The Hyatt Regency in Downtown Sacramento opened its doors for the first time 25 years ago, and since then, it has maintained a AAA Four-Diamond rating. Just steps from the Sacramento Convention Center, the Hyatt is centrally located for meeting planners and tourists alike, who can walk to the major Sacramento tourist attractions from its front door.

To celebrate 25 years in business, the Hyatt recently gave away 25 rooms for $25 per night to people who had stayed at the hotel 25 years ago. Soon, the Hyatt will announce another promotion – giving $25 hotel rooms to couples who had their wedding receptions on the grounds. For more information on that, follow the hotel’s Facebook page.

 

Two of the people who stayed at the Hyatt in its opening year were Dennis and Kathryn Raymond, who spent their first night as a married couple in the then-new Hyatt.

 

In the last 25 years, Kathryn, an artist who painted with others during the opening of the Crocker Art Museum’s new wing in 2010, said she has been to several charity events at the hotel.

 

Dennis, an executive with F&M Bank, said the layout is similar, but the Hyatt has been upgraded over the years to maintain a fresh and inviting look.

The Raymonds in the lobby of the Hyatt in 2013.

 

But what does the couple remember most about the hotel from their first stay?

 

“Room service,” Kathryn said with a laugh. “We were starving after our wedding reception, because we barely got to eat. No one tells you beforehand, but you spend all your time socializing and then afterward you realize how hungry you are.”

 

Dennis said he remembers eating big portions of whatever sounded good on the menu, including breaded cheese sticks and spaghetti.

 

“It was really good, and the service was excellent,” he said.

 

As newlyweds, the Raymonds – who lived in Sacramento – took advantage of a lower rate for local residents before heading off to their honeymoon on the Northern California coast in Mendocino.

 

“We were excited, because we’d never really felt so grown-up before, and here we were as a married couple staying in the nicest and newest hotel in the city,” Dennis said.

 

Today, the Hyatt Regency Sacramento, located at 1209 L St., remains one of the city’s flagship hotels, situated on the recently revitalized downtown section of K Street, it is just feet from the Sacramento Convention Center and overlooks the Capitol and Capitol Park.