Hyatt Palm Springs Review
What do you do when you find a hotel going for over $500 per night, but just 15,000 Hyatt points? You book it, of course. The Hyatt Palm Springs looked nice enough online and it came up as my top option for a weekend trip, although I did end up splitting my stay between the bougie Days Inn and this far more upscale option down the street.
I’ve only been to one other “vanilla” Hyatt property, and that was several years ago. They’re pretty rare, and I wasn’t especially impressed by the one in Atlanta (now a Centric). This made me curious how the Hyatt Palm Springs would stack up against either the Centric or Regency brands.
Booking
Palm Springs is pricey. I knew this would be the case heading into the trip, but it was extra pricey as it ended up being on a weekend around college spring break. The nearby Days Inn was going for over $400 per night. At time of booking, the Hyatt was asking $1,035 for two nights, including a resort/destination fee. By the time of arrival, this had increased even more.
Would I ever pay that? Absolutely not. What I did pay was 15,000 points per night at this Category 4 property, for a total of 30,000 points. It’s one to add to the list in terms of certificate value, but maybe not so much in terms of what you get, as you’ll see.
Arriving at the Hyatt Palm Springs
It was a few minute drive to switch hotels from the Days Inn up the street to the Hyatt Palm Springs in my Turo electric rental vehicle. I parked right in front while I got checked in.
The triangular lobby is dominated by several art pieces, including the odd silver sphere sculpture right by the front desk. There was hardly anyone in the lobby when I entered, and check-in took under two minutes.
The lady at the front desk said I’d have to drive to the back of the hotel and park in their underground garage. This was easy enough, and the parking fee was waived as a Globalist on an award stay. One downside was that the Hyatt Palm Springs does not offer electric vehicle charging; however, the hotel is literally one block from a public lot with free EV charging stations, which I gladly used.
It seems the Hyatt Palm Springs also wants to double as an art gallery. You can find painting to the right of the lobby along the hallway. Heading the other direction takes you into a large common space dominated by art by Elena Bulatova.
The hotel centers around this large atrium. I have to assume it’s used as an event space, although it is incredibly open. The square sections in the middle can be turned into “rooms” using the curtains, but even still, this doesn’t make them quiet nor private.
Standard Two Queen Suite
The Hyatt Palm Springs is an all-suite hotel, with many of the rooms offering lovely balconies facing either downtown Palm Springs or the Santa Rosa Mountains that backdrop the Coachella Valley. In my case, I was given a two-queen suite facing the city.
The bedroom is pretty plain. The art in the lobby downstairs added some character to the hotel, but the rooms could do with some color. Although the bedroom has a window facing the hotel interior, the lack of much natural light made it feel a bit depressing.
Separating the bedroom from the living area is a small space containing the closet, in-room coffee and water, and mini-fridge, all across from the bathroom door.
The living area of the suite is appointed nicely, but the furnishings do show both age and wear. The suite contains a sectional couch, another small couch, a large desk, and a second TV.
The room balcony is lovely, even if the chair in this particular one seriously needs replacing. I enjoyed some time out in the warm, dry desert air after sunset, the evening punctuated by the low buzz of a vibrant downtown.
After noticing the degraded state of some of the furniture, it was suddenly easy to see how much wear and tear has hit the rooms at the Hyatt Palm Springs. I’m not typically one with a discerning eye for this sort of thing, but from a multitude of scratches on the desk (photo can’t do it justice), to the cupboard and drawer edges, to even the elevator, the hotel needs some care.
Walking into the bathroom also shows you how much the Hyatt Palm Springs needs a facelift. For a hotel asking $500 per night, this isn’t anything close to what you would expect (then again, the Days Inn was asking $400 for the night before, so I maybe I need to reevaluate).
Given the tiny tub, they really should do away with it entirely and replace it with a nice shower. The angle of the wall between the bathroom and living area would likely make it difficult to do much with the rest of the room. A complete remodel would be best, in my opinion.
Overall, the Hyatt Palm Springs room is comfortable, but in need of some improvements. The room size and suite layout, plus the balcony, are its solid pros. Cons are the furniture wear and antiquated bathroom.
Hotel Breakfast and Restaurant
The only Hyatt Palm Springs restaurant open during my stay was the SHARE bistro. It offers all three meals, open from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM. It is where I enjoyed complimentary breakfast each morning as a Hyatt Globalist.
The breakfast menu offers a decent selection of items. I went with the eggs benedict, which proved to be a good choice.
Although Palm Spring has a thriving food scene, I found myself having dinner at the hotel restaurant the first night. This is what happens when you’re on your feet all day and spend most of it hiking. Four meals are in order.
It turned out to not be as poor a choice as I’d thought it’d be. The chef sent the server out saying that they’d messed up the steak and would be remaking it. They offered a glass of wine on the house. Ultimately, it turned into dinner on the house due to the long wait.
Facilities
The Hyatt Palm Springs offers a full fitness center with plenty of machines and a set of dumbbell weights of up to 50-pounds. I try to work out these days while on the road. It, plus lots of walking, balances out the eating.
The hotel has a nice pool deck as well that includes a bar. For what seemed like a popular weekend, it wasn’t as busy as I’d thought it’d be.
This large back deck perplexed me. You’d think a hotel like the Hyatt Palm Springs would make the most of it instead of leaving it awkwardly empty like it is, especially when so many of the rooms overlook it.
Normally, the Hyatt Palm Springs also offers the HooDoo Cocktail Bar and Restaurant. It was unfortunately closed during my stay. I did enjoy lunch out in its exterior dining area the next day.
The Hyatt Palm Springs does charge a resort/destination fee. This is waived for Globalist members, but it is something to be aware of.
Final Thoughts on the Hyatt Palm Springs
Overall, I was happy enough with my stay. With good staff, a decent restaurant, and nice pool, the Hyatt Palm Springs delivers in terms of services. The hotel shows its age, though, in terms of the state of its rooms. They could really use a remodeling, and other areas of the hotel could use a facelift as well.
In terms of value, it’s difficult to not be entirely happy with the stay. Hard to do better than 15,000 for a hotel asking $500+ (but should we care that much about value?). I was glad to find both the Hyatt Palm Springs and nearby Days Inn on points to keep lodging for the trip entirely free.
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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Very large rooms. Good views of the mountains facing the rear side rooms. A bit tattered, but clean. Location in a tourist downtown that has little to offer besides t-shirt stores and just so so eateries.
Luke is correct. The Hyatt is a mess and needs a major hard and soft renovation. It works well for visitors who are neither discerning nor well traveled. There are nicer properties. Some less expensive. This town for a decade has subsidized its tired, old properties through city blessed tax breaks and renovation subsidies. In the last decade, millions were given to hotels in taxpayer dollars. No hotel chain will even come to this city without a generous handout from the city. Not a single one.
Um, are you calling me cheap? I may be frugal, but at the same time, I was fine with MY room and the location in regards to the downtown area was pretty handy. Some folks here do not seem to like palm Springs, and that is fine. Others among us though might even have friends or family to visit, or just like the area.
I will say that your meager four word comment does not add much to the conversation, that’s for sure.
Very much appreciate your taking the time to respond, Carl!
Ah, dang. My comment in regards to cheap was meant as a reply to Luke shinda, not you. My bad.
I figured. 😉
Just wanted to make sure you know I appreciate your helpful feedback.
Overpriced, tired hotel in an overrated second tier tourist town. Perfect combination.
Overpriced and tired, maybe. And an expensive town. But warm, pleasant, and a lot to do and eat in the area.
Third rate property in a second tier honky tonk town.
Great review. Nice room size, great views of the mountains on west side, but Shabby, overpriced, tired old hotel in a honky-tonk tourist downtown loaded with t-shirt stores and junky overpriced souvenir outlets. Still can’t buy a pair of 501 Levi’s in all of downtown. Resort fee?? What resort amenities? like none. A hyped destination of truly second-tier hotels and bus shelters loaded with homeless folks more like downtown Calcutta with palm trees. And no, there is not a thriving restaurant scene. A few good ones, maybe four or five, and rest are mediocre or hit and miss. All hype and no class. If I wanna see the real Palm Springs, hop over to Walmart and watch the crowd. The unseen folks not included in the slick magazine ads.
Exactly my review, and then some, from over a year ago….The only response was the usual “We’re sorry we didnt meet your expectations…” And here we are over a year later and the complaints are the same with previous complaints obviously ignore and just deleted. This is the 3rd Hyatt with similar issues that we’ve stayed at and there will be no more 4th + stay at their chain!
I think you’ve stayed at all the wrong Hyatts!
I had my worst ever hotel experience at this hotel in January. Among many other things, I found a blunt on the floor next to the bed in my room. See my review on Google from January for more details.
Yikes. Sorry to hear.
I found parts of the hotel almost shabby right before pandemic. I was quite surprised. We did have a room at the back overlooking the mountains, and the view was nice. Location good.
The location is excellent in the middle Palm Springs. But yes, the shabbiness shows. Not what I expect from Hyatt.
I was there in 2006 and it needed an update then. It sounds like it hasn’t gotten any better.
Stayed there in 2019 and it is very obvious the plan was to wait for the Andaz/Thompson to open before renovating to keep Hyatt rooms in Palm Springs. But then can’t push too hard on that since Palm Springs is really where Hawaii was a few years ago with the room standard being extremely outdated.
I noticed the Andaz/Thompson under construction down the street. Should be an excellent new option.
First time I have ever read a hotel review here of a place I have actually been to! I stayed there last year and my room, while on the same side as yours was and basically the same room, was up on what I think was a higher floor and was really nice. I wonder if you got one of the more beat up rooms? That natural light thing is nice, I agree, but in a place that gets Really Hot a lot of the time, a lot of sun means lots of heat inside if’n you have a lot of windows!
Agree on the oddness of the huge deck, though! When I was there the pool was crazy busy so maybe lots of folks were out on the town. Who knows.
Thanks for the review!
Thanks for reading, Carl! Maybe they did give me a more beat up room. Would be good to know not all of them are this worn.
Maybe they’ll get to that deck someday. Almost anything would be better than just leaving it empty.
Cheap crowd, tired property