HotelChatter

The Scene
As we mentioned, the hotel is located in the new international terminal of the DFW airport, so to enter the lobby, guests walk into the terminal and go up an escalator and voila: Hyatt lobby.

It's small, but the three times we walked through it, it was fully staffed (during a slow-ish part of the afternoon) and there were big screens behind the concierge desk with up-to-date flight info.

Any ol' schlub can just walk into the lobby but to access the guest room floors or the spa, a keycard swipe is required. This might be a pain for hotel guests but it's better than having airport creatures roam the hallways while we sleep.

Cool perk: a Grand Hyatt guest, regardless of whether or not they have an airline ticket, can access the (surprisingly good) shopping and restaurants inside terminal D so long as they clear a few security checks.

Room Reaction
The whole hotel is done in a sort of calming sage-green theme, colors that are meant to de-stress and alleviate that hectic, rushed feeling that can creep around at airports. And when you're calm, you want to sleep nicely -- and not in a teeny bed.

Luckily, no bed in the hotel is smaller than a Queen (even in the double-double rooms) and each of the 298 guestrooms has one of those Pillow Top Hyatt Grand beds.

The desks were big enough for two people to work comfortably (and there were two chairs provided), the flatscreen TV was mighty purdy, and there was an iHome on the nightstand to make us feel at home with our hot beats.

One side of the hotel looks out onto the rest of the airport and out onto the Dallas area; the other side has views of the runway which, by the way, we can stand and look at for hours. It's strangely calming. Which brings us to...

Noise
Well, it's an airport hotel, so there are tons of planes taking off and landing every day. We stood by the window in our guestroom while a jumbo jet took off, and since the building was just built recently with some pretty good soundproofing, we heard nothing louder than what we'd hear if a jumbo jet flew over a non-airport hotel. Impressive.

Amenity Assessment
We can charge our laptops in the in-room safe! Cool! Also, the bathroom had a sweet shower and separate soaking tub, and a real hairdryer (instead of one of those crappy bolted-to-the-wall things that hardly work.) Plus, bathrobes and yoga mats were available in the guestroom closets.

There's also a fitness center and spa on the top floor with sweeping views, high-tech equipment and pretty locker rooms. Room-service is available from 5 a.m. to midnight.

Internet Connect
Sadly, since the hotel is owned by the airport (only operated by Hyatt), the WiFi is the standard airport T-Mobile $10-a-day lameness.

Restaurant and Bar Scene
Just off the lobby, guests (or non-guests at the airport) can hang out in the well-stocked martini bar, the M Lounge. Right next to it, the 24-hour coffee bar Moka serves coffee and nibbles at any hour.

The more expensive (and far more elaborate) Grand Met restaurant serves "Mediterranean and Pacific Rim flavors" and the prices aren't cheap. But we're told the food is spectacular.

Still, the coolest part is the tech stuff. The restaurant seating area features a section for single travelers or guests that has a high bar-style counter against a wall with a little flatscreen TV for you to watch as you eat.

Even cooler: we've been hearing about interactive menus, but had never seen one in person. At the Grand Met, the waiter brings a tablet touchscreen computer to your table, and you can take a picture tour of the menu that gives you wine recommendations and pretty pictures and such.

What We Didn't Like
The bathroom was SUPER shiny. Every bit of everything was reflected in every single black or glass surface. Although the bathroom was spectacularly clean, one of our own fingerprints could make the whole counter look dirty. We cannot imagine the housekeeping department has a fun time with that.

Additionally, the desk, while spacious, was sort of at an awkward angle in both rooms we saw, and one of the corners sticks out. We could imagine ourselves bumping into it and bruising ourselves. Then again, we're clumsy.

Bottom Line
It's definitely worth mentioning that everyone we encountered with a nametag while we were on the property smiled at us. Everyone. It could be the fact that Southerners are nice, or it could just be great service.

The rooms are appealing and sleek, we can't hear much evidence of the planes over our heads, and those digital menus dazzled the tech-geek-foodie in us. So, we get it. It's a good hotel -- and not just for an airport hotel.