122 N. Second St., Phoenix, AZ 85004, 602-252-1234, phoenix
Rates: $255 to $294 a night for one or two beds. Parking is in a garage across the street for $16 a day.
Stay here if you: want to be centrally located in this sprawling city, within throwing distance of the local sporting scene.
It’s close to: The convention center is a block away, the sports arena is a three-block walk, and the baseball stadium is within five blocks. The Heritage & Science Park, home to the Victorian-era Heritage Square as well as shops, restaurants, the Phoenix Museum of History and the Arizona Science Center, is a three-block jaunt. The famous Heard Museum is about a mile and a half away. The airport is a 3-mile drive.
The rooms are: standard Hyatt but with a Southwestern twist, including TV armoires that look like pressed-tin cupboards and leather easy chairs.
They put all of the money into: the stunning lobby decor, which features a metal, cactus-embossed reception desk, an attractive array of cushy, Southwestern-style sofas and chairs, and light fixtures that are sculptural works of art. Also spectacular: the 24th-floor Compass restaurant, which has revolving 360-degree views of downtown and the surrounding hills.
The bottom line: This hotel is an odd combination of ease and suffering. For instance, the leather chair and ottoman in my room was incredibly comfy, but the air conditioning vent was on the ceiling directly over the bed, and there was no way to shut off the loud, sleep-shattering fan without turning the entire system off — not the best idea in a desert hotel where the windows don’t open. And then the long, narrow, 3-foot-deep wading pool has wide steps lining the sides that encourage people to lounge. But on hot afternoons — which, face it, is every afternoon in Phoenix — it feels like a big bathtub you’re sharing with a few dozen strangers. And for a hotel that has business-friendly touches like a kiosk that lets you print out your airline boarding passes, it charges a whopping $12.29 per device for 24 hours of Internet access.
Vicky Uhland
