How do Hyatt treat you as an Elite?
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Berlin
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- Mar 31, 2011
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Status: Globalist (highest)
Property: Hyatt Regency Los Angeles Airport (LAX)
Room booked: Lowest category (free night redemption)
Rate: Would have been $US220 plus taxes etc. so great use for a cat 1-4 free night certificate
Of the many hotels at LAX we’ve stayed in, this one has done by far the best job renovating one of those typical old airport hotels. We originally were assigned a “City view” (read: parking lot view) only but after asking politely at check in, the front desk guy went out of his way to shuffle rooms around in order to upgrade us to a suite, thanks to our Globalist status with Hyatt. We ended up with a wonderful big suite with perfect runway views which was quite impressive. We found the room to have nice modern decor, a comfortable bed and a rather nice walk-in shower.
The pool is in the midst of parking garages and you actually hear the airplane engines roaring in the background but we strangely liked the pool area regardless and appreciated how deep the pool was (something that, unfortunately, usually can’t be found in newer hotels). It also was a great welcome to the States as nowhere else in the world you’d find a pool that has that warm water in it, something that seems common over here. As Globalists, we were offered “Happy Hour” drinks at the bar weich basically meant free beer for two hours. This meant to make up for the lounge which is still closed but we found it a better deal than a lounge. All in all a nice start to our US trip and we will be back next time we need a place to crash at LAX (which for us, coming all the way from Australia, is pretty much every time we arrive here).
Property: Hyatt Regency Los Angeles Airport (LAX)
Room booked: Lowest category (free night redemption)
Rate: Would have been $US220 plus taxes etc. so great use for a cat 1-4 free night certificate
Of the many hotels at LAX we’ve stayed in, this one has done by far the best job renovating one of those typical old airport hotels. We originally were assigned a “City view” (read: parking lot view) only but after asking politely at check in, the front desk guy went out of his way to shuffle rooms around in order to upgrade us to a suite, thanks to our Globalist status with Hyatt. We ended up with a wonderful big suite with perfect runway views which was quite impressive. We found the room to have nice modern decor, a comfortable bed and a rather nice walk-in shower.
The pool is in the midst of parking garages and you actually hear the airplane engines roaring in the background but we strangely liked the pool area regardless and appreciated how deep the pool was (something that, unfortunately, usually can’t be found in newer hotels). It also was a great welcome to the States as nowhere else in the world you’d find a pool that has that warm water in it, something that seems common over here. As Globalists, we were offered “Happy Hour” drinks at the bar weich basically meant free beer for two hours. This meant to make up for the lounge which is still closed but we found it a better deal than a lounge. All in all a nice start to our US trip and we will be back next time we need a place to crash at LAX (which for us, coming all the way from Australia, is pretty much every time we arrive here).
April 2022
Status: Globalist
Property: Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
Room booked: Standard Two Queens
Room Received: High Floor Two Queens
Rate: Cat 1-4 free night certificate.
No suite available due to BABSCON happening during our 1 night stay.
Breakfast was in the atrium and you could choose between the a la carte or buffet menu with gratuities waived as a globalist. There is an area reserved for globalists but this wasn't observed during our stay due to limited table availability.
Status: Globalist
Property: Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
Room booked: Standard Two Queens
Room Received: High Floor Two Queens
Rate: Cat 1-4 free night certificate.
No suite available due to BABSCON happening during our 1 night stay.
Breakfast was in the atrium and you could choose between the a la carte or buffet menu with gratuities waived as a globalist. There is an area reserved for globalists but this wasn't observed during our stay due to limited table availability.
Berlin
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Status: Globalist (highest)
Property: Seabird resort, Oceanside California (A Destination hotel by Hyatt)
Room booked: Partial Oceanview US$ 290 per night plus taxes etc.
Received: Full Oceanview but standard sized room
We stayed here for three nights during our vacation on the Californian coast. I remember Oceanside from a school exchange some 30 years ago so it has a special place in my heart. Hearing about two Hyatt properties, the Seabird and neighbouring Mission Pacific opening brand new here in a recently gentrified area of town, I was instantly excited (Seabird is a “Destination hotel” while the Mission Pacific is part of the “JdV” portfolio- both two newish Hyatt brands that are unknown here in Australia and which, after this experience at least, we can well live without).
Let me just put it out there- the hard product of this hotel is absolutely gorgeous. As Hyatt globalists we got a semi-generous upgrade to a full oceanview room which has spectacular views of the Pacific ocean and the historic Oceanside pier which we could enjoy from our private balcony, perfect for watching the sunset. The rooms are stylish, well appointed and mostly comfortable though we found the mattress and bedding strangely “plastic-y” which is usually not the case in Hyatt properties. We also liked our free breakfast at Pipers as well as the pool side service.
Unfortunately, this is where the good news ends. Because service at this hotel (outside of tippeable service at the restaurant or by the pool) is outrageously bad. Bad, bad, bad. It started off badly with the (mostly bored looking) staff at the lobby entrance enjoying staring at us getting our luggage out of the car instead of offering a helping hand. Reception staff came across incredibly rude and tried to tell me that this property doesn’t offer any housekeeping service. When I reacted in disbelief, I was told that as a Hyatt Globalist, I will “generously” get my room serviced daily. Upon politely questioning whether this was still an aftershock of Covid, I was told that “we don’t have enough staff on”. Well- in my mind getting your room serviced is one of the essential reasons to stay at a full service hotel and “not having enough staff” is a problem for their Human Resources department, and not a problem for me to have to manage, as the guest. Also- the rates here are not exactly post Covid welcome back rates, going for $300 upwards per night, so if you have trouble finding housekeeping staff, maybe offer them a dollar or two more, I am sure Hyatt Corporation will survive just fine.
The next day we spent by the pool which unfortunately looks very different in real from those staged photos on the Hyatt website- it’s basically a toddler screaming kindergarten nightmare with unruly kids EVERYWHERE. No chance for relaxation, zero- it was actually way worse than at our last property in Anaheim where you’d expect children due to Disneyland up the road. During our absence, a very light service was offered in the room without replacing the used wine glasses or emptying the bins in the room. Also zero trace of vacuuming the floors, wiping the tables, nothing. On the second day, even worse, we noticed by around 3pm that no one had been to our room. Calling guest services I am once again told the fairy tale about service being available only after every third night so here I am having yet another heated discussion asking for the most basic of hotel services. In the end, the unfriendly and downright rude person complies. I leave a polite note in the room asking for fresh glasses and the bins being emptied (do I really have to?) together with some tip. Coming back to our room in the evening, the same old wine glasses with the dried in red wine stains have been left unwashed and unchanged for the second day in a row and housekeeping was pretty much limited to throwing some new towels into the room. Needless to say, the tip was gone.
Later in the evening, we went to the ground floor bar to ask for two fresh wine glasses, as we had done the night before. However, this time the bar staff made up a new rule that “we are not allowed to give you wine glasses to take” so we asked at reception instead. The incredibly unfriendly guy at reception first said “ask at the bar” and after I explained that we already tried that (obvious left hand, right hand problems here) “No problem Sir, we’ll send it up” and I was instantly suspicious as he had not even asked for our room number. I told him and we went our way. Needless to say- we waited in vain for our glasses and my attempts to get through to someone on the “Guest Services” hotline were not successful (the line basically goes to nowhere past 8pm which, I was told the next day, was apparently “normal” at this property). We felt like idiots drinking wine out of water tumblers while paying big Dollars for our stay.
The worst really was how staff reacted to my complains on the day of departure. The guy who checked me out was the same rude guy who took my request for wine glasses the night before only to ignore it. He knew straight away what I was going to say when I started with “The hard product is great but…” and told me straight up that housekeeping wasn’t up to scratch. And he remembered the wine glasses from the night before without even an attempt of explanation for what happened, let alone an apology. Likewise the guest services hotline apparently is “always off past 8pm” as if that was a normal thing. But it gets worse even: He then generously offers me to take the Destination fee off my bill. When I tell him that this isn’t much of an offer as I would not have to pay this anyway as a Globalist, what does the guy do? He tries to lecture me that destination fees are not waved as a Globalist, so I had to search the Hyatt website to show him otherwise. He still does not concur, tells me that my rate must have been “somehow ineligible” and then goes onto a rant how they have “many many Globalists in this property and unfortunately, they always think they get everything for free which is not true”. Wow, I once again was completely speechless. So after pretty much messing up everything a property could possibly mess up, the attempt to offer a resolution ends up in a heated discussion about hotel benefits. This just proved what I had thought all along- front office at this property is a big part of the problem. I overheard other guests being belittled in a similar manner at reception and witnessed how a lady by the pool asked for some sunscreen but was told to “maybe check the gift store”. Whatever this hotel is doing, it’s not training their staff to offer proper customer service. And the entire front desk crew needs a reality check- you can’t charge these kind of prices and then offer service that would not be good enough at a random Days Inn by the freeway, let alone a “posh and trendy” Hyatt property. Very disappointing overall., which is a shame given that excellent hard product.
Property: Seabird resort, Oceanside California (A Destination hotel by Hyatt)
Room booked: Partial Oceanview US$ 290 per night plus taxes etc.
Received: Full Oceanview but standard sized room
We stayed here for three nights during our vacation on the Californian coast. I remember Oceanside from a school exchange some 30 years ago so it has a special place in my heart. Hearing about two Hyatt properties, the Seabird and neighbouring Mission Pacific opening brand new here in a recently gentrified area of town, I was instantly excited (Seabird is a “Destination hotel” while the Mission Pacific is part of the “JdV” portfolio- both two newish Hyatt brands that are unknown here in Australia and which, after this experience at least, we can well live without).
Let me just put it out there- the hard product of this hotel is absolutely gorgeous. As Hyatt globalists we got a semi-generous upgrade to a full oceanview room which has spectacular views of the Pacific ocean and the historic Oceanside pier which we could enjoy from our private balcony, perfect for watching the sunset. The rooms are stylish, well appointed and mostly comfortable though we found the mattress and bedding strangely “plastic-y” which is usually not the case in Hyatt properties. We also liked our free breakfast at Pipers as well as the pool side service.
Unfortunately, this is where the good news ends. Because service at this hotel (outside of tippeable service at the restaurant or by the pool) is outrageously bad. Bad, bad, bad. It started off badly with the (mostly bored looking) staff at the lobby entrance enjoying staring at us getting our luggage out of the car instead of offering a helping hand. Reception staff came across incredibly rude and tried to tell me that this property doesn’t offer any housekeeping service. When I reacted in disbelief, I was told that as a Hyatt Globalist, I will “generously” get my room serviced daily. Upon politely questioning whether this was still an aftershock of Covid, I was told that “we don’t have enough staff on”. Well- in my mind getting your room serviced is one of the essential reasons to stay at a full service hotel and “not having enough staff” is a problem for their Human Resources department, and not a problem for me to have to manage, as the guest. Also- the rates here are not exactly post Covid welcome back rates, going for $300 upwards per night, so if you have trouble finding housekeeping staff, maybe offer them a dollar or two more, I am sure Hyatt Corporation will survive just fine.
The next day we spent by the pool which unfortunately looks very different in real from those staged photos on the Hyatt website- it’s basically a toddler screaming kindergarten nightmare with unruly kids EVERYWHERE. No chance for relaxation, zero- it was actually way worse than at our last property in Anaheim where you’d expect children due to Disneyland up the road. During our absence, a very light service was offered in the room without replacing the used wine glasses or emptying the bins in the room. Also zero trace of vacuuming the floors, wiping the tables, nothing. On the second day, even worse, we noticed by around 3pm that no one had been to our room. Calling guest services I am once again told the fairy tale about service being available only after every third night so here I am having yet another heated discussion asking for the most basic of hotel services. In the end, the unfriendly and downright rude person complies. I leave a polite note in the room asking for fresh glasses and the bins being emptied (do I really have to?) together with some tip. Coming back to our room in the evening, the same old wine glasses with the dried in red wine stains have been left unwashed and unchanged for the second day in a row and housekeeping was pretty much limited to throwing some new towels into the room. Needless to say, the tip was gone.
Later in the evening, we went to the ground floor bar to ask for two fresh wine glasses, as we had done the night before. However, this time the bar staff made up a new rule that “we are not allowed to give you wine glasses to take” so we asked at reception instead. The incredibly unfriendly guy at reception first said “ask at the bar” and after I explained that we already tried that (obvious left hand, right hand problems here) “No problem Sir, we’ll send it up” and I was instantly suspicious as he had not even asked for our room number. I told him and we went our way. Needless to say- we waited in vain for our glasses and my attempts to get through to someone on the “Guest Services” hotline were not successful (the line basically goes to nowhere past 8pm which, I was told the next day, was apparently “normal” at this property). We felt like idiots drinking wine out of water tumblers while paying big Dollars for our stay.
The worst really was how staff reacted to my complains on the day of departure. The guy who checked me out was the same rude guy who took my request for wine glasses the night before only to ignore it. He knew straight away what I was going to say when I started with “The hard product is great but…” and told me straight up that housekeeping wasn’t up to scratch. And he remembered the wine glasses from the night before without even an attempt of explanation for what happened, let alone an apology. Likewise the guest services hotline apparently is “always off past 8pm” as if that was a normal thing. But it gets worse even: He then generously offers me to take the Destination fee off my bill. When I tell him that this isn’t much of an offer as I would not have to pay this anyway as a Globalist, what does the guy do? He tries to lecture me that destination fees are not waved as a Globalist, so I had to search the Hyatt website to show him otherwise. He still does not concur, tells me that my rate must have been “somehow ineligible” and then goes onto a rant how they have “many many Globalists in this property and unfortunately, they always think they get everything for free which is not true”. Wow, I once again was completely speechless. So after pretty much messing up everything a property could possibly mess up, the attempt to offer a resolution ends up in a heated discussion about hotel benefits. This just proved what I had thought all along- front office at this property is a big part of the problem. I overheard other guests being belittled in a similar manner at reception and witnessed how a lady by the pool asked for some sunscreen but was told to “maybe check the gift store”. Whatever this hotel is doing, it’s not training their staff to offer proper customer service. And the entire front desk crew needs a reality check- you can’t charge these kind of prices and then offer service that would not be good enough at a random Days Inn by the freeway, let alone a “posh and trendy” Hyatt property. Very disappointing overall., which is a shame given that excellent hard product.
Last edited:
Berlin
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- Mar 31, 2011
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Status: Globalist (highest)
Property: Hyatt Regency Orange County (Anaheim/Disneyland Resort)
Room booked: Newly renovated King US$ 145 per night plus taxes etc.
Received: Poisoned “upgrade” to a dark and stinky old unrenovated suite with inner atrium views
Stayed here for two nights on a trip down the Californian coast as we live Disneyland and were keen to finally see the new Star Wars area of the park. The last few times in Anaheim we had stayed at the Hilton and were hoping that this Hyatt might be a better choice but unfortunately it wasn’t. We were lured by the pictures of the newly renovated guest rooms and forked out extra for one of these rooms. Being Globalists with Hyatt, we received an “upgrade” on the app prior to arrival but it turned out to be a poisoned benefit as the “suite” was one of the old unrenovated ones, facing into the interior lobby courtyard (very very weird) and featured all you’d expect from a room of that age: scratched furniture, gloomy dark lightening throughout, stains on the sofa (yikes- when I see those stains I always wonder if they still offer in room “adult movies” for the lonely business traveler kind of crowd?) and even one of those horrid over-bath showers with a plastic curtain, the horror!
Service at reception was also really bad, slow and unwelcoming- we did not even arrive during rush hour as we saw worse queues at other times but the complete lack of friendliness or interest in providing customer service was most notable. We did receive our free Globalist breakfast at least but even that we had to enquire about first and at least ordering amenities like bathrobes worked a treat on the Hyatt app (which is not the case necessarily at other Hyatt properties as we discovered later in our trip) so I’ll give them that.
To add insult to injury, we discovered later that we got literally spammed by those annoying meaningless automated emails from the “hotel manager” sleazing about welcoming us and, of course, afterwards wanting their god-forsaken NPS score. To make things worse, they came from a sender weirdly called “AEdelmann” which surely would get even the tamest spam filter getting a hiccup (why would you do something so silly???). This experience showed exactly why I hate these automated “service messages” so much: they are entirely useless and strangely meant to replace proper service at the property itself. Well, they don’t- rather to the contrary.
Lastly, the so-called adult pool has a two hour adult time after the sun goes down and is otherwise filled with screaming kids. Not something of a big surprise here at Disney but given that, we actually enjoyed the much bigger pool at the Hilton more. The Hyatt is also about twice as far from the park which pushes it just over the edge for a nice walk back and forth while the “resort shuttle” outrageously wants to charge extra so a Lyft or Uber turned out almost the same price and we didn’t have to share it with hordes of unruly children. All in all, we’ll stay at the Hilton again next time instead which I’d a shame as this hotel would otherwise have potential.
Property: Hyatt Regency Orange County (Anaheim/Disneyland Resort)
Room booked: Newly renovated King US$ 145 per night plus taxes etc.
Received: Poisoned “upgrade” to a dark and stinky old unrenovated suite with inner atrium views
Stayed here for two nights on a trip down the Californian coast as we live Disneyland and were keen to finally see the new Star Wars area of the park. The last few times in Anaheim we had stayed at the Hilton and were hoping that this Hyatt might be a better choice but unfortunately it wasn’t. We were lured by the pictures of the newly renovated guest rooms and forked out extra for one of these rooms. Being Globalists with Hyatt, we received an “upgrade” on the app prior to arrival but it turned out to be a poisoned benefit as the “suite” was one of the old unrenovated ones, facing into the interior lobby courtyard (very very weird) and featured all you’d expect from a room of that age: scratched furniture, gloomy dark lightening throughout, stains on the sofa (yikes- when I see those stains I always wonder if they still offer in room “adult movies” for the lonely business traveler kind of crowd?) and even one of those horrid over-bath showers with a plastic curtain, the horror!
Service at reception was also really bad, slow and unwelcoming- we did not even arrive during rush hour as we saw worse queues at other times but the complete lack of friendliness or interest in providing customer service was most notable. We did receive our free Globalist breakfast at least but even that we had to enquire about first and at least ordering amenities like bathrobes worked a treat on the Hyatt app (which is not the case necessarily at other Hyatt properties as we discovered later in our trip) so I’ll give them that.
To add insult to injury, we discovered later that we got literally spammed by those annoying meaningless automated emails from the “hotel manager” sleazing about welcoming us and, of course, afterwards wanting their god-forsaken NPS score. To make things worse, they came from a sender weirdly called “AEdelmann” which surely would get even the tamest spam filter getting a hiccup (why would you do something so silly???). This experience showed exactly why I hate these automated “service messages” so much: they are entirely useless and strangely meant to replace proper service at the property itself. Well, they don’t- rather to the contrary.
Lastly, the so-called adult pool has a two hour adult time after the sun goes down and is otherwise filled with screaming kids. Not something of a big surprise here at Disney but given that, we actually enjoyed the much bigger pool at the Hilton more. The Hyatt is also about twice as far from the park which pushes it just over the edge for a nice walk back and forth while the “resort shuttle” outrageously wants to charge extra so a Lyft or Uber turned out almost the same price and we didn’t have to share it with hordes of unruly children. All in all, we’ll stay at the Hilton again next time instead which I’d a shame as this hotel would otherwise have potential.
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April 2022
Status: Globalist
Property: Alila Napa Valley
Room booked: 1 King Bed with Balcony
Room Received: Junior Suite Vineyard View
Rate: 25k points/night
App showed upgrade to 1 King Bed Vineyard View High Floor with Balcony. Asked if there was any potential upgrades during check-in and the lovely front desk agent was able to snag us a Junior Suite.
The room is very nice with a firepit outside in the balcony and breakfast could be served at the Acacia house or in our room. We opted for the latter.
Unfortunately, Hyatt has increased the points required for this hotel and there is now peak and off-peak pricing on points.
Status: Globalist
Property: Alila Napa Valley
Room booked: 1 King Bed with Balcony
Room Received: Junior Suite Vineyard View
Rate: 25k points/night
App showed upgrade to 1 King Bed Vineyard View High Floor with Balcony. Asked if there was any potential upgrades during check-in and the lovely front desk agent was able to snag us a Junior Suite.
The room is very nice with a firepit outside in the balcony and breakfast could be served at the Acacia house or in our room. We opted for the latter.
Unfortunately, Hyatt has increased the points required for this hotel and there is now peak and off-peak pricing on points.
Berlin
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I was looking at this propert for a while now but it comes up at 40k per night most of the time now. After having stayed there, would you say that’s worth it?
There’s always the Andaz nearby which I’d hope would be nice enough also…
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My wife and I enjoyed our 1 night stay here and would really consider coming back to taste a few of the local wines there. We initially booked for 2 nights on points however she hurt her back in Yosemite and was not fit for the drive to Napa Valley so we had to cancel the first night. We also had to go to Napa as we booked The French Laundry.
I've attached pictures of the room and breakfast so you can decide if it's worth it. As always YMMV especially with any upgrades.
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Berlin
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Oh wow, it does look gorgeous- thank you for sharing all those photos! Definitely on my bucket list now
Berlin
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Status: Globalist (highest)
Property: Andaz San Diego, California
Room booked: Standard King, US$265 per night plus taxes etc.
Received: Deluxe King but on level 2 Street side so very noisy on Saturday night
This is one of my favourite hotels in the US and I was excited to be back. As a Hyatt Globalist I was hoping for a nice upgrade but unfortunately a slightly bigger room on the second floor was all I could get. Granted, we stayed over the weekend but in 8 or so previous stays here I’ve never gotten a room on such a low level (and the noise from the Gaslight district was as loud as expected on such a low floor). Check in otherwise was pleasant and I loved that Andaz-specific smell throughout, how I had missed it over Covid! We were also offered a glass of wine with check in (only white from plastic cups, unlike in the past) and quickly settled into our room. They’ve done the most minimalist of minor refurbishments possible since we last stayed and the age of the property is showing throughout. Still a nice hotel but not as shiny as it once was. We still loved the convenient location, the quality of the bed and the beautiful roof top pool which is one of my favourite hotel pools around. We also greatly appreciate the fact that this property is designed for adults rather than families with screaming children and only few of the latter were present during our stay. Yes, it gets loud at night but we prefer that a dozen times over babies squealing by the pool. Likewise, we actually enjoy the diversity of the inner city and had to laugh at the “letter from the management” advising they they offer to personally accompany you in the area as it is so dodgy. Yes, there are lots of homeless people around and this got worse over Covid it seems- you will encounter camps of homeless people in tents just opposite of the hotel and the occasional homeless passed out on the sidewalk. Not pleasant but more a symptom of the lack of social welfare offered, as opposed to an actual threat to anyone. The kind of people we are talking about won’t even have the money to buy a gun, let alone have reason to hurt anyone.
Unfortunately, we encountered quite a few service issues and the Covid excuse doesn’t quite cut it anymore, in my opinion. We tried to order some items through the Hyatt app for example and the request was entirely ignored, something that even some Hyatt Regency hotels managed much better during our trip. But the worst was when I went to reception to check out and asked to send a luggage cart up to my partner who was left in the room struggling with our many bags and suitcases. The lady at reception promised to send one up straight away, I even asked once more to ensure it really happens and guess what? When I came back 5 minutes later with the car (we had decided to park a block away which cost us $15 a day rather than the outrageous Valet fee that the hotel charges- no self park option at this property), you guessed it: No trolly, only my poor partner schlepping all luggage himself. Worse even: Apparently there were two staff members idling at the reception and watching him struggle without offering any assistance. Not good enough and I’m sad to say so as I really love this property.
Property: Andaz San Diego, California
Room booked: Standard King, US$265 per night plus taxes etc.
Received: Deluxe King but on level 2 Street side so very noisy on Saturday night
This is one of my favourite hotels in the US and I was excited to be back. As a Hyatt Globalist I was hoping for a nice upgrade but unfortunately a slightly bigger room on the second floor was all I could get. Granted, we stayed over the weekend but in 8 or so previous stays here I’ve never gotten a room on such a low level (and the noise from the Gaslight district was as loud as expected on such a low floor). Check in otherwise was pleasant and I loved that Andaz-specific smell throughout, how I had missed it over Covid! We were also offered a glass of wine with check in (only white from plastic cups, unlike in the past) and quickly settled into our room. They’ve done the most minimalist of minor refurbishments possible since we last stayed and the age of the property is showing throughout. Still a nice hotel but not as shiny as it once was. We still loved the convenient location, the quality of the bed and the beautiful roof top pool which is one of my favourite hotel pools around. We also greatly appreciate the fact that this property is designed for adults rather than families with screaming children and only few of the latter were present during our stay. Yes, it gets loud at night but we prefer that a dozen times over babies squealing by the pool. Likewise, we actually enjoy the diversity of the inner city and had to laugh at the “letter from the management” advising they they offer to personally accompany you in the area as it is so dodgy. Yes, there are lots of homeless people around and this got worse over Covid it seems- you will encounter camps of homeless people in tents just opposite of the hotel and the occasional homeless passed out on the sidewalk. Not pleasant but more a symptom of the lack of social welfare offered, as opposed to an actual threat to anyone. The kind of people we are talking about won’t even have the money to buy a gun, let alone have reason to hurt anyone.
Unfortunately, we encountered quite a few service issues and the Covid excuse doesn’t quite cut it anymore, in my opinion. We tried to order some items through the Hyatt app for example and the request was entirely ignored, something that even some Hyatt Regency hotels managed much better during our trip. But the worst was when I went to reception to check out and asked to send a luggage cart up to my partner who was left in the room struggling with our many bags and suitcases. The lady at reception promised to send one up straight away, I even asked once more to ensure it really happens and guess what? When I came back 5 minutes later with the car (we had decided to park a block away which cost us $15 a day rather than the outrageous Valet fee that the hotel charges- no self park option at this property), you guessed it: No trolly, only my poor partner schlepping all luggage himself. Worse even: Apparently there were two staff members idling at the reception and watching him struggle without offering any assistance. Not good enough and I’m sad to say so as I really love this property.
MrJetset
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I used a TSU at this property and checked in and out within 5 mins. Nice room, but windows were into an atrium and immediately above was the pool blasting music. I immediately moved to the W!
Berlin
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It was surprisingly quiet and ragged blissful during our stay and that was over the weekend. I also remember it wilder up there from stays in the past so maybe management has learnt?
Unfortunately, the W San Diego has been gone for quite some time now- I think it’s a Rennaissance or some other rather boring Marriott brand like that now.
Berlin
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Status: Globalist (highest)
Property: Hyatt Centric The Pike Long Beach, California
Room booked: Standard King, US$240 per night plus taxes etc.
Received: Studio Suite on level 7, parking garage views only
This was the last hotel on our trip of the Californian coast and picked it mostly because of the brand. The Hyatt Centric properties we’ve stayed at in the past-
Montevideo, Miami Beach and Melbourne (that letter quickly becoming our go to and highly recommended)- all have proven to be “right down our alley” in terms of design, amenities and even the music they tend to play. Modern and sophisticated but rather minimalistic and a bit of artsy- the kind of place that we as a middle aged gay couple feel at home, alongside most Andaz properties by far our favourites in the Hyatt portfolio.
This Hyatt Centric is a bit different from the other ones we had visited before in that it is an old re-furbished property. It’s mostly done up to Centric standards (besides the awful old escalators which could do not only with a facelift but even more so the occasional floor wipe- gosh were they dirty and this just after Covid!) and we loved the oceanliner and seafarers theming throughout which was very nicely done. We had been proactively upgraded to a “Studio Suite” on the Hyatt app which gave us plenty of room for doing the final packing of all our stuff and had a lovely walk in rain shower in the bathroom. The roof top pool was the absolute highlight of our stay-such amazing views and the bartenders were friendly and accommodating without being too full on trying to make you really drunk up there. The audience was exactly what we had expected- mostly couples and the few families we saw all had very well behaving children which I wish was the case everywhere. No screamers, no obnoxious entitled mums, none of this. And the water was actually refreshingly cool, not overly heated like in so many other properties in the US (obviously a normal thing for Americans, not so normal for everyone else). To top it all of, it was one of the very places we’ve encountered in North America that played decent electronica/chill kinda music rather than all that coughpy Hip Hop/ Country Rock stuff that made our ears bleed over the past two weeks. We loved it!
Only- big- downer here was the arrival and departure experience which can really spoil your stay: The property doesn’t have parking of their own which is annoying enough, but we knew about it and directions to the shopping centre parking which is right next door are made very clear on the hotel’s website. $16 a night is the max charge but if you stay longer and simply declare your ticket lost, you end up with a maximum $24 “lost ticket” fee for however long you chose to stay. The issue, and one that would be easy to fix, is the front of property pick up and drop off zone: It’s actually large enough for about 5 vehicles but the hotel staff seems to not give a toss about who parks there and for how long: During busy times, it’s usually parked up by people who shop in the adjacent mall and are too stingy to pay the few dollars for the parking garage. So as result when you arrive as a hotel guest, you have to stop in second row, block everyone else’s way and get beeped at by impatient shoppers who can’t possibly wait a minute until you’ve emptied the suitcases out of your trunk. We had lots and lots of luggage with us on the last day of our vacation, having thoroughly supported the US economy with our shopping! I had to stop in second row (all cars in the drop off area clearly ignoring the signage m, parking there for extended amounts of time) and my partner rushed into the hotel to ask for a luggage trolly and, ideally, someone helping. He was pointed towards the trolleys but help was denied “Sorry, no bellman on shift”. Once everything was done and the car was parked, we noticed three check in agents fiddling their thumbs who could have at least offered a hand. Worst even- one of the three guys doing nothing on our arrival was the one who happily came up and helped with our luggage on departure day so what the eff? Besides that, we also ran into severe trouble trying to find wine glasses- tried first to enquire at reception but were told to try the bar instead only to get told there that they’re not “allowing guests to take glasses up to the room”. This seemed to be an issue very common in hotels here in the US: Not sure whether it’s for safety reasons or the US-typical aversion towards potential lawsuits if someone hurts themselves on a glass splinter, or if really everyone here only drinks Bud Light and hence wine glasses are so exotic (surely that’s just a cliché, no?)? After several failed attempts to obtain proper glasses, we ended up drinking our wine from plastic tumblers in the end which was just wrong.
So all in all happy, as long as they fix the service issues on arrival. It would be so easy- just enforce the front strip of no parking and offer some assistance, especially while it’s not busy and you’re just at the front desk fiddling your thumbs. Other than that- the design, the atmosphere, the comfy bed- we’d come back in a heartbeat when in Long Beach.
One last word of advice for fellow Hyatt loyalists: The free breakfast you get as a Globalist is not worth it here as breakfast is done in a “to go” manner and therefore pales in comparison to other properties with a full buffet or a la carte breakfast. I had read about this in advance and assumed it might have been a Covid-response measure, but it’s still like this, probably always has been. Also, we were told that on weekends breakfast was on until 1pm but when rocking up at 12, we were informed that the kitchen had closed so we could only get pre-packed stuff, grumble. Likewise, if you use Hyatt reward redemption at this hotel, you won’t get your free Valet as the hotel offers none. So you’ll still have to hassle and pay for the shopping garage- I’d strongly suggest you use your points at a different property rather!
Property: Hyatt Centric The Pike Long Beach, California
Room booked: Standard King, US$240 per night plus taxes etc.
Received: Studio Suite on level 7, parking garage views only
This was the last hotel on our trip of the Californian coast and picked it mostly because of the brand. The Hyatt Centric properties we’ve stayed at in the past-
Montevideo, Miami Beach and Melbourne (that letter quickly becoming our go to and highly recommended)- all have proven to be “right down our alley” in terms of design, amenities and even the music they tend to play. Modern and sophisticated but rather minimalistic and a bit of artsy- the kind of place that we as a middle aged gay couple feel at home, alongside most Andaz properties by far our favourites in the Hyatt portfolio.
This Hyatt Centric is a bit different from the other ones we had visited before in that it is an old re-furbished property. It’s mostly done up to Centric standards (besides the awful old escalators which could do not only with a facelift but even more so the occasional floor wipe- gosh were they dirty and this just after Covid!) and we loved the oceanliner and seafarers theming throughout which was very nicely done. We had been proactively upgraded to a “Studio Suite” on the Hyatt app which gave us plenty of room for doing the final packing of all our stuff and had a lovely walk in rain shower in the bathroom. The roof top pool was the absolute highlight of our stay-such amazing views and the bartenders were friendly and accommodating without being too full on trying to make you really drunk up there. The audience was exactly what we had expected- mostly couples and the few families we saw all had very well behaving children which I wish was the case everywhere. No screamers, no obnoxious entitled mums, none of this. And the water was actually refreshingly cool, not overly heated like in so many other properties in the US (obviously a normal thing for Americans, not so normal for everyone else). To top it all of, it was one of the very places we’ve encountered in North America that played decent electronica/chill kinda music rather than all that coughpy Hip Hop/ Country Rock stuff that made our ears bleed over the past two weeks. We loved it!
Only- big- downer here was the arrival and departure experience which can really spoil your stay: The property doesn’t have parking of their own which is annoying enough, but we knew about it and directions to the shopping centre parking which is right next door are made very clear on the hotel’s website. $16 a night is the max charge but if you stay longer and simply declare your ticket lost, you end up with a maximum $24 “lost ticket” fee for however long you chose to stay. The issue, and one that would be easy to fix, is the front of property pick up and drop off zone: It’s actually large enough for about 5 vehicles but the hotel staff seems to not give a toss about who parks there and for how long: During busy times, it’s usually parked up by people who shop in the adjacent mall and are too stingy to pay the few dollars for the parking garage. So as result when you arrive as a hotel guest, you have to stop in second row, block everyone else’s way and get beeped at by impatient shoppers who can’t possibly wait a minute until you’ve emptied the suitcases out of your trunk. We had lots and lots of luggage with us on the last day of our vacation, having thoroughly supported the US economy with our shopping! I had to stop in second row (all cars in the drop off area clearly ignoring the signage m, parking there for extended amounts of time) and my partner rushed into the hotel to ask for a luggage trolly and, ideally, someone helping. He was pointed towards the trolleys but help was denied “Sorry, no bellman on shift”. Once everything was done and the car was parked, we noticed three check in agents fiddling their thumbs who could have at least offered a hand. Worst even- one of the three guys doing nothing on our arrival was the one who happily came up and helped with our luggage on departure day so what the eff? Besides that, we also ran into severe trouble trying to find wine glasses- tried first to enquire at reception but were told to try the bar instead only to get told there that they’re not “allowing guests to take glasses up to the room”. This seemed to be an issue very common in hotels here in the US: Not sure whether it’s for safety reasons or the US-typical aversion towards potential lawsuits if someone hurts themselves on a glass splinter, or if really everyone here only drinks Bud Light and hence wine glasses are so exotic (surely that’s just a cliché, no?)? After several failed attempts to obtain proper glasses, we ended up drinking our wine from plastic tumblers in the end which was just wrong.
So all in all happy, as long as they fix the service issues on arrival. It would be so easy- just enforce the front strip of no parking and offer some assistance, especially while it’s not busy and you’re just at the front desk fiddling your thumbs. Other than that- the design, the atmosphere, the comfy bed- we’d come back in a heartbeat when in Long Beach.
One last word of advice for fellow Hyatt loyalists: The free breakfast you get as a Globalist is not worth it here as breakfast is done in a “to go” manner and therefore pales in comparison to other properties with a full buffet or a la carte breakfast. I had read about this in advance and assumed it might have been a Covid-response measure, but it’s still like this, probably always has been. Also, we were told that on weekends breakfast was on until 1pm but when rocking up at 12, we were informed that the kitchen had closed so we could only get pre-packed stuff, grumble. Likewise, if you use Hyatt reward redemption at this hotel, you won’t get your free Valet as the hotel offers none. So you’ll still have to hassle and pay for the shopping garage- I’d strongly suggest you use your points at a different property rather!
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2006
- Posts
- 7,669
Status: top tier
Property: Hyatt Regency Perth
Room booked: regency king
Rate: $134.50 per night for 10 nights (long stay rate)
Received: regency executive spa suite; multiple waters; full breakfast in the restaurant or via room service; evening drinks and canapes; two large Easter eggs on Easter Sunday; late check-out; waived credit card guarantee, credit card surcharge, barista coffee and room service tray charge; long stay rate benefits of upgrade to regency suite (further upgraded to spa suite), 15% off F&B, complimentary self-parking.
Property: Park Hyatt Melbourne
Room booked: park king
Rate: category 1-7 free night award
Received: park deluxe king; late check-out; full breakfast in the restaurant; evening turndown; two bottles of water; bottle of red.
Property: Hyatt Regency Perth
Room booked: regency king
Rate: $134.50 per night for 10 nights (long stay rate)
Received: regency executive spa suite; multiple waters; full breakfast in the restaurant or via room service; evening drinks and canapes; two large Easter eggs on Easter Sunday; late check-out; waived credit card guarantee, credit card surcharge, barista coffee and room service tray charge; long stay rate benefits of upgrade to regency suite (further upgraded to spa suite), 15% off F&B, complimentary self-parking.
Property: Park Hyatt Melbourne
Room booked: park king
Rate: category 1-7 free night award
Received: park deluxe king; late check-out; full breakfast in the restaurant; evening turndown; two bottles of water; bottle of red.
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2006
- Posts
- 7,669
Status: top tier
Property: Hyatt Regency Algiers Airport
Room booked: king
Rate: ~AUD105 per night for 2 nights (long stay (The Great Relocate) rate for short stays)
Received: deluxe king, multiple waters; full breakfast in the restaurant; handwritten welcome card from a manager; welcome from the front desk manager; afternoon tea (of sorts) and happy hour (of sorts) in the bar, in lieu of the lounge having not yet opened; 25% of F&B and laundry (part of the long stay rate).
Property: Hyatt Regency Casablanca
Room booked: king
Rate: ~AUD150 plus 6K points plus pay for 1 night
Received: junior suite king; multiple waters; lounge access.
Property: Hyatt Place Miami Airport–East
Room booked: king
Rate: AUD160 for 1 night
Received: king; full breakfast; 2 bottles of water.
Property: Hyatt Regency Algiers Airport
Room booked: king
Rate: ~AUD105 per night for 2 nights (long stay (The Great Relocate) rate for short stays)
Received: deluxe king, multiple waters; full breakfast in the restaurant; handwritten welcome card from a manager; welcome from the front desk manager; afternoon tea (of sorts) and happy hour (of sorts) in the bar, in lieu of the lounge having not yet opened; 25% of F&B and laundry (part of the long stay rate).
Property: Hyatt Regency Casablanca
Room booked: king
Rate: ~AUD150 plus 6K points plus pay for 1 night
Received: junior suite king; multiple waters; lounge access.
Property: Hyatt Place Miami Airport–East
Room booked: king
Rate: AUD160 for 1 night
Received: king; full breakfast; 2 bottles of water.
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2006
- Posts
- 7,669
Status: top tier
Property: Hyatt Place LHR
Room booked: king sofabed
Rate: 5K points for 1 night
Received: high floor king sofabed; 2 bottles of water; full breakfast.
Property: Hyatt Regency Madrid
Room booked: regency king
Rate: EUR119 for 1 night (long stay (The Great Relocate) rate for short stays)
Received: regency executive suite; 2 large bottles of water; lounge access; full breakfast; bottle of Spanish red; small plate of sweets; 25% off F&B and laundry (part of the long stay rate).
Property: Hyatt Centric Portland (Oregon)
Room booked: king
Rate: USD160 per night for four nights
Received: king suite (TSU applied); whatever and however much I wanted from the à la carte breakfast menu; two cans of water; packet of local popcorn.
Property: Hyatt Place LHR
Room booked: king sofabed
Rate: 5K points for 1 night
Received: high floor king sofabed; 2 bottles of water; full breakfast.
Property: Hyatt Regency Madrid
Room booked: regency king
Rate: EUR119 for 1 night (long stay (The Great Relocate) rate for short stays)
Received: regency executive suite; 2 large bottles of water; lounge access; full breakfast; bottle of Spanish red; small plate of sweets; 25% off F&B and laundry (part of the long stay rate).
Property: Hyatt Centric Portland (Oregon)
Room booked: king
Rate: USD160 per night for four nights
Received: king suite (TSU applied); whatever and however much I wanted from the à la carte breakfast menu; two cans of water; packet of local popcorn.
Berlin
Established Member
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2011
- Posts
- 2,761
- Qantas
- Platinum
Status: Globalist (highest)
Property: Hyatt Regency Brisbane
Room booked: Cheapest (Queen, no view)
Rate: AUD 205 a night
Received: Highest ("King" Riverview, high floor), free waters (expensive Italian glass bottles from the mini bar but never replenished during the 5 night stay), odd fruit amenity with 1 pear, 1 orange and a few half-rotten grapes triple wrapped under glad wrap, two drinks vouchers for the bar
This is a bit of an odd property but I've turned into a regular of sorts so there's definitely something speaking for it. A bit of a pro and con list:
Pros:
Property: Hyatt Regency Brisbane
Room booked: Cheapest (Queen, no view)
Rate: AUD 205 a night
Received: Highest ("King" Riverview, high floor), free waters (expensive Italian glass bottles from the mini bar but never replenished during the 5 night stay), odd fruit amenity with 1 pear, 1 orange and a few half-rotten grapes triple wrapped under glad wrap, two drinks vouchers for the bar
This is a bit of an odd property but I've turned into a regular of sorts so there's definitely something speaking for it. A bit of a pro and con list:
Pros:
- Unbeatable value as a Globalist: I always book the cheapest rate (those Queen rooms must be really coughpy and small) but get a high floor "King room" with views (which isn't really a King bed, more below under "Cons"). Just over $200 a night is a pretty good deal, despite the flaws that this property has.
- Perfect location if you want to be right spot on in the city centre, I'd say ideal for tourists who want to explore Brisbane and generally nice modern rooms with excellent air-conditioning
- Staff are excellent throughout and proactively offer the 4pm checkout, maybe bar a few really clueless Asian ladies who look totally out of place and often give you that empty look if you try and have an actual conversation/ request. But that's the exception- most of them are lovely and extremely helpful. That Indian guy who supervises the breakfast is a real star- always remembers my breakfast preferences and is generally so friendly.
- Speaking of breakfast which is free for Globalists of course: It's not the most amazing breakfast buffet in the world but decent enough choices and I like that they spare you the usual egg soup on the buffet but rather serve you eggs only fresh from the kitchen on request (whether scrambled or omelette etc.). I wish more hotels did this. And Hyatt generally doesn't know of such nonsense as a "Coffee tax" like Hilton does for their highest tier members so a nice barista made coffee (or two) is included as well.
- For now they still give you nice individual shower amenities (shampoo and so on) but the dreaded Hyatt pump holders already got installed in the showers to that benefit will soon be gone. And the now typical Hyatt dispensers that remind me of a cheap American roadside motel are just awful and, obviously, not really installed to save the polar bears but rather to save a pretty penny. Isn't it funny how protecting the environment or saving the world from Covid only ever works for corporates when it also saves money but never if it costs extra?
- Those damn mattresses which unfortunately, is one of the most important aspects of any hotel: The property still to this day does not have any King beds but happily sells "King rooms" on their website. They're a sham and I've provided feedback accordingly several times: You always get two singles showed together with a flimsy comforter on top so you'll feel the dreaded gap between them. Not good enough for a Hyatt and I don't comprehend why they can't just get some King mattresses to solve the issue. They rather "renovate" the pool bar in the interest of making money it seems but I seriously hope they'll tackle the issue soon. These singles are becoming old and worn anyway now so it's time.
- The property overall is a bit old and tired so it shows that it used to be a different brand/ style. They renovate a little bit here and there but the building from the outside looks dreadful, as do the elevators and hallways. Not a "Hyatt" as such.
- The pool. Oh that pool- pretty much only exists for pretty Instagram pictures. Unfortunately it's in the property's own shadow from around 11:30am onwards and not heated either so pretty much useless. Admittedly this one is hard to almost impossible to change (besides maybe heating the water at least).
- Housekeeping was a bit hit and miss this time but it felt to me as if they're suffering from the usual staff shortages (of course they could just fork out a Dollar or two more per hours but to my point further up- this is unthinkable in corporate world, of course).
- Finally, this property seems to be the only Hyatt in the world that doesn't put a hold on your credit card upon check in but rather puts through the charge for the entire stay at this point rather than upon checkout as is normal elsewhere. Not that I care personally but if you have a restrictive credit card or are planning for this charge to come through only upon checkout, take notice and be warned because reception staff never tells one about it as if it was the most normal thing in the world (it is not).
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2007
- Posts
- 2,834
- Qantas
- LT Gold
- Virgin
- Platinum
I reviewed our stay at this Hyatt a few posts ago. Totally agree with your cons list Berlin. House keeping only every second day and no turn down service because of “COVID”
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2006
- Posts
- 7,669
Status: top tier
Property: Hyatt Regency JFK at Resorts World
Room booked: regency king
Rate: 12K points for 1 night
Received: executive suite; two bottles of water; lounge access.
Property: Tempe Mission Palms
Room booked: king
Rate: 63K points for 7 nights
Received: 1 bedroom king suite via TSU; $30 daily breakfast credit; 2 x 1L waters per day; waived "destination" fee. I originally planned to stay only 4 nights but fell ill. I asked the hotel if I could remain in the same suite if I extended my stay but was told that wasn't possible as the suite was booked from night 6. I contacted World of Hyatt which worked with the hotel and I didn't end up having to move.
Property: Hyatt Regency Chicago O'Hare
Room booked: regency king
Rate: 16K points for 2 nights
Received: deluxe premier (bi-level) suite via TSU; buffet breakfast; 2 bottles of water daily.
Property: Hyatt Regency JFK at Resorts World
Room booked: regency king
Rate: 12K points for 1 night
Received: executive suite; two bottles of water; lounge access.
Property: Tempe Mission Palms
Room booked: king
Rate: 63K points for 7 nights
Received: 1 bedroom king suite via TSU; $30 daily breakfast credit; 2 x 1L waters per day; waived "destination" fee. I originally planned to stay only 4 nights but fell ill. I asked the hotel if I could remain in the same suite if I extended my stay but was told that wasn't possible as the suite was booked from night 6. I contacted World of Hyatt which worked with the hotel and I didn't end up having to move.
Property: Hyatt Regency Chicago O'Hare
Room booked: regency king
Rate: 16K points for 2 nights
Received: deluxe premier (bi-level) suite via TSU; buffet breakfast; 2 bottles of water daily.
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