Where to begin? Sedona is certainly one of the most beautiful places you'll ever visit, and the Hyatt is the perfect base from which to explore it.
1. Location - Centrally located at the 'Y', it's in a great spot. It's an easy stroll to the main Uptown shopping/restaurant area and a short drive in the opposite direction to either West Sedona (supermarket, airport) or Oak Creek Village. You can walk easily to any of the jeep tour offices, though ours (Day in the West) picked us up in front of the lobby. And it is up on a hill, so you can see pretty much all around in every direction.
2. Room - With a family of four (12/14 y/old girls) we chose the 1-bedroom with one king bed. We took a chance based on some previous reviews that the sofabed would be comfortable enough, and it was. No, it was not as nice as the bed, but it was better than the average sofabed and good enough that we slept on it and let the kids share the king bed in the bedroom. This allowed us to be up and around the unit a little later and earlier in the morning without waking them. The unit was very spacious, with a full kitchen, dining area, living room, large bathroom with walk-in shower and separate jetted tub. There is a washer/dryer, which was invaluable to have on days 3-6 of a 14-day trip. The balcony was very large and had a table big enough for all of us to have breakfast in the morning. (Also, the units are arranged so every other balcony faces the opposite direction, so you are not right next to your neighbor's balcony.) It was clean, and seemed pretty well updated. We were told the adjacent studio room (which would make the unit a 2-bedroom) was occupied, but we did not hear or even see the people staying there.
3. Room location - This is an area that could definitely have a big impact on your impression of this hotel. We asked for and received a second-floor unit near the pool. The hotel is condo style, so there are stairs and uphill walks depending on where you are. Our large balcony looked out over the top of the activity center/pool area. So there was a little bit of roof to look over, but the views were otherwise spectacular. On the other hand, there are many ground level units that have views of nothing but the pathway or other units - if you got one of these you might not be as thrilled. The grounds, however, are very nicely landscaped. We had no problem parking outside the unit, and we didn't mind the two flights of stairs. We almost always request an upper floor (so we don't have people walking on our heads), and in this case it paid off.
4. The pool - There is really no way to describe the pool area other than stunning. It is in the center of the resort, at just about the highest point. There are great views from everywhere. It is not huge, but it's somewhat irregular shape makes it seem a little bigger. There are also two hot tubs. The landscaping and colors blend perfectly with the surroundings. This was one of the big reasons we chose this hotel, and we weren't disappointed. The activity center where you get your pool towels has a large lounge area with bigscreen TV, and they had free popcorn and sodas in the evening. There is also a very nice fire pit to roast marshmallows.
5. Check in - We read some people felt they were pressured with timeshare pitches and calls. We were asked once by the concierge at check-in whether we would want to attend a Hyatt vacation club preview in exchange for $100 in coupons at local restaurants. We declined and were not asked again.
6. Pinon Pointe Shoppes - This was a great feature to have adjacent to the hotel. We got breakfast from the Wildflower bakery twice and ate on the balcony; it was excellent. We had dinner one night at the Sound Bites restaurant, which felt a bit funky and upscale but casual at the same time. And our kids love Cold Stone Creamery - it was even better taking in the view of the red rocks and Uptown from the patio. We did not go in any of the stores, which looked fairly expensive. Few were open in the evening, which seemed strange considering most people are probably out sightseeing during the day.
Overall - We felt this was a tremendous value. Our one-bedroom suite with all of the amenities didn't cost any more than the regular rooms at other 'moderate' hotels we considered. And being able to walk to restaurants and shops is huge when you're in the middle of a road trip between Phoenix and Vegas - the less driving the better. Our kids, while sitting in the hot tub after seeing our suite the first afternoon, said they thought it was the best hotel we ever stayed at. (Ok, they were slightly more impressed when we got to the Venetian in Vegas!) While there are a couple that compare, it's certainly right near the top of the list.