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Hyatt Place / Hotel Renovations / → All Tags

From Amerisuites to Hyatt Place, Select Service Remains Intact

Where: 1899 Sullivan Road [map], College Park, GA, United States, 30337-5701

An old Amerisuites in Atlanta near the airport has just been transformed into a Hyatt Place, the hotel's chain foray into the select service segment. In other words, Hyatt has unveiled a boutique hotel for business travelers filled with contemporary design, techy gadgets and the all-important sleeper sofas.

So far, two reviews on TripAdvisor say the hotel is "not quite" getting it right. One recent guest wrote:

There are no nice amenities. There was a nice TV and furniture, but much was missing. There was no folder with information about the hotel or the area. I had to call downstairs to ask questions more than once. There was a small refrigerator and a sink but there were no paper towels or other towels like in some hotels, no dishes--just bare cabinets--so if you go downstairs for breakfast you can haul things up to your room to eat them but make sure you get everything you need from there and take it back up.

Sounds like the hotel is living up to select service end of the bargain so far.

Another guest who spent Valentine's Day there, enjoyed the plasma TV screen and the king-sized bed but not so much the headboard which slid down behind the bed and the towel ring, which came out of the wall. Yet again, the hotel seems to have the select service thing down pat:

The concept behind this renovation seemed to be aimed at business travelers (makes sense, given the airport location). What this translated into was no room service and no restaurants. Instead, there is a limited menu of three items each for breakfast, dinner and snacks that could be purchased in the lobby 24 hours a day....Bottom line: this hotel is best suited for those looking to catch some zzz's between flights.

To be fair, the hotel is still in the early days post-renovation but let's hope they at least fix that headboard problem. Another thing to fix? Put actual photos on the hotel web site, not photo renderings.

Related Stories:
· Hyatt Place Atlanta reviews [TripAdvisor]

Tips / Hotel Hell / Family Friendly / → All Tags

Hotel Cribs Can Be Child Deathtraps

We thought all you had to worry about when traveling with kids was whether or not they would behave and thus, allow you to actually enjoy your vacation.

But a report done by a local NBC news station in Maryland uncovered that a few hotels and motels offer outdated cribs that could potentially kill your child.

The news team checked out five hotels in College Park and out of 10 cribs only two passed inspection. Almost all included adult sheets on the crib mattress which is a potential choking hazard. One crib at the Super 8 was assembled upside down with the mattress floorboard falling out. The other included an adult pillow. The Holiday Inn had one crib that passed inspection but was still using an Evenflo Happy Camper crib which was recalled in 1997 for faulty hinges that caused the crib to collapse.

The only hotel that got it right? The Hampton Inn who had two brand-new regulation-abiding cribs.

Related Stories:
· Hotel Cribs Can Put Your Baby At Risk [NBC30.com]