I was warned about this property, chose to ignore the warning, and understood why I was warned to avoid the Hyatt House Bentonville – Rogers. But you know something? It wasn’t bad at all and there was one redeeming quality that made it even enjoyable.
Hyatt House Bentonville – Rogers Review
A friend advised me to try out the 21C Art Museum Hotel in Bentonville, which admittedly looks wonderful, but we were driving in from Oklahoma City and did not arrive until close to midnight. He warned me that this particular Hyatt House was not great. Why pay 2.5x more for a hotel we are just going to use for sleeping? So I chose the Hyatt House Bentonville / Rogers for $87/night plus tax ($99 all-in) and we pulled in at 11:30 pm. Parking is free. The location is convenient: just off I-49 and in a large lot that also has an Aloft Hotel Staybridge Suites.
Inside, a friendly staff member checked me in and thanked me for being a Globalist. I was even offered a “Globalist goodie bag” with two bottles of water, Oreo cookies, and a package of Orville Redenbacher’s popping corn for the microwave.
Room
Our room, 209, included a living room with a kitchenette (refrigerator, sink, microwave) and fold-out couch, a bathroom, and a bedroom with two beds.
The bathroom had a shower-tub combo and bulk dispensers.
Very drab and old school, just like the hallway, but it’s what I’ve come to expect when staying at Hyatt House properties in the USA.
We slept well and I appreciated having the living room to retreat to early in the morning to get my work done while the kids and Heidi slept.
Breakfast
Here’s what I found redeeming: most Hyatt House properties have eliminated the omelet station in the morning, but not this one. Since I eat an omelet virtually every day to break my fast, I was quite pleased to see it here…and the guy made it fresh in front of us, so it’s not like the eggs were powdered.
The rest of the breakfast included scrambled eggs, hardboiled eggs, oatmeal, sausage, hash browns, pancakes, fruit, and yogurt.
I only had some fruit with my omelet, but the kids liked the sausage and pancakes.
Breakfast ended promptly at 9:30 am (it felt like a hotel club lounge in Eastern Europe) with staff quickly swooping in to remove everything.
Pool
Ok, the pool… the water was green and smelled. The jacuzzi looked like it was permanently closed. No thank you.
Laundry
Credit card-operated guest laundry was available.
Business Center
My wife Heidi is always needing to print stuff and a business center offered two PCs and a printer (free).
Fitness Center
The fitness center was lackluster: two treadmills, a bike, an elliptical, and free weights (though only up to 40 pounds).
Stores
A room off of the lobby offered snacks, toiletries, and sundries for purchase.
CONCLUSION
There’s nothing fancy about this hotel, but then what do you expect for a Hyatt House? I appreciated the kind staff and the omelets…the pool was a big disappointment for my kids, though.
Would I return? If I had to. But if I had more time I would check out the 21C Hotel in Bentonville.
Having to cook with your pan on dining table height is torture… Back pain anyone?
My thought too. Brutal!
Nice looking omelette.
Except for the pool it all looks pretty good! Especially for that price.
I guess I expected something bad with the hotel.
To me the important items about a hotel are:
Safety
Cleanliness
Quiet
Price
Location
And Quiet is #1 since it is hard to sleep, the main point of a hotel, if it is noisy.
While the hotel here seems lacking in the pool, it isn’t something I ever care about and I doubt the vast majority of people care about.
There is a Holiday Inn Express we’ve stayed at a few times while visiting family and if you stay on one side of the hotel is it nice and quiet but the other side faces a highway and the noise is very bad if those things bother you.
Completely agree. The first sentence of the article seems like some oddly half-assed attempt at a smear campaign, especially since the full article goes to list all the exact amenities you’d expect from a Hyatt House in the US – and in working order. Plus a great-looking omelet. Even the comment about the pool are highly subjective and not based in any factual circumstances since he didn’t actually use it. A MUCH better article would be:
Stayed at a Hyatt House in Bentonville. It was as expected. Pool was maybe a little suspect. But also: good omelet. Fin
My kids actually went in the pool and quickly got out…I smelled it. Gross.
I still appreciated this place.
Matthew is always brief and concise. His get right to the point journalism is distinct.
You’re suggesting Matthew should have written an “article” of, what, 20 words?
Hyatt Place and Hyatt House used to be my hotels of choice when traveling to smaller cities in the US. Now I am tired of them. They are just not nice anymore. I had enough of stained carpets, cheap bed sheets and towels, noisy AC/Heat, empty shampoo boxes, cheap breakfast, etc… I have been giving preference to local boutique hotels which are usually nicer in small cities.
“and the guy made it fresh in front of us, so it’s not like the eggs were powdered.”
It looks like they use liquid eggs, so I guess that’s better than powdered…
But wow, the whole breakfast setup is just shabby. The omelet station, using dining tables, is just sad. And blocking the exit door seems like it’s a code violation. IMHO, aside from the real plates/cutlery and omelets, Hampton Inn and HIEX hotels seem to have better breakfast offerings.
This isn’t a typical Hyatt House. Until about 2022 it was a Holiday Inn (not express). Nothing has changed. Nothing. The Hyatt Place one exit up 49 is much better. The Aloft next door also isn’t bad.
I actually find most Hyatt House properties in the US to be fairly nice… If they are purpose built. I’ll even seek them out if I’m in the burbs. As for the conversion properties, they’re terrible. Just like this one.
Depends on the pool. Was the water clear ? Was it circulating ? I’m sure the chemicals are checked everyday. Don’t go in if the water is cloudy.
FYI, the HH Dallas/Frisco also has an omelet station. Better yet, it has some of the classiest and best customer service I have experienced in the U.S. Sadly, there is a parking cost, and the staff doesn’t like it either–it’s mandated to them. Of course waived on award stays, but also on stays over a certain number of days (either 7 or 10–can’t recall as I lived there the better part of a year and have nothing bad to say, other than I miss them all.)
*A room off the lobby …