Hyatt Regency Birmingham

Another step on the Birmingham Cocktail Weekend trail. Like the Mal, they’ve gone to some effort to make the bar less ‘hotel bar’ though the prices don’t really reflect that.
There is a seriously good cocktail menu which I would never have known about. I liked that they had the date each cocktail was invented on the menu, how interesting. Cocktails are around £10 which is more expensive than most bars. I suppose it means there is a chilled out atmosphere suitable for the sort of clientèle they have staying in the hotel.
I liked the décor a lot, lots of sofas and cushions. The cocktail we had was very good though you can definitely get the same quality cheaper elsewhere.
What really made it stand out for me was the way they dealt with my lost purse. I dropped it when I dropped my bag and it fell under my chair without me realising. When I rang back the following morning, they took my name and number and I didn’t really expect to hear back off them, however they did ring back to say they’d found it. It sounds like a little thing but the fact that they took my name and number even though they didn’t know if they had it was very reassuring.
Definitely a good place if you’re staying on the company account!

As Unilocal is about having an authentic experience my visit to see the sales manager is not really the typical visit.
I’m exploring several Birmingham hotels for my blog post. I met with the sales manager yesterday afternoon and we immediately went to look at a «standard» twin and a «standard» double. both offer great views with floor to ceiling windows. These have had a refit and offer desks to work at while you relax in your room and marble bathrooms!
I’m not sure who invented floor to ceiling windows but they need a stern telling off as I’m rather afraid of heights. We shot up in the lift which has a glass window to the 25^th floor!
I knew we were headed to the «Presidential Suite» and I’d deliberately not looked it online. It had a piano in the middle of the room! with a ten seater table. It’s own kitchen for when famous people have their personal chefs make them dinner if Nando’s is be too far.
There’s room for relaxing on the huge corner sofa so you can see if BBC Midlands today or Central News are camped outside your door
There was a walk-​in «hers and hers» wardrobe a large quite regular bed and a massive sunken bath and walk-​in monsoon shower that doubles as a steam room.
We headed down to the gym and spa on the lower level to be greeted by a large pool. It’s all about relaxing down here!
There are lots of conference rooms several for getting married in or just having a private dinner for you and 40 of your poshest friends.
The pub which I’ll be revisiting can be accessed from Broad Street and is more of a bar but its quite charming to call it a pub.
Afternoon tea is available for twenty quid and Champagne afternoon tea for thirty quid.
I’m sure lots of business gets done here and lots of companies will send their best staff to stay here during the week.

I have a high regard for Hyatt Regency hotels but this one missed the mark. The staff is generally affable and service oriented. You can’t please everyone but my stay was slightly below average.
When a group of us checked in, we had confirmed a wake-​up call for the second morning. If that wasn’t possible, the front desk person could have told us to call the next day for a wake-​up call instead of calling us the following morning at 6am. Not cool.
Then I checked into a room with a bathroom reeking the scent of a heavy smoker. I was too tired to care. What really irked me was that the toilet in room 709 doesn’t flush very well. You can press the toilet lever down for more than 10 seconds and when you let go of the lever, there’ll still be toilet paper in the toilet bowl. What kind of a standard four-​starred hotel has this kind of plumbing?

It was my best friends birthday recently and as he is the man who has everything i was struggling to think about what to get him. Then it came to me — he is a man of impeccable taste, a brilliant baker and a lover of tea… id treat him to afternoon tea at a swanky hotel! I’ve been to the Hyatt before as my previous employers have, for the past two years, had their xmas party as afternoon tea there.
I booked through a site called
and put a comment in the notes stating my friends name and that the booking was for his birthday. Booking through this site was easy — they also had a special offer on due to it being their ‘Tea Week promotion’ although this offer was not available via the Hyatt’s own website.
When we arrived we realised that the area in which afternoon tea is normally served was closed due to refurbishment and we were led to the bar area instead. The bar was quiet (we had booked for 12:30 on a Thursday so this was to be expected) and we sat ourselves down in a lovely leather booth however it didn’t have the grandiose atmosphere or surroundings of the usual dining area and this was a real shame.
A waitress came over and took our orders for tea (Earl Grey, Breakfast Blend and (just to be controversial) a cappuccino. These arrived quickly as did our afternoon tea — it was served on the three tier cake stands you would expect with the first tier being sandwiches (i could make out tuna, New York deli, salmon and cream cheese). The sandwiched weren’t finger shaped but were cut into small squares and i did have a sandwich on wholemeal bread which was a little dry. I’m a huge sandwich lover so for me i would have liked more sandwiches (i guess you got 5 or 6 little square sandwiches and i do mean little — one large mouthful and they’d be gone) and less cake but i realise that is against many peoples thoughts!
The second tier were pastries of which you got three each. One was a tiny Madeira cake with crushed pistachios on top. It was OK but, being a Madeira cake aficionado it didnt reach the standards of my own homemade Madeira cake. Next there was a cake which was like many layers of Victoria sponge — this was very nommy. Then some strange yellow concoction on a dark sponge base with a wafer of dark chocolate on it… it was ok but i would’ve expected something nicer to be honest.
The bottom tier were the scones. Two scones, one fruit, one plain, served with clotted cream and a choice of raspberry or strawberry Wilkin & Sons jam (the best, obviously). I did like these scones, very, very nice.
The service was OK — it didn’t wager a tip — i’m a firm believer in tipping when the service goes above what is expected — in this case they obviously hadn’t received my booking as no table had been reserved and they didn’t know my name despite the place being pretty much empty. They also obviously weren’t aware that it was my friends birthday or if they were then they didn’t mention it.
The cost of afternoon tea was £19.95, which is a reasonable price i think for a high quality hotel. I have knocked two stars off though for not being made aware that the usual restaurant area was not available, my booking and special request not being received/​managed and the food not being of the excellent quality expected at The Hyatt.

big hotel in the midst of Birmingham with certain grand style. generally clean, good service and nicely made up rooms. fair pricing.

Hyatt is… as always a good option… of course… service is good. Unfortunately in this one… service in the restaurant is a bit slow. Bar is cool. New stylish and nice drinks.
Rooms are Hyatt standard. Regency club… it definitely does need a refurbishment. The rest… apart from the not so extremely fascinating city, is good.

I have only ever been to he Hyatt Hotel on Broad street once and it was for a family wedding that was completely beautiful and elegant that would make any family and bride highly satisfied. The Hyatt Hotel provided a large hired hall and nearly enough the whole middle floor for all guests of the wedding as well as an open bar and dance floor. The open bar provided for the private guests charged drinks at ridiculous prices, so I suggest that if you’re planning on staying the night at the Hyatt Hotel I would drink a load elsewhere on Broad street before going back. I also wouldn’t recommend meeting u with friends or peers here for a lunch unless you have cash to splash. The well-​designed and chic atmosphere however is I suppose worth the money and the experience of the Hyatt Hotel and would imagine it being a great place to spend a night with a loved one.

One of the most glamorous hotels in Birmingham city; the Hyatt Regency hotel is a definite insight into what it’s like to live a 5 star luxury life.
I’ve never stayed in the hotel, which is such a shame– I’ve constantly tried to hint to my partner that I’d love to go there and stay but he tries to ignore me every-​time I mention it. This will indicate to whoever reads this, that the Hyatt ain’t cheap! It has spectacular views to die for, you can basically see the whole of the city from the top floor, so you know that it’s not going to be any common hotel.
I did however, go and try their afternoon tea because they are known to have one of the best afternoon tea selections. I heard about this, after reading a blog post from a local Birmingham blogger and really wanted to go and try it; so I did.
If you really want to be treated in a superb environment and enjoy a little taste of fabulous; go and try the typically British afternoon tea. It’s served from 12 noon to 5:30 pm, daily and I was shocked at the value for money you get.
In my head, I thought it would like £30 per head for your average afternoon tea at the Hyatt so was pleasantly shocked when it was £19.00 per person.
However, if you’d like a little more luxury then try the £28.00 per person for the Champagne Afternoon Tea or £30.00 for the Rose Champagne Afternoon Tea.

Your typical Hyatt Regency with a great city center location. The common areas are clean and modern and expansive. I’ve stayed here as a guest and also attended meetings and workshops, and have always had a good experience. The front desk staff is perfectly efficient although not always warm and welcoming (although my stay last week proved me wrong as the gentleman who checked me in was very friendly and chatty which I thought was great). Regardless, they do always accommodate early check-​ins and late check-​outs when possible (without making you feel like a total jerk for asking for one). Also has a decent spa (much better than many I’ve experienced at hotel locations in England) which is currently being renovated (which I was surprised about given it seemed very new). The one draw back is the rooms itself– the furniture is pretty tired and there were stains on the carpet in my room. The beds are also not fantastic for this calibre of hotel. Also, you have to pay an additional fee for Internet access which in this day and age (and also at this level of hotel) I find to be pretty ridiculous. However, wall of floor to ceiling windows affords great city views and you can’t beat the price (great last minute deals) for a very convenient and high-​end location.

VIEW: ⁵⁄₅
SERVICE: ⁵⁄₅ (updated service to ⁵⁄₅)
AMENITIES: ⁵⁄₅
TV CHANNELS: ²⁄₅
INTERNET: ²⁄₅
FYI #1: The hotel has a weight scale. I don’t think this is common, so a big plus.
FYI #2: They have the 10x mirror in the bathroom.
FYI #3: They have a cover for the peep hole. I’ve never seen this before, but I really appreciate it!
FYI #4: They have a trouser press.
VIEW: Today is my 2^nd night here. The hotel is beautiful. I am sitting here on the 21^st floor, overlooking the canal. The view is SPECTACULAR (for me on this trip).
SERVICE: I arrived yesterday. I came with 3 bags + purse. There were two concierge outside and they saw me approaching the hotel, but they did not offer to help me. They did not greet me. Nothing. Not cool.
On the way in this afternoon (one concierge different from yesterday) was at the door and he opened the door for the man behind me because he had one small suitcase. He was holding the door open for the man (not me since I didn’t have any luggage)… but if this was the type of service provided for one man with a small rolling suitcase, how could they not greet me? open the door for me? I had bags falling from my hands and had to drag myself through the rotating door. I kept getting stuck in the rotating door because I had so many bags. It was quite frustrating. I’m disappointed that the concierge didn’t help out. However, maybe the concierge yesterday was no good. Today, maybe he was just better. It’s tough with this type of… service business… I guess it’s a ³⁄₅ for the concierge.
I gave the ⁴⁄₅ rating because the housekeepers did a beautiful job of taking care of the room. They changed my bed sheets — it’s very obvious. I left my shoes next to the ottoman, but they placed my shoes closer to the door (with care). I also had my toothbrush and other supplies just laying around in the bathroom, but they tidied the bathroom for me. I really appreciated it. They did a fantastic job with the room. Very pleased.
I believe my luggage/​concierge is probably a one-​off, so I can’t bang this hotel too much for that one experience. Just thought I’d share … but it’s really no different from some other place. Sometimes, it’s just a hit or miss.
AMENITIES: Bathroom is nice. Not the most fancy, but definitely have no complaints. It’s clean and well maintained. No complaints here. Nicer than the average bathroom.
INTERNET: No free internet. For 1 hour, it’s 5 GBP. For 24 hours, it’s 15 GBP. I’m from the States and am used to having free wi-​fi when I’m at a hotel, so it’s not very ideal…
TV CHANNELS: Theres only 20 channels + 5 music channels (total of 25). Again, I’m not sure what the standard is here in the UK, but I’m from the States and am used to having many options (50 channels) with plenty of things to watch. Unfortunately, with the limited choices, there’s not much to watch on tv.
Sooo, if you’re too cheap to pay for internet and can’t find anything on TV, there’s really nothing to do while here.
All in all, nice hotel. I would come back again. I will have to deal with the tv channels and paying for the internet — unfortunately.