Review: Hyatt Regency DFW Airport

Recently my posts have been about pretty travel pictures. This is not one of those posts. My aim here is to write something that will help other meeting and travel planners working with the Hyatt Regency DFW Hotel in Dallas, TX.

Contracting Process
I took over contract negotiations from one of my colleagues, and to be honest, I'm a little out of practice.

It certainly doesn't hurt that the Hyatt Regency DFW already has attractive concessions for all guests including free airport shuttles to and from DFW Airport, copies of the Wall Street Journal each morning, and free Hyatt StayFit gym access.

My sales manager worked with me on several value-add items including comp wireless internet in guest rooms. However, I'm embarrassed to admit that I missed a few obvious concessions that ended up on my final bill. Next time around I'll be sure to ask for

• 1 Comp room for every 40 Room Nights Booked
• 2 Comp One-Bedroom Suites (Because you never know who might turn up). 

Pre-Planning 

I'm always grateful for Convention Services Managers who are patient with last-minute changes. I had plenty, including a request for Catering to mix and serve protein shakes using two margarita machines. My CSM didn't even flinch at the request, and volunteered to take care of all the details.  

Response times were excellent and included emails, texting, voicemails and calls. I never felt like I was out of contact.

The one miss from my perspective is that I never received room layout diagrams. We made due without them, but it seems like I could have eliminated some of our last-minute set-up changes had I received these ahead of time.  

Guestrooms

When I entered my Standard King room, I assumed I had been upgraded to some time of executive suite.  The rooms are a few years old, I think 2009 was the last refresh, but no complaints from me.  With two people staying in the room one sink could get tricky, but the shower was plenty big for plus one. For a souvenir, I ended up taking home my delightful quince-scented bath soap. 

Banquets/Catering

I cannot praise Hyatt's Banquets and Catering staff enough. I was a difficult client to work with.  I did not have special meal requests ahead of time, and the staff was behind me 100% as I requested special gluten free, gluten & dairy-free, and special last-minute vegetarian meals including a cheese pizza as a main and salmon with steamed vegetables & absolutely no asparagus. 

Speaking of difficult client . . . I changed the set up for our meeting room three times within a 6-hour period. On the final change I showed up to the ballroom at 11:00 PM asking for a reset. The night's banquet captain said it would be no problem to change the room back to a U-shaped. He gathered five employees and completed the reset without delay. These gents also politely protested when I offered  gratuities for the extra trouble.  This was a refreshing exchange and such a difference from convention hotels where I often feel employees wait with hand extended after every request. 

Meals/Menus

I was very pleased with the diversity and flexibility of the chefs and catering department allowed me.  Some guest feedback: 

"Please give my compliments to the chef. This was not the wedding food I was expecting." 

"You'd never guess we are at an airport hotel." 

"The flowerless chocolate cake was sinful."

I figured I had ordered successfully when after the first night's dinner guests were toasting with their sorbet glasses. 

While unexpectedly delicious and diverse and willing to roll with my every request,  I do have a few criticisms, suggestions, and/or notes for myself when I come back:

Overall dessert portions were too large. I could have done with one scoop of sorbet, a tiny square of perfectly dark flour-less chocolate cake, rather than a gigantic slice, and next time I'll ask for no whip cream on the otherwise uncomplicated panna cotta. 

I get that the hotel is aiming for local flavor adding a dash of tex-mex to the snapper dish and beef dish we enjoyed, but I think spicy sauces and tortilla strips have their limits. After licking my snapper plate clean, I found myself craving bland fish and steamed vegetables. And with the beef I kind of resented that it was covered in sauce.  But in both cases I finished everything on my plate! 

Conclusion

The Hyatt Regency DFW's service experience is unquestionably 5-Star. Also, I have never seen a catering/banquet team work so hard to meet client needs.

I offer my full recommendation and look forward for placing a meeting there in the near future.