Hyatt Place Owings Mills

"Unique Concept Hotel with a Few Drawbacks"

My 9-year old son and I stayed one night at the Hyatt Place while visiting a friend in Maryland. Overall, our experience was a positive one, and we enjoyed the novelty of Hyatt's new hotel concept. My son and I brainstormed a list of the things we really liked about the hotel:

* very comfortable bed - I rarely sleep well on hotel beds, so it was a nice treat to to have such a comfortable bed

* great room layout - we loved having the cozy sectional couch & ottoman, wet bar, and desk in one area of the room, and the bed, closet and bathroom in the other. It was roomy and had a nice flow.

* decor & special touches - the room was very stylishly decorated and many of the decorative features were really pleasing including the granite countertops, cool bathroom and wet bar fixtures, curved shower rod in the bathroom, towel rack IN the shower (very convenient), room divider, and slow-close toilet seat (ie, no slamming lid!).

* coffee maker - my son especially enjoyed the "cool" Keurig one-cup coffee maker and helped me make my morning coffee

* TV! - the huge, hi-def, flat-screen, swiveling TV was SWEET, and its ability to integrate with laptops, DVD's & MP3's is a bonus

* great business traveler features - LARGE desk with comfortable task chair and free high-speed internet access (though I did not use it, so I don't know how good their connections were) and various hook-ups on hand

* breakfast set-up - the Hyatt Place hotel concept is hard to describe, but the vibe was decidedly different than that of a traditional hotel, and you notice it most in the "gallery" area (what a regular hotel calls the lobby). The "gallery" feels more like a hip cafe than a hotel lobby. Guests grabbed their breakfasts (large assortment of continental items) then mingled about and ate in booths, on couches & occasional chairs, and at tables or at the breakfast bar area. The decor is stylishly modern, yet somehow still cozy.

OK, those were the many positives... HOWEVER; we also made a list of the negatives. Although there were many more positves, the following things were worth mentioning:

* dirty floors - although our room looked new (and I know they recently renovated an AmeriSuites to make this Hyatt Place), the floors felt very dirty to the point where it was unpleasant to walk in bare feet in the room... almost sticky. UGH.

* POOL!!! YUCK!!! - An indoor heated pool was one thing we were looking forward to using during our stay yet, after seeing it, I can't imagine why it was even open. I was SHOCKED that the hotel staff hadn't said anything about it or told us that it was undergoing renovations or such when they directed us to where it was. Paint on the floors was cracking, most of the lounge chairs were stacked up on one side along with all of the tables, someone's half-eaten lunch and drink was left out on a table, some odd, decrepit metal crane hung eerily over one side of the pool (huh?), large empty planters were all pushed into a corner, pool-cleaning equipment (I'm assuming) was strewn about... We were disgusted and could not believe that the area wasn't closed to the public (or that staff didn't say anything about it to us) given its condition.

Overall, if you can deal with the dirty floors and just pretend that the hotel doesn't even HAVE a pool, you'll likely enjoy your stay at the Hyatt Place.