Background:
For my trip to the Bay Area, I needed a hotel around the Palo Alto/Mountain View area for a Friday night stay. I originally chose the Hilton Garden Inn Palo Alto, as it was $140 all in, and the Hyatt Centric Mountain View had normal rates over $180. For reference, the two hotels are about 1 mile apart from each other, so not a big deal for me in terms of location.
For a one night stay, I didn’t think it was worth paying the extra $40 to upgrade from the Hilton Garden Inn to the Hyatt Centric. But, about two weeks before my stay, I noticed that the Hyatt Centric dropped to $150, and I was enticed to make the move over.
I was curious to see if there was a corporate rate, as I work for a large company, I know the company has rates at Marriott’s and Hiltons, but wasn’t sure about Hyatt. I ended up calling up my Hyatt Explorist line, and they said that the Hyatt Centric Mountain View did have a corporate rate that could be used for leisure which was about 7% off the normal rate. This made it right under $140 all in. I was sold! Now, the rate was actually cheaper than the Hilton Garden Inn. Moral of the story: If you work for a large company, try seeing if they have corporate rates. You might be surprised by what you find!
World of Hyatt:
If you plan to book with points, the Hyatt Centric Mountain View is a Category 5 Property. It will cost you 17k/20k/23k depending on off peak/standard/peak pricing. As with many Silicon Valley hotels, weekdays are generally more expensive for those business travelers, and weekends can often be had at good rates.
Exterior
Entrance
Check-In:
The hotel opened in 2019, so it looked very new from both the outside and in the lobby. I checked in at about 3pm, an hour before the standard check in at 4pm. A friendly front desk associate checked me in quickly. I booked the entry level room category, 1 King Bed with Sofabed. Since I was staying with a friend, I asked for a room with 2 Queen Beds, and the associate was happy to put me in a room with 2 Queens. For reference, I think at booking the price between 1 King to 2 Queen was $15 more. He thanked me for my Explorist status, and said he put me in a nice room on the top floor. He also offered late 2pm checkout, but we had plans in the morning so I declined.
I found the lobby to be super cute, with a nice neon sign of Silicon from the Periodic Table. There’s a little snack + drinks cart right next to the front desk that serves as a little sundries store.
Lobby + Fairchild’s Restaurant
Front Desk
The Hyatt Centric Mountain View Room:
On the way to the room, I noticed how cute the hallways were!
Elevator Landing
Hallways
Upon entering the room, I noticed how spacious it looked which was nice. First up was the closet area, and my recent stays at newer hotels like the Hyatt Regency Portland all have these open concept closets. I don’t mind them at all!
There was a Keurig Maker, as well as mini-fridge.
Closet Space
2 Queen Beds
The beds were very comfortable, and I had a pretty good night’s sleep. My friend and I were actually quite surprised at the bed comfort, as it almost rivaled our beds at the Luxury Collection Palace Hotel.
At the nightstand, they also have a JBL Speaker combined with the alarm clock. The speaker had great sound quality, so it was nice to stream music. There were plenty of charging ports at the nightstand which was great too.
Nightstand with JBL Speaker
Desk
I really enjoyed the decor, and I thought the artwork above the desk was cute. The room was pretty clean as well.
The only pet peeve of the room was that the AC did not work. It was unable to be controlled, as we set it to be 70 degrees but the room still ended up staying at 76. It was a bit hot for us, and I did wake up a bit toasty.
View from Room
Our room overlooked the pool and outdoor deck area. As expected with newer built hotels, the insulation was not the best, and I could hear people talking on the outdoor deck even though they weren’t screaming. Room to room was fine, not sure if because it was low occupancy or if the room to room insulation was better.
Bathroom:
Bathroom
I really liked the bathroom, as it was quite spacious for a three-piece bathroom. And, even though it had the slider door back to the room, this one had a lock and did not have gaping holes. This makes it much easier to share the room with friends.
The standup shower had both a rainfall and wand which was nice, and had nice tiles.
Shower
Toiletries were provided by Beekind from Gilchrist & Soames, which isn’t my favorite scent, but it suffices. Additionally, the hotel provided a Drybar hairdryer which retails for over $100.
Drybar Hairdryer
Overall, the Hyatt Centric Mountain View’s room exceeded my expectations in terms of quality of furnishings and comfort level. I’m starting to like the Hyatt Centric brand as providing solid 4 star “lite” level stays, as this was my 2nd successful stay after the Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach just a few months ago. I would say this Mountain View location was even more upscale than the Waikiki Beach one.
Restaurant + Amenities:
Fairchilds Public House is the restaurant on site, and it currently serves dinner from 5-9pm daily (closed Sundays) and the bar is open from 5-10pm daily. They have a grab and go breakfast daily from 7-9am on weekdays and 7-10am on the weekends.
Normally Fairchilds operates on the 2nd floor deck too, but right now that open-air terrace called View on 2 is not open.
I grabbed some drinks with my friend from Fairchilds right before they closed and they were decent, and was told I could bring it to the 2nd floor deck as there are still some nice outdoor seating areas.
2nd Floor Outdoor Deck
Outdoor Pool
The pool is also located on the 2nd floor, as well as the fitness center.
Fitness Center
The second floor also has some conference space, and places to lounge around. Also, as with many parts of the hotel, they pay homage to Silicon Valley with all this cute artwork.
2nd Floor Seating Areas
2nd Floor Artwork
Location:
The Hyatt Centric Mountain View is located in the San Antonio Center, and is walking distance to plenty of restaurants such as Mendocino Farms and Pacific Catch, as well as Trader Joes too. It’s about 4 miles from Stanford University.
Overnight self-parking is available for $15 per day.
The Verdict:
Overall, I really enjoyed my stay at the Hyatt Centric Mountain View. It has nicely appointed rooms that surpass comparable 3.5 star properties. The only thing that was negative was the fact that the AC couldn’t be controlled. This was my second time at a Hyatt Centric, and I’m starting to like the limited service but modern rooms vibe, and I will continue sampling more properties on this brand.
Have you stayed at the Hyatt Centric Mountain View before? How was your experience? Comment below!
Best,
Ty
Have any questions? Comment below or email me at takeofftotravel@gmail.com. I’ve also started working with a travel agency, Fora Travel, and can assist in booking hotel stays or planning trips. You can also view all my other posts here! Thanks for stopping by!
