Address: 208 Barton Springs
Overview
The Hyatt Regency is the only major hotel in downtown Austin located on the shores of the south side of Lady Bird Lake. This means rather than being a part of the primary downtown skyline, the hotel has an incredible direct view of it, in addition to unbeatable views of the shimmering water. The Lady Bird Lake hike and bike trail borders the north side of the hotel. While it is primarily a business hotel during the week, it transforms into a leisure hotel on the weekends. The hotel houses 448 rooms, 14 of which are suites.
The Feel
The Hyatt is shaped in a triangle, and from the bottom floor of the lobby to the 17th floor is a massive, spacious atrium, giving it a very open feel. According to Eric Love, Director of Sales, the hotel was opened in 1987 and used to have a very rustic Texas feel. In January of 2009, the hotel completed an $18 million renovation project that upgraded the entire hotel and made it feel much more modern and sophisticated. The ground floor's color theme is warm and contemporary, with shades of red, yellow, orange, and brown.
I visited the Hyatt Regency Austin in mid-December, when the hotel was in full holiday swing. There were modern artistic decorations, but in the center of the lobby was an astounding gingerbread house village spread across several tables. There was a gingerbread Capitol building, Hyatt hotel, UT tower, and a chateau house with a train set running throughout. The chef and his team began working on this in October and it took 200 hours, 50 pounds of icing, and 80 pounds of candy to complete. I was blown away.
The Rooms
There are three types of rooms at the hotel: Riverview, which is the priciest and overlooks the lake; Hill Country, which overlooks another angle of the skyline; and South Congress view, which is most affordable. Only the rooms on the 16th floor and 3rd floor have rooms with balconies (both of which overlook the lake), so Love says these floors are very popular. There are two bed options; double-double and king.
The rooms are chic and outfitted with neutral brown and gray tones. They all feature an iHome, which is a combination alarm clock, charging station, and speaker for iPhones and iPods. All rooms feature working desks and the option of wired or wireless Internet for $9.95 a day, which is expensive, but less than I have seen at some other hotels (and better than nothing). All rooms also feature laptop-sized safes, which was part of the recent renovation. The beds all have foam-top mattresses and tons of fluffy pillows, which I found to be extremely comfortable. The curtains kept the room dark and cozy in the morning. Every room has a large, flat-screen television that swivels, and I enjoyed watching a movie on the high-quality screen.
My favorite room feature was the doorbell. Outside each room is a flat white button with a bell symbol, which visitors can press instead of knocking. Inside the room and next to the door are two buttons. One says "privacy" -- when you click it, the words "privacy" display on your doorbell button in red, and when someone presses on the doorbell, it won't ring. When you want your room to be made up, you can click the other button, which is for housekeeping. A small green light is illuminated on your doorbell, letting the staff know your room is ready to clean. Why didn't someone think of this sooner?
Another nice feature is the Hyatt's new environmentally-friendly air conditioning system. The air is off before a guest arrives. When they check in downstairs, the air is automatically turned on in the room. The thermostat has a motion sensor on it, so if there is not any activity for a certain amount of time in the room, it changes to a preset temperature to conserve energy. But when you return, it will switch back to the temperature that you previously set.