Hyatt Diamond Year In Review
This past weekend I stayed at two different Hyatt Hotels in the San Francisco Bay area. Combined with my recent Excalibur mattress run, these were the last three stays I needed to re-qualify for my beloved Hyatt Diamond status. That status is going away of course and with it the ability to qualify on stays, so my future as a Hyatt top tier is in doubt. With that said, 2017 is locked and loaded.
Looking at 2016, I can say it was an interesting year when it came to my Hyatt stays. I ended up staying at a wide variety of properties both here and abroad. I thought it would be fun to go over the best, worst and most surprising moments of my journey and perhaps provide a little perspective into the hotels I am talking about.
Hyatt Place’s Are Not Always Boring
Anyone who has stayed at more than one Hyatt Place location over the years has probably noticed that most of them are exactly the same. Thankfully over the past couple of years they Hyatt has opened more unique properties. This year I had the pleasure of staying at the new Hyatt Place near the Miami Airport and this past weekend I stayed at the equally as impressive brand new Hyatt Place in Emeryville. While I still prefer full service Hyatt properties, in many cases these new Hyatt Places are much nicer.
MLife Stay of the Year
While I try to avoid the Strip as often as possible as a local, every once in awhile it can be fun to go for a special occasion. Back in March to celebrate our wedding anniversary, I treated my wife to a night at the MGM Grand. After finding out it was our anniversary, the front desk agent upgraded us to a fantastic suite. Upgrades are rare in Vegas without a lot of play and/or juicing the front desk, so I was happy. It was a beautiful room.
Biggest Disappointment
The Park Hyatt New York is supposed to be the flagship property of the brand. I will say it is a beautiful hotel with a fantastic location. I have no complaints about the rooms or public spaces either. The service on the other hand was severely lacking considering this is a five star hotel with a five star price tag. It started with the bellmen not offering to take our bags and went downhill from there. I wanted this hotel to live up to the standards set at other Park Hyatt properties, but it simply didn’t.
Best Breakfast
One of the best things about Hyatt is how well you are treated as a Diamond/Globalist member of their program. Outside of the U.S., especially in Asia, they go all out with both service and amenities. My favorite breakfast this year was the breakfast buffet at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. While they have a lounge that is among the best in the entire chain, their breakfast buffet is simply amazing. They don’t generally tell you that you can take your breakfast downstairs, but you can and you won’t regret it.
Best View
On my recent trip to Asia I stayed in 3 hotels with amazing views. While the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong had spectacular views of Victoria Harbour and the Andaz Tokyo gave amazing views of the city and bay in the distance, it was the view from the 71st floor of the Grand Hyatt Shanghai that won me over. Being on such a high floor combined with views of the Bund and Pearl Tower make this one a winner. Especially at night!
Favorite Hotel
My favorite Hyatt hotel of the year had to be the Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills. While the hotel lacks a lounge, the staff was simply amazing as was the breakfast and the room. With dark hand carved wood everywhere and a modern Japanese feel, I think this hotel is the prettiest that I have ever seen. Combined with the previously mentioned views, one of the best bathtubs I have ever seen in a room and a pool to die for, I didn’t want to leave!
Conclusion
It’s been a varied, interesting and fun year of staying at Hyatt properties. I’ll enjoy my Globalist status in 2017, but with World of Hyatt coming I will definitely be adjusting my hotel elite status strategy going forward.
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Merry Christmas to you and your family Shawn!
Currently in Asia with Hyatt stays in Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Looking forward the the latter two, but can guarantee neither will top the Grand Hyatt Singapore. It’s gotten prohibitively expensive so using Points & Cash with a DSU is the way to go. The hotel, while not the newest or flashiest, is VERY accommodating to Diamonds (7AM check-in and 6PM check-out) and our suite was a DUPLEX!?! Half bath, small kitchen, living room and conference table downstairs and bedroom, full bath and private reading area upstairs. I’m LT Diamond with Hilton and have received a corner suite upgrade at the Conrad, Hong Kong in the past, but this was awe inspiring.
Very hard bed at the Andaz Tokyo. Very close to a Taco Bell, though.
Lol. Taco Bell. The important stuff.
Beds in Asia are generally hard. So what was your favorite hotel of 2016?
Very happy to see you enjoyed the Andaz in Tokyo. Many bloggers seems to dislike the location, which i can understand, but the place is beautiful and my experience as well was amazing. Can’t wait to return.