After visiting Fairbanks, Healy and Wasilla, our next stop in Alaska was Anchorage. Accommodation in Alaska during the summer doesn’t come cheap, but thankfully we had World of Hyatt points we could redeem for a 12 night stay at the Hyatt House Anchorage.
It ended up being a great stay, made better by the fact that we were able to redeem a couple of suite upgrade awards to upgrade to a one bedroom suite with a full kitchen. Here’s a full review of our stay.
Check-In
Our initial check-in experience didn’t take long, so we were soon on our way up to room 608. However, when entering the room I noticed that it was a regular type of hotel room rather than the one bedroom suite we’d redeemed the suite upgrade awards for.
After heading back downstairs, the front desk agent checked her system and saw the note on our reservation about us being in a one bedroom suite. She apologized and quickly got us keys for a different room and we headed to room 628.
When entering our suite, the kitchen was on the left, the living room on the right and the bedroom and bathroom off to the left past the kitchen.
When entering our suite it was extremely hot. We turned the thermostat down, but it said the filter in the air conditioning unit needed replacing. We mentioned this to the front desk and asked them to have maintenance come to replace it, but they never did. Turning the thermostat down and keeping the blinds down during the day helped cool the room to a more comfortable temperature.
Kitchen
There was a kitchen island/desk with a high office chair. In terms of the kitchen itself, there was a full-sized fridge freezer, dishwasher, microwave and stove top.
In the cupboards and drawers were place settings for four people, as well as other cooking equipment.
To the left of the kitchen was a small closet which was useful for storing some of our stuff.
Living Room
The living room had a corner sleeper sofa with a couple of small ottomans. To the side of the couch was a side table, while opposite was a shelving unit with a TV on top.
The Hyatt House Anchorage is next to a protected wetland area which rooms on the front side of the hotel face. There are lots of seagulls that fly around and occasionally dive bomb you. Although they’re loud when outside, it was much quieter in our suite. If that kind of sound might bother you though, it might be worth requesting a room on the back half of the hotel.
Bedroom
It was nice having a separate bedroom and living room for our 12 nights there as it meant Shae and I didn’t wake each other up while the other one was sleeping and one of us was working. Well, in theory we didn’t wake each other up, but the bedroom door was extremely squeaky. We’d mentioned it at the front desk when also mentioning the air filter and asked if they could have maintenance oil the door, but they never came. We just ended up spraying it with cooking oil ourselves and that did the trick.
The king bed was comfortable for me, but Shae felt like she was getting a sore back from it. Considering it didn’t get very dark at night due to the midnight sun, the blinds did a good job of keeping the bedroom dark at night.
Next to one side of the bed was a dresser with two large drawers. There was then a separate dresser when moving over to the bathroom which also had a couple of drawers.
Opposite that dresser was another closet. This contained a luggage rack, iron, ironing board and bedding for the sleeper sofa in the living room.
Bathroom
The bathroom had a good-sized walk-in shower.
The shower had large toiletry bottles mounted to the wall which had been refilled enough that they didn’t need to be filled more during our 12 night stay.
Breakfast
Breakfast is complimentary for all guests at the Hyatt House Anchorage. Several Hyatt Houses we’ve stayed at in the past had an egg station with a chef who could make eggs to order, but that seems to have been less common since COVID. This Hyatt House didn’t have that, but they did have breakfast burritos and breakfast sandwiches available that other Hyatt Houses haven’t had.
There were always at least three other hot options – scrambled eggs, some kind of breakfast meat and something else. That was sometimes breakfast potatoes, other times pancakes, etc.
There were also bagels, bread, hot oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, cereal and more.
Just outside of the breakfast area was a coffee and tea station. I’m not sure if this was only available at breakfast or if they kept it stocked 24/7 as I have my own electric kettle and so made tea in our room.
Amenities
Fitness Room
The fitness room had a few treadmills, a couple of ellipticals and a bike, as well as weight equipment.
Guest Laundry
The property has guest self-laundry facilities with a washing machine and dryer available. Each one cost $3 per load.
Business Center
There was a business center in the lobby with a couple of computers for guests to use. There were also some work areas which you can use if you have a laptop and don’t want to work in your hotel room.
Swimming Pool
There’s an indoor swimming pool, but no whirlpool. The water wasn’t particularly warm and we didn’t end up making use of it.
Pantry
Next to the front desk is a pantry area with drinks and snacks, along with laundry detergent and dryer sheets if needed for doing your own laundry at the hotel.
Outdoor Seating
At the front of the hotel was a nice seating area you can take advantage of during the day or on warmer nights.
Airport Shuttle
The hotel offers a free shuttle to the airport which we took advantage of when flying up to Utqiagvik for a night. It’s worth booking your seat to the airport with the front desk in advance in case there’s a large group wanting to go there at the same time. When arriving at Anchorage Airport, you give the hotel a call and they’ll send the shuttle to you.
Hyatt House Anchorage Pet Policy
The Hyatt House Anchorage is a pet-friendly hotel which is one of the reasons we chose it as we had Truffles with us. Their pet fee is $75 per stay for stays of 1-6 nights, or $175 for stays of 7+ nights. You can have up to two dogs in a room and they have a weight limit of 50 lbs per dog, with an overall weight limit of 75 lbs for two dogs.
The hotel has several grassy and mulchy areas around the property. There’s also a sidewalk alongside the main road next to the hotel if you’d like to go on longer walks.
Service
Overall, service was pretty good. The front desk staff were friendly and Latisha who was in charge of breakfast was fantastic – incredibly friendly and welcoming.
Service wasn’t flawless though. We declined housekeeping for most of our stay, but did request it one day when we were going out. The kitchen trash didn’t get emptied and they didn’t leave any dishwasher powder, but that wasn’t a huge deal.
We’d also requested with the front desk for maintenance to come in to replace the air conditioning filter and oil our bedroom door, but they never came.
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is complimentary for all guests. The internet speed was good, but they have one of those annoying setups where you have to reconnect every 24 hours and it always seems to disconnect at inopportune times.
Check-In & Check-Out Times
The check-in time at the Hyatt House Anchorage is from 3pm, while checkout is at 12pm.
Location
The hotel is in midtown Anchorage. It’s only a few miles from downtown Anchorage and a couple of miles from Anchorage airport. There are several restaurants, grocery stores, etc. within a short drive too.
Parking
Parking is free for all guests.
Cost
At the time of our stay in June 2024, this hotel was a category 4 property in the World of Hyatt program. That means it costs 12,000, 15,000 or 18,000 points per night depending on if it’s at off-peak, standard or peak award pricing respectively. It was standard pricing for each of our 12 nights, so we had to redeem 180,000 points (transferred from our Chase Ultimate Rewards balance).
If we’d paid cash, it would’ve cost $357.50 per night, so we got 2.38cpp (cents per point) of value by using points which is great value.
Final Thoughts
We had a very good stay at the Hyatt House Anchorage. Being able to use a couple of suite upgrade awards meant we were much more comfortable in a one bedroom suite with a kitchen. The breakfast selection was always good and well-stocked, staff members were friendly and it was pretty good value when using points.
If we return to Anchorage in the future, we’d likely choose to stay at this property again rather than looking to book someplace different.
Truffles Approval Rating
The Hyatt House Anchorage earns the much-coveted ‘four paws out of four with a Golden Tail wag’ which is the highest rating she can give any hotel.
Although the pet fee was high at $175 for the stay (due to us staying 12 nights), Truffles got lots of loving attention from the front desk.
They were also lovely the week after we’d checked out. We’d moved down to Seward and Truffles had a medical emergency. Seward didn’t have any vets, so Shae had to drive the two hours back up to Anchorage to take her to a vet there (I had to work that day). I was able to book a one night stay at the hotel for the two of them and they all remembered Truffles and gave her lots of sympathy for her medical issues.
Our Rating
Room = 4.5 / 5
Hotel Amenities = 4.5 / 5
Food = 4.6 / 5
Location = 4.3 / 5
Service = 4.5 / 5
Overall Value = 4.4 / 5 (this is based on using points; $350+ is very expensive otherwise, although Anchorage is expensive in general in the summer)
Total = 4.47 / 5
Address
Hyatt House, 5141 Business Park Blvd, Anchorage, AK 99503
Glad Truffles is okay! Did they charge a second pet fee for the second stay the following week?
They didn’t thankfully as that would’ve been another $75! I’m not sure if it was inadvertent that they didn’t charge it or if they took it off because we’d already paid a $175 fee the week before.