That's not my Cheerio!

When I was traveling to NJ August through December of last year, I stayed at a full-service Marriott hotel. It had a very high end restaurant, room service, superior customer service, scrumptious down filled bed linens, etc. Unfortunately, in 2008, HP was not able to renegotiate the rate we had been getting in 2007. (The rate increased from $145 to $229, which exceeds my daily travel cap of $150.)

So, I had to find a new hotel. Last week and this week, I'm at a Hyatt Place hotel. I had to start a new points program with Hyatt, but, at $139 it's within my project's budget.

The décor in the Hyatt Place is much more modern than at the Marriott. It seems to be a younger, hipper place than the older, stuffier Marriott and there are some definite advantages.

For instance, in my room there is a 42" HD tv by LG with a better channel selection (translation - I now get TLC!). Also, there is a separate living area from the bedroom area, although it's all in the same room, where there is a big sectional couch with a big leather ottoman…much more home-y feeling, a lot less hotel-y feeling. It also has free wireless high speed internet service; whereas the Marriott wasn't wireless, it was s-l-o-w, AND you had to pay $9.99 per day to use it.

So all of those advantages are fine and dandy. BUT, there are some things about the Hyatt that are just not up to par with the Marriott.

For example, the Hyatt doesn't have a restaurant or room service or a LIQUOR LICENSE although it does have a grab-and-go kitchen with reasonably priced salads, sandwiches, soups, fruits, etc. But one of the biggest things I noticed at the Hyatt is, although the décor is more modern and seemingly newer, it just isn't as fresh as the Marriott. The carpet and the ottoman in my room were both stained, the hallway carpets looked like they hadn't been vacuumed since 2006, but as long as the carpets in my room were vacuumed, the hallway thing didn't bother me all that much.

At first glance, my room seemed to be vacuumed until on day THREE I saw at the foot of my bed…a Cheerio. That's not my Cheerio! Had it been there this whole time? Did the cleaning staff drop it? Or did they just not CLEAN well enough? And if they aren't cleaning the floors well enough? What else are they not cleaning well enough? It makes me cringe to think about it.

So, I'm giving the Hyatt another try this week. This week, my room isn't stained and it seems to be cleaner than last week. Plus the hallways now look vacuumed. Maybe they are on a two week rotation.

Anyway, I'll let you know if I find any more Cheerios this week.