Staying at the Renovated Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport Hotel
The Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport was my go-to airport hotel for several years when wine tasting trips and mileage runs had me flying out of SFO frequently. I liked it because it was close to the airport with a free shuttle and, when I had a car or was willing to Uber, close to an In N Out and one of the best dim sum restaurants in the Bay Area.
The Bay Area is back to being a frequent destination (you might have noticed), so when I was offered the chance to come check out their renovated rooms and new restaurant before my redeye flight, I jumped at the chance.
Because, let’s face it, how much can you renovate an atrium hotel?
Quite a bit it seems! The refresh got rid of the fussy atrium landscaping and pink tint, replaced with clean modern designs and art. The new color scheme throughout is rather soothing gray blue tones.
What hasn’t changed is that it is still a conference hotel — there will still be large groups in all the public spaces, including the restaurant and even the club lounge, so be prepared. During my stay it was adolescent dance troupes everywhere.
That said, check in at 4PM on a Friday was quite quick. I’d arrived in an electric car and asked about charging. They do have two charging spots at no additional cost, two power outlets in the valet area that have been repurposed. Not ideal, but definitely better than nothing! If you need to use them, just go to the valet area, they’ll show you where to park and take down the information for your car. 
But back to check in. I was given the choice of two rooms on the 9th floor, one an interior facing the atrium, the other facing the interstate. Hoping for a quieter stay before my flight I chose the exterior. If you’re wanting to get sleep early or are sensitive to noise, you’ll want an outward facing room, preferably one without a connecting door.
The room looked great, though there were signs that the renovation was still in progress.
It also appeared that they kept some of the original furniture, which explained the worn edges in an otherwise brand new feeling room. Â I never had a problem with the previous decor, I found I did prefer the blue gray color scheme and minimalist decor to the earlier brown tones.
One criticism with the new rooms? Hyatt is usually great about making rooms work-friendly, but this desk only had one outlet and one USB port on the lamp and the outlets on the wall (which still had their original plates) were already full.
The club has also been upgraded with fresh decor, though it still has the same layout and the same great views of the San Francisco Airport runway.
The staff were very friendly and the evening hors d’oeuvres were generous, better than the oft-seen cheese platter and obligatory cut veggies with dip. We skipped in favor of dinner, but went back up for the evening drinks. Not much variety in desserts, but a large supply. Which was good, because the lounge was a bit crowded with some dozen pre-teen dance troupe members.
Evening drinks are not free, but much cheaper than downstairs and the staff gave pretty hefty pours.
But the biggest improvements were to the conference space, the dining space, and the gym. Oh the gym! This one made me want to work out. Awesome new machines that even include rep counters. The one downside is that the gym still requires walking through the conference space to access. Nothing like going for an evening work out and then walking through a hallway reception. 🙂
That’s why I’m super excited about the 9th floor gym they created! It’s small, but has great views and one of all the new machines.
The Hyatt Recency used to have a dark, authentic looking sports bar called Knuckles in addition to the main restaurant. I have memories of sitting in a dim surroundings munching a mediocre salad. Now all the dining has been combined into a central area in the atrium and now includes offerings from local providers.
The seating is attractive and geared for productivity with power outlets at many of the seats.
The new space also offers a grab-and-go option with a pretty wide variety of edibles, affordably priced for a hotel. This is a huge improvement as the hotel is in rather a food wasteland unless you want to drive or Uber somewhere.
The new 3SIXTY Bistro is great, better than I expected, with some rather daring offerings for an airport hotel menu. Fortunately they delivered. The seared Ahi tuna was well prepared.
The clam chowder was loaded with clams, including whole clams, and I only encountered an occasional potato chunk.
The fried chicken was impressively plated, more tempura than southern-style. The chicken was cooked perfectly, but wound up being a little greasy for me pre-flight. The onion and bacon element was divine.
So instead I chowed down on my friend’s mac and cheese. They’d opted to add crab and once again, there was no skimping by the chef. Amazing!
Since it is now the only dining space, eating in the restaurant is even interesting than the usual hotel restaurant as you wind up seeing everyone. Weary travelers, celebrating couples, and conference attendees in various forms of attire, in our case, dance costumes.
The bar has also had a huge upgrade. Not only is the 3SIXTY bar much larger than the previous option, it has a great selection of local beers, wine, and even liquors. Super friendly bartenders and “decent†prices. Its the kind of place as a solo traveler I would opt to eat at the bar vs taking something up to my room.
I also loved that they offer nicer wines by the glass. And if you’re willing to order wine by the bottle, its an even better deal as you can skip the usual mass distributed wines at a huge mark up and taste some local finds. Also note, the menu between restaurant and bar is the same, so if you’d rather dine by the big TV screens you can still get all the same options.
I grabbed a few hours sleep before catching the hotel shuttle to the airport. I’d worried that all the dance troupe traffic in the hallways would be too loud, but the entry foyer in the room helped block the noise. The shuttle runs every 15 minutes, and that late at night it arrived on time. In under 10 minutes I was at the airport ready for my flight!
Many thanks to the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport for the chance to experience their new offerings!
Great Review! I love this hotel.
Hey,
9th floor gym isn’t new, but it looks nicely updated.
Aren’t the glass doors in the interior rooms double paned now, like the outside ones?
I was there end of July 2016, but I cannot remember how it looked (too jetlaged). Was it renovated just recently or already mid of last year?
The renovations (including guest rooms) started last year but the final touches were just completed a month or so ago.