We spent 3 nights at this San Francisco hotel as part of a larger trip. See here for information about what we did while we were in San Francisco .
We chose this hotel for a few reasons:
1. It was a Hyatt & that’s what we were looking for
2. We could use our Hyatt free night certificates
3. The Regency Club had good reviews
4. Location
First of all, Hyatt is probably our favorite hotel brand. We have had great experiences every time we have stayed in a Hyatt hotel, no matter which of the Hyatt Brands (Grand Hyatt, Hyatt House, Hyatt Regency, etc). At the time we were booking this hotel, we had Hyatt Diamond status as part of a trial that we did where we had to stay 12 nights in order to get Diamond status. The benefits of Hyatt Diamond status are many, but our favorites are upgrades (YMMV but we are 100% for getting good upgrades so far – it helps to have really cute kids), and the Regency Club (or free breakfast if they don’t have one).
Another reason was that we each have a Hyatt Credit Card, which gives us a “free” night each year in a Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel (after we pay the $75 annual fee – so not truly free, but you get the point). This hotel was a great value for these certificates, as it was prime season in a very popular city. I don’t remember how much the hotel was going for (this was way pre-blog so I was not making notes or taking great photos) but it was in the $300-$400 range. Maybe even more, as we were upgraded to a larger room, with a view, and we had access to the Regency Club. We used 2 free night certificates and 1 night we paid for using points (15,000 points).
Hyatt (and other hotels) have certain hotels, definitely not most, that have a “special” area that is for certain guests only. If you are a business traveler or a high roller, you probably don’t need this explanation. As a typical American family, this was new to us before we discovered this whole Miles & Points world. It is a level 2 skill, so if you aren’t there yet, don’t worry. At some point this will be really boring for you to read & you’ll be like “Duh! Pass me the Canvas Chardonnay and shut up!” According to Hyatt, “Regency Club guests have private access to the Regency Club Lounge, where continental breakfast, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, snacks, beer and wine are served daily.” This is a fantastic benefit for a family, as you don’t have to pay for food and you don’t have to cook it either (score!).
In order to stay in a Regency Club room (where you are given the benefit of access & are sometimes on the same floor where you need a special key to make the elevator button light up & you will feel important), you have to be upgraded either by status or using an upgrade certificate or pleasing the upgrade gods, pay extra for the Regency Room, or use extra points (21,000 for this hotel vs. 15,000 for a regular room).
I will state that it is important that your children are well-behaved while you are in these club lounges (and everywhere else, but if you can pull that off please email me with some tips). There are business travelers here who want peace and quiet. Do not disturb them. They sometimes look like they might bite. Seriously though, I have read lots of complaints on various websites about kids running around in the club lounges. You can argue that they are not the private domain of any one guest who is enjoying the benefit. I agree, but I feel more comfortable keeping my kids quiet and as still as possible by bringing things for them to do like drawing, playing handheld games (with earphones), etc. That way we are all happy & everyone can eat their free food & drink their Canvas Chardonnay in peace. And no nasty looks from the businessmen.
This particular Regency Club was fabulous. There was tons of seating, it was not crowded (when we were there), they had massage chairs, and the VIEW! I actually love the food in the Hyatt Regency Clubs I have been to. They usually have a decent light breakfast (perfect for us), good coffee, and I like the evening offerings because there are lots of vegetables. This saves us tons of money because we aren’t huge eaters, and the food generally serves as meals (at least for us adults). And I like the Canvas Chardonnay (I’m easy to please, wine-wise).
They say that this hotel is in the Financial District. I guess that’s a good thing because we felt that the location was great. It was very close to the Ferry Building, and was easily walk-able to other areas. We do like to walk a lot, so it worked out well for us. It felt very safe, even at night (naive? maybe). There was a Big Bus Tour stop close by as well, so we could hop on there.
Yes, in a heartbeat.
As part of a larger National Parks Road Trip through 5 states in the Summer of 2013, we rode the Amtrak California Zephyr train from Denver, Colorado to Emeryville (near San Francisco), California. The train originates in Chicago, but there are other spots to board along the way. We were in Denver so that is where we got on. The station is right in Denver & boarding was very easy. We checked our larger bags (separated out whatever we needed for the journey in our smaller bags), and just waited in the waiting area until we were ready to board. 30 hours later we were in Emeryville, CA. From there we boarded a bus for the short ride right into San Francisco (the bus ride is included with the train ticket).
We had booked a Superliner Family Bedroom on one of the sleeper cars on the train, which was tiny but comfortable and big enough for the 4 of us. Having never seen these types of rooms before, we were not sure what to expect. It turned out that there were only 4 of these rooms on the whole train, so we were lucky to get one. I booked about 8 months in advance (more on that below). According to Amtrak’s description, “The Family Bedroom spans the entire width of the car and has two picture windows. The sofa and two reclining seats convert to beds and the two upper berths fold down from above. Located on the lower level of Superliner sleeping cars, these bedrooms include two adult-sized berths and two child-sized berths.” Berths are beds, in case you weren’t sure. The size of the room was tight 5’2″ by 9’5″, but Amtrak made decent use of the space. The kids liked having the top bunks folded down, even during the day. There was plenty of room under them for 2 adults to lounge around. One of the best features was that there were windows on both sides, so we could see the scenery easily. These rooms do not have bathrooms (the smaller ones do), but there was a bathroom very close by, and our sleeper car was at the end of the train and kind of empty so there was never a problem using it. If you are looking for luxury, turn around right now. This is more along the lines of camping in a small motorhome than staying in a 5-star hotel (although the prices would make you think otherwise). It is, however, an experience we will never forget & one we hope to repeat.
Next time I think we will get 2 of the smaller rooms with the bathrooms in them. We are hoping to do one of the other long and scenic Amtrak routes at some point in the next couple of years.
This was perhaps the most surprising part of all. The food was actually really good and served in a lovely dining car with friendly services and great views. Being that we were in the Superliner Family Bedroom (which is like first class), all of our meals were included. Which was a great value for us because we got this for FREE (more on that below). During set dining times for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we would put our name in for a time we would like to eat & would be called when a table was ready for us. There were lots of choices on the menu, even for a picky eater, and the food was good and more gourmet than I ever expected (things like mahi mahi and steak). This is one of the menus for the train. Alcoholic drinks are also available for purchase. There was also a snack bar kind of area with foods for purchase.
This was one of the best parts of this whole train ride – the views. The California Zephyr passes through the Rocky Mountains & the Sierra Nevadas. Much of what can be seen from these rails can be seen in no other way. Some of the time there were no roads or anything else obstructing the sheer wilderness other than our train passing through. There are lounge cars and an Observation car with large floor to ceiling windows to view this gorgeous scenery. We also had a good view from our room, especially of the people mooning us from all along the banks of the Colorado River (true story).
We made sure to bring lots of entertainment for the kids, because this is a long ride (ours ended up being about 30 hours, which was a few hours longer than it was supposed to be because of delays). We brought card games, books, art supplies, handheld video games like the Nintendo 3DS, small toys (mini Lalaloopsies and Pokemon cards) and the iPad. We made sure we had all of our chargers too. This was a great chance for us to read Harry Potter together, as we had more downtime than we ever have! We also brought some snacks and maybe even some wine (not for the kids). Obviously we had comfortable clothes and our toiletries as well.
Nothing. Not for us, anyway. At the time of our booking, the price was over $1200 for the Superliner Family Room for 4 people. Say what? I realize that is also around the same amount as 4 plane tickets, but I’ve never had to purchase (with money) 4 plane tickets so I don’t really know. Our cost in points was much less than the miles needed for 4 airplane tickets. How did we do it? We used Sapphire Preferred credit card. As of this writing, the bonus is 40,000 points on that credit card, so more than enough for a ride on this train!
Thumbs up! If you are not too picky or germaphobic & don’t need extreme high-class luxury and you want to have an unforgettable family bonding experience, see some great scenery, and possibly get mooned along the way…this is the trip for you! If we can do it, you can do it too!
