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With Hilton having devalued its breakfast benefit at properties across the US and with more and more properties apparently doing their best to offer guests as little as they think they can get away with it, or to gouge them with indefensible Destination Fees that cover absolutely nothing of any use, it’s easy to think that as far as hotel benefits go, there’s only one direction that we’re going in. Backwards.
Fortunately, every now and again we get a small piece of good news that reminds us that not all hotel managers are spending most of their time trying to work out how much less they can offer while charging more, and this latest little titbit comes courtesy of the Hyatt Place London City East (HPLCE).
This is a property that I really like as even though its location isn’t ideal for exploring some of the more popular parts of London, the staff there are always nice, I’ve been treated very well on all my stays (there have been quite a few at this property), and I’m usually given the impression that management is much more focused on providing good service than it is on cutting corners and seeing what it can get away with.
So, what’s the latest from the HPLCE?
Well, before I get to that it’s probably worth highlighting that per the rules of the World of Hyatt program (Appendix B Part VIII), Hyatt Place/Hyatt House properties located outside of the US don’t have to provide guests or Globalists with complimentary breakfast.
Please note that the availability of this benefit varies based on the region in which a particular Hyatt Place hotel is located, as designated by Hyatt in its sole discretion. This benefit will not be available to Members for any stay at a Hyatt Place hotel in the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Southwest Asia region. Some Hyatt Place hotels may offer complimentary breakfast for some or all guests and, as detailed in Appendix C below, others may offer certain breakfast benefits to Members with Globalist status. This benefit is also not available at The Forester, a Hyatt Place Hotel. Availability of and conditions or restrictions on complimentary breakfast will vary property-by-property for Hyatt Place hotels.
The HPLCE has, however, always offered Globalist members a full buffet breakfast, and as I’ve pointed out in the past, this buffet breakfast is actually quite good and better then a lot of breakfasts that I’ve had at full service properties and a million times better than the slop we usually see served up at Hyatt Place/Hyatt House properties in the US.
Now, the property is going one step further and giving Globalist members a choice.
Globalists staying at the Hyatt Place London City East can now choose between having a full buffet breakfast in the property’s regular restaurant, or they can choose to enjoy a buffet-style continental breakfast with three hot options, and coffees freshly prepared by a barista, in the property’s top floor bar (PocketSquare).
I suspect that this may have something to do with the property wanting to relieve some of the pressure on the restaurant at busier times of the morning, but that’s definitely not a bad thing.
The fact is that with comfortable indoor seating as well as an outdoor terrace and good views of south and east London, PocketSquare can be a really nice place to spend some time …
… and if this new breakfast offering is only for Hyatt Globalist members (which I believe it is), this could be a great place to start the day with less hectic environment and away from 90% of the other breakfast goers.
For the hours that breakfast is being served, it will be like this Hyatt Place has its own Globalist lounge.
Related: The Hyatt Place London City East deserves credit for choosing to be better
Bottom line
The Hyatt Place London City East has announced that it’s now giving Hyatt Globalist members two options when it comes to the complimentary breakfast they’re offered.
The first option is to continue enjoying the complimentary full buffet breakfast that’s always been available in the property’s restaurant, while the second option is to enjoy a buffet-style continental breakfast with three hot options and barista prepared coffees in the property’s 9th floor bar.
Ultimately, the key thing I’m taking away from this news is that Globalist members are getting a new breakfast option at the Hyatt Place London City East and that nothing is being taken away in return, so considering the property isn’t even compelled to offer Globalists a free breakfast in the first place, that’s really good news.
