Grand Hyatt at SFO Review
It isn’t often that a brand new hotel opens up on the grounds of an airport in the United States. The Grand Hyatt at SFO recently opened at San Francisco International Airport and I had the opportunity to spend a night there on a recent trip. It is one of the best airport hotels in the world IMHO. In this Grand Hyatt at SFO Review I’ll show you why.
Overview & Pricing
My wife and I wanted to plan a quick get away and San Francisco is among our favorite cities. We stayed our first night at the Hyatt Centric Fisherman’s Wharf (review to come soon) and headed out to the airport to meet up with some friends and to experience the brand new Grand Hyatt at SFO for our second night.
Grand Hyatt at SFO is a World of Hyatt category 5 property, meaning it costs 20,000 points per night. Nightly rates can vary wildly depending on how busy the hotel is. We paid $127 plus tax per night for our stay which was an amazing price given the overall quality of the hotel. I suspect in many cases it will make more sense to book the Grand Hyatt at SFO via cash instead of using points.
Grand Hyatt at SFO Location
The Grand Hyatt at SFO is located on the grounds of the airport. More important, it is attached to the airport’s Airtrain. That means it is a very simple and short ride away from any of the terminals at SFO. In other words, the location is stellar. As you would expect from an airport hotel, the views are fantastic as well. (See below)
Lobby & Check-In Experience
My wife and I arrived at the hotel’s ground level via Uber and had to ascend up to the lobby. If you are arriving via Airtrain, then you’ll already be on lobby level. Our visit came during a time where a lot of other Globalists were on site and where all of the suites were booked. We were given a fairly standard King room with runway views.
Grand Hyatt at SFO Review – The Room
Our Runway View King Bed room at the Grand Hyatt at SFO was cozy, but fairly comfortable. The materials used throughout seemed to be of a fairly high quality and the linens felt more like a Park Hyatt setup than a typical Grand Hyatt. Again, the standard rooms aren’t huge, but they are comfortable.
The same goes for the bathrooms. Top quality ingredients (no single use toiletries though), but not overly large. My only complaint with the bathroom would be the shower head. I would have liked to see a rain shower, but not a huge deal. I also liked the scales that say, “You Look Good.” Nice touch. 🙂 Note, if you stay in a suite at this hotel, then your bathroom will be upgraded with a tub and Toto automated toilet!
Overall the room delivers with high quality and comfortable materials plus a million dollar view. Speaking of the view…
Grand Hyatt at SFO Views
It isn’t often I include a whole section of a hotel review dedicated to the views, however I think it is important here. The main selling point of this hotel besides its convenience for flights are the runway views. During our time at the hotel we saw planes both big and small. Our room had views of a set of gates, an airplane parking area (where the Korean Air 777 is parked below) plus taxiways and even the runways in the distance.
Grand Hyatt at SFO also provides a Plane Spotter’s Guide and binoculars to help guests figure out which types of planes they are seeing. Pretty much all of the rooms on the airport side of the hotel have amazing views of the airport and San Francisco Bay beyond. Thick windows also keep out the noise which is fantastic! If you are looking for the best views try to get a suites or room on the far left of the building when facing the airport. Just keep in mind that parts of these rooms (especially on the lower floors) can be seen from the Airtrain.
Grand Club
Another small misstep of this hotel for me was the Grand Club. First off, I want to say the staff was amazing and friendly. There were also FAR more Globalists and people with lounge access than they had probably ever dealt with. With that said, they ran out of a lot of stuff. From drinks to food items, there were often times things were scarce. I really am not holding this against them too much since the staff tried and there simply was a lot of us there.
One other small quirk about the Grand Club is its location. It is located through one of the hotel’s restaurants. This definitely lead to a bit of confusion at first, but restaurant staff is very polite and will show you the way if you are confused.
Facilities
The Grand Hyatt at SFO is a top notch property with many of the amenities you would expect from a 4 star hotel in the United States. While you will find a large and modern gym at the hotel, there is no pool. Thankfully there are still a lot of nice public areas to lounge around with many of them having fantastic views of the airport.
Grand Hyatt at SFO Review – Bottom Line
The Grand Hyatt at SFO is a beautiful hotel and I am a fan. It reminds me A LOT of the newer Hyatt builds in China and that is a good thing. During our stay there were a couple of missteps mostly revolving around them running out of things, but there was a large group of Globalists on site heavily using the lounge, so I don’t blame them too much.
If you want to stay at the most convenient airport hotel in San Francisco, plus enjoy top notch rooms and views, then the Grand Hyatt at SFO is your place. The staff is friendly and helpful plus the hotel is beautiful. I honestly can’t wait to go back to try it again on a weekend where I can score a suite upgrade!
Have you ever stayed at this hotel? Do you agree with my Grand Hyatt at SFO review? Please share your experiences at this hotel in the comments!
More Photos of Grand Hyatt at SFO
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[…] for that amount of numbers. For this reason alone, I’d definitely recommend staying at the Grand Hyatt at SFO […]
Of note, they also offer day rates!! I was on a 9 hour layover, that I wanted to sleep 7a-4p (connecting to EK flight). I was able to get a room for those hours for $79.
[…] for a night at the brand-new Grand Hyatt at San Francisco Airport and makes the argument that it might be the best airport hotel in the country. As I read his review, I remembered my time sitting in bed at the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport and I […]
Cozy rooms and an overwhelmed club lounge are not features of one of the best airport hotels in the world. Neither is a sliding barn door that doesn’t lock for the bathroom.
To each their own. I’d take the views, the hard product and the Club Lounge here over just about anywhere else on airport grounds in the United States. Perhaps I am excusing a bit because it is a new hotel and because there were a ton of Globalists there, but I still stand by my assertion as someone who has spent 1,000+ nights in hotels over the past decade. If a barn door kills it for you then so be it.
Regarding your comment about no single use toiletries: California has a new ban on single-use toiletries, passed in 2019 (Public Resources Code section 42372 et seq.). Enacted into law 2019, it becomes effective 1/1/2023, and applies to hotels with more than 50 rooms; on 1/1/2024 it applies to smaller establishments.
So perhaps this Grand Hyatt elected to install the dispensers which will be required in three years,
Thanks D.K. Hyatt has also announced an eventual move to eliminate single use toiletries chainwide, so I expect most new hotels will open this way. I do prefer single use in nicer hotels, but understand the reasoning. As long as hotels are proactive about keeping those things secure and clean I am happy.
My wife and I stayed there in early November. I was impressed how nice it was and the level of service. The front desk service was exceptional despite checking in at midnight. Having stayed at Park Hyatts I was impressed. Despite being new there was but one relatively minor issue, it took 2 calls to get extra towels. Also found it interesting that they provided bottled water in screw top aluminum cans so they can be more easily recycled.
We arrived by the Air Train and was there from baggage claim in less than 10 minutes. Great to not have to wait for a shuttle or get a rental car and drive to a hotel near the airport.
Thanks PK!