How do Hyatt treat you as an Elite?

[penegal]

The lounge is never meant to be a substitute for dinner. It's pre-dinner canapes, and the food reflects this.

Of course, I know that many savvy / cost conscious travelers do use it as dinner. But as someone who has previously lived as a "lounge lizard", and found myself on the wrong side of 100Kgs, I actually enjoy the optionality and health benefits of the $35 credit.

The slightly annoying thing for me is that in my [limited] experience the $35 credit is not coughulative (e.g. it is not possible to use 3 nights worth ($105) on a nice meal in the restaurant - you would get $35 off).

The credit is per room, not per adult. As such, it's much better for singles.

Also remember you are getting a free upgrade of the breakfast from the lounge offerings to full buffet including made to order items and barista coffee all included.

Overall, I am happy with these arrangements, and think they are fair...

Post automatically merged: Mar 19, 2021

$35 will barely get two glasses of wine.

FWIW - I would bring a nice bottle of wine from home, or walk 1-2 blocks and buy a much better bottle of Australian wine to enjoy in your room alongside something nice from the menu.

 

[esquire]

The lounge is never meant to be a substitute for dinner. It's pre-dinner canapes, and the food reflects this.

Of course, I know that many savvy / cost conscious travelers do use it as dinner. But as someone who has previously lived as a "lounge lizard", and found myself on the wrong side of 100Kgs, I actually enjoy the optionality and health benefits of the $35 credit.

The slightly annoying thing for me is that in my [limited] experience the $35 credit is not coughulative (e.g. it is not possible to use 3 nights worth ($105) on a nice meal in the restaurant - you would get $35 off).

The credit is per room, not per adult. As such, it's much better for singles.

Also remember you are getting a free upgrade of the breakfast from the lounge offerings to full buffet including made to order items and barista coffee all included.

Overall, I am happy with these arrangements, and think they are fair...

Post automatically merged: Mar 19, 2021

FWIW - I would bring a nice bottle of wine from home, or walk 1-2 blocks and buy a much better bottle of Australian wine to enjoy in your room alongside something nice from the menu.

Having just stayed there - I’d much rather the lounge - the hotel F&B prices are just outrageous, especially for a simple wine by the glass and the menu rather limited. The room service menu is even more limited. In the end I did what you suggested - bought a bottle of wine for a few nights- same price as a glass....

I would rather they did the Hyatt Perth option - free select drinks and nibble plates at the bar for an hour.

Im not a fan of big breakfasts (although it was good and certainly one of the better buffets (yes a real one) but lounge breakfasts works better as they are more efficient and eat less!. At least the Grand Club was still open for soft beverages - so a bonus point there.

 

[aus_flyer]

The Hyatt Regency in Sydney has closed the lounge and offers nothing as a replacement for evening drinks/canapes. It's time for hotels to stop using COVID as an excuse. Restaurants and bars are open... so reopen the damn Club!

 

[Danger]

The Hyatt Regency in Sydney has closed the lounge and offers nothing as a replacement for evening drinks/canapes. It's time for hotels to stop using COVID as an excuse. Restaurants and bars are open... so reopen the damn Club!

Last year I made a multi night reservation at the Hyatt Regency Sydney. At the time of booking, the member rate tab stated, "Club access guests will receive $50 credit (per room, per night) for our bars and restaurants if Regency Club is closed at time of visit." The same was reflected in the confirmation email.

Closer to the stay I reached out to my concierge to see if the amount was coughulative. He replied saying my rate had no such credit. I was away from my computer at the time so I called Hyatt general reservations and asked for the confirmation to be re-sent to me. The $50 credit was no longer reflected.

Back at home, I retrieved my email confirmation - and the screenshot I took at the time of booking, having been burned by this hotel previously - and sent them to my concierge, asking for an explanation as to who had tampered with my reservation. The response? "On this occasion, the hotel will honor the $50 credit for your stay." No apology, no explanation.

Possibly the worst customer service I've had from Hyatt, ever.

 

[aus_flyer]

Last year I made a multi night reservation at the Hyatt Regency Sydney. At the time of booking, the member rate tab stated, "Club access guests will receive $50 credit (per room, per night) for our bars and restaurants if Regency Club is closed at time of visit." The same was reflected in the confirmation email.

Closer to the stay I reached out to my concierge to see if the amount was coughulative. He replied saying my rate had no such credit. I was away from my computer at the time so I called Hyatt general reservations and asked for the confirmation to be re-sent to me. The $50 credit was no longer reflected.

Back at home, I retrieved my email confirmation - and the screenshot I took at the time of booking, having been burned by this hotel previously - and sent them to my concierge, asking for an explanation as to who had tampered with my reservation. The response? "On this occasion, the hotel will honor the $50 credit for your stay." No apology, no explanation.

Possibly the worst customer service I've had from Hyatt, ever.

I've been a Diamond/Globalist for over a decade and the worst service I have ever received (anywhere in the world) is at the Hyatt Regency Sydney. At least they're consistent with their abysmal service.

 

[Danger]

Status: top tier
Property: Hyatt Regency Perth
Room booked: regency king
Rate: $535 for four nights
Received: regency executive spa suite, full breakfast (available as room service with a $5 tray charge or in the Conservatory), a handwritten welcome note from the GM and a second handwritten welcome note from "[love heart] The Hyatt family", bottle of wine, complimentary self parking, waived CC surcharge, three large glass bottles of water.

 

[Berlin]

I've been a Diamond/Globalist for over a decade and the worst service I have ever received (anywhere in the world) is at the Hyatt Regency Sydney. At least they're consistent with their abysmal service.

Service wise, one of the worst Hyatts world wide from my experience. I stay there quite often to collate Hyatt tier nights and find it okay priced but service they don’t have at all.

 

[Berlin]

Status: Explorist
Property: Hyatt Regency Sydney
Room booked: Lowest category (city view King)
Rate: $190 a night (long term stay rate)

Received an upgrade to a Darling Harbour view King room and, probably due to our long stay (15 nights) a nice bottle of Möet on arrival- proper French champagne which was a very pleasant surprise.

Room still on the smaller side and the usual service issues as always at this property. Party Central for half of Western Sydney on a weekend, also nothing changed there.

 

[Berlin]

Status: Globalist (highest tier)
Property: Hyatt Centric Melbourne
Room booked: Lowest (city view King)
Rate: $260 a night

Upgraded to an amazing 1 bedroom King suite with bay view. Will post pictures in a separate thread on this new property.

 

[Danger]

Status: top tier
Property: Hyatt Regency Sydney
Room booked: king
Rate: $232 for one night
Received: harbour view king; full breakfast in the restaurant; 4pm check-out; two small cartons of water; follow up email and then a phone call from a manager after I completed the post-stay survey.

Property: Hyatt Regency Brisbane
Room booked: king
Rate: $179 per night for a fortnight (long stay rate)
Received: king river view; full breakfast in the restaurant; one complimentary house beverage per day; whole fruit bowel and typed welcome note; multiple bottles of water; 4pm check-out; bucket of beers as service recovery for a housekeeping issue; an offer from a manager to source/prepare something different for breakfast (‘I know you’re staying with us for several nights and breakfast might get a little boring’) and then an offer from the chef for the same; long stay benefits of 20% discount on F&B, laundry and parking.

 

[serfty]

4pm check-out

As they should ( read: have to ), although from they way they welcomed you they would have given you 6pm

 

[Berlin]

Status: Top tier (Globalist)
Property: Park Hyatt Canberra
Room booked: Standard King
Rate: $265 a night
Received: The most ordinary run down standard King on low floor with parking lot views

We’ve stayed at this property many times before and still like the old school charm that this hotel displays. However, this time was rather disappointing and we feel that the quality is really slipping which is a real shame.

As Hyatt Globalist members, we were disappointed right from the start with the check in guy telling us that “we’re full so we can’t upgrade you at all”. I’d argue that keeping your grand loyalists happy should be more important than making a quick buck with some guests who’ve never set foot into a Hyatt before but of course, this is at the hotel’s discretion which I understand. Besides the base level room on street level (not even a level or two higher seemed to be possible) with a lovely parking lot view, we also received zero other amenities besides the pretty average breakfast (more on that later). No welcome amenity, no bottle of wine or drink vouchers, not even the usual “Welcome back” letter from management, absolutely nothing. I asked about the lounge and was told in a very condescending tone that “Ha, that had closed before Covid already as management doesn’t find it worth our while” and that was it. We generally got the feeling that the check in guy, like most staff we dealt with, could generally not give a toss.

And speaking about “not worth their while”: That definitely also goes for keeping this glorious old property up to date. I complained years ago already about how desperately this hotel needs at least a few touch ups but fast forward to today and absolutely nothing has been done. If you compare this to other properties in the Park Hyatt portfolio (or any normal Hyatt, really) around the world, it’s a complete disaster: Everything is run down and in bad need of a refurb and it shows very clearly now. The rubber-like top cover of the desk in the room was full of scratches and marks from previous guests, some of the marble in the bathroom has been scratched off over the decades of neglect and the sofas were old and run down with highly suspicious white stains all over. Now that might be “just milk” but it looked very much like the stains from a very different ‘liquid’ to me which is just disgusting. Actually- lot of these things would be a shame for a Youth hostel even, let alone a Park Hyatt. Likewise the lack of USB ports, the old school toilet seats that only seem to close with a loud “bang” (I had totally forgotten that these existed back during my childhood) and on it goes. Oh and the pool- absolutely disgusting, one of those really old fashioned overly chlorined indoor nightmares that never seems to even get any attention by staff. On our last day, they even had the dumb idea to lock off the doors that usually lead outside and on a hot summer’s day this made the pool building unbearably hot, sticky and uncomfortable (while in its stuffy enclosure also most likely providing a field Day for any Omikron bugs).

Unfortunately, the formerly impeccable service seems to now also be affected, alongside “just” the hard product of a run down old hotel: It took ages to get through to someone on the phone and we waited endlessly for simple requests like an ice bucket or some towels with two instances when we had the call again an hour later only to find out that our request “had been forgotten”. And whenever we dealt with actual staff members, they seemed to rather not care and certainly didn’t display the kind of customer service that one would expect in a Park Hyatt. This was especially true at breakfast which was a total disaster. On the first morning, we waited for almost half an hour to receive our coffees and staff was “excellent” at looking the other way if you wanted to ask for anything. The choices were bland and boring, even the omelette station was pretty average and they never ever managed to properly seal the omelettes so you always had plenty off raw egg juice on your plate. Not that we would care ourselves but we also found it very strange that while staff seemed to be close to 90% of Asian descent, they did not even have an Asian breakfast station with congee and dumplings and the likes which seems to be fairly standard at international hotels these days. But this matched the overall choice generally on this buffet which was pretty basic and so was the quality of the offerings- fine for maybe a Novotel but definitely not a Park Hyatt.
All in all rather disappointing but guess what- we probably will be back anyway because Canberra generally lacks nice hotels and this one is probably still the best of the lot. And this clearly is the issue here: The management of this hotel knows it and hence does not see the need to upgrade or employ decently trained staff. I can only hope that Hyatt as a chain takes note and either downgrades this to a Hyatt Regency (at most!) or pushes the owners to do a real proper refurbishment. I can only imagine what could be done with this grande old hotel if it received a little bit of TLC. A real shame, actually.

 

[esquire]

Status: Top tier (Globalist)
Property: Park Hyatt Canberra
Room booked: Standard King
Rate: $265 a night
Received: The most ordinary run down standard King on low floor with parking lot views

We’ve stayed at this property many times before and still like the old school charm that this hotel displays. However, this time was rather disappointing and we feel that the quality is really slipping which is a real shame.

As Hyatt Globalist members, we were disappointed right from the start with the check in guy telling us that “we’re full so we can’t upgrade you at all”. I’d argue that keeping your grand loyalists happy should be more important than making a quick buck with some guests who’ve never set foot into a Hyatt before but of course, this is at the hotel’s discretion which I understand. Besides the base level room on street level (not even a level or two higher seemed to be possible) with a lovely parking lot view, we also received zero other amenities besides the pretty average breakfast (more on that later). No welcome amenity, no bottle of wine or drink vouchers, not even the usual “Welcome back” letter from management, absolutely nothing. I asked about the lounge and was told in a very condescending tone that “Ha, that had closed before Covid already as management doesn’t find it worth our while” and that was it. We generally got the feeling that the check in guy, like most staff we dealt with, could generally not give a toss.

And speaking about “not worth their while”: That definitely also goes for keeping this glorious old property up to date. I complained years ago already about how desperately this hotel needs at least a few touch ups but fast forward to today and absolutely nothing has been done. If you compare this to other properties in the Park Hyatt portfolio (or any normal Hyatt, really) around the world, it’s a complete disaster: Everything is run down and in bad need of a refurb and it shows very clearly now. The rubber-like top cover of the desk in the room was full of scratches and marks from previous guests, some of the marble in the bathroom has been scratched off over the decades of neglect and the sofas were old and run down with highly suspicious white stains all over. Now that might be “just milk” but it looked very much like the stains from a very different ‘liquid’ to me which is just disgusting. Actually- lot of these things would be a shame for a Youth hostel even, let alone a Park Hyatt. Likewise the lack of USB ports, the old school toilet seats that only seem to close with a loud “bang” (I had totally forgotten that these existed back during my childhood) and on it goes. Oh and the pool- absolutely disgusting, one of those really old fashioned overly chlorined indoor nightmares that never seems to even get any attention by staff. On our last day, they even had the dumb idea to lock off the doors that usually lead outside and on a hot summer’s day this made the pool building unbearably hot, sticky and uncomfortable (while in its stuffy enclosure also most likely providing a field Day for any Omikron bugs).

Unfortunately, the formerly impeccable service seems to now also be affected, alongside “just” the hard product of a run down old hotel: It took ages to get through to someone on the phone and we waited endlessly for simple requests like an ice bucket or some towels with two instances when we had the call again an hour later only to find out that our request “had been forgotten”. And whenever we dealt with actual staff members, they seemed to rather not care and certainly didn’t display the kind of customer service that one would expect in a Park Hyatt. This was especially true at breakfast which was a total disaster. On the first morning, we waited for almost half an hour to receive our coffees and staff was “excellent” at looking the other way if you wanted to ask for anything. The choices were bland and boring, even the omelette station was pretty average and they never ever managed to properly seal the omelettes so you always had plenty off raw egg juice on your plate. Not that we would care ourselves but we also found it very strange that while staff seemed to be close to 90% of Asian descent, they did not even have an Asian breakfast station with congee and dumplings and the likes which seems to be fairly standard at international hotels these days. But this matched the overall choice generally on this buffet which was pretty basic and so was the quality of the offerings- fine for maybe a Novotel but definitely not a Park Hyatt.
All in all rather disappointing but guess what- we probably will be back anyway because Canberra generally lacks nice hotels and this one is probably still the best of the lot. And this clearly is the issue here: The management of this hotel knows it and hence does not see the need to upgrade or employ decently trained staff. I can only hope that Hyatt as a chain takes note and either downgrades this to a Hyatt Regency (at most!) or pushes the owners to do a real proper refurbishment. I can only imagine what could be done with this grande old hotel if it received a little bit of TLC. A real shame, actually.

I’ve given up on Hyatt Canberra (which is what is should be called - it is no longer a Park Hyatt), this is after 120+ stays there over 10 years (and some really great memories). Over he last 3 years Recognition has been poor and even with plenty of feedback nothing changes. They have always relied heavily on international students- and it shows now. Try the A by Adina for better service and experience.

 

[timmy1234]

I totally agree about the above 2 reviews about Hyatt Canberra. I reached early and even though there were rooms available at 12 noon they did not allow me to check in early as a globalist. It comes down to the front desk gal. When the first one went away the second front desk gal was about to move some rooms so that I can check in early but with my bad luck the first one arrived and stop the second one from changing. Worst Hyatt Property customer service even though I had 2 rooms booked. Sadly they dont have competition from another Hyatt property. I only prefer to break my journey from Sydney to Melbourne when I prefer driving with my family rather than flying.

 

[Daver6]

Yeah I'm also a little miffed by this property. I'm a lowly nothing with Hyatt but I keep going back to this property when in Canberra for work. I would have thought they might recognise that, but nothing.

 

[MrJetset]

The Hyatt Hotel CBR is an awful, run down hotel with no upkeep.

Although I have always received suites, including several of of the top categories, my last two stays were the same - disinterested staff, terrible service, hot corridors and awful F&B.

The Ambassador Lounge was closed as was the Park Lounge at the PH MEL. I believe the PH HAM may have also closed theirs. Hyatt stated it was to 'streamline the brand' but we all know the truth.

That said, travelling during Covid you should need to lower your expectations. They were probably full because they are only filling some of the room inventory. Lack of upgrade would be a result of that. I don't think anything else is forgivable.

 

[Berlin]

Status: Globalist (top tier)
Property: Hyatt Regency Brisbane
Room booked: Low floor Queen room (lowest)
Rate: $199 a night (total of 3 nights)
Received: River View King room (which is actually not a true King bed but those annoying two singles showed together) on the second highest level (highest room category they have at this property, level 25), plenty of free Aqua Panna (that overpriced Nestlé water which gets imported all the way from Italy, in heavy glass bottles even, eyes roll…) and, oddly, there “welcome oranges” and a generic greeting card. Of course, also full breakfast (more on that shortly) and two drink vouchers for either of the bars.

I love little weekend escapes to Brissy and am glad that there’s a Hyatt now. This was my third stay here since they rebranded about a year ago and I still quite like this property. They treated me like royalty, not only with the room upgrade but also when I showed up at breakfast and was told that as “VIP guest, of course there is a table by the window reserved for you” and was offered free barista coffee instead of the standard machine stuff. The view was only the front of Myer department store but I appreciated the sentiment.

No coffee tax ever at Hyatt and always a full hot breakfast (Hilton, I am looking at you). Likewise, the 4pm checkout is guaranteed (with the exception of a few “resort” class properties) and usually, like in this case, proactively offered. Such a huge benefit!

While the property looks horrid from the outside (one of those awful concrete bunkers from, I don’t know, the 60ies or 70ies), the rooms inside are very nice. Rooms up to level 15 are actually significantly smaller but I’ve only ever stayed in the higher ones. Modern, though with a bit of bland decore, very spacious bathrooms with walk in showers.

Yep major issues/ warnings with this hotel: First, the pool is located in such a position that it catches the shade from the building at 12 sharp. I always drag myself out early because of this and essentially taylor my entire day to match the sun by the pool which is everything but ideal. On top of this, the pool is not heated and temperature fluctuates between freezing in Summer and absolutely ice water freezing the rest of the year. One side effect of this that o personally enjoy is that the bold shady pool successfully keeps families with their little shrieking kinds away. Never saw any of them staying for longer than 5 which is a huge plus in my books, personally. But if you want to take your kids to the pool: Be warned.

Second gripe is my biggest issue and I am sad to see that it still hasn’t been fixed as I had complained about it almost a year ago already and it should be easy to do: While advertising King rooms, this hotel actually only has rooms with two singles shoved together, hidden under a flimsy mattress topper. This is one of my hotel pet hates and while by myself not a huge problem, would be a real reason to stay elsewhere if going with my partner. I also noticed that the single mattresses are getting quite old and worn out so now is the time to swap them out and get some proper King mattresses.

 

[drross]

Staying in Brisbane the next two nights at the Hyatt..lowly member. Will see how our stay compares to Berlin’s. Cheers

 

[Berlin]

Status: Globalist (highest tier)
Property: Hyatt Centric Melbourne
Room booked: Lowest (city view King)
Rate: $269 a night

Second stay here at this property and once again upgraded to an amazing 1 bedroom King suite with bay views the day before our stay on the app already. As last time, we had an amazing stay- just the breakfast restaurant needs a bit of an upgrade, the staff are incredibly slack there (unlike the rest of the hotel so it's quite remarkably different).

The hotel is much more our thing style- and atmosphere-wise than our old Hyatt favourites in Melbourne, the Park and the Grand Hyatt. So I think we've well and truly found our home away from home here in Melbourne!

 

[drross]

lowly member
Hyatt Regency Brisbane
book one night and get second one free offer


asked for an early check in on Sunday and was granted request - 11am! Great staff but that was the end of the 'goodness'
Couldn't use the pool area on Monday morning as there was a photo shoot on and the Hibiscus Room was similarly closed on Monday for the photo shoot. Rooms only cleaned every second day due to' COVID" issues.