This week was crazy for MLB all star game in San Francisco. I couldn’t get any hotel in Pleasanton – San Ramon area on Tuesday (all star game day) and stayed at AmeriSuites (soon to be Hyatt Place) in Fremont. This is the review.
I expected a regular AmeriSuites package, but it was much more than that because the hotel is in the process of extensive renovation to be a new hotel called “Hyatt Place”. I was kind of lucky to stay the room which has just remodeled recently. First of all, the room is very spacious and look gorgeous at a glance, especially when you see 42 inch large plasma screen and corner sofa set in the room. It also comes with wet bar and refrigerator.
BTW, Ichiro received MVP of the day, congratulation!
Bed is firm and has a good back support. It is also comfortable with a good bed linens and lights.
Bathroom is a kind of standard and no special thing, but vanity sink is decorated with granite counter top and soaps seems to be good ones.
So, it looked all great indeed. However, to be fair, there are several minus despite those looking nice features. First, vanity sink is too innovative to use nicely. The location of faucet is at odd and very easy to splash here and there. You need to get used to it until you can control the water splash. Second, you may have already noticed, drawers are not large as compared to the size of room. I was all by myself and it didn’t matter, but 2 or more family may have a little trouble.
The location of plasma TV is also not well designed. It is in between the corner sofa and beds, it is not so comfortable to see from either angle. When you sit at the chair of working desk, you can’t see TV at all. It’s OK, you’r not supposed to watch TV when you work, but hey this is a hotel room, you may want to watch TV while you do something work. There is no individual digital room temperature control. The wall unit is pretty standard and you should turn it on/off manually. I think they spent too much money on big Plasma TV and save money on wrong choice.
Also, I’d say hotel maid doesn’t care granite counter top well. I think there are several spots already and some of the portion is a kind of greasy. When you upgrade the materials, you need to upgrade the person who maintains it. At last, I noticed the all furniture is a little bit bulky, it looks great while they are new, but it doesn’t so well when it’s getting old.
The room comes with free High Speed Internet through Wi-Fi and complementary hot breakfast buffet which is a little less than what is served at Residence Inn, but it is much better than regular continental breakfast. You need to be in the exact time they serve, I saw they clean up just right at 9:30am while many hotel guests are at eating. It is OK, but not a great way in terms of hospitality.
Fitness room is not large, but OK size and equipped with the latest treadmills and so on with LCD screen, but TV reception was not ready yet. The fitness room is open for 24 hours which is good.
The location is no good unless you are business traveler who visits the business park around the hotel. The area has no shop or residence and it is completely isolated by freeway 880 from the rest of the world.
Overall, it is very good hotel for 2.5 star. It comes with some of the luxurious feature which you can see only in 3 or more star hotel, but the most important feature (like room climate control) still stays 2 to 2.5 star level. Depends on how much you pay, but I think it is worth between $100 and $140 per night (I paid less than $100:-).
