Hotel Hyatt Place Durham Southpoint (Durham, USA)

Surrounded by trees and lush greenery, this is an attractively quiet setting. Restaurants, shops etc, are nearby and – yes – you will need a car to make the short journey to reach them. That’s part of the attraction, though. Aldi’s Burger Restaurant is, incidentally, in the immediate area and an easy walk… If that floats your boat, you’ll be fine.

Breakfast here is free and the staff go out of their way to try to make it exceptional. There’s plenty of choice and many impressive little touches. A great way to start any day. Coffee is the exception!

Members of staff are awesome, very friendly, attentive and efficient. If you are part of a group staying for an event or function, they’ll pull out all the stops. If the actual event is taking place somewhere else, they’ll even arrange a shuttle service. The hotel does appear to be under-staffed though, so those on duty are pushed to the limit.

The Wi-Fi is ropey and not at all reliable. Breakfast is OK. As for the fruit element – well, it must have been fresh at some point in the distant past!

Generally, they are clean, but there are occasional issues with cleaning. Those hairs in the shower are a real give away! It’s good that they supply a fridge – not so good that, upon your arrival, it’s unplugged.

They fall down in a number of fairly routine areas. Many folk are allergic to feather pillows. This, though, catches them on the hop and they can’t supply a simple alternative. Day to day housekeeping needs reviewing. Currently, it’s not good at all.