It's rare that a big city business hotel
inspires nest-envy. They are, after all, designed for guests who
value a fax machine over Frette. But nest-envy is
exactly what I felt when I checked into my
one-bedroom city view suite on the 30th floor of the slick
Grand
Hyatt Seattle. True, the lobby, elevators and hallways
are all business with dramatic lighting, sedate colors, rich
materials and lofty spaces. Six different exotic woods (including
Wenge and Bubina) were used throughout the hotel from the
elevators to the boardrooms and huge slabs of backlit onyx are
mounted on hallway walls.
Art also plays a big role in the
sophisticated and urban look and feel of the public spaces at The
Grand Hyatt Seattle which proudly displays an impressive fused
glass installation by Roger Nachman in the lobby plus framed
antique maps and other works by art-world icons like Willem de
Kooning throughout the property.
But my room instantly felt like home
thanks to a charming doorbell and a true entryway complete with a
mirror for out-the-door-check-ups and live plants. Just a few
more steps into the room I came face-to-face with a million
dollar view of Puget Sound through floor to ceiling windows in
the living room and bedroom.
Handy automatic blinds raise
and lower the enormous curtains needed to cover the massive
windows with just a flick of a bedside switch, but there was an
odd lack of any other type of in-room technology: no CD player,
no DVD player, no iPod dock””though there are plans to add them
soon along with XM Satellite Radio. Another thing that was missing
was drawers. With not a chest, bureau, dresser or even a shelf in
sight, my underwear ended up being shoved into the bedside
table.
Like so many hotels, The Grand Hyatt
Seattle has gone gaga over its bed, going so far as to call it
The Grand Bed. However, I found the feathery topper to be a bit
lumpy and the opulent bedding to be a bit much””a feeling that was
not helped one bit by the silly squares of cheap chocolate that
were left on each pillow at turn down (if you happen to love the
bed””or many of the other in-room amenities””you can pick one up
for your own home while barely lifting a finger thanks to
Hyatt at
Home.
Despite (or maybe because
of) the room's quirks, the overall effect was like being in an
elegant city apartment and it's not just the suites that pamper,
welcome and inspire. Standard rooms are generously sized””300 to
400+ square feet””and they, too feature amazing views and plush
appointments including Portico bath amenities.
Access to the hotel's
comfortable-as-a-living-room Regency Club on the 27th floor is a
note-worthy complimentary amenity for all guests staying in a
suite (113 of the hotel's 425 rooms are suites). Here you can
enjoy coffee and tea all day, an expanded
continental breakfast (including pastries, homemade granola and
fruit) and nightly hors d'oeuvres (including freshly made spring
rolls, crudités platters and cheese and nuts) with a full
cocktail selection and surprisingly affordable wines ($4 per
glass). Guests who are not booked into suites can gain Regency
Club access for $50 per day.
You can feel free to have
that second spring roll since The Grand Hyatt Seattle has the
best hotel fitness room I've seen in a long time. Part of the
Hyatt Stay Fit program, the light-filled 1,000
square foot facility is open 24 hours a day with five treadmills,
four elliptical machines, two stationery bikes, exercise balls
and free weights. There's also a relaxing lounge with magazines,
an elegantly tiled Jacuzzi plus saunas and steam rooms.
If you prefer to workout in privacy,
you'll find a 15 minute jiffy yoga video on the TV in your room
and the hotel will even deliver a yoga mat for you to use. For
outdoorsy types, the hotel offers a GPS device to help guide you
through a run or walk.
You won't need a GPS device to find the
nearby and shockingly good-value O'Asian Kitchen, which features authentic
Chinese cooking and enormous portions (get the salt and pepper
calamari). Nor will you need any help navigating the blocks
immediately surrounding the hotel where you'll find more shopping
than you can shake a credit card at, including Pacific Place and
its four stories full of more than 100 shops including Tiffany & Co.,
Restoration Hardware, L'Occitane, Max Mara, Cartier and a
rare-as-hen's-teeth Fourth & Towne.
Rates start at: $365
Grand Hyatt Seattle
721 Pine Street
Seattle, WA 98101
Phone: (206) 774-1234
www.grandseattle.hyatt.com
In April, 2006 peripatetic journalist Karen Catchpole left her
job as deputy editor of SHOP Etc. magazine in New York
City, jumped into a Chevy Silverado and embarked on the Trans-Americas
Journey, a three year, 70,000+ mile road trip through North,
Central and South America. When she's not reviewing luxury
hotels, resorts, ranches and B&Bs, she can be found enjoying
the nearest campground.
