HYATT PLACE - RIVERHEAD, NY

A short time ago, I had written about a fantastic restaurant called Jerry & The Mermaid during a trip out to Riverhead, NY. That review was the first of a series on this trip out to Riverhead, NY. Here is the second installment, I will talk about where we the hotel that we stayed in while we were out there. The Hyatt Place Hotel shares a parking lot with Jerry & The Mermaid's and also with the very aquarium that was the reason for us going out to Riverhead in the first place.

I have mentioned previously that my family and I were yearly visitors of the Long Island Aquarium which does share a parking lot with Hyatt Place. Even though we have spent countless hours visiting the aquarium, we had never stayed in the Hyatt Place. We never had a reason to due to each trip being more or less day trips in the past. This time around, we wanted to make a weekend out of it and finally decided to try out the hotel for ourselves.

We arrived early to the hotel around 11am and planned to have lunch at Jerry & The Mermaid's and then visit the aquarium while we waited for our 3pm check in. We were pleasantly surprised when we found out that our room was in fact ready and they nice attendant at the counter allowed us to take the room at that moment.

Sometimes while visiting hotels, the front desk attendant may get annoyed at an early arrival even when it is stated that we are aware that we cannot go up to the room yet. What a relief we felt when our front desk attendant was courteous and welcoming. She mad us feel that she was happy to give us the good news. While we walked the halls during the day we noticed how great the staff were. They were helpful and friendly. I would say that all of the staff that we interacted with were great people and did a great job.

Once in the room, we were pleased with how clean and new everything looked. The room was gorgeous. There was a beautiful and comfortable king size bed for my wife and I. My daughters had the pull out bed in the sofa which was surprisingly comfortable as well. My wife did not like that the bathroom sink was outside of the bathroom but this is a concept that I have noticed more hotels doing and do not mind it at all myself. The shower was large and had plenty of room however the door was very tight to the toilet once you opened it. You truly notice it while standing inside the bathroom. All in all, the room itself was comfortable and they made the space work.

After taking our belongings to our room, we did as intended with visiting the aquarium and Jerry & The Mermaid. We arrived back in our room around 2:45 and decided to take our kids down to the indoor pool. The outdoor pool was still closed due to it not truly being the season for it yet. We do not usually use indoor hotel pools. We do not really have a reason for that other than the fact that we prefer outdoor pools. All I ended up thinking when we finished was how silly I had been on not using one. Granted, I have seen some dirty indoor pools in my day but Hyatt kept it clean and the water was at the perfect temperature. There were moments where other hotel guests joined us but it was fine.

Later on our first evenly, we had returned from dinner and my wife and I wanted a night cap. We were happy to know that the bar was open until midnight. I decided to go down to the bar on my own to grab a drink for my wife and I while she and our children looked for a movie on TV. On my way down to the bar, I saw one of the hotel's staff that I had seen earlier and asked about the bar. He gave me an honest answer that was not negative or an attempt to dissuade me. He told me what to expect when going to the bar but also told me that their bar was not a town hangout spot or somewhere to get amazing cocktails. Keep in mind that he said this to me in a much more pleasant manner and it did not come off at all the way that I am depicting. I did appreciate his honesty. You will notice in the photo above that the bar had a decent selection. They had everything you needed but do not expect a full stock like you would find at your neighborhood bar. They also did not have any bartenders to tend the bar, the front desk personnel attended the bar. I did not find this as a turn off to the experience though. I noticed their willingness to learn how to make the drink properly as I instructed. Again drink knowledge aside, however this was another great example of how pleasant the staff was.

We enjoyed our visit at the Hyatt Place Hotel in Riverhead, NY. We had two great nights there and look to book again in the future. It is walking distance to all of the hot spots in town when it comes to dining and night life. There are also lots of great family friendly activities to do in the area which is what made up our schedule during our second day out there. I recommend the Hyatt Place as a definite must if you find yourself out in Riverhead. Please feel free to comment on this blog post or even shoot me a message to let me know about your stay. I would love to talk about it with you. Enjoy!

The Hyatt Place is located:

451 E Main St

Riverhead, NY 11901

(631) 208-0002

www.hyatt.com