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After a couple of flight delays and a drive from San Francisco, I made it to the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country. Let’s just say I’m not impressed with the hotel.

A side from the lobby, the hotel is dated. Although some parts of the hotel were undergoing a renovation. I was clear to maintenance at the hotel was lacking. Housekeeping did not have the support they needed to maintain the interior or exterior of the property. The exterior was well past its prime.

Did I regret staying here?

Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country Review

Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country Location

The Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country is right outside of downtown Santa Rosa, California. Most of downtown is on the other side of CA-101 though. You’ll probably want to drive and park to explore. If wineries are your focus, there are several nearby. Napa is about an hour away by car.

Booking

I detailed this some on the introduction post. I’d like to recap it. The hotel was going for $298 a night for a total of $596 for two nights. Since I was traveling with someone this time, we decided to use cash and split the cost.

The Hyatt Regency Sonoma is a Category 4 hotel. If you have a Category 1-4 free night award, this would be a decent use of the award. If you used points, this would have been a solid redemption. Each night priced at 18,000 World of Hyatt points per night. It comes to a $0.0174 cents per point.

Check-In

We were originally expecting to arrive at around 6PM. Due to a flight delay and baggage delay, we finally arrived at 10PM. The lobby was busy with several couples enjoying a glass of wine. I have to say the lobby was beautiful.

My check-in experience was not pleasant. As I approached the front desk, I was not greeted by the front desk employees. Once I walked up, I stated I was checking in. The agent’s response? “We are full.” When I informed her I already had a reservation, a room was magically available.

A minute later, I was given keys and informed I was assigned a 1 King Bed. I was a bit confused with this room assignment as I was able to secure a suite upgrade to the Sonoma Suite prior to arrival.

When I asked her about this she stated “Oh yeah. We gave that room away”.
Me: “That’s odd. I confirmed my arrival time a couple of hours ago.”
Her: “I don’t know what to tell you. We gave the room away.”

This wasn’t a great way to start off my stay. It’s not so much that I didn’t get a suite upgrade, but rather her lack of empathy.

After getting my keys, there was no explanation of amenities or what comes with the destination fees.

1 King Bed – The Room

I was given room 240 which was a 1 King Beg. This is the standard room at the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country.  

The bathroom was too the right when you first walked into the room. It was spacious and bright. The sink was on the far wall. There was some counter space, but not a ton. The shower was on the outside wall shared with the hallway. Water pressure was excellent. It didn’t take a long time for the water to heat up.

A small closet was on the left when you first walked in. A handful of hangers were provided as was a robe. The luggage rack was located inside of the closet. There was an ironing board, but not iron.

In the main part of the room was the bed, desk, couch and television.

I didn’t like the bed at the Hyatt Regency Sonoma. It was rather soft. The couch looked like it had seen better days. There were indents on both cushions showing were people sat. There were also a few stains on the couch. The desk was a normal writing desk. If you were working from the hotel, you could work easy.

Opposite of the bed was the television and mini bar. There was a place for a fridge, but it had been removed from the room as was coffee and fee. A coffee pot was provided. It was rather useless without the coffee.

There wasn’t a great view from the room. It did overlook the garden where weddings take place.

Dining

Railroad Stop

Breakfast was served in the Railroad Stop. This was the only meal we ate at the hotel. It was free due to my Hyatt Globalist status. This is one benefit of elite status I highly value. If I didn’t have free breakfast, I’m not sure that I would pay for this.

Breakfast is a small buffet with a couple of dishes. It’s nothing like the buffet at the Hyatt Regency Sydney.

There was a ton of bread options including croissants, muffins, and multiple different types of bagels, bread and muffins. Several different types of cereals were provided. A small yogurt bar was included with ten different toppings.

If you wanted some hot options, there were a few dishes. Breakfast staples like scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage links were available. A different hot dish rotated daily. On one day, huevos ranchos were available You also had your choice of sliced meats and fruits.

There was one server working both days of my stay. She was excellent. Our coffee cups were never empty despite the fact people were constantly coming in and out. Every single person was greeted warmly. A stark contrast from the front desk.

Part of the destination fee is getting free coffee from Railroad Stop. We saw a ton of people taking advantage of this during our stay. I thought the décor of Railroad Stop to be nice. It reminded me a bit of my favorite breakfast places in Dallas.

Sonoma Café

Sonoma Café was the lobby bar. They serve small meals and drinks. Any time we walked through the lobby, there were several people sitting at the table near the bar.

Drinks and food were pricy. That didn’t stop us from grabbing a glass of wine and Coke to enjoy by the fire pit.

Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country Amenities

There were a few amenities on site.

Fire Pit

Off the lobby, there was a massive fire pit that could accommodate ten people. We sat out here one night enjoying the fire and weather. We arrive at 7PM and there were already tons of beer bottles and empty wine glasses sitting around the fire pit. We moved a couple around, so we had a clean space to sit.

We sat out there for two hours and nothing was cleaned up. The next morning, we went out to the fire pit and the same bottles were there. It was clear nothing had been cleaned overnight.

Pool

The hotel had a small pool. This would be a perfect space for a family. Tons of seating and umbrellas were available. Luckily, it didn’t seem like they were all claimed. If you wanted to come later in the day, you would be able to find seating.

Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country 1 King Bed Bottom Line

I should have listened to the reviews and not stayed here.  Overall, my rooms were clean. More focus needs to be done on cleanliness of the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country public spaces and staff needs retraining.

A couple days after checkout, I received a survey link where I outlined the complaints and compliment in this review. I never received a response. That shows me that management does not care what visitors say.

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These opinions in this article are the author’s not those of a bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.