Hyatt Place Sacramento/Rancho Cordova

Booking & Stay Details

I had a few reasons to stay here at the Hyatt. First and foremost, I am a huge Hyatt fan. Hyatt is absolutely amazing. I had previously stayed at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott across the street and now it was time to try a new hotel and see which one is better. This would also be a week-long stay and I wanted to earn some extra nights to get the Hyatt Milestone rewards even after qualifying for Globalist already this year. Another benefit of Hyatt is the partnership with American Airlines. Stays at Hyatt will earn you now Loyalty Points which can get you status with American Airlines. 

I booked the Hyatt Place Sacramento/Rancho Cordova through the Hyatt app, after I checked out of The Exchange in Sacramento.

Location

The Hyatt Place Sacramento/Rancho Cordova is located within the city limits of Rancho Cordova. It is next to U.S Route 50 which takes you to Folsom and Lake Tahoe if you continue your drive. The location itself is nothing special. People stay here because they work in the area or visit friends and family here. This hotel is also a cheaper option compared to the more expensive hotels in downtown Sacramento. The Zinfandel light rail station for the gold line is located across US 50 along Folsom Boulevard. It’s not too far to walk and gives you a great and uncomplicated way to get to Downtown Sacramento as well as other areas. Close to the Hyatt Place Sacramento/Rancho Cordova is the Sacramento Childrens Museum.

As I found out later, this hotel is also the place where all the National Guard service members stay while stationed at Mather Field, which is just a few minutes away.

Parking

Parking at the Hyatt Place Rancho Cordova is complimentary. No parking tag or registration of your vehicle is required. Plenty of parking spaces are available all around the hotel building. I felt safe leaving my car parked here overnight and wasn’t concerned about a break-in.

Update 2023-07-25

For whatever reason, the hotel management decided to introduce a parking fee and even went with a very high-tech system. There is now a $10/night charge for parking on site. Globalists, Explorists and Discoverists members of World of Hyatt are excluded from the charge. During check-in you have to scan a QR code, and the hotel will provide you with a code you have to enter for free parking. Otherwise, you will get charged for parking. The hotel has a new paint scheme on the exterior of the building, but nothing else has changed. The rooms are still the same, as well as all of the other benefits. It is ridicules to charge for parking in this area. You are in no downtown area or near a beach or anything else where it would make sense. No hotel in the immediate vicinity charges for parking, like the Fairfield Inn across the street. I don’t know if this money pays for the paint job or if it’s to collect funds to renovate the interior of the hotel or just overall a money grab. Either way, there shouldn’t be a parking charge and it is also not announced during the booking process that the hotel is now charging for parking. I have been coming here regularly for a few years now and this is just not acceptable. I am lucky enough to get my parking comped, but I don’t think it is fair for anyone else. 

Shuttle Service

The Hyatt Place Rancho Cordova does have a shuttle service, but it is extremely limited. First, it will only take you to places within about a 5-mile radius of the hotel. It won’t go to Sacramento International Airport, but you can take it to Mather Field. Mather Field is a small airport but with no scheduled passenger service from any of the airlines. Besides the distance limit, there is also a good chance that they don’t even have a driver available to take you anywhere. It doesn’t matter if it’s the weekend or during the week. The hotel might not have the staff available to drive you and you are at their mercy. Which is bad, as you can’t plan your stay or rely on that form of transportation to get around.

Check-In

Check-in was quick and easy as usual. I showed my ID and credit card and received my room keys in return. The agent gave me a quick overview of the hotel’s amenities including breakfast hours. I also received two cold bottles of water as a welcome amenity. The bottles were amazing after spending a lot of time outside walking in the heat before heading to the hotel. 

1 King Bed Room (Room 502)

As you enter the room you enter right into the living room area. To your left is a work desk with a chair as well as a small kitchenette. The kitchenette area comes with a small sink, microwave, and refrigerator. On the other side of the living area, you have a large L-shaped sofa. It’s big enough to sleep another person. 

The living room area and bedroom area are separated by a divider on the right side of the room and a wall closet on the left. The area between the two spaces is where you have your in-room TV. The TV can be rotated to be either viewed from the bed or the sofa.

Next to the wall closet, you have the vanity with a single sink and a large wall-mounted mirror. A few drawers offer extra storage space. The bathroom and shower are separated by a door from the rest of the room. The door itself comes with a large dressing mirror but when opened also blocks the little walking space to get to the far side of the bed.

The sleeping area features a king-sized bed. A shelf mounted to the headboard on either side of the bed acts as a nightstand. There is also a light mounted to the headboard on either side of the bed. 

The air conditioning unit is found underneath the windows which gives you a view of the back parking lot. The remote control for the air conditioner is mounted on the wall next to the main room door. 

I had to do laundry and checked if the hotel offers a dry-cleaning service. There was a bag hanging in the closet but no paper slip to fill out to go with the bag. I went downstairs to inquire about the paper form. The agent on duty gave me a form and I didn’t look at it until the next day when I found out that the form was for something else. There was no spot where you would put your name or room number. There was just a blank space to fill in the name of the hotel. I talked to an agent the next morning and she was one of the managers. She gave me the right forms and I was able to drop off my dry-cleaning right away.

Public Areas & Amenities

Lobby

The lobby mainly consists of seating for breakfast. It’s available all day long but most of the time people are just occupying that space during breakfast hours. It’s also great to meet up with the rest of your party while staying here or maybe have a collective dinner in the lobby while having food delivered or picked up from a restaurant nearby.

Business Center

The business center is located down the main hallway going towards the pool. It’s a small area with a desk that comes with a single workstation and a printer. I wonder anyway who still uses business centers nowadays.

Pool

The Hyatt Place Sacramento/Rancho Cordova comes with an outside pool area. To enter it, you need your room key. The pool area is nothing special. It comes with a decently sized pool but no whirlpool. There are a few chaise loungers with umbrellas spread out around the pool area.

Fitness Center

The fitness center is located behind the front desk and can be accessed from the hallway which leads out to the back of the hotel to the parking lot. It is a relatively small fitness center but still has a suitable choice of equipment for a workout.

Dining

Breakfast

Like all Hyatt Places, you also get a complimentary breakfast buffet here. Unfortunately, the food choice is not that good. You get some basics like scrambled eggs, cereals, toast, and yogurt. The eggs are not that good, the cereal selection is very limited, and the hotel ran out of the most used cereals like cornflakes. The breakfast could be improved a little bit and offer at least a consistent selection. I know, it is tough right now with all the supply chain and staffing issues but still…

Seating is a bit limited too in the dining area. Some of the tables are low and not even a real dining table. I found the best spot to sit is at the bar or at the sitting area on the far side of the lobby.

Bar/Restaurant

The bar next to the breakfast area also serves as the on-site restaurant. The menu was nothing special and I was ordering food to be delivered or went to a restaurant. There are tasty food places within a very short distance. However, if you are in a bind or just not mobile. You can get some food on-site as well. Looks like the bar was staffed by the same person running the front desk. In your room, you have a QR code you can scan as well to order food from the restaurant and pick it up to enjoy it in your room. 

Market

Next to the front desk is a small marketplace where you can get snacks and beverages to go. The choices weren’t very broad, and they ran out of a couple of items during my stay of only a few days.

Conclusion

Well, it was an uneventful stay at another Hyatt Place property. Everything was as expected from earlier stays at other Hyatt Places. If you need a hotel in the area, this might be a practical choice for you, especially if you value Hyatt a lot. Every now and then there were some Wi-Fi issues where it seemed like the connection got dropped for a split second. Barely noticeable while browsing the web but for sure when you are trying to play games online.