Review: Hyatt Place Atlanta/Alpharetta/North Point Mall

Recently on a trip to North Atlanta I had to stay a few nights in the north of the city. I didn't know really where to stay and relied on some friends to give me some suggestions. The consensus was that the Hyatt Place near the North Point Mall was on the short list.

Booking

I booked the Hyatt Place on points during their off-peak times, so it only cost me 3,500 points per night for my stay. However, point redemptions do range from 3,500 to 6,500. And while this is a no-brainer for off-peak times, for peak times I would not be spending 6,500 of my valuable Hyatt points at the property.

Location

For the sake of the area, it's in a pretty decent location. With the large North Point Mall just down the street, and numerous parks and trails around the area, it's a decent place to be.

Check-In

Check-in was a decent experience, the check-in desk is also the bar area and the time that I arrived in the evening the employee behind the desk was also the bar tender and was serving drinks while trying to check me in. To his credit, he gave me an upgraded room and a couple waters for the short wait while he was making drinks.

It should be noted that during the early Summer when I visited the Hyatt Place they were under construction renovating the rooms. They did give me a recently renovated room when I checked in.

The Room

The room was very new. So new that it smelled heavily of new paint. To the point where I think they had just finished painting that morning and never aired out the room. I managed to prop open the door and run the AC on high for about an hour and it dissipated the smell enough to not feel like I was getting high.

I felt like I was probably one of the first people to sleep in this room, the bed was very stiff, everything looked new.

The only thing that didn't look new was the air conditioner in the wall. It was one of those wall units that made a terribly loud noise whenever on. To its credit, it did keep the room warm on the 80 degree plus days.

There's a small cubby area with a refrigerator, coffee maker, microwave, and on the other side there's an open storage area for your luggage.

My only problem with the whole room is the bathroom, it is comically small and the shower area looks to not have gotten renovated. The door blocks access to the shower door, and if you want to step into the room to use the bathroom and shut the door you have to step into the shower and close the door due to no room for the door to fully swing.

The bathroom needs to be much bigger to even be slightly useable.

On a lighter note, the couch and desk area are nice and functional. The bed can pull out into a generously sized bed and I did enjoy the daytime lounger that is easily to lay back, get some work done, and watch TV.

Service

I'm not sure how to describe it or put my finger on it, but the Hyatt Place has that feeling about it. Where you know there's one person doing everything at the hotel with little to no help.

While the service was great, and they were attentive, you could clearly tell they were understaffed and running around. During my check-in, they were behind the desk working with people while also being the bartender. And during breakfast they were working behind the desk and managing the breakfast area.

They very much looked like they needed more help.

Final Thoughts

I never really found anything wrong with the Hyatt Place, besides almost passing out from the newly painted room and the loud air conditioner. The front desk staff was great and seem to always be around the front desk if you needed anything. The area is great if you're in that part of Atlanta, with lots of places to eat and the mall right nearby.

By now I'm sure the room probably smells like a normal room now, it just so happened that I visited right as they were finishing room renovations.