BDU: Hyatt Regency DFW

BDU: Birthday Down Under - Trip Planning
BDU: Flying to Sydney
BDU: Park Hyatt Sydney
BDU: Sydney Activities
BDU: Sydney Opera House
BDU: Flying to Uluru and Back
BDU: Uluru and Kata Tjuta
BDU: Park Hyatt Melbourne
BDU: Melbourne Activities
BDU: Flying to Fiji
BDU: Hilton Fiji
BDU: Snorkeling Trip
BDU: Flying to Los Angeles
BDU: Hyatt Regency DFW

After spending time in the Admirals Club at LAX, I bid farewell to my friend C as she headed back to Chicago.  I spent another half-hour or so there before leaving for my gate.

I'm not accustomed to boarding flights where there are large numbers of passengers with status so when they called for boarding for first class and those who had various levels of status with AA it was a little shocking to see how long the line was.  The good thing was that these were all experienced travlers so the boarding process was efficient and it was an uneventful flight to Dallas.

I had debated between booking a room at the Grand Hyatt DFW, which is attached to the terminal, vs. the Hyatt Regency which is located on the DFW Airport property.  The Grand Hyatt is a category 3 hotel (12K points per night) while the Hyatt Regency is a category 2 hotel (8K points).  While the convenience of the Grand Hyatt was a bonus, in the end I decided to save the 4000 points and booked the Hyatt Regency.

It was after 11 PM by the time I reached baggage claim - though of course my bags would be transferred to the plane to Memphis so I only had to deal with my carry-on.  The shuttle bus was over half-full and after another stop or two I found myself in line to check in.

I was a little disappointed at how long the line was, probably 7-8 people deep.  The three people at the front desk were all assisting weary travelers but after getting only semi-decent sleep on the flight from Fiji I was dead tired and didn't really want to wait any longer.

That's when I noticed the kiosk.  As I was only 3-4 people from the end of the queue, I decided it would be worth it to see if it was working.  I swiped my credit card and it spit out a room key and a receipt for me.  Presto! I was on my way to my room.



I'd ordered a king room and found it to be a standard layout with the bathroom immediately to the right upon entering.  The main part of the room had the bed, a chair and ottoman, a desk and a chest with the TV on top of it.

The sink and vanity were outside the bathroom proper.  This would be great for folks sharing a room.  When facing the sink, the closet was directly behind you.  It had full-length mirrors on the doors.

Sink area

Closet doors

Inside the bathroom there was a multi-layer towel rack over the toilet on one side and the shower stall was on the other.

Toilet and towels

My big gripe about the shower stall - other than a lack of a small shelf to prop my leg on while shaving - was that it was not completely enclosed.  We're not Europe, we know better than this!  I don't care how you try, the floor outside the shower is going to get wet if it's not enclosed.

Shower

Kenet MD toiletries were provided, including shower gel.  I like that better than the Kenet bar soap that is the standard at Hyatt Place hotels.

Kenet MD Toiletries

On the vanity were coffee and tea supplies for those who can't go without their morning brew.

Coffee and tea

The king-sized bed was comfortable and had a nightstand on either side. One side had an alarm clock with an iPod/iPhone docking station.

Bed and nightstands

The chest across the bed had four drawers for storage and the TV sat on top.  Beside that the desk had a pull-out section to form an L-shape.  Had I actually needed to use the desk that would have been handy.

Chest, TV and Desk

The armchair looked comfortable but I just used the ottoman as a luggage stand for my carry-on bag.  By this point of the evening I was too tired to care how things looked, just cared that they were clean.

Chair and ottoman

One thing I'll never understand is why hotels around the world can offer free bottles of water but here at home we must charge for them.

$3 Water

After changing clothes and cleaning up I figured the check-in line had been handled downstairs so I called to inquire about the shuttle for the next morning.  I was told reservations were not necessary but it would be a good idea to be early.  I hung up and managed to get a good 5 hours of sleep in a nice comfy bed.

It was too bad I couldn't check out breakfast but I had to leave the hotel before it was served.  I was glad I was told to be downstairs early because we filled up two shuttle vans for the trip back to the airport.

The flight back to Memphis was equally uneventful and after two years of planning my Birthday Down Under trip was complete.  I landed mid-morning on a Thursday and fortunately I didn't have to go back to work until Monday so it gave me some recovery time.

I had just enough time to turn around good before it was time to start planning my 2016 trip.  Stay tuned for highlights of a European river cruise which I'll take in October.