Faster Free Nights returns for October 1 through January 31, 2010. The recurring Hyatt Gold Passport promotion packs even more punch this time around. No specific credit card brand is required and stays will count double for elite qualification.

Faster Free Nights allows a Gold Passport member to earn a free night at any Hyatt hotel worldwide after every two eligible stays. An eligible stay is generally any paid stay booked through Hyatt website or Hyatt customer service.

Free nights can be redeemed from October 15 through March 31, 2010.

Registration is required and the Hyatt Gold Passport link will be available as of Friday, September 25. Currently there is a link-less description of the offer on Gold Passport.

http://goldpassport.hyatt.com/gp/en/index.jsp

Road warriors who just don’t care for free nights have the option of earning 3,000 bonus points per stay starting with your 2^nd stay during the promotion period. Unlike free nights, points do not expire March 31. This option may be a better choice for someone unable to take advantage of free night redemption before March 2010.

A member must choose between free nights or bonus points for the duration of the promotion. Once your choice is made the promotion terms are set for the duration of this offer. You can’t alternate stays between earning bonus points and free nights.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

Faster Free Nights is straightforward.  A Gold Passport member will earn a free night credit after every two stays. A stay can be one night, 2 nights, even 7 nights. Some members will earn a free night after two 1-night stays. Some members will have a 7 night stay and still need another stay to earn a free night.

Leisure travelers and flexible business travelers can maximize this deal. Last Christmas season, at the end of the last Faster Free Nights promotion, I stayed at the Denver Hyatt Regency one night for $70 and I stayed at the Grand Hyatt Denver the next night for $70.

A month later I redeemed my free night for a $600 per night room at the Hyatt Carmel Highlands Inn.

This promotion normally has high leverage value. A member can have ten 1-night stays at an average cost of $100 per night and earn 5 free nights. The five free nights will have a redemption value of $400+ per night in many Hyatt locations. Spend $1,000 for ten hotel nights and take a $2,000 free hotel vacation. That is the value of Faster Free Nights to the loyalty traveler.

Stays Count Double Analysis

Hyatt has two elite status levels. Platinum elite normally requires 5 stays or 15 nights in the calendar year. This promotion allows a member to earn Platinum status with just 3 stays during October 1 – December 31.

Diamond elite is the highest Gold Passport tier with privileges like four guaranteed advance upgrades, 1,000 bonus points per stay at most hotels or the choice of an amenity like a food tray, free movie, or mini-bar credit. Qualification normally requires 25 stays or 50 nights in a calendar year.

The value-added component of this Faster Free Nights offer is the ability to earn free nights while fast-tracking your way to high elite status.

A member with no Hyatt hotel stays currently can register for this promotion and stay 14 times between October 1 and December 31.  The cost for 14 Hyatt hotel stays may cost as little as $1,100 to $1,500 for some members.

In addition to earning 7 free nights for any Hyatt Hotel worldwide and securing Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond status before the end in 2009, the member will retain Hyatt Gold passport Diamond status through February 2011.

And for the truly ambitious the feat can be repeated or even delayed until January 2010. A member with 14 Hyatt hotel stays in January 2010 would earn 7 free nights and retain Diamond elite status through February 2012. January is traditionally the lowest hotel rates of the year in many locations.

Bottom Line: Hyatt has unveiled an unprecedented high value offer for the frequent guest who has the ability to leverage hotel stays into high value free nights while attaining high elite status in Gold Passport.

Sep 30 update: Hyatt’s Gold Passport Concierge, a company representative on FlyerTalk, announced today in Post 49 in link below that Gold Passport members selecting miles for hotel stays will qualify for Faster Free Nights and double stays elite credit .

Note on United Airlines 5,500 miles per stay bonus. Initial chatter on Gold Passport Concierge promotion FAQ on FlyerTalk indicates the Faster Free Nights and United miles bonus are mutually exclusive offers. I’ll report more about this when details become clear.  Gold passport members must earn points to earn free nights and stays count double credit. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hyatt-gold-passport/998020-next-best-thing-ffn-2009-promotion-t-cs-faqs.html

 

 

Hyatt Gold Passport “Enjoy Elite Membership” Offer:

Offer Registration Period: May 1 – Aug 31, 2009

Loyalty Traveler rating = 5-Star Promotion

I am not the king of “One Night Stays” because that is my preferred mode of travel. I view it in terms of economics and getting high elite status takes a good deal of my spare, and sometimes not so spare change.

For travelers who want the privileges of hotel loyalty high-elite status, but who are not in a position to live in hotels for two months, this Hyatt Gold Passport offer is one of the best opportunities to come around in 2009 for cheap elite without the hassle of hotel hopping.

Complimentary Platinum Membership : Promotion link

Nonmembers can join Hyatt Gold Passport and automatically receive four months of elite status with complimentary Platinum membership. Normally Gold Passport Platinum elite membership requires 5 stays or 15 nights in a calendar year.

Current Hyatt Gold Passport members, with or without elite status need to call Hyatt Gold Passport Customer Service to enroll for this complimentary elite offer.

Hyatt Gold Passport Customer Service 1-800-228-3360

Platinum Benefits include complimentary room upgrades, complimentary internet access (a recently introduced benefit), and 15 % bonus on base points earned. (Gold Passport members regularly earn 5 points per $1 in spending.) Hyatt Platinum members also earn Platinum Extra certificates for added benefits with every 3rd stay.

Stay just 5 nights in the 120 day trial membership period and your Platinum elite membership will be extended through February 2011.

Fast-Track to Diamond Membership

The amazing aspect of this hotel loyalty offer is the ability to earn Diamond elite status through February 2011 with just 15 hotel nights in the 120 days after promotion enrollment.

Hyatt Gold Passport has just two elite membership levels – Platinum and Diamond.

Diamond elite normally requires 25 hotel stays or 50 hotel nights in a calendar year. The ability to earn Diamond elite status in just 15 nights is truly a high-value proposition for the hotel guest.

Diamond Benefits link

And the ability to earn high-elite status with just a few multi-night hotel stays potentially makes achieving this membership level a luxurious, or at least highly pleasurable task.

Gold Passport typically runs a Stays Count Double promotion during the year. Last year I earned Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond in a two-week period in March 2008 during the last weeks of the Stays Count Double promotion. Hotel hopping for 13 one-night stays in two weeks is a bit grueling.

And was it worth it to hotel hop for two weeks last year? The free nights in the $600 bi-level apartment at the Hyatt Highlands Inn in Carmel Highlands said “YES” – again and again.

Can current Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond members enroll in this fast-track offer? YES

I spent some time on the phone today with Gold Passport and I was informed current elite members are eligible for this “Enjoy Elite Membership” offer.

 

 

 

Strategy with potential end-of-year Faster Free Nights promotion

Currently, the Hyatt Gold Passport 2,500 points per stay worldwide promotion runs through September 15. The rumor on FlyerTalk is the Gold Passport promotion for Faster Free Nights will resume after September 15 for the primary end of the year promotion. Faster Free Nights ran at the end of 2008 and the promotion offers a free night at any Hyatt Hotel, with very few exceptions, for every two stays.

There is a rationale for waiting to sign up for the “Enjoy Elite” promotion since there is a 120-day qualification period for elite nights. Signing up in August provides a promotion period going into December for elite qualifying nights. Combine that with Faster Free Nights and there could be really high value in stays later in the year.

My Loyalty Traveler advice is to definitely go for elite membership during this spectacular offer and do it at the time best suited for your travel plans and your hotel stay pattern.

The advantage of this elite fast-track promotion is the ability to do it with elite qualifying nights so you can stay in one hotel resort for a week and be halfway to Diamond elite.

The disadvantage of elite nights is the combinability with the current 2,500 bonus points MasterCard promotion and potentially Faster Free Nights in the fall, which are both based on hotel stays and not nights. While nights is a more convenient way to earn elite status with just a few multi-night stays, the points and free nights promotions favor a single-night stay strategy.

This promotion is one of the best high-value offers available to the hotel guest in 2009, particularly if you plan  multi-night stays in the next few months and still plan to travel in 2010. This promotion can place you in a good elite status situation through February 2011.

Hyatt Hotels consists of the hotel brands: Hyatt Regency, Grand Hyatt, Park Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Andaz, and Summerfield Suites. Hyatt Place is a fast-growing hotel brand typically in the moderate budget range. Hyatt Hotels consists of about 370 hotels worldwide.   

 

Last year I spent my tax rebate stimulus money on Hyatt Hotel stays during the Stays Count Double Gold Passport promotion. I earned Diamond status during the last two weeks of March 2008. I figured the investment would be worthwhile if I stayed about 20 more times before my Diamond status expires in February 2010.  

I also earned SPG Platinum elite in 2008. I now have the ability in 2009 to choose hotels between these two programs while maintaining maximum benefits.

Is maintaining hotel loyalty a good value in 2009?

That question is foremost for many travelers in this economic climate.

I have grappled with the question of the value of hotel loyalty myself in these tough economic times.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

Loyalty Traveler is hotel hopping in San Jose for the week.  I am almost ashamed to say that the last thing I worked on before taking K to the hospital for surgery last Friday was an analysis of the best hotel program for stays this week in San Jose.

Kaiser San Jose is at the southern end of San Jose, a city of one million people.  San Jose Airport and most of the major hotels are at the north end of San Jose, and in the cities north of San Jose like Santa Clara, Milpitas, Fremont, Sunnyvale, and Palo Alto.

Like many places around the USA, there are Holiday Inns, Marriott Courtyards, and Hampton Inns scattered around the metropolitan area. In the vicinity of the hospital, within a 5 to 15 mile distance are some IHG, Hilton, and Marriott hotels.  Hyatt and Starwood hotels mean a 20 to 25 mile drive north of the hospital.

Last week I analyzed the Priceline option for this week’s hotel stays.  I don’t need to be wasting money and I could have probably landed a place closer to the hospital with Priceline.

Bidding forTravel.com showed Holiday Inn San Jose as a possible $39 per night winning bid from someone who had posted previously and just posted again Friday, Feb. 20.  This hotel is just off Highway 101 at the San Jose Airport exit and used to be the Hyatt San Jose Airport.

$39 plus around $12 for booking fees = $51 for a hotel night, and likely the San Jose Holiday Inn through Priceline.

 

Can a loyalty program beat that rate?  In my opinion, yes.

Here are my hotel stay expenses for Friday and Sunday nights.

Friday Feb, 20 Hyatt Regency Santa Clara $98 room rate, and $108 after tax

Sunday Feb, 22 Hyatt Place $71 room rate, and $78 after tax.

So what kind of analyst argues paying $186 to Hyatt for two hotel nights works out to be a better deal than $102 to Priceline for two Holiday Inn nights?

I paid $84 more than I would have paid using Priceline for two hotel nights due to my loyalty program preference with Hyatt. 

In my analysis, Gold Passport points more than make up the difference in price between Hyatt and Priceline.

Here is my analysis:

Hyatt Santa Clara $108 after tax vs. Priceline Holiday Inn San Jose possibly at $51 through Priceline.

Points Math:

$98 room rate Hyatt x 5 points per $1 = 490 points

I made my reservation using the Hyatt Gold Passport bonus offers.  Hyatt Santa Clara is offering 1,500 points for stays checking in on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday through May 2009. 

Diamond amenity gift of 1,000 points for the Hyatt stay = 1,000 points

I could have opted for a movie, snacks, or an alcohol gift as my diamond amenity for this hotel stay, but after 11 hours at the hospital waiting for K to get through surgery and recovery, I just wanted a bed for the night.

My Hyatt Santa Clara stay earned 2,990 Gold Passport points.

Value of Hyatt Gold Passport Points

I value Gold Passport points at 2 cents per point. 

This Hyatt Regency Santa Clara $108 hotel stay provided a $59.80 future Hyatt hotel stay value.

Priceline would probably have given me a room for $51 for the night, and probably among the lower quality rooms at the Holiday Inn San Jose hotel since I have no Priority Club status and I booked a cheap Priceline rate. I am thinking 101 freeway side of the hotel.

The overall rate was about the same for the Hyatt Santa Clara as it would have been for the Holiday Inn San Jose using Priceline considering the $60 rebate value for points earned on the Hyatt hotel stay. 

I had to drive an extra 7 miles past the Holiday Inn San Jose to get to the Hyatt Santa Clara.

Hyatt Place Fremont $78 after tax rate vs. Priceline Holiday Inn at $51.

Hyatt Place $71 room rate x 5 points/$1 = 355 points.

Diamond amenity gift = 500 points for Hyatt Place.

Remember that Hyatt Summerfield Suites and Hyatt Place are lower tier earning hotels for Diamond amenity points at 500 points per stay. Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, and Hyatt Regency earn 1,000 points diamond amenity per stay.

Hyatt Gold Passport’s current 20,000 bonus points promotion from Jan 9 –April 30, 2009 earns 2,000 points after two nights.  Hyatt Place Fremont earned the second night for this promotion in my account.

Hyatt Place Fremont points = 2,855 points or in my analysis a $57.10 future value on a hotel stay.

The objective part of this analysis is the points earned =5,845 points. 

The subjective part of this analysis is the value of these Gold Passport points.

I state these points are worth about $117 for a future Hyatt stay.

Is that precise or accurate?

I repeatedly state that points have no value unless redeemed. There is a potential that I will never use these points and I ultimately paid $84 more for hotels than was necessary.

On the flip side, I could redeem 5,000 points for the Hyatt Place Fremont for tomorrow night and get a free room that would otherwise cost $123 plus tax.

Last year for the Freddies Awards night I stayed in Phoenix at the Hyatt Regency for 8,000 points when the lowest rate was $240 or so.  I know I will get at least $20 in room value for every 1,000 points I earn, and possibly even better redemption value.

Am I being consistent in logic? 

Holiday Inn San Jose would be just $153 for three nights through Priceline. 

So haven’t I still overpaid $33 to Hyatt Hotels for three nights at $186?

The Diamond factor

I am a traveler who typically spends 50 to 80 nights per year in hotel rooms.

Here is the subjective part of hotel stays that loyalty traveler elites get, but the Priceline crowd typically does not comprehend.

Hyatt Regency Santa Clara wasn’t just a 1,000 point diamond bonus perk. I also received a coupon for free breakfast in the Tresca Restaurant. 

Saturday morning I had a leisurely hour breakfast reading the paper in a fine dining atmosphere.  I was supposed to have paid $4 extra for the full buffet breakfast, but since I only ate fruit and oatmeal with a scoop of roasted red potatoes, the waitress did not even charge the extra $4 for the meal.

Hyatt Regency Santa Clara Club Lounge

The lounge in the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara is a large room with seating for 50 or more and a computer center.  I would have been charged $9.95 for computer access during my stay, but I had lounge privileges as a diamond elite benefit and access to free internet.  I was able to send off a few emails and check the Tour of California cycling race results. 

The lounge operates Monday through Thursday for evening drinks and appetizers and morning breakfast service is offered Monday through Friday. When I arrived Friday afternoon I was still able to access the lobby lounge, use the computers, and get juice, soda, and water bottles. This benefit is available all weekend.

 

Hyatt Place Fremont

Hyatt Place in Fremont offered me a free hot breakfast due to electronics issues when the room I was assigned had no remote control for the TV and the phone wasn’t working.  A nice compensatory measure for what amounted to an elevator trip downstairs to get a remote control.  A staff member fixed the phone after three minutes in the room.

Normally you have free continental breakfast in the morning with coffee, juices, bread, fruit, yogurt, and cereals. Cook-to-order meals are available for a fee, mostly $6.50 for omelette, breakfast burrito, or French Toast at the Fremont Hyatt Place.

I am now only 23 hotel stays from renewing my Gold Passport Diamond status in 2009 with Hyatt.  I have earned nearly 6,000 points this weekend. 

 

Hotel loyalty programs have privileges for a price.  Priceline has rooms, possibly for a lower price.  In my analysis based on actual circumstances this week, I think I got a better deal with Hyatt while paying $84 more for two hotel nights.

And the next two nights will be a 4,000 points bonus to make the analysis weigh more heavily to Hyatt hotel stays.

 

Hyatt Regency Santa Clara Club lounge computer room

 

On an unrelated personal note:

A month ago I had wanted to do a cycling-fan vacation around the Tour of California that ended yesterday.  Instead, I took on a writing gig last month to make some extra money since K was diagnosed with cancer and she is going to have her pay reduced by 10% or more for this school year.  The project deadline was last Wednesday which kept me from working on the Loyalty Traveler blog last week.

Still, I took off from writing during the afternoon hours to watch the Tour of California race with K. I felt so French with a three hour lunch break and beer, watching the cyclists race through San Francisco and Santa Cruz. 

What a rain storm we had last week here on the Central Coast of California.  Monday’s rain on Highway 1 was quite a contrast to the beautiful weather for our coastal drive K and I made from San Francisco to Santa Cruz the Monday before.

We could tell the race announcer was from southern California since he kept referring to Highway 1 as PCH-Pacific Coast Highway. We watched the race Monday through Wednesday.  K went to the hospital Thursday and back again Friday for cancer surgery We didn’t see any more of the Tour of California cycling.

K and I watched Lance Armstrong race the Tour de France while living in hotels in Europe for the last six years of his consecutive wins.  K is a huge Lance Armstong fan.  I saw at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara that Lance posts on Twitter.

And this year K celebrates Lance’s “Livestrong” comeback with her own cancer surgery and recovery during the Tour of California. She was wearing her yellow bracelet up until surgery time.  I hope she lives strong from here on out.

     “Pictures on the nightstand, TV’s on in the den
     Your house is waiting, your house is waiting
     For you to walk in, for you to walk in
     But you’re missing, you’re missing
     You’re missing when I shut out the lights
     You’re missing when I close my eyes
     You’re missing when I see the sun rise
     You’re missing”

“Missing” – Bruce Springsteen

Hotel Loyalty Program Elite Status

Lots of people don’t focus on hotel loyalty or elite membership.  There are traveler types who will go to a place that is trendy while it is becoming “the trendiest place to be”.   Lodging options from the top resort on the island or the coast, the city apartment in the local neighborhood, the newest happening hotel, or couch swapping are the stories we often read in travel magazines and I hear from my relatives and friends.  

Lodging experiences are great, but I also need high value.  Finding good value experiences is fundamental to my time-rich, job-poor lifestyle as a hotel travel analyst.

A hotel loyalty program focus for elite status is important to me when traveling.  Unfortunately, my hotel loyalty program focus often comes to the exclusion of other interesting and wonderful lodging options. 

Basically the question of whether elite status will be a high value proposition for your travel lifestyle comes down to a numbers game:

• How many hotel nights do you actually need in a year?,

• How much can you afford to spend?, 

• How much do you value paying more to get better lodging?

2009 Hotel Loyalty Program Advice (from this elite Loyalty Traveler)

1.      Estimate Your Hotel Nights for 2009 travel for vacations, visiting family and friends (and really ask yourself do you want to sleep in the children’s bedroom again?), and other leisure days away from home.

 

 

2.      Estimate Your Hotel Nights for 2009 Business. 

a.      Do you have control over choosing the hotel brand where you stay?

 

b.      If not, do you know cities for travel and which hotel brands you will be staying for business

 

c.       If not, then business travel may only be useful for a couple of stays and you will need to focus on discretionary travel if you want elite membership privileges.

 

3.      Add total nights for leisure and business travel

a.      If less than 15 nights in a calendar year – you may not want to concentrate on any single hotel loyalty program. 

Go for the best deals you can find and sign up for hotel loyalty program promotions when they fit your travel plans or fit your travel plans to take advantage of some of the high value promotions.  There are promotions every year allowing a frequent guest to earn $1,000+ in future hotel value when spending an equivalent or lesser amount on hotel stays to fulfill the promotion terms – if you plan for that outcome. 

b.      15 to 30 nights in hotels in a calendar year and you may be a candidate for high elite membership if you focus your hotel stays within a single hotel loyalty program and take advantage of promotional bonuses for even more added value.  Reading Loyalty Traveler is a great way to learn how to reach high elite membership with relatively economical spending.

 

c.      30 nights or more in a calendar year and you may save money by always finding the best deals, however, by concentrating on a single hotel loyalty program and elite status, you should be able to improve your lodging and hotel benefits to receive much higher value for your money by focusing on high elite membership.

 

d.      50 nights or more in a calendar year and you are wasting money or getting less lodging than you could for your money if you don’t receive high elite membership recognition in terms of upgrades and benefits with the majority of your hotel stays.

 

In 2008, Hyatt Hotels Gold Passport and Starwood Hotels Preferred Guest (SPG) ran promotions for earning Double Stay credit for elite membership qualification.  These two hotel loyalty programs both have the same threshold of 25 hotel stays or 50 hotel nights during a calendar year for top-tier elite status: Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond and Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum.

 

A hotel stay is one or more consecutive nights at one hotel, regardless if different reservation numbers. A hotel night is any eligible, paid night at a hotel member in the loyalty program during the calendar year.

 

Guests paying for a 3-night weekend stay at the Hyatt Regency Monterey receive one (1) stay credit and three (3) night credits towards the 25-stay or 50-night Diamond elite membership qualification threshold. 

Guests staying Friday night at the Hyatt Regency Monterey, followed by Saturday night at the Hyatt Carmel Highlands, followed by Sunday night back at the Hyatt Regency Monterey receive three (3) stay credits and three (3) night credits towards the 25-stay or 50-night Diamond elite membership qualification threshold.

 

“Hotel hopping” is a good way to quickly increase your stays and see a variety of hotels.  Of course, changing hotels mid-day is time-consuming and may not always be a viable option on your vacation or business trip.  Personally, I try to make frequent hotel stays when I am not taking a vacation.  Redeeming points for a multi-night vacation stay is the benefit from all the hotel hops planned to earn lots of points for a nice long stay at a vacation hotel.

A guest with no elite membership will receive mid-tier Hyatt Platinum elite membership after 5 stays or 15 nights at Hyatt brand hotels and Starwood Preferred Guest mid-tier Gold membership after 10 stays or 25 nights at Starwood brand hotels.

The high value benefits come with top elite status (Hyatt Diamond or SPG Platinum).  For most travelers not regularly spending 50-plus nights in hotels every year, reaching the top-elite threshold takes a plan.

Reaching top elite Gold Passport Diamond or SPG Platinum required only 13 hotel stays in 2008 for both Hyatt and Starwood during their open enrollment promotions available to all members.  Hyatt’s Double stays was January-March 2008 and Starwood’s is October 1-December 31, but members had to register for Double Stays by November 15, 2008.

My Pacific Northwest trip included six (6) Starwood Hotel stays and I am registered for the Starwood Double Stays promotion through the end of this year.  I earned Hyatt Diamond membership in March during Hyatt Gold Passport’s “Stays Count Double” promotion.  My general rule of thumb is top elite status will provide $100+ in additional benefits for every full service hotel stay.

During the Pacific Northwest trip I received additional benefits at all six hotels as recognition of Starwood Platinum status.

I learned Starwood’s two newest hotel brands, aloft and Element, the new extended stay hotel brand, do not have to offer suite upgrades to SPG platinum elites as a condition of their loyalty program participation agreement.  This was reported in an aloft hotel suite thread on FlyerTalk by Starwood Lurker, Starwood Hotels’ representative on FlyerTalk. My two stays at aloft hotels earned 250 points each as a Platinum member amenity.  There were no other special benefits at the aloft Portland.

The Nines Portland provided complimentary lounge access, a privilege that comes with a $200+ price tag to purchase with your reservation at the hotel.  I did not receive a room upgrade.

Sheraton Wall Centre, Vancouver upgraded my room to a full suite, provided complimentary wireless internet access, lounge access with breakfast and an evening social (alcohol not complimentary), and all-day access to sodas and juice.

Westin Bayshore, Vancouver upgraded my room to a full suite.

The Westin Grand, Vancouver is an all-suites hotel.  I did not see any additional benefits for the Westin Grand aside from the 500 Starpoints Platinum amenity gift.

Added value from Platinum elite membership for six hotel stays included two room upgrades to a suite ($200 value); two hotels with lounge access and complimentary food and drinks ($150 value), and 2,500 bonus Starpoints for Platinum Welcome amenity gifts ($87 value), in addition to the 800 elite bonus points on top of base points ($28 value).

Added value due to platinum elite status with Starwood Preferred Guest = $465 for six stays.

·          

The hotel industry forecast is looking rather gloomy in most of the industry research articles I’ve read since returning home.  Expect 2009 to be loaded with loyalty program incentives and some great discounts.  I think Hyatt and Starwood will continue Double Stays for fast-track elite qualification in early 2009. 

Park Hyatt, Carmel Highlands Inn
Hyatt Gold Passport Category 5 hotel
18,000 points/free night

My Hyatt Gold Passport account reads Diamond membership as of today.

Getting my Gold Passport stamped required a little prodding from this loyalty traveler. Six hotel stays at full-service Hyatt Regency and Grand Hyatt hotels posted to my account within two to four days after checking out of the hotel. Nearly all seven hotel stays at Hyatt Place and Summerfield Suites required a full two weeks to post. A week ago, April 12, I sent 8 email credit requests for missing stays and bonus points through the link on the Hyatt Gold Passport member account page.

In fairness, Hyatt Gold Passport does have a statement on the member’s account detail webpage for “Past Stay or Bonus not credited? Please allow 2 weeks after check-out to request missing credit.”

When you file a request for missing stay credit, there is this statement
“Your account will be updated with the appropriate eligible credit within 2 weeks. Please allow up to 4 weeks to receive credit for stays outside the U.S. and Canada, at Hyatt Place, Hyatt Summerfield Suites, and our Hotel partners.”

My Gold Passport stay counter progressed steadily and rapidly during March. The stay counter hit 10 on March 25, 16 stays by March 30, and then was stuck on 18 from April 4 for a while, and then notched up to 20 when the March 28th stay posted. Technically, all my stays posted within two weeks except for Summerfield Suites Belmont on March 29 and the Hyatt Place Fremont on March 30.

I made a phone call to follow up on the emails of the week before. The rush for diamond membership is the closeness of my next Hyatt stay this week.

Then, the Hyatt Gold Passport phone representative spoke the dreaded words, “stay is ineligible for points”. He told me the Hyatt Place Fremont stay of March 30 was notated as ineligible for points. This is the stay from the Best Rate Guarantee night I wrote about in this post.

I duly pointed out the terms of the Best Rate Guarantee state “The number of Gold Passport points awarded to you if you are a Gold Passport member will be based on the room rate actually paid by you at checkout.”

The point which was uncertain to me is whether a Best Rate Guarantee room night actually counts as an eligible stay for credit. Technically, I didn’t see any statement in the Best Rate Guarantee terms regarding Stay or Night credit on a Best rate guarantee discounted rate. Hyatt Gold Passport awards points for Hawthorne Suites and AmeriSuites stays, however, stays at these Hyatt partner hotels are not eligible for elite qualification membership. I realized the Hyatt “Best Rate Guarantee” hotel stay may not necessarily be an “eligible” stay for Hyatt Gold Passport “Stays Count Double” promotion.

But, Gold Passport did count the “Best Rates Guarantee” $71 Hyatt Place stay as an eligible stay and the stay was doubled for the “Stays Count Double” promo.
And I am now Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond.

There is still a matter of a missing 1,000 points from the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport Gold Passport Bonus Offer reservation.

And it looks like the “Stays Count Double” did not trigger the additional Platinum Extras awards for every 3rd stay. The counter for Platinum Extras awards is confusing because it starts after reaching Platinum membership level with 5 stays, which required 3 stays with “Stays Count Double”. My 13 actual stays only triggered 3 Platinum Extras Awards for my 6th and 9th stays (Platinum Extras Award for 3rd and 6th stay was good for 1,000 points each), and I received the third Platinum Extra award yesterday for my 12th stay (Platinum Extras Award for 9th stay good for 1,500 points). Although my Gold Passport Stay Counter reads 25, I have not received the higher value Platinum Extras awards at Stays 15, 18, (2,000 points) and 21 (Regency Club upgrade).

Friday, March 14, 2008 I checked into the Hyatt Place Fremont for my first Hyatt hotel stay of 2008. Five weeks later (and $1,500), as of Friday, April 18, 2008 my Diamond membership shows on my online account webpage. This coming week will be my first Hyatt stay as a Diamond member. Phoenix, here I come.

On a side note: Hyatt’s website is generally really slow compared to the other major hotel brands I spend time viewing. I need cool rims on my browser so I can at least be entertained watching the circles spin while waiting for Hyatt to load another webpage.

Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel and Spa, Santa Rosa, California

March is my favorite month for California travel.

March is typically when the weather starts hitting the 70s on a regular basis and the hills are still green from the winter California rains. Coastal California receives the vast majority of its rainfall between the months of October and March. The hills start turning brown a few weeks after the last rains and by June most areas have little green color left.

The other day, I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time since 2001. North, past Marin County and into Sonoma County is where the real northern California begins in my opinion. There are many Californias. Life in the OC is an entirely different experience and lifestyle than the Redwood Country California.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California

Sonoma County, an area now famous for wines, once had numerous old growth stands of redwood trees. Most were cut down to rebuild San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. The exclusive Bohemian Club is currently in the process of trying to get around redwood protection legislation to allow logging of the largest remaining stand of privately owned old growth trees remaining in Sonoma County, a 2,700 acre redwood grove on the Russian River watershed basin.

Santa Rosa is 50 miles north of San Francisco and is the last city over 50,000 people heading north on California Highway 101. Oregon is another 300 miles of driving through vineyards and coastal redwoods.

I lived in the northern coastal California town of Eureka from 1996 to 2001 and I frequently drove to San Francisco. Typically, I would drive down to Rohnert Park, about 10 miles south of Santa Rosa and home of Sonoma State University, and stay at the Doubletree Hotel.

Doubletree Sonoma pool, Rohnert Park, California

Doubletree Sonoma Hotel, Rohnert Park, California

The Doubletree Hotel was the best major chain full-service hotel between Eureka and San Francisco back in 2000. And now there are several chain hotels with the Four Points Sheraton in San Rafael, Sheraton Sonoma County in Petaluma, Marriott Courtyard, Hilton and the Hyatt Vineyard Creek in Santa Rosa. Several more Marriott Courtyard and Residence Inns, Holiday Inn Express, and Hampton Inns have also been opened along this stretch of Highway 101 north of San Francisco.

Sheraton Petaluma pool, Petaluma, California

The Hyatt Vineyard Creek hotel has classic Spanish architecture with lots of wrought iron, and a Mediterranean inspired color scheme. The rooms are built around two large courtyards. Think of a figure 8, make it square shaped and you can envision the basic hotel design.

Hyatt Vineyard Creek lobby
I was given a room overlooking the parking lot, but near the creek side for a relatively green view from the window. The preferred rooms have the view facing south and overlook the pool, creek, and gardens.

The garden grounds have several statues and art pieces. A large fountain wall, grass lawn, and vines decorate the hotel area. The outside grounds and pool are unique features of this Hyatt hotel for the Hyatt properties in northern California.

Hyatt Vineyard Creek, Santa Rosa, California sculpture garden

The room facilities:
The room is poorly designed for business work. The desk chair was quite uncomfortable. The cushion sank right down to the wood frame and my legs resting on the hardwood of the seat frame while working at the desk on my computer was a pain I could only stand for about 20 minutes.

The desk is placed next to the TV cabinet and the doors of the cabinet must be open to see TV, however, the TV cabinet doors do not fold back all the way. The cabinet door needs to be closed when working at the desk and this prohibits watching TV while working at the desk because the TV cabinet door was right in my face and in front of the desk lamp when open.

Hyatt Vineyard Creek room decor blocks the work desk

The bedroom seating consisted of two upholstered chairs in the room. These were reasonably comfortable, but my complaint is the plastic wrap the chairs were shipped in was still visible dangling around the legs of the chair. When I initially surveyed the room, the plastic gave the appearance of the chair stuffing coming out the bottom, but I pulled on it and confirmed it was the remnants of the shipping plastic wrap that was never cleanly removed from the chairs.

Hyatt Vineyard Creek room, Santa Rosa, California

Room 316 on top floor of hotel. The room has screened windows.

A distinguishing feature of the hotel room is the 10ft high ceiling. Vertical space gives the room the feeling of a much larger space than your typical 300 sq ft hotel room. Furniture has appearance of old oak in a faux mission decor.

Hyatt Vineyard Creek bedroom

Bathroom: Large wooden sliding door. No curved shower rod. Tub and shower head provided the best water pressure and temperature of any Hyatt hotel shower so far. That was lovely.

The patio rooms offered as a booking option are either on one of the two interior courtyards or there are a few rooms with patios adjacent to pool. Patio courtyard would be fun for group or family event as there are no barriers and rooms quite open. People preferring privacy should not go for these rooms as they are quite exposed to the hotel world.

TV is regular 27 inch Zenith TV.

The hotel has an attached conference center wing which opens onto a courtyard. The hotel is basically two 3-story squares built around two interior courtyards. The conference wing is the east side of the hotel and the main hotel section of guest rooms is the west side.

Room service prices are about the cheapest of any of the Hyatt’s in Bay Area. A breakfast entrée of eggs or an omelette can be purchased for $10 and with room service delivery charges and tax it is still under $15.

Major drawback of room is no mini-fridge. Here we are in the wine country and there is no refrigerator to chill wine and the ice bucket provided is definitely too small to chill a bottle of wine. This is a hotel set up for rest and relaxation and the addition of a mini-fridge would be a great enhancement.

Signage is poor. I could easily have missed the pool if I hadn’t toured the hotel thoroughly. The gardens and riverwalk on the back side are the highlight of the property, but the layout with the large iron gate between the pool and the interior courtyard makes it impossible to even see the garden area from the lobby and spa courtyard. I thought it was a parking lot back there until I exited outside the conference wing to find a beautiful 100 foot long wall fountain, art sculptures and the pool area.

Hyatt Vineyard Creek, fountain, Santa Rosa, California

Outdoor pool is inviting space for lounging. Santa Rosa can reach 100 in summer months and an outdoor pool is a relaxation feature and welcome, especially after a day out in hot sun. Pool is open 7am-10pm and a hot tub is also present. A café is located in pool area.

Hyatt Vineyard Creek pool and pool cafe, Santa Rosa, California

The Brasserie restaurant is open 6:30am-11pm weekdays, 7am-11pm weekends.

Hyatt Vineyard Creek Brasserie Restaurant, Santa Rosa, California

Fitness room seemed small for hotel this size and the color scheme was not soothing, in contrast to the rest of hotel. There are 2 treadmills, 2 stair steppers, 3 bikes, weights and bench, large balls, 2 TVs. It seemed cramped and claustrophobic to me.

The hotel is about to undergo a lobby remodel and one of the main features will be the installation of a bar within the lobby. This work is scheduled to be completed in June 2008.

The Hyatt Vineyard Creek Spa has ten treatment rooms for massage therapy and body treatments. Half-day, 3-hour packages range from $295 to $370 and include facial, massage, and picnic lunch. A la carte massage is about $110-$125 for 50 minutes or $160-$185 for 80 minutes. Manicures $40-$55 for 50 minutes, pedicures $50-$70, and combo for $85-$120.

Hyatt Vineyard Creek Hotel courtyard, Santa Rosa, California

Needed hotel improvement: There are apparently no service elevators and twice I saw staff pushing a cart of garbage enter an elevator with guests, once with me in the elevator. In my opinion, a hotel of this caliber (AAA 4-diamond rating) should train staff to wait for a vacant elevator before using it with guests to perform maintenance functions.

Marriott Courtyard is located across the street from the Hyatt Vineyard Creek. I was able to see a room and tour the Courtyard hotel and the Hyatt has superior facilities and better room design.

Marriott Courtyard room, Santa Rosa, California

Marriott Courtyard pool, Santa Rosa, California

Hyatt Regency on the Embarcadero, San Francisco

12th floor room Bay Bridge view at night

Hyatt Regency San Francisco Revisited

As it happened, my room last week at the Hyatt Regency on the Embarcadero, San Francisco was the newly remodeled interior. The restaurant that used to be on top of the hotel has been remodeled and just opened Wednesday, March 26 as the new Regency Club. I was offered an upgrade to Regency Club for $75 at check-in. I turned it down figuring I wouldn’t get $75 worth of use out of the lounge.

Also, the Regency Club upgrade only costs $50 when booking online.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco, Bay Bridge room view

Well, I was surprised to check into my 12th floor room to discover this room was completely different from the room last week on the 16th floor. The older style room provides some rationale behind all the TripAdvisor poor reviews regarding the dated décor and need for remodeling.

This room facing Market Street has a great view of the Bay Bridge and I can see across to the East Bay cities. The bathroom is old-style, with a tub. The TV is a 27 inch traditional style compared to the 37 inch TV of the remodeled rooms. And the mini-refrigerator is an electronic mini-bar style.

I have been to 6 different Hyatt hotels in the past two weeks.

The Hyatt Regency San Francisco Regency Club floor room was the best of the rooms I have stayed.

I probably would not have come back to the Hyatt Regency San Francisco if I had known the room would be completely different. The hotel asked for $75 to upgrade when my rate is $179 and $40 more than what I paid last week.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco – room decor

The Regency Club is at the top of the hotel in what used to be The Equinox revolving restaurant. The circular room of the Regency Club has seating 360 degrees around the perimeter for magnificent views of the city.

Computer Stations in Regency Club lounge, Hyatt Regency San Francisco

The Regency Club lounge is located above the 17th floor. There is a concierge and a couple of computer stations. I was almost ready to buy the upsale, but a quick inspection of the lounge revealed the air quality was quite poor due to the liberal use of Pledge furniture polish being sprayed on all the table tops by a couple of employees. I have a poor sense of smell and the odor was overpowering to me. I didn’t feel it was healthy to breathe in that much Pledge.

In another week I will have Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond status, so I will wait for my next stay at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero with complimentary Regency Club experience. Photos and a more detailed description of the new Regency Club lounge will come at a later date.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco Club Lounge

I’d recommend the extra $50 to book a Regency Club room if you can afford the difference.

The remodeled rooms on Floors 15-17 are vastly superior in style to the older rooms. A walk-in glass walled shower, TV embedded in the bathroom mirror, flat-screen HDTV  in bedroom (but no HD channels when I was there), new furnishings, desk and ergonomic chair, and feather pillows, in addition to the free internet access and lounge meal and beverage services make the extra $50 for Regency Club room a good value.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco, remodeled bathroom

TV is darker rectangle embedded in mirror.

All the major hotel chains have a “Best Rates Guarantee” advertised on their websites. Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott, and Starwood all run ads on their websites stating the hotel guest need look no further than the corporate branded websites for the lowest online hotel rates.

And they are almost always correct in stating lower rates will not be found elsewhere (group rates like AAA, auction/bid sites and vacation packages are excluded from guarantee).

Hyatt Place Hotel, Fremont, California

Over the years I have tried to utilize the best rate guarantee with several hotel chains to no avail.

Three of the big five upscale hotel loyalty programs: Hilton, InterContinental, and Marriott have a precondition that is hard to justify for a hotel guest desiring the lowest hotel room rate.

The requirement states a reservation must be made with the hotel chain through a corporate-owned website (e.g. book a Marriott Courtyard through the Marriott Rewards website or book a Doubletree hotel on the Hilton Hotels website).

Only after you have booked your room, if you find a lower rate on a third party online travel agency site (like Expedia and Orbitz) for essentially the same room type then you can submit a request for a rate guarantee.  Special group rates like senior and AAA rates are excluded from rate guarantee claims.

Hyatt Place pool,  Fremont, California

I have tried several times over the years to get a rate guarantee and my claim has always been rejected. The room type wasn’t considered the same.   Or even more commonly I was told that I must first book the higher rate on the hotel-branded website and then I can submit a request for the best rate guarantee.

A gamble I won’t take is to pay $180 for a room and then wait to see if my rate guarantee applies when there is a $120 room on Orbitz or Expdia or Travelocity. I will just book the $120 room.

Hyatt Place HDTV image, Fremont, California

There is risk in trying to get a discount on a lower rate that you have found on an online travel agency.  There is too much risk in paying a $180 using the hotel branded website for making a reservation and then learn the competitor’s rate is considered ineligible for the Best Rates Guarantee.  This is why Starwood Preferred Guest and Hyatt Gold Passport have a competitive advantage in the hotel loyalty programs.

Hyatt and Starwood have the sensible “Best Rate Guarantee” policy of being able to submit your request to the hotel corporation prior to making your hotel booking.

Hyatt Place sign, Fremont, California

Hyatt Best Rate Guarantee Worked for a Last-Minute Rate Discount for Hyatt Place Fremont

This morning is the first time I have actually submitted a successful best rate guarantee.

FOr the past couple of weeks I have been trying to get my wife to come hang out in the Wine country and San Francisco this weekend and I waited until this morning to finalize my Hyatt “Stays Count Double” final hotel run. I checked all the rates again last night and there had been very little change in rates over the past three weeks.

Hyatt Place couch, Fremont, California

This morning I went to make my reservations and the Hyatt Place Fremont went from $89 AAA rate to $113 Hyatt.com rate as the lowest available for my dates. The best available rate had increased from $99 to $119 on the Hyatt website. I happened to look on Orbitz and Expedia and the rates were still $99 for the same room type and dates.

I called up the Hyatt Best Rate Guarantee number 1-888-964-9288 and informed them I had found a lower rate on Expedia and Orbitz. The agent placed me on hold for several minutes and then returned to state the $99 rate was also available through Hyatt and I could make the reservation with him.

Hyatt Place bed, Fremont, California

I asked the agent to hold while I rechecked and told him I still only saw the $119 rate on my computer and the $99 rate only shows as a government employee rate. He placed me back on hold for several more minutes and then came back to state I qualified for the Best Rate Guarantee and I could reserve the room at the Hyatt Place Fremont for $79.20 for my dates.

Hyatt Place minibar, Fremont, California

An email confirmation within minutes showing my reservation confirmation and the $79.20 rate and I am so pleased to have finally have a hotel chain honor the best rates guarantee BEFORE I booked the room.

Hyatt Place bath mirror, Fremont, California

Another positive note for Hyatt.

And 10 days after starting my “Stays Count Double” Hyatt elite status hotel run, my Platinum status is reflected in my profile and I have earned enough points for one free hotel night at the low end hotels.

Hotel Running is Quite a Workout !

Grand Hyatt San Francisco at Union Square

Grand Hyatt San Francisco, Grandviews Restaurant, 36th floor view

I exited BART at Montgomery Street and it was a four block walk to the Grand Hyatt. Powell Street might be one block closer. I don’t know.  Powell Street tends to be one of the most crowded sections of the downtown hotel district when walking from the BART station on Market Street to Union Square along Powell.  This is the streetcar line.  The walk is less than ten minutes.

Grand Hyatt San Francisco, view looking east

Grand Hyatt San Francisco guest services counter was busy so I went to the e-check-in machine.

The process was simple. I was given room #2321 which is an upgrade from my reservation. I also received a corner room which is a slightly nicer layout than regular rooms. The reservation had said the room would be on Floors 5-17 and be 315 square feet, so the room was actually a bit larger.

Grand Hyatt San Francisco, view looking to Nob Hill and Golden Gate

I received upgrades to higher floors than stated in my reservation confirmation with both of my reservations at the Grand Hyatt, despite not having any Hyatt Gold Passport elite status.

The Grand Hyatt has a feeling of an upscale hotel in the lobby with attentive staff members visibly present and usually available for guest services and the rooms have a more traditional hotel décor.

There were three upholstered chairs in the room. The desk chair had wooden arms and two other matching chairs with a small table provided comfortable seating options.

Grand Hyatt San Francisco bed

The room was around 350 square feet with a door entry section, main room of 18.5’ x 13’ with bed, desk, a 32” traditional TV, and chairs. A separate space leading into the bathroom contained a dresser and closet space and an enclosed bathroom area.

Grand Hyatt San Francisco room decor

Club Regency floors are on 31-34 of the Grand Hyatt San Francisco.

Floor 35 has the fitness room with a large selection of fitness equipment.

Grand Hyatt San Francisco gym, 35th floor

Floor 36 is Grandviews Restaurant and bar. The bar has incredible views of North Beach, Coit Tower, Alcatraz and Nob Hill. The windows face towards Nob Hill and offer a fantastic view of the InterContinental Mark Hopkins and probably the second best views in San Francisco (Mark Hopkins Hotel Top of the Mark restaurant probably tops San Francisco locations for the best scenic view of the city).

Grand Hyatt San Francisco Grandviews Bar

I went to the Hyatt Grandviews bar for lunch at 2:30 and ordered a tomato and avocado salad. Fortunately, bread and butter was provided to fill me as the salad alone may have not been sufficient to get me through the day.

My same room location on floors 31-34 would probably be high enough to see Golden Gate Bridge. I am on floor 23 and most of the surrounding buildings are 25 to 30 stories tall.

First impression of the hotel is that it is grand. Hyatt Regency San Francisco has a modern W-like room decor style whereas the Hyatt Grand is tasteful traditional elegance. The room has lots of gold highlights on picture frames, carpet, and lamps. Lighter wood finishes and upholstered chairs.

Dislikes:

• electronic mini-bar, patio door only opens four inches
• Internet is $9.95 for 24 hours.
• No convenient outlets for ironing board. The perfect place to set up ironing board (near TV) had no outlets around. Fortunately a 12-ft cord and I could reach under table to plug in iron.

• Drawback of Hyatt Grand is bathroom needs remodeling. First off would be the simple addition of a curved shower rod. This is one of the few rooms I have stayed in over the past few years without a curved shower rod, and the only upscale hotel without this simple feature. It is a $10 upgrade. And then the shower curtain they have was quite difficult to pull closed as the curtain stuck to the rod.

• Cracks and chips in bathroom counter and floor tiles became more noticeable to my eye after a day in the room (not spent exclusively in the bathroom).

• Back to the mini-bar and I see that domestic beer is $6.50 and imported beer is $7.00. That isn’t surprising to me. What is shocking, and I don’t ever recall seeing this before in a mini-bar is that on top of tax there is a 20% restocking fee. That $7.00 imported beer is $8.40 + 14% tax = $9.58/beer. That makes a neighborhood bar look like a great deal.

Grand Hyatt San Francisco bathroom TV

Likes:

• The Regency Club lounge is on the 32nd floor. This is available to invited elite members or Club Regency room rates (usually $40 to $100 per night more). The lounge provides the same great views as the Grandviews restaurant on the 36th floor. The lounge is open throughout the day for a space to hang out with sodas and some beverages available and food during certain times of the day.
• The staff were attentive, receptive, and proactive at the Grand Hyatt at Union Square which is a level of service I didn’t see at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco or at the Westin St. Francis on Union Square over several stays last November. This is the level of service I typically find at upscale international hotels.

Room rates are frequently higher at Grand Hyatt San Francisco compared to the Hyatt Regency San Francisco.  The Grand Hyatt San Francisco is only a Category 3 hotel for Hyatt Gold Passport points redemption at 12,000 points per night while the Hyatt Regency is a Category 4 hotel at 15,000 points/free night.

I would definitely take advantage of the lower redemption rate and stay at the Grand Hyatt while that option is available.

Hyatt Regency at the Embarcadero, San Francisco, California

San Francisco days, San Francisco nights.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco sculpture Equinox 
Hyatt March Madness or How I Spent my Economic Stimulus Checks for America

The President and Congress decided it would be great if we spent some money to help the economy.

So what to do? Should I put it in savings as the dollar continues to decline? Investing in Euros seems a financially smart move to make rather than a savings account. Buy some stock that is $150 a share today, but might be worth $2 next year? My 8 shares might buy two six packs of beer after the market crashes.

The Loyalty Traveler has a sound financial spending plan that provides benefits right now and will continue to provide benefits for at least another two years. The Loyalty Traveler plan is to invest in Hyatt Gold Passport loyalty. It is a plan that will pay off as long as I book about 20 hotel stays or more at Hyatt Hotels over the next two years. I know that I will stretch my tax refund and keep America better employed through a transfer of my funds to Hyatt Hotels Corporation and in exchange I will gain several thousand Hyatt Gold Passport hotel points and elite membership through February 2010.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco – 13 Views Bar Lounge

My hypothesis is that I will see a $100/night average added value once I have Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond membership which takes 13 hotel stays with the “Stays Count Double” promotion.

Wednesday night I regained Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum, an elite membership I held in 2005. My goal is to regain Hyatt Diamond status which I held in 2003 and 2004.
My 13 stays over the next two weeks are estimated to cost just about the same amount as the economic stimulus tax checks of $1,200.

I have completed 5 stays this past week (counts as 10 stays for “Stays Count Double” promotion) and tonight will be my 6th stay. There are 14 Hyatt-brand hotels in Northern California and I am planning to stay in 6 of them for this elite-status hotel run. I live less than a mile from the Hyatt Regency Monterey, but their typical room rate is among the highest in California (and I can see the ocean from nearly every room at my home with scenic views better than the Monterey Hyatt), while the Carmel Highlands Inn, about 8 miles away has the highest room rates of all the Hyatt-brand hotels in California. So, I have been working in San Francisco and staying at the Grand Hyatt at Union Square, the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero San Francisco, and Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco Hotel

And to make the deal even better I booked these San Francisco nights using the Gold Passport Special Offer links to earn a 1,000 points bonus for the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, a 2000 points bonus for the Grand Hyatt San Francisco, and a 1,000 points bonus for the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport.

I parked my car in South San Francisco at the BART station. I was surprised to not hit any heavy traffic despite driving highway 85 to 280 at 5:15pm on a Wednesday. The only traffic I hit was during the last mile when 380 merged with 280, but I made the first exit at South San Franciso. Parking is free up to 24 hours Mon-Fri and parking is free throughout the weekend so a person could arrive Thursday Friday night and leave Sunday or Monday without issue. Long-term parking needs to be handled online before you arrive which is not what I read online when I checked. [Dec 8, 2009 update: Parking rules changed for this BART station in 2009. $1 per day parking fee Monday morning through Friday afternoon and your car must have a parking sticker daily beginning at 4am. BART rates also increased.]

South San Francisco to Embarcadero is $3.35 one-way. No discounts on BART for roundtrip ticket. The trip took about 25 to 30 minutes to reach downtown. It is a reasonable option for a traveler with a car to keep the car out of the city and take BART and then go pick up car. Parking in the city is between $20 and $55/day. Most downtown hotels charge about $50/day.

The Hyatt Regency San Francisco is directly outside the Embarcadero BART station.
Hyatt Regency has 17 floors and the building is shaped like a triangle with the base on Drumm Street and the sides on Market Street and the preferred side of the hotel faces the Embarcadero.

 

Hyatt Regency San Francisco atrium view

The rooms over Sacramento Alley on the Embarcadero side have patio balconies with a small table and chairs outside.

An Asian woman at guest reception checked me in and said something to me in a thick accent like “You like add 20 breakfast” and when I asked her to repeat, she said, “You like add 20 breakfast” and I said no. I think she was asking me if I wanted to add breakfast to my rate for an additional $20. I am sure the desk clerk was fluent in other languages, but I was taken aback by her English grammar.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco elevators

My room was on the 16th floor on the corridor of rooms forming the base of a triangle above Drumm Street. These rooms do not have balconies. Fortunately, I was given a room with a nice view of the TransAmerica building, San Francisco’s most distinctive skyscraper, commonly referred to as the “pyramid building”. Most of the rooms on this side of the Hyatt are closer to Market Street and would not have this view of the TransAmerica tower.

Hyatt Regency at the Embarcadero – View of TransAmerica Tower

The best room views are towards the Bay side, facing Sacramento Alley, and nearer the Ferry Building on the opposite end of the hotel, and looking out to Justin Hermann Plaza. These rooms provide the best views of San Francisco Bay. The Embarcadero is a large business and shopping complex consisting of four tall, narrow rectangular buildings built around interior, open air gardened walkways with high end shops and a variety of restaurants from Thai and Indian to Chevy’s and Tony Roma’s.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco – room view of two of four Embarcadero Center rectangular towers, TransAmerica pyramid, and Le Meridien San Francisco Hotel in center bottom

The Hyatt Regency room is comfortably furnished and a good size for San Francisco, about 420 square feet. TV is a 37″ LG flat screen, but there are no HD channels, unlike the great HDTV channel selection of Hyatt Place Fremont.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco desk

Room has desk area, however the placement of the TV on the desk area where the chair space is located means the TV is directly in your face if working at the desk. The TV would make more sense placed at other end of desk area above the mini fridge beneath the lamp.

The mini fridge is electronic type, but as it was empty there was no concern over that issue. I hate mini-bar refrigerators that auto charge electronically anytime an item is moved. (electronic mini-bar at Grand Hyatt San Francisco and Westin Market Street).

The bed was fantastic with 6 feather pillows and comfortable linens.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco bed

The swirly line pattern on the blue carpet is an interesting effect. Desk chair very comfortable.
The odd thing about the room was the absence of a hotel guide. I arrived about 6:45pm and I was hungry, but when I searched the room for a hotel guide to the restaurants and room service menus, I could not locate a guide. There were several magazines and a Gideon Bible, but no info booklet for the hotel in the room.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco room seating area

Bathroom

The room is set up with bathroom on left of small foyer when entering. The bathroom has shower (no bathtub) and toilet in room and separate sink. No bathtub could be a big deal for some guests and it is unusual for a major city upscale hotel to not have a tub.  [Loyalty Traveler note: Hyatt's new design for bathrooms removes tub and replaces with large shower stall.  I also saw this design at Hyatt Gainey Ranch Scottsdale, Arizona. 9-27-08]

Hyatt Regency San Francisco glass shower stall

The unique feature of the bathroom is a TV embedded within the bathroom mirror and a remote for mirror TV.  Cool feature. 

Hyatt Regency San Francisco bathroom TV embedded in mirror

Patio sliding glass doors on one wall let plenty of light into room, and in contrast to the Grand Hyatt, these sliding doors open more than 4 inches. Air worked well as the room was too warm for me and I was able to quickly adjust the temperature to a comfortable setting.

The room had a nice balance of color with dark wood finishes and light brown vinyl on bed headboard, with lots of metallic silver accents from lamps, mirror, and furniture pieces. The light colored upholstered chair and chaise lounge balance well with the dark woods and shiny metals.  The room’s blue carpet and dark drapes balanced the intense light reflection of the sun glare coming off the surrounding skyscrapers.

I was pleased with the high floor for my room and the location was fine for a person with no elite status booking the lowest available rate. When I went to find ice I had to cross to the opposite side of the hotel on the 16th floor. The rooms along the Sacramento Alley side of the hotel are being remodeled and there were work supplies scattered all along the hallway wall.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco – remodel supplies in hallway

The ice machine is located at the ferry building end of the hotel. The sun shining on the Bay Bridge and Ferry Building as ferries were coming into the terminal was a beautiful site. I took the ice back to my room and grabbed the camera. By the time I got back to the window, the sun had slipped behind the hill and the intense golden colors of the bridge and the striking white reflection of the ferry building had muted.

There are several fast food options on Drumm Street with Taco Bell, Subway, Starbucks, a falafel shop, a liquor store and mini-market. These are options if $20 breakfast is too much for your pocket. At the base of the Hyatt Regency, on the Embarcadero side are several local food places with daytime operating hours for a quick meal including sushi, pizza, Thai, and other foods.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco, Eclipse Cafe in lobby

Buffet breakfast at the Eclipse café is $27. A fruit/yogurt smoothie $6.

The shower uncovered two of my hotel pet peeves:

1. No washcloths. I hate having to use a hand towel to scrub. That is a lot of weight when wet.

2. While the water temperature and pressure did not fluctuate, the water pressure was too low for my liking. Since there is no tub for soaking, I’d at least appreciate a good shower blast of water. Tried the shower water pressure again at 11 am and the water pressure was even worse than at 8am and the temperature at maximum was cooler than I prefer when showering.

Remodeling a floor while guests are staying on that floor is another pet peeve of hotel life. The carpet in front of the elevators was being replaced when I decided to head to the lobby the next morning. I had to step around the employees and the floor glue to get to the elevator. When I returned 90 minutes later the carpet was in place, but the glue smell was strong and there were hundreds of carpet fibers lying around the perimeter of the carpet. I don’t know how healthy that is to have all those loose carpet fibers being kicked around and stirring up the dust. An hour later, as I was checking-out, the carpet fibers had been cleaned up.

My question is why place guests on this floor which appears to be the only floor in the hotel under major remodeling? There were pieces with sharp edges sitting up against the walls. I envisioned slicing open my arm as I walked by unaware.

Making the best of the situation, the nice feature of remodeling for this Loyalty Traveler were all the open room doors. I was able to walk in and check out several rooms with a balcony and view of the bay. Two-thirds of the hotel rooms are facing Market Street and Drumm Street and these rooms have large sliding patio doors. Only the Embarcadero facing rooms have balconies for sitting outside. The rooms are basically the same size, but the patio balcony is a huge feature, particularly on days like these in the city when the temperature is in upper 60s and beautifully sunny.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco patio room over Sacramento Alley side

Checked out by telephone and leaving my name and room number on a voice mail message. I did this at 11:55am with no problem. Check-out time is 12 noon.

I had some of the best photos ever for San Francisco this week with the gorgeous blue skies.