Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront

My wife and I recently stayed here for a half business/leisure trip. What was supposed to be a pleasant visit ended up becoming a catastrophe. We would never recommend this hotel after our horrible experience of being mistreated. We left extremely disappointed with hotel management and will never return. Do not go. Pre-trip: My wife and I are over 60 years old and frequently travel, and this is by far the worst experience ever! We usually don't leave online reviews, but this is the first time that I have to ask my son to post this review using his account. Hyatt offers online check in 24 hours prior to arrival. We took advantage of this online tool and confirmed our room. On-arrival: We arrived at 11 pm and tried to pick up our keys, but the front desk informed us that there has been a change in our room, and our online check-in has been voided. Our new room was basically a closet with no bed, no windows, and it turns out that the kitchen/toilet was malfunctioning. Assistant manager to the front desk Mr. Palmer came out to inform us that this was our only option. We were told that this was due to our late arrival (so...online check-in and specifying our arrival time was not enough?) We were told that this will only be for our first night, but the room rate of $175 remains unchanged. As compensation for this ridiculous closet, we were given breakfast for only the next morning and a one-class upgraded room for the remaining two nights (a lofty $35 value - wow, lucky us...). This is completely unacceptable! We tried to argue and demanded alternatives, but unfortunately, English is not our first language. He took advantage of the situation and brushed us off. We were left feeling helpless, mistreated with his service, attitude, and inability to deal with the situation. It wasn't until after repeatedly asking "why" did he finally tell us that the hotel was overbooked. Apparently, online check in is useless. We just want our original room and will pay the rate that we booked, but this is too much to ask here. We had to call our son and ask him for help. After numerous calls to get in touch with him and what I'm sure was a very frustrating conversation, the best that he could do was to take $75 off the first night only - that's $100 for a room with no windows and no bed. It is clear that He is incompetent, unable to manage his staff and customers, does not understand basic customer service and hotel management, and cannot deal with situations outside normal/standard business operations. He took advantage of our old age and inability to speak English fluently. This hotel has the potential to be better without this employee. No bed, no window, closet room: We had slept (or didn't/couldn't really) on a sofa bed. The sofa bed is extremely uncomfortable, and at our age, we woke up suffering from back pains. That terrible evening weakened our immune system, and we got so sick that we could not walk downstairs for the only free morning of breakfast that was offered to us. We feel relieved to have returned and to have escaped from the unjust treatment and customer disservice. Unfortunately, we are still physically ill and recovering from the emotional trauma. We recommend that you avoid this property at all costs. There are plenty of other wonderful places in the area to stay.

Hotel was okay but I would normally stay at the Omni and will stay there in the future.

I was at this hotel for a conference. I use these business trips to relax also, and so I ate in the restaurant in the hotel a few times (Trellises). The breakfast staff were excellent and on the ball, but the first time I had dinner, I had a waiter who was clearly unfamiliar with the menu. Aside from rephrasing everything I ordered (which I find intensely annoying), he tried to persuade me to change my mind about which dessert I ordered. I am pregnant and diabetic, so trying to get me to change from poached pears to bananas foster with ice cream was irritating. I was also surprised to find that at least 2 of the waitresses appeared not know the difference between ketchup and hot sauce..... Completely oblivious person at the entrance, chatting up waitresses instead of seating people; constantly trying to get me to order wine and coffee, which I don't do even when I am not pregnant (no means no); using the designation "liquor sales" for diet sprite, resulting in a protracted discussion. As I was charging the meal to my room, and the credit card on file was a federal purchasing card, I could not have liquor on the bill (especially since I didn't have any!). Why changing this item to something allowable took 20 minutes eludes me. Perhaps most annoying were the super-aggressive bellhops. They had apparently been trained to wrench luggage from peoples hand and forcefully give them a tour of the room (Seriously, I don't need to be shown where my toilet is, it wasn't the presidential suite). Aside from myself, I saw them railroad several others, to their consternation. When my driver came to pick me up to take me to the airport, I let him take my bags (I was going to tip him anyway) and he almost got into a fight with the bellhop who literally tried to wrest the bag away from him. He then followed us out to the car and tried to "help" the limo driver, who was not happy about it. Anyway, these were perhaps minor things to look out for if you stay here.

Jacksonville football game makes it impossible to get to the hotel. Staff not helpful trying to navigate around the street closures. First room was not cleaned. The hotel did offer to upgrade me to a water view. go figure? I was there for one night. Restaurant was good. Staff was great. Offered to print my document. Overall after all of the changes, it was great

NICE, especially for $109 per night in downtown. Everyone was super friendly. The service was spectacular. They went above and beyond with great service always offering free cold water when we waited outside for anything. Pool area was great, but the drinks were pretty week and spendy. The manager for the bar was awesome and a great guy who really gave great service. I wont stay anywhere else.

Great

I attended a conference. The room was comfortable but the pillows were not! The hotel staff was, from the moment I arrived until literally when I was walking out the door, so pleasant and warm. I would stay here again if a conference was being held at the Hyatt, but otherwise I might look for something cheaper, with free breakfast and wifi throughout the hotel.

The hotle was great the room was clean and the employees were very pleasant. There was a couple of good bars in the hotel with 2 different atmospheres. The Boardwalk was nice and there was a couple of good places to visit outside the hotel. The could be more things to do Off premises within walking distance. The walk was nice but somethings were closed early etc.

Convenient location to all downtown events and restaurants

Well operated meeting site -- a bit limited in restaurant opportunities. Perhaps, better info about transport from airport could be provided -- better yet, they could operate their own service, rather than have taxi contract.