| rev:text
| - Stayed here for a week - the hotel has lots going for it, but also probably the worst Hyatt property I've stayed at.
PROS:
- Location - the location is pretty much ideal for a 1st timer to Montreal. You're directly on Ste. Catherine shopping strip, within a 10-15 minute walk from Old Montreal, Chinatown and the nightlife on Ste. Laurent and Ste. Denis/Latin Quarter. You're within a 5 minute walk of 3 subway lines as well and the airport bus drops you off a block away and the trains are within 10 minute walk. On cold days, you are directly connected to the Underground City via the Complexe Desjardins. The location is near ideal.
- usual things you would except from a luxury hotel mega-chain like the Hyatt: damned comfortable beds, clean facilities, iHomes and pool/sauna/gym
- the hotel bar had free pool tables and there were a lot of Air France stewardesses... wait no... *ahem* 'flight attendants' walking around - big plus for me. Don't make me recite a verse from 'Girls, Girls, Girls' now...
PRO-TIP: During my stay, they had check-in special on FourSquare: check-in and WiFi is free for your stay. However, there is a caveat that I'll include below.
So... all in all... location is good and the hotel is clean. That's all I care about. If you find rooms within your budget, I won't hesitate to recommend this hotel to you. You can stop reading now... but here are the rants:
CONS:
- usual things you would expect from a luxury hotel mega-chain like the Hyatt: $13/day WiFi (usually - unless you took advantage of the FourSquare deal) and no in-room refrigerator (for my room at least)
- the hotel lobby is on the 3rd floor of Complexe Desjardins - you have to take an elevator up to the lobby and then another elevator to your room. Slightly annoying and maddening if you're a smoker in a non-smoking room (they only have 10 smoking rooms in this hotel).
- the ice machine on my floor (8th) was out-of-order during my entire stay so I had to go to the floor above or below to get ice. Slight annoyance but hey, it's a quick way to make friends as your ride the elevator with an ice bucket. But another guest told me the ice machine on the 4th floor was out of order as well - seriously, did you fuckers disable ice machines on alternating floors to save a few bucks? I never remembered to check if the ice machines were out on the 6th and 10th as well.
- most of the staff were nice and helpful - but some of them are straight-up pricks. When I tried to redeem my free WiFi from FourSquare - the first three front desk people I spoke to had no idea what I was talking about, stonewalled me and never escalated this to someone that would know. First guy was apologetic that he didn't know and asked me to check during business hours (understandable), second guy was just plain rude, and third guy tried to help until he saw the insider's room rate I was paying and then immediately stopped. It finally took a 4th try before one of the front desk staff finally checked with a manager who then gave me the free WiFi. Seriously - it's a promotion you are offering - why make it so difficult?
- the WiFi management software was horrible - it repeatedly dropped connections on my laptop but was fine on our smartphones
- I requested a room change mid-stay and they said they would put in a request - though they said chances were slim, I never received a follow-up. Accountability please?
- when calling front desk - I had someone pick up about 50% of the time
- a showerhead was broken during the stay... (what's a rockstar to do without breaking something at the hotel, right?)... called front desk and they said they would send someone up right away. I told them that I was on my way out but they were free to come in while I was gone. I was asked to stay as someone would be there 'right away'. I stayed in the room for 15 minutes and no one showed up. I gave them another call and the front desk staff told me again - 'someone is going to be there *right away*'... I quite pointedly told them to fix the issue and that I'm leaving *now*. Issue was fixed by the time I returned - but over 15 minutes is *not* 'right away'.
Minor complaints but many of them and well below the level of service I've come to expect from Hyatt. It's nice hotel and solid choice for business travellers and families. But for younger people that can do without a spa/pool/ice machines, the Hotel l'Abri du Voyageur is a block away, cheaper and loaded with free non-buggy WiFi and a kitchenette.
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