Hyatt Regency Lake Washington at Seattle's Southport — Hotel in Renton

Fair warning to anyone trying to plan their wedding here- don’t do it. I had 3 days of events here and they screwed us over. We had our Friday night sangeet, Saturday ceremony and reception, and Sunday goodbye brunch. We utilized their food for 3/4 meals and yet here we still are. Yes the venue is lovely and the views are great. The headaches and the people you deal with are not worth it. Am I glad I had my wedding here? No, but the pictures are pretty!

I knew I wanted to get married here years ago, and after I got engaged this was the first place I reached out to. I should have heeded my now-husband’s warnings about hotel fees and disruptions but interestingly enough, it sounds like the Hyatt issues are newer in the past year. Our wedding planner had highly recommended this venue in the past and no longer does, along with the majority of our vendors who found them impossible to work with this time around. Our Hyatt coordinator is now also “no longer with the Hyatt” and I suspect she was fired for how badly she messed up our wedding and our financials. Please note that even though we were not informed by our Hyatt coordinator that we didn’t meet our food and beverage minimum, as we were told we would be when we submitted final numbers a month prior to our wedding, they still kept that money. I informed both the GM and the event director that this is a deceptive practice- not that we didn’t meet the minimum but that nobody informed me that we were going to be FOURTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS short. So we paid 14k for nothing, to the Hyatt. To clarify, if they had informed us of falling short we could’ve added more food and upgraded our drink package- we were willing to pay, for actual service and food. It’s also a lesson to read the contract intently because service fees ARE NOT included in your food and beverage minimum, even though in all the cost estimates it’s listed as “food and beverage total”. Misleading, eh?

Other issues- kids buffet was not laid out on our Friday night event, instead we randomly had waiters asking kids if they wanted buttered noodles. It was incredibly odd and not what we paid for. We were told they were doing us a favor by not charging us for the wedding cake and then told they would charge us for additional tastings even though we were using them for 3 meals plus the cake/dessert. Getting the managers involved was the only way they would “comp” this for us. They could never tell us what linens they had and could provide, in what color, for which event- on the day of the wedding, they were yelling at my planner saying that she didn’t give them info about the linens (we have emails back and forth with them about this). We were charged for not meeting our room block fee when we have email communication from them stating we met it, then the director tells us well it’s a moving target because if someone canceled their room you then would not meet the attrition rate. This was not conveyed to us in the days leading up to the wedding when we could’ve upgraded someone in the room block to make up the cost.

I wish I could believe they had good intentions. I think the coordinator they fired was incompetent and they’re covering it up by only giving us 5k back and hoping we don’t raise more of a stink. In the end we spent over 120k at this venue for rental costs, food and drinks, and they can’t even respect us enough to give us our money back. It’s not worth the cost to fight this with an attorney and in the end what matters is we’re married, so I have to try and let this go. It’s hard to start your new life as newlyweds feeling like you got hustled but I do plan to post this on vendor sites to save future brides the hassle. Deceptive business practices in 2024 don’t sit well with me when it looks like all the Hyatt wanted was our money without providing the service to live up to that cost. There’s so many other issues and things that left me with such disappointment but at this point I have to let it go and chalk it up to a life lesson. I just hope no one else has to learn this lesson...

The most expensive of the Renton hotels, but comes with a price tag that no longer justifies the service levels offered. This hotel used to be a prime property with excellent service levels - which seem to have unfortunately declined rapidly, and significantly.

The location is attractive in terms of lake views. The rooms are spacious and well appointed. However, the hotel no longer has service standards to justify its 4-star rating or the high price tag.

Guest service standards and staff attentiveness is visibly lackluster and fall well behind many other competing offerings, even in lower star-classes. During my recent stay I experienced many rude staff interactions, noticed that they were heavily understaffed and witnessed an overall very inconvenient service delivery.

The room rates, incidentals as well as chargeable food prices (Hyatt does not offer a breakfast buffet) are exorbitant in relation to other options in the region. The hotel now appears to increasingly focus on catering for weddings and special occasions and it could be a reason why the attention paid for serving regular hotel guests has noticeably gone down.

It was also evident that the hotel significantly short staffed. A phone call to the front desk required at least 6-7 tries before it is picked up. Any requests require a considerable amount of time before they are delivered. However, on the other end, the hotel does not honor the guests on its shortfalls and attempts to strictly enforce the specified time limits for guest services - even when such delays occur solely due to its shortage of staff (eg: most room services are only available during the day time and you may be compelled to wait at least half an hour until your phone call for laundry collection is answered, however if the acceptance time is already past by the time they answer the call, your laundry will not be collected. Funnily enough, you will get three different laundry collection times stated by the front desk, stated by housekeeping and an entire different one stated on the submission form). Understandably due to the short staffed nature, the available employees appear overloaded - and their interactions with guests are often not pleasant and take a rude approach quite frequently. As a frequent business traveler, I was this was a shocking experience to come from a 4-star hotel, with most other competing hotel chains paying good attention to staff interactions.

It is worth noting that the Hyatt also has possibly the most late check in time (4pm) and the earliest check out time (11am) of all major hotel chains. The other choices in the region all offer a standard 3pm check-in and a 12pm check out.

Several occasions of a 'broken' internal communication between the front desk and the hotel's other departments was also evident. It is clear that Hyatt must pay better attention to the chronic service standards shortfall at this franchise.

Cleanliness: Very good Room amenities: Good Noise insulation: Average Toiletries provided: Soap and shampoo only Food: No breakfast buffet Wifi speed: Good Laundry services: No self service laundry. Laundry services on weekdays only Staff service levels: Poor

In my experience of staying at nearly all the major hotel chains, this well designed and equipped hotel unfortunately ranks at the very lowest in terms of serving guests and staff attitude. Any frequent traveler will quickly identify the difference in staff attitude compared to other prominent establishments, and along with the significant delays in room service - the level of service delivered no longer meets a 4 star classification in any manner. The value delivered for the money is even worse, given the high price tag. My rating...

I've stayed here twice over the summer and it's a really beautiful hotel. The view and location to me are key. It's right on the water and there's a short pathway to Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park or whatever, that's just a couple minutes walk. There's a playground there with beach access which is really nice. Within walking distance is an outdoor shopping center with restaurants, like a dumpling house, a movie theater, target, and other stores. It's easier to drive there if you can but there's a sidewalk if you want to walk. I felt really overwhelmed being in the city and I come in for treatment at University of Washington, so it's especially important to me now to feel safe and comfortable. I'm from out of town and I don't really know anything about this area, but I've felt safe walking by myself around the hotel and being out later at night. But back to the hotel itself, the beds are comfortable, although last time my bed was less comfortable than the time before, and less comfortable than my son's. (We shared a room, two queens, his was better) The staff is friendly though I would feel even better if they would see that I've stayed there before and kind of welcome me back. I still feel welcome though, I'm just being extra and enjoy special treatment! Parking is under 16 dollars all day which sucks and I hate it and wish it was included in the cost of a 200 plus room. But it pales in comparison to the 50ish dollars that the downtown hotels are so I'll take it. There's a dedicated entrance from the underground garage to the hotel, so that you don't have to enter through the main lobby each time. I like that cause I feel like I'm not on display carrying in bags and stuff or just running out to the car. It's posted that guests must wear masks regardless of vaccination status. And I did see staff ask people to put masks on or pull them up over their nose. But I saw lots of people entering the hotel to go to the restaurant and not wearing a mask, or stopping to read the sign and kind of shrugging and chuckling amongst each other, then continue to enter without masks on. I also saw some attendees of private events like weddings not wearing masks walking around the hotel, so maybe they don't have to while attending weddings or something, who knows. I personally hate wearing masks and I'm fully vaccinated, but I can't stand the people acting like it doesn't apply to them for whatever reason, especially when I'm paying to stay there. I have not tried the hotel restaurant but the view is gorgeous and the menu looks wonderful. I have tried the hotel market that has drinks and food and souvenirs and stuff. It's open twenty four hours and attended by hotel front desk staff. Things are priced as expected for that convenience, which is obviously much higher than a local grocery store or convenience store would charge. The room itself is generally clean overall, with plenty of lights and outlets, the pool is nice but not heated, and the hot tub or jacuzzi or whatever is nice. Never all that busy. The fridge does not keep things very cold unfortunately but it's such a pretty setup altogether that I wasn't upset about that. It would be cool if there was a microwave in the room but the market downstairs does have one for guest use. The only complaint I really have is I noticed a couple of things that didn't look as clean as the first time I stayed inside my room. But nothing major that would stop me from staying there again. I find it to be a comfortable distance from the airport and downtown, and University of Washington, as well as other points of interest, so I enjoy staying there and hope...