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Hyatt has announced that two yet-to-open properties are set to join its Unbound Collection in 2018. One of the properties is Istanbul (more on that one a little later) while the other is set to open in the very heart of London.
While I dislike what Hyatt has done to its loyalty program I’m still a big fan of using my Chase Ultimate Rewards points for stays at the properties Hyatt has around the world. Hyatt’s footprint is a lot smaller than that of most major hotel chains but it also has a lot of properties that are well worth visiting if you don’t have to pay with your own cash.
That’s why I always get a little excited when I hear Hyatt is opening a new property and, when I hear it’s opening a property in a city I visit quite a lot, I get positively giddy!
The latest of Hyatt’s London properties is the Great Scotland Yard Hotel which will sit within a beautiful Edwardian building that was once the iconic headquarters of London’s police force.
Image courtesy of Twenty Fourteen Holdings
Scotland Yard is a very real building which once housed a very real police force, but its worldwide fame has probably more to do with regular mentions in works of fiction like Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie’s Poirot than it does with real life crime.
The property’s location could not be more central what with it being just steps away from Trafalgar Square:
Click To Enlarge
To give you an idea of just how well located this property will be here are a few walk times per Google Maps:
- Charing Cross Station (Subway and overground trains) – 3 minutes
- Trafalgar Square (Nelson’s column, National Gallery) – 5 minutes
- 10 Downing Street Prime Minister’s Residence) – 7 minutes
- Parliament Square (Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey) – 10 minutes
- Leicester Square (Movie Theatres and the central tourist area) – 10 minutes
- London Eye & The Southbank – 10 minutes
- Covent Garden (Royal Opera and Theatre District) – 11 minutes
- St James’ Palace (Official residence of the Prince of Wales) – 14 minutes
- Buckingham Place (Official residence of the Queen) – 18 minutes
So many of the major sightseeing attractions that London has to offer are under 20 minutes walk away and that’s going to be a huge selling point for this new property.
Image courtesy of Twenty Fourteen Holdings
The Great Scotland Yard Hotel will have 153 rooms and is expected to open in the last quarter of 2018….although that will make the property over a year late so further delays are a possibility.
The second of Hyatt’s newly announced properties is the Nish Palas in Istanbul.
Here’s what Hyatt has had to say about it:
Nish Palas, the first hotel in Turkey joining The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand, is set to open in Summer 2018, and will be located in Nisantasi, one of Istanbul’s oldest and most exciting neighborhoods. Known today for its fashion boutiques, trendy restaurants, bars, and art galleries, the area was originally frequented by the Sultans and their hunting parties. The charming 45-room boutique hotel will be the post-modern interpretation of a typical historical Nisantasi apartment, known as a “Palas,” providing a local lifestyle rather than an accommodation experience. The hotel will feature a rooftop venue overlooking the iconic Bosphorus Sea and a fine dining restaurant where guests will have the chance to taste authentic Mediterranean flavors.
At just 45 rooms “boutique” is definitely the way to describe this property but I can’t help but wonder what Hyatt means when it says “providing a local lifestyle rather than an accommodation experience“.
Still…I like the sound of the rooftop venue overlooking the Bosphorus – sounds like a good place from which to watch the world go by with a cold glass of Efes in my hand 🙂
Featured image courtesy of Twenty Fourteen Holdings
