Report - Hyatt Downtown Long Beach by CJW

[Curt Jerome Wild]

Here is a report on the Hyatt Hotel in Downtown Long Beach California.

This is a possible hotel for people going on a cruise leaving from the Long Beach pier (currently Carnival).

What I will say up front, is that most of the general points about the area and location are somewhat similar to other hotels in the area (such as The Hilton and the Westin); but this is the one in that category that has activities directly in walking distance across the street.

So that proximity to restaurants and shopping is the prime reason that this would be my personal choice for best hotel in "downtown" Long Beach.

(I also really like The Coast Hotel for different reasons, I'll put a link to that report at the end of this one)...

So, who would this be good for?!?!

Obviously people who are leaving from Long Beach port.

People who want some very new and "safe" shopping and restaurants in direct walking distance.

View to the Queen Mary and the port from the West facing rooms.

People who are staying here without a car, and only need to get a taxi to get to the port in the morning.

Here we go...

[Curt Jerome Wild]

Lobby and resturant views

 

[Curt Jerome Wild]

Views from Bay (West) facing rooms:

[Curt Jerome Wild]

Some pics of those rooms...

(These seem to be a little bit larger than the ones on the East (City view) rooms, I'll show later)...

[Curt Jerome Wild]

City view rooms (facing East)...

(Sorry, I didn't think to take pictures until I was "leaving")

Views of the lake, the city, and The Aquarium of The Pacific...

Which brings me to...

[Curt Jerome Wild]

Things directly in the area...

 

So, there is this lake/park thing right around the perimeter of the hotel, where you can rent paddle boats, and foot peddle them around...

You saw the back views before, here's the front area

 

Directly across the street (north) is The Pike...

I'm giving you this view, as you can see the ferris wheel and such, as your view to head right out the front entrance of the hotel..

And here's the official website to see what is there...

http://www.thepikeatlongbeach.com/

 

So then across the other street (West) views and pictures posted before...

is Shoreline Village

http://www.shorelinevillage.com/

[Curt Jerome Wild]

Pool area...

[Curt Jerome Wild]

Now my pros and cons in just "rambling thoughts" fashion...

This is a very nice hotel, in an area with some nice generic "strip mall" type resturants and activities in the direct area.

There are a lot of activities or options available really quickly in walking distance for part of a day or evening.

If you are from Europe or somewhere and had never been to anywhere in California or US before, this would be great, as it's kind of a "Disney-fied" cleaned up version of what you would think LA or Southern California should be. But at the same time it's very "homogonized", and very "safe".

To me (personally, just my local opinion) it's kind of like seeing the "European countries" as represented at Disneyworld in Florida, or seeing New York, or Venice, or Paris as represented in Vegas.

That could be good for you personally, or exactly what you are looking for in the area...

They very much cater to business people and families here that are going to the Convention Center and The Aquarium of The Pacific.

They don't need to cater to cruisers (I have mentioned this a few times to them, so we'll see if they ever actually "need" to consider cruisers for their business).

So, you'll have to get your own taxi or whatever to and from the port and LAX or wherever.

So, this is more of a "standard" very nice hotel in the area.

The Coast Hotel (link here)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=602024

is not as "fancy", but more boutique-y, and personal as far as service...

These are the only two that I would recommend to specific located in Long Beach hotels, different pros and cons for each one...

I hope this helps people...

CJW

[pltag]

I really appreciate your extensive work. We are staying here in late September for just one night prior to our cruise.

 

You mentioned that they do not run a shuttle for cruise passengers. Are cabs readily available? Is it "too" close to the pier to arrange for a limo? We are taking a limo from LAX when we arrive.

 

Thanks for your help!

[dosi]

Any thoughts on the Renaissance??? I have a pretty good price there for our upcoming trip, but could easily be swayed to try my luck with Priceline. I have heard good things about the Ren.....oh wise CJW what say ye????

[Curt Jerome Wild]

Okay first of all to give perspective, I'm adding this incredible arial picture by Cuizer2 with additional labels...

 

It will make more sense looking at this for additional commentary...

[Curt Jerome Wild]

I really appreciate your extensive work. We are staying here in late September for just one night prior to our cruise.

 

You mentioned that they do not run a shuttle for cruise passengers. Are cabs readily available? Is it "too" close to the pier to arrange for a limo? We are taking a limo from LAX when we arrive.

 

Thanks for your help!

You are welcome!;)

For your questions...

Cabs are not "readily available", as if they're just waiting around outside in the area at all (and that's more of a Los Angeles thing in general); but at the same token it's very easy to call yourself or get the concierge to call you a taxi and get one there very quickly.

Then it's about $10 (give or take) to get to either Long Beach port or even San Pedro port.

Then, yes, it is kind of "too close" (if I'm getting what you mean), in that probably not worth the time, effort, or money to get a limo just to the port.

Either port is just 5 minutes or 10 minutes away by taxi, so in my personal opinion, I'd just do that.

CJW

[Curt Jerome Wild]

Any thoughts on the Renaissance??? I have a pretty good price there for our upcoming trip, but could easily be swayed to try my luck with Priceline. I have heard good things about the Ren.....oh wise CJW what say ye????

First of all, you are cracking me up in the best way!:D

Secondly, I think in general that if anyone has a specific hotel in the downtown Long Beach area that they have points, or they are "fans" of a specific hotel chain - then my advice in general on this thread holds.

The difference, and why I've chosen the Hyatt to focus on and highlight here, is because the Hyatt is the best location, and most convenience for walking distance of all of the benefits right in the area.

If you are a big fan of The Hilton, or The Renaissance, or The Westin - they are all good decent hotels of their caliber for the area.

Just none of those (currently) including the Hyatt here, cater to cruisers.

They are catering to basically business people going to the Convention Center.

Just look at the map above to see the location of these different hotels.

You can see that Hyatt is directly walking distance to several things.

The others are either a really far walk (which are LONG LA blocks as opposed to short Manhattan blocks), so just either plan to walk further, or maybe get taxis.

Other option (but then see, in my way of thinking you are losing the convenience factor here) get on the local Free Passport city bus, which will take you around.

www.lbtransit.com

All are fine alternatives, I'm just here to try my best to give people the reality so that they can manage their expectations.

Different things work or are good for different people, so just take it all for what it is; and choose what is important to you!

(This is not just info to you, but also to any people reading this in the future for general info);)

I hope that this helps.

CJW

[Keith1010]

As usual CJW has provided wonderful information.

 

We stayed at this location and what we experienced is pretty consistent with what CJW has said.

 

For us we had a couple of days in the area prior to a cruise out of San Pedro. We didn't want to rent a car so the location was great. We like to walk and walked to all of the nearby attractions. The aquarium was only about a 5 or 10 minute walk from the Hotel and we also walked to the Queen Mary which is adjacent to where the Carnival cruise ships leave and arrive and that was about a 30-45 minute walk. We also walked into the downtown area which was a few minutes away. There is a little village of shops and restaurants about a five minute walk across the way and it had some nice restaurants. So, our two days worked out very nicely from this location. We also walked into the Renaissance Hotel and it also looked to be very nice.

 

On the morning of embarkation, we had a car take us to San Pedro. It was over the weekend so the ride took about 15 minutes.

 

Keith

[orknot2be]

CJW or anyone who has information or experience with the Marriott Courtyard Downtown Long Beach - is this much further than I was lead to believe (4 blocks) from the main attractions, eating venues, the pike, the Queen Mary? My husband and I don't mind some walking, but could anyone give us an idea of distance in terms of mileage (1/2 mile, more, less, etc). We still have the option to change our plans but this had seemed like a reasonably priced & decent hotel. We are only planning on walking, no car rental and were not planning on taking taxis.

 

Also, has anyone stayed here, how is the hote? Is it what might be considered the less desireable area or would it be considered unsafe to walk out at night?

 

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

[Curt Jerome Wild]

Okay, first of all look at the picture above (click on it to enlarge), you can see where the Courtyard is in the upper right corner (there's the Courtyard and Travelodge nearby).

That will give you some actual perspective.

Then, it is really more like 3/4 of a mile walk to the Pike, and really more than a mile to get to Shoreline Village.

Remember the 4 blocks whoever is talking about are LONG blocks.

Queen Mary is about 2 1/2 miles away. (So about 1 3/4 miles from the Hyatt).

So, just take that into perspective. Also bear in mind that there is the free Passport bus, and here's the website to check that out...

www.lbtransit.com

The only problem with that currently is that it has limited hours.

And the Courtyard is a standard basic Courtyard.

Hope this helps your perspective.

CJW

[suziehmkr]

Thanks for all of the great reports CJW! Love them! I am booked at the Hyatt via Priceline for our holiday cruise... and seriously thinking about trying it again for our Monarch cruise even though it leaves from San Pedro.

 

Thansk again!

[critterchick]

Thanks for your report on the Hyatt! As locals we don't stay at any hotels, just attend the occasional function.

 

My only quibble: I suppose whether you consider something to be a long walk depends on your definition of "long," LOL. We go to concerts at the Terrace Theater or Convention Center, which are right across the street from the Westin. To walk to Pine Avenue, where many restaurants and the Pike are located, takes us 10 minutes (we walk briskly, but not at racewalk speed), so it honestly isn't a bad walk at all and we feel perfectly safe there during the main dinner hours (There are few places in the world where I would feel safe walking around after midnight; Long Beach isn't one of them). The Courtyard is a block or two further east, a long block to be sure, but not all that bad. And from the aerial shot it looks more convenient to Shoreline Village than the other hotels (except the Hyatt) because you can take the road that goes directly there from right outside your hotel.

 

And there are some really nice restaurants on Pine if you turn left instead of turning right to go down to the Pike - L'Opera, Madison Steak House, King's Fish House, to name 3 of them (and the only ones we've eaten at recently).

[Keith1010]

As somone who has been reading this board quite a bit because we stayed in Long Beach last year for a cruise but because we have a cruise planned for January I wanted to thank CJW for all of the information that he provides. He has helped me out several times with questions for our upcoming stay in Beverly Hills. He adds tremendous value to this board.

 

Keith

[gumballz]

CJW, I realize this thread is somewhat 'old' but I ran a search for a question I had about the Hyatt and you actually answered a couple of questions I had with your post. I just wanted to thank you for all your help. I appreciate the photos too! :)

[RSWBADGER]

Great hotel and location, we stayed here a couple of years back pre-cruise, enjoyed the area. Lunch across the street at the California Pizza Kitchen, dinner downtown outside at Rock Bottom Brewery.

 

Downtown offers many dining opportunities within a 5-10 minute walk from the Hyatt. Took a cab from the hotel to San Pedro, we did not order a cab in advance, there was one immediately available.

[mm9/08/04]

Curt Jerome Wild ,Thank You so much for the pictures and advise.

[sassyredhat]

Thanks CW~~~We're booked at the Hyatt in April '09.

 

Pat

[Bonnie Voyager]

On Curt's advice, I booked a pre-cruise stay at the Hyatt last summer and could not have been more pleased! The location was awesome! The hotel staff was quite accomodating and friendly. The room was lovely and the beds were "dreamy". Our view of the Queen Mary was sensational. We spent several days at the Hyatt and toured the Long Beach area on foot and via the FREE "Passport" Bus system. The area is so pedestrian friendly. Everywhere we went was just beautiful! I enjoyed the area so much, I have booked a return visit with Long Beach as the actual destination! If anyone has any questions about the Hyatt, feel free to ask. :D

[Keith1010]

Bonnie I agree with you 100%. We learned about the Hyatt from Curt as well and thought that it was great and really enjoyed Long Beach. We walked to quite a few places from the Hyatt including the Queen Mary and the Aquarium and then there is the boardwalk area. Lots of nice seafood restaurant nearby. A great place. Another one that looks nice is the Renaissance but we've been so pleased with the Hyatt that we haven't tried that one. I prefer this area to San Pedro. If we were arriving the night before we would stay at San Pedro but when arriving a couple of days before that we stay at the Hyatt.

 

Keith