. There is an empty lot which a new Hyatt hotel will eventually be built on so that view may go away in the future.

Housekeeping was a little bizarre. Staff would strip the rooms of bedding and towels and leave it in the hallway. This would stay for a couple of hours. I assume they pile everything up and then sort them at the end of the day instead of collecting them as they go.

I noticed that the trash can by the elevator was emptied but a new garbage bag was not replaced until hours later.

I saw empty cups on the countertop by the water dispenser the entire stay. This was not removed until a few days later. An easy fix would be to leave a small trash in the area so guests can dispose of them.

Location wise the area immediately surrounding the hotel felt safe. However, if you walk a couple blocks into downtown it can get a little sketchy with homeless people around. Beale street which is 2-3 blocks away had police present so that was pretty safe.

Now the reason for the 1 star review has to do with my experience with the employee working at the Talk Shop on Saturday night. She ignored me as I stood by the cash register. After 5 minutes, I asked her if I could order food. She informed me the cook was on a 15 minute break. They were closing at 11pm and it was 10pm. Okay, I returned to my room and came down later. Again, I had to wait by the cash register while she ignored me. When I caught her attention she tells me that half of the menu wasn’t available because they closed the grill. So I ordered mac and cheese. When it was done this was handed to me IN A COFFEE CUP. This was probably microwaved and was $14. She said there was no boxes available. I saw brown boxes behind her and all the other guests were eating out of the same brown boxes. I was ripped off and could’ve just microwaved a Kraft mac and cheese. I would’ve saved myself from being treated poorly by this employee and saved my money. I have gotten coffee in the morning from different staff and they were nice. I also read from other reviews that people had a negative interaction from front desk. I found the front desk employees friendly and helpful. So it is a coin toss on the experience you will have based on who is working...

Late June 2025. On my way back west and stayed here again. This time the room was quiet and I had a balcony so shout out to the hotel for the hook up and Michelle left some fruit and extra drinks in the room. The AC did not cycle on/off with a loud click. I had a room on the 4th floor with a great river view and it was very quiet. If this place is cheaper, book here and not the Centric. Also, the bar in the Centric roof top is closed on Monday, we found that out after we go tthere. June 2025, across country road trip. Hyatt Globalist. Great hotel in a great location but a missed opportunity by Hyatt. This hotel is connected to the Hyatt Centric, which I stayed at a few years ago. One would think there is a separate check-in but when I pulled up to the hotel for valet parking following the Caption signs, there was no valet so I was fooled into thinking there is a separate valet so for folks reading this, just pull into the valet for the Hyatt Centric and ignore the Hyatt Caption valet cones (The app still says "Valet Parking is available at the hotel entrance, just...corner of front street and MLK"...not true. After I pulled in, I started to pull out my heavy suitcase then realized there was no one around so I walked over to the Centric and the valet told me to pull my car over there so that was my first impression. Check in was fine and then I walked from the lobby over to the Caption into a beautiful and vacated space with no staff and no one else and it's such as waste. I have even been starting to notice how good the hotel smell and it smelled great and looked great but was very empty. I had asked the check-in person and was told that it started at the beginning of the year with everyone being filtered through the Centric. So on the Caption side, there is nothing...no food, no drinks, no breakfast just an empty space that looks like it would be cool...hell there is even a pool table so if you staying at the Centric and want some privacy, go over to the Caption. The room was great and had a great view and my only complaint is something I read in a previous review which is the relay for the fan cycling on and off, it's super loud and if you are light sleeper, it will keep you up so I figured that I could just turn the fan to "on" and it helped quite a bit but the relay is super loud...like annoying loud. The workout room, pool, breakfast and the roof top bar are all on the Centric side. I did workout and have breakfast before taking a morning walk in Beale street. Whatever the business reasons, I think this is a wasted space and opportunity. I would def stay here again and maybe they can fix that relay issue. Both hotels are adjacent, so pick which ever...