Mattress Run - Mini Review

(My first review on FT - unfortunately I didn't think ahead to take any pictures)

I'm doing my first real "Mattress Run" for the upcoming Stay More Play More promotion, and the HR Milwaukee is my first stay towards that promo.  

Deal Details

Nightly rate was ~$88/nt with no special promos/codes.  I booked four nights (3/29-4/2) using Citi Prestige, AND they were able to apply the COSTCO code (10% off, was the same as AAA or my corporate rate).  Total price was $368 for the four nights, and Citi will rebate me $92, for a net cost of $276. 

In return, I will earn:

• 1,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points for Diamond amenity
• 2,500 HGP points for lounge closure (Saturday)
• 2,400 HGP points ($368 spend, x5, +30% bonus for diamonds)
• 12,000 HGP points (3,000 per night - the promo ends up being 75K points for 25 nights, or 3K/night)
• 800 Citi TYP (~$13, since with Prestige I value them at 1.6 cents/point)

Deal Summary:
16K HGP points plus some pocket change in Citi TYP for $276, or 1.7 cents per point.  And this is 1/6 of the way towards completing the promo and at the end of the promo I'll be halfway to Diamond, not counting any other stays/nights throughout the year

Just fine.  The lobby looks nice, they recognized my Diamond status and proactively offered the points or amenity (I chose points).  They didn't have much in upgrades available (more on that later), but I didn't care since I wasn't actually going to be spending the night there.  

I was in a Two Queen room on a middle floor.  The room is nice enough - it has been recently remodeled so everything is fairly new, but it is pretty bland.  It's a perfectly fine room.  However, as multiple reviews here, as well as Yelp/TripAdvisor state, the outside of the windows are very dirty.  Which since there's a fairly nice view of the downtown area is a bit distracting.  

One other minor complaint is that the bathrooms are very small.  When sitting down it can be difficult to close the door because it may bump your legs on the way around.  

I only experienced the Club Lounge on the 18th floor.  While I had lowish expectations, the lounge definitely exceeded those expectations.  

I was there for evening hors d'oeuvres, and it was quite good.  I was there with my family (we checked in on our way through MKE) and there was enough variety for all of us to feel full enough that we didn't need dinner later on.

• The star for all of us was the Usinger brats (local variety!) with fried onions and peppers.  
• Well stocked drinks.  Honor Bar with some local/craft brews, plus hard alcohol.  Plus some sodas and a few types of bottled water (San Pellegrino, Acqua Panna) and some bottled juices.
• Grilled veggies and mozzarella to make a pseudo-salad (although no lettuce/spinach). 
• A few meats/cheeses/crackers.
• Plus cookies, and a few candy jars.

Plus, one of the biggest things for me is Mark, the lounge attendant.  He was very friendly, and provided a good amount of interaction as desired (left alone the couple people that weren't interested in talking, and engaged me and kids to talk about the area, his cute dog and just checking in to make sure that everything was going great.  

The location is great.  Right in downtown, easy walking distance of almost everything.  

It's ideal enough that there were actually two presidential candidates staying there one night.  According to staff I talked to, it was Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz.  I didn't ever personally see them, but I *did* see a bunch of secret service people outside one of the rooms.  And as I was heading out for the evening I saw a motorcade of black Suburbans heading out (I'm assuming to the GOP town hall that was just a couple blocks away).  My hunch is that's why there weren't any suite upgrades available (since the candidates and their staff/secret service) were in many of them.  

The hotel met, and was actually a little above expectations.  It's not a fancy hotel, but it's a perfectly fine place to stay, especially at the price.  And, it worked out great for a mattress run.  

Especially if you value a lounge for breakfast/dinner this is a good value on weekdays. And due to it being closed on weekends the 2500 bonus points (plus breakfast in the restaurant) is a nice perk.  

If I can find a cheap rate, I'll definitely use the hotel again for a mattress run (and enjoy dinner/snack in the lounge at night).  I think that the low-ish reviews come from people with much higher expectations.