WOW- I’m really, really impressed. The hotel lobby is an escalator ride up from the TSA level of this terminal. Very clean, very much new Hyatt style.
I’m Plat with Hyatt, and successfully obtained a runway view room. Hyatt Grand bed, big flat screen tv, and a separate shower and tub- the first time I’ve seen this in a US hotel, although pretty standard in Asia. Room was excellent overall, and didn’t show the wear and tear I usually expect at an airport property.
This hotel had been named as one of the five top airport hotels in the world by the Financial Times, so I was pretty jazzed about seeing it. In brief, it does make the cut.
The FT called out both the iPod wine tasting and the tablet menus in the restaurant… so off I went. I ordered the white wine tasting, and they brought over four tastings of white wine, and an iPod (yes, I brought my own earbuds). The wine video, though, was disappointing. It was cursory at best, and the guy in the video could have done so much more with this medium. Cool, but would not repeat.
I had dinner in the restaurant which had two neat gadgets. First, the menu was done on a tablet pc, mounted to a standup bracket, which was brought over. However, it didn’t have prices… so they handed me the standard printed menu… kind of defeats the purpose of the jazzy tech, huh? Also, there were typos in the menu and the tablet. What was cool, though, was the individual flat screen tvs for solo travelers. Nice touch, although the seating area was kind of dark, and a I had to fumble for the channel switches on the tv set.
Also, I checked in the gift/deli area for postcards to send to Dad and Kiddo… none there, but the lady at the counter gave me two postcards of the Hyatt, WITH postage already on them… very nice touch.
Access heads-up: The entrance to the airport, which includes the high-speed shuttle train, only works if you are flying with AA, or if you have carry-ons only. I was on NWA, and had a suitcase, so couldn’t get through security. Hyatt drove me to my terminal in a van, but that was a bit annoying. Not Hyatt’s fault, just bear in mind…
Terrific stay, and sets a new standard for airport hotels in the US. I will happily return next time I need an overnight transit at DFW.











