Hyatt Regency Princeton

Let’s see… I was excited to stay at this hotel, that was before I got here. Recently, there has been a dip in temperatures in the North East and apparently, the Hyatt does not want to turn the heat on in it’s atrium. It was so cold I couldn’t work at one of the tables. I had to go back to my room and turn up the heat. Servers were even complaining. In addition, the afternoon we arrived the atrium smelled of a strong cleaner. It was very acoustic and unappealing. Speaking of which, let’s talk about finding the hotel in the dark when you are not from the area. None of their signage is lit. Overall, the atrium seems nice, except for the fact that I think they spent all of their remodeling dollars on the carpet, which they shampooed twice while I was here for three nights leaving my eyes burning with cleaning smell as I walked through the space, and they spent a lot of money on rocks and waterfalls. Apparently, they ran out of money to spend on the greenery. There are spots for it, but they are empty. It is quite bleak. So, I paid extra for an inside balcony room rather than an outdoor balcony room in anticipation of the cold snap and found out after arriving that I could not order a roll away for one of my daughters to sleep on. I was told it was a fire hazard and that the room was not big enough. In addition, I went to get some water from the convenience store which was closed by 8pm. Consequently, I tried to get water out of the machines, which were, of course, out of order. And the internet… don’t go there. Ugh! A mess! This has the potential to be a nice hotel, but it is apparently being mismanaged. The food prices rival the price of food in New York City hotels, but without the quality and taste. Sigh, and finally, I swear the sheets are part polyester. I should have stayed at the Westin. A mistake I won’t make again.

Very friendly staff, super clean, good sized room, nice pool. Food was overpriced– we opted not to get the breakfast buffet but broke down for a late night snack– but what hotel has cheap food, anyway? Plus they gave us a couple free drinks. We picked this hotel for its price and proximity to Princeton– close enough for us car-​less people, but still in our price rage– and it worked out perfectly. I definitely recommend it.

Hotel is clean and inviting, very nice indoor pool. Welcoming staff. The only thing we did not like was late check out cost 50% daily rate. Many hotels give it for free.

I rarely reviewed hotels but this hotel was really nice. I enjoyed a dinner at the Artisan Kitchen. Room was comfortable.

Stayed at this hotel to attend a conference that was being held here.
The hotel was very clean, rooms nicely renovated, and the staff was very friendly and attentive. Also enjoyed the large indoor pool.

The rooms were clean and they look like they have been recently renovated. The staff were friendly. Great stay.

The price was excellent. The hotel, not so much. It was no where near what a Hyatt should be.
As other reviewers have posted, it is very dated. When I went outside by the pool, all of the woodwork had peeled varnish. it clearly hadn’t been maintained in years and was just sloppy. And I admit I wasn’t paying much attention when I put my name and hotel room in for wifi access, but they don’t make the $ 15 dollar a day charge obvious. And $ 15 a day for wifi? That’s a dated as the décor.
We went to the bar where they had a $ 9 a pitcher sangria special and ordered sangria. We were served three glasses, less than a pitcher for $ 22. We had to specifically say the word ‘pitcher’.
All in all, this is a mid tier hotel at best.

Overall, I really loved my stay at the hotel. In the past, I had been underwhelmed after staying at the hotel prior to/​during the renovation. But after my most recent stay I would say the renovation was a great success!
The staff here are all very friendly and great! They were very professional yet friendly in their speech and were very accommodating to all of my requests and needs during my stay!
The highlight of the hotel was the awesome renovated spaces in common area and lobby! The beautifully designed and spacious open-​space lobby (with free wifi) was my favorite part of the stay– reception isn’t great in the rooms and wifi in the room is not free ($ 15/​day) but this did not bother me much as it gave me a good reason to enjoy the lobby while using the Internet connection there!
The rooms are clean and seem to be kept up well. The room décor is simple yet elegant– exceeds my expectations and better than most other similarly-​priced hotels located in the area (I have stayed at a few others during my frequent visits to the Princeton area). The bathroom is also very clean and nicely designed (with strong shower!).
My only complaint (hence minus 1 star) about the room is the bed sheets. The white sheets were clean but seemed pretty old; I say this because 1) the bed sheets were off-​white rather than the crisp white color that you get with newer white bedding. And 2) the elastic band for the bed sheet was very loose (almost non existent) and kept coming off the mattress! But other than that, everything was great and I would certainly return to this hotel next time I visit Princeton (and the next time after that again! :))

Nice rooms and staff. This is a great place for group rates. I was surprised to see so many group ushering through. During our stay we watched a prom, black awards and Princeton alums marching through the building. The restaurant was staffed with nice people and the rooms were cleaned. Even the cleaning crew took personal responsibility to making us happy. The cleaning staff was more than happy to come to our room for a touch up. This hotel is better than the others in the area.

HORRIBLE Customer Relations experience here! We booked two (non-​refundable) rooms online and arrived after midnight. Though we had a receipt, clearly showing the purchase of both rooms for two nights they said it was not in their system, therefore they could not do anything for us. Customer service for the online booking was already closed so we were forced to pay AGAIN for the same room. The manager, Raj also shouted at us that it was not his problem and that he was unwilling to do anything in front of a crowded lobby. Absolutely appalled and will be sure to never stay here again and make sure others do not as well!

Great food, affordable. Clean rooms. Great staff. I am a frequent Hyatt person, diamond member, and can say this is one of the best I’ve stayed at.

Very friendly staff, nice rooms. Excellent lunch and dinner but avoid fruit for breakfast. Although its not very upscale nice hotel overall

OK, one of these two stars is for the friendly front desk people. The other is for the Koi Pond. Other than that, this place is not worthy of the Hyatt name. When I think Hyatt, I think upscale nice hotel. What we found was a drab hotel in an office park. Worse than that, we found a previous guest’s dirty laundry in the closet! Now the staff was apologetic and took care of this quickly, but there is no coming back from that.
The pool was closed for renovations as was half of the hallway where our room was. It was weirdly hard to find and just not what you expect from a Hyatt. Sorry, I won’t be going back here.

I like the convenience of the Hyatt Regency to the university. We had two full (queen?) size beds. I found the décor of the room and hotel overall to be a bit dated; I think it is in need of renovation. The carpets look worn with stains. We had a first floor room with a high ceiling, but my son noticed some cobwebs in the corner. Our room felt a bit grubby. The tub did not drain properly so the water collected around our feet as we showered. AC was loud. Hotel lacks a fresh feel and smell. In my week of staying at other hotels, this was the first time I had to pay for wifi. TV lacked HD channels. Check-​in/​out was efficient and professional.

Event venue review: two and a half stars. Their phone customer service far exceeds their in-​person performance, if you’re willing to wait for a call back from someone actually competent. On-​site event coordinators were a bit rude. The layout is awkward, but the ballroom is spacious. Décor is nice and everything was clean, if a tad outdated and rocking the vibe of indoor motel. Center lobby is comfily geared as an airy structure focused around a koi pond at the base of a fountain. LCD screens near the entrance counter showing the day’s events via slideshow. Inexperienced servers were not prepared to work a 300-​person event; didn’t know how to smoothly transition bars or how to be aware for table service.

Do you like labyrinths? Then you’ll love the layout of this hotel. Try to find a meeting room, a restroom, your room in general… good luck. Feng shui is not an accepted concept here.
How about internet? Do you still use AOL and pay for 30 hours/​month? Then you’ll love this. If you happen to think the internet is a pretty common thing, then you’ll hate having to pay $ 10/​day for the equivalent of 28.8kbps internet, or $ 20/​day for anything even resembling modern internet sufficient to write something as simple and bandwidth-​not-​intensive as a Unilocal review. I cannot comprehend how baloney hotels like Days Inn and Best Western can provide free internet, whereas «nice» hotels like the Hyatt Princeton can justify charging this much, on top of overpriced rooms, for something that is essentially free in the rest of the civilized, non-​Amish/​Luddite world.
Oh, drinks? Yeah, that cocktail is totally worth $ 19, as long as you take it outside of the bar because the bar area is full and restricted for the gathering of the chaperones for the Prom going on upstairs.
Why would they think it was logistically reasonable to host a prom in the hotel on the same weekend they are hosting an NCAA Championships? Probably the same reason they charge $ 20 per day for internet, $ 10 for a normal cocktail, or $ 18 for hotel breakfast. This hotel exists simply to gouge you on the premise that they will be doing renovations next year. Until then, enjoy a few employees who understand good customer service, several who have no concept of it at all and many who simply choose to be jerks in a hotel that very clearly sees itself in a better light than reality shines upon it.
If you’re looking to overpay for everything in a hotel whose best characteristic is an airy central section which only further contributes to a confusing architectural layout and makes you swiftly forget the great service of the breakfast servers when the concierge and sales staff are wholly unhelpful and inflexible, then this is the hotel for you!
If not, go somewhere else.

Great breakfast with salmon, baked goods, fruit, etc. The hotel is sorta really old and creepy layout that reminds me of old college dorms. The service is good and the store in the lobby is open until 11pm normally. The place is too big to be homey but then again the upgrades make up for it with the hyatt points/​status.

I didn’t stay here. My boss, who was supposed to stay here, didn’t stay here either. I’m writing this very nice review to compliment the manager, John (?), because last week, immediately before the Princeton alumni reunion, my boss’s elderly father (the alum in question) became seriously ill and could not travel from Portland, Oregon. I called AmEx travel the day before arrival, which got on the horn with John, after getting the «there’s a one-​night cancellation penalty» party line from the regular employee.
John made everything right, understood and sympathized. Waived the one-​day fee. Sent his well-​wishes and hopes for recovery, and helpfully reminded us that we had scheduled oxygen to be delivered upon arrival for guest’s medical condition that we should remember to cancel so we wouldn’t be charged (and provided us with that phone # to the company delivering). This guy went above and beyond, and showed real compassion and grace.
I take away a warm fuzzy feeling for this particular establishment, and by extension, a little more affection for the Hyatt family of hotels. Thank you very much.

Rooms are specious and foods are good in the restaurant. It’s well cleaned and well maintained.

The dregs. The hotel that time forgot. A fascinating contrast to the Hyatt Regency in Century City where they appear to be keeping up appearances with upscale touches befitting SoCal sensibilities. However, landing at the Princeton outpost a month after the one in LA, I found an inadvertent tribute to the 1970’s, a throwback to the high-​ceiling atriums and parkay walkways fashionable when Nixon was still President. The only things missing were shag carpeting and lava lamps. Instead the carpeting was worn, and the koi in the pond looked kinda tired.
My $ 234 per night room was adequate, nothing more except they skimped on the contents of the room mini-​bar. The panoramic view from my window was of the empty parking lot and the vacated office building next door. The hotel restaurant, Crystal Garden, was not bad by hotel chain standards (see my review:
). My admitted sniping aside, I was honestly taken aback by the smugness of the front desk when I let them know a driver failed to pick me up at my company’s headquarters nearby. I had no complaints about the conscientious driver himself, but…
What I realized later was that if the driver is occupied, the front desk does not implement any contingency plan until the guest calls in to complain about the missed pick-​up. Of course, this revelation didn’t come to me until I was waiting for a driver to take me to the Princeton Junction station where I was catching the train to Newark International. He was a half-​hour late, and he had exactly six minutes to get me to the train. No apology from the hotel was forthcoming for the mishap that almost made me miss my flight back home. Thank you Hyatt Regency Princeton for raising my blood pressure amid your shopping mall ambiance.