Hotel Review: Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa on Del Monte Golf Course

I had to burn a Hyatt Free Night Award which was just about to expire at the end of the week. Business brought me to the vicinity anyway and so I decided to stay at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Spa in Monterey.

Monterey is situated along the famous Highway 1, also called Pacific Coast Highway. The highway itself is already worth a drive and Monterey is worth putting an overnight stay in. There are other hotels in town, some also directly at the waterfront, but as I said I had to burn the free night award before it expired.

I arrived late and it was already dark outside which stopped me from even enjoying the beautiful drive along Highway 1. There is a big Hyatt sign at the bottom of the driveway before you pull up. Because it was dark I had to drive up slowly to see where the actual Hotel Lobby and Registration is. This hotel has multiple buildings, some of them are connected and some are on either side of the driveway. I followed the signs for registration and pulled straight up to the lobby. They have complimentary valet parking here. It’s not really complimentary because it is included in the resort fee which also includes regular parking.

The valet greeted me and I let him know that I will be checking in. He wasn’t even asking for the keys to move the car as he knows that I will be back soon. I went up the few stairs and straight to the front desk inside to the left.

Check-In

Checking in was no problem and I was the second one in line. The staff was quick and efficient with checking in the people and giving them a quick overview of the property. During my reservation, I was asking for a balcony room with a pool view. From all the listed options on the hotel website, this one seemed to be the best choice. Of course, besides the President Villa which comes with its own pool. It’s worth it to be a top-tier elite with a hotel, you have some more “leverage” if it comes to upgrades and better views.

I grabbed my room keys and the bottle of water I got offered during check-in and headed back outside to my car. The provided map to find my building was helpful but because of the darkness, it made it still a bit hard. It helped me more to follow the posted signs for the individual buildings rather than using the map. My room was located in Building 15 which is located off to the left of Old Golfcourse Rd. Building 15 doesn’t have an elevator only stairs. The closest elevator to use is in Building 14 and this one is connected on every level to Building 15.

King Room with Balcony and Pool View (Room 1581)

I think the pool view rooms are the best rooms you can get. Except you are a major golf fan and like to stalk the golf players from your room. Other rooms mainly just get a view of the hotel parking lot. It can get loud if you have your sliding door to the balcony open and people are loud around the pool area. If you close the door, you won’t be disturbed by the noise. However, you probably would like to have the door open to get fresh air in your room and to cool it down. The wall unit is only a heating control and no A/C. There was a portable A/C unit sitting in my room next to the window by the door. I only had the A/C running for maybe a day (10 hours) and after that half of the room’s carpet was wet. Right around the A/C unit. I turned it off and never used it again. I decided to go with open doors.

The balcony is super small and barely has enough space to fit the two chairs and a mini table. Compared to the balcony the room itself was spacious and has a lot of space. to the left, after entering the room, is the bathroom with a doorless shower. The other side of the bathroom features a big lit mirror and the sink including towel holders. The bathroom is big enough without taking too much space away from the actual room.

The closet is to the right after entering the room and has sliding doors. Inside you find the paperwork and bag for dry-cleaning service.

Once you walk down a bit further around a small corner you are in the actual room. The King bed is on the left side of the room with nightstands on both sides. Right across from the bed was the TV and below it was a closet desk combination going all the way along the wall. The far right end of the room has a dress-up mirror.

Besides that, there was another chair next to the window and a lamp stand.

Public Areas

The hotel has quite a lot of public places. There is a beautiful lobby with the amazing Fireplace Lounge. More about this one later. The Del Monte Golf Course is behind the lobby and you have straight access to it. To the right of the lobby, building is the Spyglass Pool and Spyglass Gaming Area. The games include ping pong tables, connect four, bean bag toss, and board games for lobby or in-room use. The usage of all this is as well included in the resort fee.

On the way from the Spyglass Pool to the backside of the lobby, you can pass through the Gazebo. It has a fire pit which gets turned on every night and good views of the golf course.

The Garden Terrace Pool is located between Buildings 12, 14, 15, 24, 25, and 26. This was the pool my room was facing. The pool area is nice and there is a nice path between the buildings and the conference center.

Even tho I didn’t use it but the Stay Fit – Fitness Center was located in my Building, Building number 15, on the first floor with a view of the pool area. The fitness center is big and has all kinds of workout equipment.

On the other side of Building 14 and 15 is the Racquet Club. Racquet Club features six tennis courts. Tennis Courts will stay closed for remodeling until September 3, 2017.

I got lucky with the room I got put in. Pretty much everything is around this building. The Marylin Monroe Spa is right next to my building and just a few steps away.

The Business Center is located adjacent to The Market. There are two PCs you can use for free (the fee is included in the resort fee). However, the printer was not working and there was a sign that you can have stuff printed at the front desk. This seems to be the new trend for business centers in hotels that the printer is not working or out of ink and the hotel doesn’t really care about it.

Dining

There are three major dining places on-site. These three don’t include the room service option or the Market which is only open in the morning for a quick bite to go.

TusCA Ristorante

This is the best place if you are really hungry and are looking for a good meal for lunch or dinner. Unfortunately, the restaurant is not open for dinner every day. However, it is open for breakfast every day. The TusCA Breakfast Buffet is amazing which should be for $24,95 + tax. They have a huge selection of breakfast items including prepared-to-order omelets. I had dinner there the first night and went with the New York Steak. It was delicious and it was actually cooked to order and not overcooked as you get it in many places. The best perk here is that you get the breakfast for free as a World of Hyatt Globalist. They used to have a Regency Club but they closed it down a few years back. This was something I missed for sure.

Knuckles Sports Bar

No wonder this place got voted Number One sports bar on the Monterey Peninsula for 14 years in a row. A very relaxing and family-friendly atmosphere. 24″ HD televisions all the way around to never miss a game. You can even shoot a game of pool in this bar. The best is probably the complimentary popcorn.

Fireplace Lounge & Patio

This is the perfect spot to hang out with friends for a drink. Besides the large fireplace in the center of the lounge, they also have an outdoor patio. Food-wise they serve a light fare here and it’s more a place to hang out and enjoy a drink. Friday and Saturday nights the lounge has Jazz playing. This makes it the perfect spot to hang out.

The Market is open in the morning starting at 6 a.m. and they offer quick bites to go or to enjoy in the fireplace lounge. Perfect if you have an early morning meeting and not enough time for a full breakfast.

In-Room dining is available every day until 10 p.m. and the menu can be found on your TV in your room.

Conclusion

This hotel is a great choice for a coastal getaway and definitely for every golfer, especially if you plan to use the Del Monte Golf Course. I was a little bit disappointed that they don’t have a Regency Club anymore. Also depending on the building, you stay in, the walks to the lobby and restaurants can be quite long. A big no-no is the Resort Fee. This is just a way for the hotel to make the actual room rate look cheaper than it really is. It’s nothing else and makes no sense. But that’s the topic for a different story. The other negative point is the mentioned A/C unit in the room. Of course, it’s better than having no A/C at all but how about upgrading to a real air conditioning system that doesn’t wet half of the room. Besides that, I can’t complain at all. The staff was always super friendly and courteous.