The Hotel: Hyatt Regency Crown Center 2345 McGee Street, Kansas City, MO

(816) 421-1234.

The Skinny: 700-plus rooms, two restaurants and a bar – one of which revolves, located at the top of the building; the other, a more casual eatery on the mezzanine. The bar is filled with sports memorabilia and features pub grub. Conference facilities, convenient Crown Center location, covered walkway system to Crown Center and to Union Station. A small gift shop, rooftop pool, fitness room all on-site.

Loved: Hmmm…this is tough. Had one fantastic waitress at the bar, and the hotel is situated in a convenient location between downtown/ Power & Light District and the Country Club Plaza area. Room service folks were nice, too.

But: Something was just off. The whole hotel, from the lobby to the rooms, had apparently been updated, but this update was a classic case of putting lipstick on a pig.

Yes, there were new linens and pillows on the bed, sleek lighting and even marble in the baths. But the furniture was not proportioned to the rooms, the colors were ho-hum, the doors to the rooms (and bathrooms), the elevators and other areas looked as if they hadn’t been wiped down, much less replaced, since the hotel was originally built — covered with scuff marks, dents, chips, you name it.

Other ho-hums: The service, with the exceptions noted above; the food, the overall atmosphere.

It’s not that anything was horribly dirty, or even awful – just that the entire atmosphere was tired, listless and D-U-L-L.  Not what you’d expect from a) A Hyatt and b) for $200 / night, which was the going room rate for those attending the convention.

Rating: Two suitcases: Paging the general manager – you’ve got some work to do!