Planning a nine night trip to NY/DC for Dec 26-Jan 4. First timers. Kids 11 and 15. Have tentatively booked the above hotels as we like Hyatt. Is this a good choice?

Great choices. I like both hotels. The Grand Hyatt has a pretty good sports bar (sans the kids) called Grand Slam. Have a nice trip.

I stayed at the Grand Hyatt in D.C. this past December. Its a nice hotel, with a metro stop right downstairs so you don't even have to go outside to catch the train. The room that I was in had a window that faced the interior atrium, and I found it somewhat dark since the room didn't get any external light. I don't know if they have rooms with windows facing the exterior, but you might want to ask.

Grand Hyatt NY is a great place - right above Grand Central Sation - easy walking distance to 5th Ave, FAO Schwarz, Broadway, Empire State Building. We stay here regularly on our long weekends in to NYC with our teenage kids. Good size rooms, lots of easy access to things. Bring good walking shoes! Of course you can taxi everywhere as well.

We do a lot of business with the DC Grand Hyatt ... it's nice, and there are some decent restaurants near by, for example, on 7th Street NW and on H Street in Chinatown. And the MCI Center is just a few blocks away. As mentioned, the subway can be entered through the hotel. Have a nice trip to Washington. Ciao

Thanks for confirmation of choices!! Now, how to get from one hotel to the other?? Leaving NY on Jan 1 to go to DC?? Prefer rail, not car.

Penn Station in NYC via Amtrak to Union Station in DC ... and you can select several levels of train service, including reserved seats on the Metroliner. About 3 to 3 1/2 hours. It is possible there may be less frequent serve January 1 ... Amtrak can advice you. Once in DC, you can come out front and take a taxi to the Hyatt (tell the driver to take H Street through Chinatown, then drop down to G Street) ... 7 minutes ... perhaps $7-$9 ... we have zones. Or you can grab the Metro ... red line to the Metro Center stop and walk to the hotel a block or two away. Have a nice trip to DC. Ciao

Sorry - "service" and "advise". Ciao

grand hyatt in dc is lovely. we loved our room with the atrium view. the view was so pretty. metro right there in the hotel. health club very nice but there's a fee for its use. steam rooms, whirlpool, nice pool for the kids.

Excellent--thank you all! Trip is coming together. Next, kids want to see either Stomp or Blue Man Group. Do we need advance tickets? Also, we would like to see the Rocketts Christmas show? Any advice is so helpful. Thanks.

Skunk at garden party department - we arrived on a December evening at the Grand Hyatt NYC after a transcontinental flight and were made to wait 5 hours for our reserved, pre-paid room. I'd estimate there were around 20 or 30 other guests in the same boat, due to the "rooms not being ready" (at 7 PM?). People had arrived from Europe jet-lagged, others missed theater or dinner reservations. The front desk kept saying "Don't go anywhere" and to check back in half an hour which we did, half hour after half hour. One free drink in the bar, and a grudgingly-granted (not offered) midnight room service sandwich was our compensation. Our "non-smoking" room reeked of the Marlboro man and his horse.
Aside from that, the location's great.

jr, an additional skunk amid the Grand Hyatt cheerleading section. I've stayed at the New York Grand Hyatt several times, most recently last year. Here's a synopsis of what I found:

"There is a thick layer of dust on the plastic bouquets in the lobby. I noticed the dust as I was riding up the escalator on my way to check in. Bouquets of plastic flowers are a bit of a downer when you’re paying $310 for a single room. Checking in at 3 p.m. was no simple task. There was a line of perhaps 20 people and exactly two very harried, overworked, and ultimately surly receptionists. One reason the line wasn’t moving (apart from the need for half a dozen more staffers on the desk) was that every time someone went to the “Gold Passport” line (for frequent Hyatt guests), the receptionist was obliged to break off from the transaction to aid whomever was in the Gold Passport line. In the end, it took 45 minutes from the time I rode up that escalator to the time I received my card for a room on the 33rd floor.

The Grand Hyatt has 1410 rooms. My room turned out to be on the small side and very much in need of refurbishment. What probably looked very spiffy in 1980 seemed much less so twenty years later. The brown vinyl floor moldings were pulling away from the walls, the fluorescent lights in the bathroom glowed green through plastic fixtures that were long past needing replacement. The bathroom wallpaper was curling and the Formica counter showed much wear and tear. The bedspread was something brown and gold in a creepy synthetic fabric. The “amenities” consisted of small vials of shampoo and mouthwash and a bar of soap; not much different that would have been offered in the Super 8 Motel in Jersey City.

My conclusion then, as now: this isn't the Hyatt you're familiar with and are a fan of. You can do a lot better in new York.

Neal, I have always said that you get what you deserve.