Let's begin with the reservation - purchased thru bid on Priceline = $75/night. Room was in Lanai (requested tower and was offered upgrade for add'l $40/night.

Reason for trip: pre-cruise night

Pros: Great location, remodeled, nicely appointed room, walked from room onto draw bridge to view/photo about 6 huge ships, pre-cruise shopping nearby, good restaurants nearby, close to airport, room views are great (either water or courtyard).

Cons: No elevator to 2nd story Lanai room unless going thru hotel lobby (a long distance from room), parking is $21 self-park, $25 valet. Valet wait is LONG. Shouldn't parking be FREE for registered guests? There's plenty of perimiter parking spaces... didn't use a garage.

Here's the deal. We pulled in to simply check in and leave. Valet said they needed keys... handed them over expecting car would be in same place upon return. Valet moved car appox. 20 feet (why?)... then the attendant pocketed keys so we couldn't quickly leave without interrupting valet guy busy with 3 other lined up cars - other valet attended wanted to write up some ticket... I insisted we get keys back immediately - no ticket need at this time and no permission to move car. Got keys back with no blue ticket. Upon entering after trip to store, we took a gate ticket... called front desk to ask about exchange for blue ticket. They said to toss the gate ticket, explain to parking gate attendant and stop by valet when returning. Bottom line, how do they track these tossed tickets? Parking was the only issue.

I made the mistake of booking with priceline, and when you do, you're sent to the ''motel'' section, unless you request an upgrade at the hotel, and pay the difference to be in the hotel tower. I am not a picky person, I didn't mind so much the long walk to the room, that I had to do 3 times because I could not open the outside door which was defective, did not mind the dated finishes, the door falling off the TV unit, etc.
BUT, I did mind that I had to ask twice for toilet paper and wait over 4 hours for it, and that extremely noisy AC unit kept me awake most of the night (and I can fall asleep absolutely everywhere!). I believe relative silence and toilet paper should not be considered luxury features and was expecting Hyatt to at least deliver that.

On initial appearance, the hotel looks great. The location is excellent and the surrounding intercoastal waterway and marina are beautiful. However, that is where the positives for this hotel end. I was given a room overlooking the beautiful marina, but the room was very tired and worn-looking. The carpet was stained, the walls dirty and scuffed and the doors all had dents in them. The climate control was terrible. It was either too hot or too cold in the room and when the A/C was running, it was so loud I could barely hear the television and sleeping was quite difficult. There were also tiny ants present in the room.

I was also very displeased with the service. I was attending a conference at the hotel and asked to have my check-out delayed one hour until my conference was finished. I was basically told no and had to check out of my room very early in the morning. I then had to take my bags to the bellman to leave them while I attended my conference and was greeted by a very surly gentleman who obviously did not appreciate being bothered.

Considering this is a Hyatt and I'm a Gold Passport member, as well as the cost of this hotel, I expected much more.

We stayed at the Hyatt for vacation in late September 2011. The hotel is beautiful, the grounds are beautiful and the pool is beautiful. The bar in the lobby is pricey, but not unexpected due to the hotel's location. It's a fun place to be in the evenings as well. The pool bar/staff/food were all excellent and I have no complaints. Our room was clean and spacious with a decent-sized patio. I would stay here again.