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.