Hyatt Place Jacksonville Airport, Jacksonville, Florida
Hotel - The hotel is nicely kept and the lobby design is a bit different from most hotels I've stayed in. The lobby was very clean and nicely decorated. The front desk was rather small compared to other hotels and blended in with the Market Place where they sell food-stuffs and drinks. I had no problem checking in and the clerk was very friendly and efficient in her job. The grounds are nicely kept and due to the design of the entrance way; there are no close parking to the front door and if you arrive later in the evening everybody has occupied the few spaces that are available. The pool is rather shallow and only goes up to 5ft as well as on the small size so if your family loves the pool you may be a bit disappointed. The gym is small as in most hotels but they do have a few free weights to push around. Two computers at the business center, which is out in the main lobby so you may not want to do any very personal business such as checking bank accounts.
Staff - The staff (cleaning ladies, front desk clerk, breakfast clerk) are very friendly and helpful. Each day they wished me a good morning or evening with a smile.
Breakfast Kitchen - They really didn't have a large variety of breakfast items to choose from. they had small egg, ham, cheese type bagel for both days for hot food. They served the usual oatmeal, boxed cereals, milk (2% & skim), and orange/apple juices in plastic pitchers. To keep them 'cold' they where sitting on an ice cold surface. Unfortunately this only cooled the bottom of the container. I like my juices refrigerator cold and the drinks here where cool at best; they could do better keeping the beverages colder. They did have donuts/Danishes but donuts for breakfast? I did see people helping themselves but maybe I'm a bit too health conscious... They also had fruits.
Room - Ahhh now what makes a hotel a hotel! To me, the room is the 'make' 'break' of a hotel no matter what amenities they provide! The room was gorgeous! I loved the layout; I had a 2 queen bedroom. The room was divided between the beds and the 'living' area, which had a chair, work desk, couch with pull out mattress. The TV was a 42in flat screen that can be swiveled between the beds and living room. They also had HD channels and a sweet media hook-up panel that supports HDMI, USB, 15pin (VGA), audio cables and much, much more. You can connect your laptop to stream movies from Crackle or Hulu+ or other websites. If you have kids and if they bring the xBox, PlayStation and other gaming consoles; they can be hooked up as well. The sink is outside of the shower/toilet area and the bathroom had a very important feature; an exhaust fan! I can't believe some of the hotels I've stayed in didn't have this very necessary feature. Who wants to walk into a bathroom where another member of the family/party has just deposited some solids and the ummmmm.......smell......can't be exhausted out? The room was very clean and orderly; the only thing I couldn't find was a TV guide so I had to play around with the remote to find out where my favorite channels are located.
Area - The hotel is in a nice area with many restaurants to choose from and is located within a three mile radius. There a HUGE shopping center not even a half a mile down the street! The hotel is extremely close to the airport and situated slightly north of the downtown Jacksonville city.
Finding - The hotel was very easy to find and wasn't hidden off the beaten path. I used my cell phone and Google Maps, which took me directly to the front door and also had a photo of the entrance when I arrived. This was particularly helpful since I arrived just before midnight.