Many airport hotels are extremely generic—a non-descrip box in an office park, somewhere vaguely near the terminal.
These indistinct hotels look like they could be anywhere. The service reflects the fact that you’ll probably never be back, and you often have to take a shuttle or two in order to actually get to your flight.
A newer hotel at the San Francisco International Airport takes things in a completely different direction.
The Grand Hyatt SFO was built in 2019 and has already won awards as the best airport hotel in the country.
Plenty of things set it apart.
For starters, it’s located literally at the airport. The hotel has its own stop on SFO’s AirTrain system, which means that you can stroll out of your room, walk onto the AirTrain, and be at the terminal in under 10 minutes.
The Grand Hyatt also adds very California touches—features like massive soaking tubs in many rooms, views of the runway, and even upscale food on site.
I stayed at the Grand Hyatt SFO with my wife and three kids before an early morning flight to the East Coast. Here’s my review.
The Basics
There are plenty of hotels near San Francisco International Airport. I’ve stayed at Hiltons and other properties that are a short shuttle ride away.
There’s a big difference, though, between a hotel that’s near the airport and one that’s literally on site.
At an on-site airport hotel, you can roll in in the middle of the night if you need to and be asleep in your room in just a few minutes.
Likewise, because you’re already at the airport, you can get more sleep for an early morning flight and still be at check-in with plenty of time to spare.
For locals in the Bay Area, that’s a big part of the appeal of the Grand Hyatt SFO. Traffic in the South Bay and on the Peninsula can be unpredictable. Uber sometimes fails to show up, and BART doesn’t run all the time.
If you want to be certain you’ll make your early morning flight, heading over to the Grand Hyatt the night before, getting a good night’s sleep, and then being right at SFO in the morning can be a fantastic strategy.
That’s exactly what we did. For a 6 AM flight, we had a leisurely drive over the night before, got settled in, and then woke up at four to get to the terminal instead of having to drive from Lafayette at 2 AM.
The Grand Hyatt SFO was built to accommodate this. You can take BART from most anywhere in the Bay Area and ride SFO’s free AirTrain directly to the Grand Hyatt station.
You can also drive your car in, get help bringing your luggage up to your room, and then either park at the hotel or drive over to nearby long-term parking for a much cheaper rate.
Again, the Grand Hyatt SFO is right on the AirTrain system, which means it’s a maximum of about 12 minutes to get to any of the terminals.
The hotel has a mixture of king bedrooms and rooms with either two double or two queen beds. Traveling with three kids, we opted for a two-queen bedroom.
There’s a nice lobby area adjacent to the AirTrain station with panoramic views of the runway.
Everything is new, and the airport theme is carried through with the views, as well as unique art and other touches displayed around the hotel.
The Room
We got a two-queen bedroom and opted for a larger room rather than one with runway views.
That mostly reflected the fact that we were arriving late and leaving early, so there wasn’t much time for plane watching anyway.
If you’re an aviation buff, you can get a king bedroom or two-double bedroom with direct views of the runway for a slight price upgrade.
Our room was quite large for an airport hotel in San Francisco. We reached it down a surprisingly long private hallway.
Inside, we had two big, comfortable beds, a view out over South San Francisco (with the AirTrain zipping by right outside our window, which the kids loved), and nice touches like slippers, robes, and Nespresso coffee in the morning.
One surprising luxury here was a huge and very upscale bathroom.
Most airport hotels have boring designs, catering to business travelers who care more about a clean place to stay than a luxurious experience.
The Grand Hyatt bathrooms are very different from this. Our bathroom had a giant freestanding soaking tub, tons of room, a large and very nice shower stall, and a nicely designed vanity.
This gave us the ability to give all the kids a bath the night before getting on our plane. If you arrived at the hotel after a long flight from some far-flung place, plunging into a nice soaking tub would be perfect.
Overall, we were quite impressed with the size and design of our room. I would definitely come back and arrive earlier in the day to enjoy a room facing the runway.
The Food
This being San Francisco, even a functional airport hotel has excellent food.
The Grand Hyatt has a very upscale-looking on-site restaurant with runway views called Quail + Crane. This looked a bit too fancy for three little boys who were already geared up and excited for a trip.
If you’re visiting on business or you want a nice place to meet somebody you know in San Francisco during a long layover, the restaurant would be perfect.
On the fourth floor adjacent to the AirTrain station, there’s also a bar and lounge area with more casual food. Again, this has big panoramic views of the airport, making it a perfect place for plane spotting.
There’s a very nice store selling sundries, coffee, and casual food items.
We grabbed some sushi and other snacks and spent a pleasant 45 minutes watching the planes.
It’s also easy to hop on the AirTrain and head over to the pre-security dining areas. The best options for things to do and places to eat before security are in the international terminals A or G.
There’s a full museum in the terminal where you can learn about aviation history, as well as a food court with a variety of options. We stopped by here to get a larger dinner, and the kids enjoyed riding the AirTrain for fun.
If you don’t feel like leaving the room, there’s also a full room service menu at the Grand Hyatt.
Expect airport prices on the food. Each of our sushi rolls was about $20, and basic items like chips or sodas were around $3 to $5 each. That’s not shocking given the airport location, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Another food option is to DoorDash items from nearby restaurants in San Mateo or South San Francisco. Hotel staff told us that people often order DoorDash if they want something delivered locally. We tried this out, getting some pasta and meatballs from Il Fornaio, which were excellent.
Getting to the Airport
Little luxuries notwithstanding, most people aren’t staying at the Grand Hyatt SFO for fun—they’re staying there to simplify the logistics of a trip.
On our visit, we found that it is indeed very easy to get to and from the airport when staying at the Grand Hyatt. You simply go to the fourth floor, walk past the reception desk, and then head up an escalator or elevator to the dedicated AirTrain station.
You can then ride the red line train to any of the terminals at SFO, or the blue line to locations like the rental car center and long-term parking.
All of the terminals should be within a 15-minute AirTrain ride. We decided to measure the exact time required to get from the Grand Hyatt to the terminal the night before our trip.
We found that we could leave the reception area and be at the United Airlines bag drop and check-in station in Terminal 2 in eight minutes.
This timing worked even in the early morning. The AirTrain runs continuously, and we were able to leave the hotel at 4 AM and be checking in by 4:15.
We were traveling with three little kids, but for a solo traveler, you can probably get away with even less time.
A hotel staff member told us they advise people to leave the hotel about 90 minutes before a domestic flight. That’s a lot better than the 3+ hours you’d have to leave to get to the airport from elsewhere in the Bay Area.
The close proximity to the airport also makes it perfect to stay at the Grand Hyatt if you have an overnight layover in San Francisco. With its West Coast location, SFO often serves as the midpoint between longer journeys to Asia or Australia. Having the option to quickly head over to the hotel, get some sleep, and then continue your journey in the morning—after a nice soak in the tub, ideally—is perfect.
If you’re visiting Silicon Valley or San Francisco for a quick business trip, the hotel would also be a perfect place to stay. You can easily access the city via BART right from the airport, or take an Uber or even a Waymo (board these at the Rental Car Center) to anywhere in the Valley or South Bay.
The Verdict
Overall, we found that the Grand Hyatt SFO was a perfect place to stay to make for a simplified and much more pleasant trip. The close proximity to the airport eliminated all of the worry and stressful logistics that normally mark the start of a trip from San Francisco.
Rather than having to worry about timing, parking the car before a long flight, wrangling Ubers, and wondering if they would show up, and all the normal logistics, we could roll in the night before, have some food, give the kids a bath, and get a good night’s sleep before starting our trip.
The rooms at the Grand Hyatt are much nicer than an airport hotel needs to be. Our long hallway was a bit weird, but the luxuriousness of the bathroom was a big surprise and a nice touch.
Although they were a bit expensive, the food options on site—coupled with the ability to get food at the airport or even order from places on the Peninsula—made for plenty of options.
One thing I’d like to see is runway views offered in all room classes. We needed a two-queen bedroom, but these rooms don’t come with an option for runway views. That’s a shame, and it would be nice to come back and stay in a place where we could really see the planes from the room.
Another caveat for families is the fact that local fire codes do not allow for rollaway beds in any of the rooms.
Our kids are little, so the two-queen bed configuration worked. But for larger families, you might be stuck getting two rooms.
All that said, we were impressed with our stay at the Grand Hyatt SFO. Whether you’re a business traveler with a layover, a plane buff who values the ability to stay right at the airport, or a family like us simplifying logistics, the hotel is a great option.
