This travel tribe doesn’t take lightly to picking out hotels, and it took us some time to settle on the Hyatt Regency Savannah. We know what it is we need, and at this stage in our travel game, we know after a long day driving, it’s two separate rooms for ourselves and our children, whether it be in the form of two connecting rooms or a suite with a separate bedroom. (If that’s not possible, check here for some tips on sharing a hotel room with your little people.)

So, when we’re booking our hotel stops for our road trips up and down the Eastern Coast of the US, we can be particular. We need the right distance. We need the right type of suite (because we need a literal doorway to shut between our children and ourselves). We need to know there are connecting rooms (because I cannot let my little people sleep in a room by themselves: they’re all six and younger–that’s crazy!). So, we were anticipating the Hyatt Regency Savannah would fit the bill. (Can you see yet where this review is going? If not, let me continue to take you there.)

Literally every single time we head down 95, we stop for a night in Savannah, GA. It is a beautiful, sweet, manageable city. So, this latest trip was no exception. This time, though, I was a bit more specific about where it is I wanted to stay in the city…and it was on the water. Last time we stayed across the river at the Weston (lovely lovely), but I wanted to be able to walk out of the front door and onto the streets of Savannah. This is where the Hyatt Regency fit so perfectly into my plans.

It is situated so ideally, views of the water on one side, views of the city on the other. There was no losing, no matter which way a room faced. And, most importantly, they had connecting rooms available. Perfect, perfect, perfect. When we made the reservation, we entered our request for connecting rooms. We weren’t too worried about the fact that the connecting rooms weren’t guaranteed, because, like all “requests” (for a crib, a refrigerator, a room with a tub, a first floor, a “not by the elevator,” etc.) no hotel will ever guarantee. And after hundreds of hotel stays, we’ve never had an issue with these things they don’t guarantee, because they have always been kind enough to manage them, and we have always been determined enough to keep checking in with them.

So, it was no surprise to us that when we pulled into the sunny-skied Savannah at 1:30 pm, our connecting rooms were still being cleaned and they’d have them available a bit later in the day. Since it was so early in the day, we hadn’t expected our rooms to be ready anyway, so we had no qualms; we were just happy to know we had connecting rooms to come back to (we still get nervous that we won’t get what we need, but, as I said, we always have). Content that the evening would go smoothly, we gathered the few things we needed, left our bags with the bellmen, and headed out to explore the city, knowing we’d eventually get a call when our city-view connecting rooms were ready.

And at 4 pm we got that call. Since we were close to the hotel and all looking to take a break from the sun before we went out to dinner, we wandered back, grabbed our keys, and drug ourselves to our rooms.

That’s when we discovered that our rooms didn’t connect. In its place was a random doorknob. Attached to the wall. Just the wall. Not a door. And not even like a cute “here’s somewhere trendy to hand your coat” kind of thing. It was a doorknob. Doorknob height. In the middle of the wall. In each of our now “river view” rooms. Peculiar: both the door knob and the view.

Needless to say, now three hours after our original check in, the sold out hotel was starting to fill up with guests, so finding us connecting rooms at this point was impossible. We were offered the hospitality suite instead. But it was just a large room with two couches…not really workable for a family of five; in fact, it seemed quite like they didn’t understand what the needs of a family would be or why those needs exist. We were asked by management to explain why we really needed two connecting rooms. And my husband patiently painted the picture for the manager.

Then, with a shrug of the shoulders, that was it. It was over. There we were with two rooms, one of which we couldn’t use because we weren’t going to let our little people sleep alone in their own room with a hallway of strangers between us.

Don’t get me wrong, we would’ve been upset if we hadn’t gotten connecting rooms. Disappointed. A bit bitter even. But not angry. But this brought out anger. And here’s why: it was clear that along the way somewhere, we were not told the truth. First of all, when we originally checked in, we were told that if we didn’t want to wait for connecting rooms, they had rooms available at that time. Why make us wait three hours to give us rooms that were already available? Second, when we originally checked in, the attendant told us that the two rooms they were having cleaned for us were city-view rooms (we didn’t care either way), but we were put into river-view rooms. That just led us to believe that those two connected rooms were given away.

Rather than just saying we made a mistake and gave the rooms away to someone who came after you and asked for them, we were told that our original attendant didn’t know those rooms weren’t connected. And I just can’t whole-heartedly buy that. Somewhere, someone dropped the ball. I’m sure they thought our request for connecting rooms was some “we want to be near our friends” type of request, not an “I can’t leave my young children to fend for themselves” request, so they offered it to someone else to avoid an argument earlier in the day. In the end, I wanted someone to take responsibility, even if they couldn’t rectify the situation. I don’t feel that ever happened.

This general lack of customer service, compiled with the front desk’s clear lack of knowledge on how families travel or how a traveler’s needs change when children are involved, lead me to place this hotel low on the scale. I’d like to say that it was a bad blip on a busy day for them, but a string of failings on the part of the front desk has me believing it is less a one-time occurrence and more of a way of operating. Read below to see what other stumbles we found (and also some of those attributes that keep it floating).

Pros

• Location: As mentioned, the hotel is positioned perfectly in the center of town, next to the golden dome of City Hall. In front of the hotel, the city squares stretch out, and River Street and the Savannah River are easily accessed through the hotel’s back door.

• Ambiance: The hotel is decorated in cool shades, a welcome relief from the sun and heat outside. The large lobby is surrounded by windows, allowing natural light to fill the space, which is furnished with interesting chairs positioned gathered in intimate spaces. While it may not seem that such sophisticated decor fits with a child’s needs, the chairs pique any little person’s interest (or big person’s). There are unusual shapes, unexpected curves, birdcage-like covers. So, while certainly not a playground, it is a place for the imagination. Oh, and there is a glass elevator, which my littles affectionately called the Wonkavator.
• Views: The magnificence of the hotel’s views warrant me bringing them up again. Not only for their beauty, but for their ability to entertain travel-weary children. My little people spent a good deal of their time in the rooms looking out of those windows at the boats and ships making their way up the river and and people and animals meandering along down the street below.

• Concierge Services: Where the front desk lacked, the concierge was beyond wonderful. First of all, he listened to my, very broad, very general needs for my somewhat distracted and falling apart family and found us some perfect-fit activities. After deciding on something, he even took the time to point out where some public bathrooms and playgrounds were, so we could remain accident-free and still burn off some road-trip energy.
• Amenities: The crib arrived to our room quickly, which normally can be a hit or a miss on each hotel stay. In fact, a second crib arrived because the first crib was sent to the other room–the one we weren’t going to be using–but we didn’t know it. It was refreshingly fast, like faster than we usually get them when we stay on a Disney property fast. And, unlike most hotels, this hotel provided amenities for the tiniest one in our tribe. In his crib was a baby shampoo, body wash, lotion, and powder. So, while the people at the front desk may not be able to anticipate a family’s needs on the fly, there is an attempt made to make the little people comfortable and acknowledge them.

Cons

• The Front Desk: I’ve made my beef here known, so there’s no need to dwell on that which has been said. But, please, allow me to say more. When we first checked in, which took awhile because, you know, the checks on connecting rooms and all that jazz, I went in search of the concierge. But it was just an empty chair. I waited. Then I waited with three littles crawling all over me and the chairs. Then I waited. Then I asked and was told by the woman checking us in that he’d be right there. So I waited. And waited. And I fought my little people away from the pamphlets they were trying to destroy. Then I asked again. And was told by the same woman he was on his way. So I waited…(again, I bet you know how this ends). Anyway, I went to the bellmen and he went to find him and Voila, the concierge was there in about 40 seconds.
• The Bar: Now I’m putting the bar here, but I think what I really mean by “the bar” is “the front desk.” We came back from my husband’s birthday dinner, fully intending on sitting on the hotel balcony overlooking the river while we had a drink and the littles got a chance to stretch their legs a bit. Except when we came back, the bar was closed for a private event. And in its place was a dismal little set up in the hotel coffee shop/food to go area. This information is sort of important to people who are planning their nights, especially to those who are celebrating a birthday. It’s so important that it probably should have been conveyed at check in, so other arrangements could be made to have a relaxing birthday.

• The Hallway: I know that it’s a fairly common hotel layout to have all the rooms face inward with a half wall overlooking a large central atrium. This hotel followed suit. Now, while I thought it was great from the lobby floor, I didn’t really feel that way once we hit the top floor. As the mother of a tiny traveler who likes to crawl up things and has a knack for shimmying his way up a slick, vertical surface, this half wall overlooking a seven floor drop is scary as all get out. And yes, I do keep my eye on him, but he’s a runner and all it could take is one hot second. So this structure scares me.
• The Noise: While having an open atrium scares me, the other thing it does is keep me awake at night. Remember that “event” I mentioned earlier? Well, sometime after 9 pm that event opened up its doors and people came spilling out into the giant, echoing lobby below. The bar was too small to contain everyone who was milling about, chatting and drinking, so they were everywhere down there. And their voices echoes throughout the hotel. For a grown up, this noise is little more than a temporary nuisance, but for a little person who’s all amped up on the Spanish moss of Savannah? It is like torture.

• The Rooms: The rooms were lovely to look at, but a bit less lovely to live in. The five of us squeezed into a room with two double beds and a crib; the crib was literally wedged between the wall and the edge of the bed. I don’t need giant when it comes to a room, but a bit of breathing and moving space is appreciated, especially by little people who want nothing more than to wiggle and parents who just want that wiggling to occur in an area that doesn’t include bumping into each other or them. Additionally, the rooms had showers rather than tubs. There was room enough for tubs, but they didn’t exist. I can’t say for certain if this is the case in every room, but it certainly was in our two rooms. Have you ever tried to force a two year old into a shower when he didn’t want to be in said shower? It ain’t pretty.

There is no dearth of hotel rooms in Savannah, GA. You can find all sizes and price points, all locations and views. We chose the Hyatt Regency for this stay, and, given the number of other options available to us, it may not have been the best choice we could have made. While the hotel itself it well-situated and well-appointed, the general lack of understanding, let alone anticipating, the unique needs of families traveling with young children, leads me to believe this hotel is best visited when those children are grown because when traveling with little people, it takes more than beautiful views to be the best.

 

Note: Hotels are based on a four level scale: Child Centered, Child Friendly, Child Accommodating, Unsuitable. A Child Centered hotel is a hotel in which the child’s comfort, happiness, etc. is paramount. A Child Friendly hotel has those implements in place to create a fun atmosphere for the child, though it is not the apparent mission of the hotel to continuously do so. A Child Accommodating hotel is that hotel where it will assist the parents in making the child comfortable at the parent’s request only. An Unsuitable hotel is a hotel that has no accommodations suitable for a child or the cons of the hotel make the hotel dangerous for the well-being of the child.