The Hyatt Place London City East deserves credit for choosing to be better

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I’m going to hazard a guess that not many people have ever said ‘I can’t wait for my next Hyatt Place stay’, and that’s probably because there’s nothing particularly exciting about staying in a limited-service property.

Hyatt Place and Hyatt House properties are usually functional rather than sexy and economical rather than indulgent, so it’s not altogether surprising that we don’t often hear anyone singing their praises.

In this article, however, I’m going to make sure that one Hyatt Place gets the credit that it deserves.

I’ve grown to really like the Hyatt Place London City East

The Hyatt Place London City East has an annoyingly long name to type, the area the hotel sits in has yet to be gentrified and cleaned up (although it’s getting there), and there’s no escaping the fact that most of its rooms are pretty small.

But I don’t really care about any of that.

Location-wise, the HPLCE* is convenient when I have an early start or a late finish in the City of London or in Canary Wharf, and I’ve found myself staying here more often than I thought I would when the property first opened.

My first visit to the HPLCE was also my first experience of a Hyatt Place or Hyatt House property, so when I first started staying, I had nothing (in the Hyatt portfolio) to compare it to.

Now, a few years on, that’s no longer the case, and after having stayed at quite a few Hyatt Place properties in the US, my affection for the HPLCE has grown significantly.

*I’m not going to type the property’s full name over and over again!

What makes it good

If you take a close look at the World of Hyatt terms and conditions, you’ll find that outside of the US, Hyatt Place/Hyatt House properties don’t have to provide guests with complimentary breakfast …

“Breakfast at Participating Hyatt Place Hotels outside of the Americas

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. Availability of and conditions or restrictions on complimentary breakfast will vary property-by-property for Hyatt Place hotels.”

… and that alongside Caption by Hyatt, Hyatt House, Destination by Hyatt Residences, and Hyatt Vacation Club hotels and resorts, Hyatt Place properties don’t have to honor the ‘best room available’ benefit for top-tier Globalists.

To a degree, the HPLCE seems to ignore all of that.

For Globalist guests, a complimentary full breakfast is always offered, and for non-Globalists, a full breakfast can be purchased in advance for as little as £10/$12.

More importantly, the breakfast served at the HPLCE isn’t a ‘standard’ US-style Hyatt Place breakfast where the quality leaves a lot to be desired. This breakfast is actually good.

The cold cuts and fruit taste fresh …

… the hot options are actually flavourful, and the scrambled eggs are better than those I’ve had served to me at several (supposedly) higher-end full-service properties (the sausages are less good, however).

The yoghurts are organic …

… the bread is freshly baked …

… and at least four fresh juices/smoothies are always on offer.

This blows away any breakfast that I’ve had at Hyatt Place/Hyatt House properties in the US (‘free’ isn’t always better), and it blows away a lot of complimentary breakfasts that I’ve had at a variety of full-service properties over the past few years (most recently, at Threadneedles – an Autograph Collection property).

Also, as a World of Hyatt Globalist member, the HPLCE treats me very well.

I always book the cheapest room when I’m visiting the HPLCE, and on every visit so far, my Globalist status has been acknowledged and I have been upgraded to the one of the best available rooms (despite what Hyatt’s rules say).

In fact, on the last occasion I was there, I was upgraded to a room with a fantastic terrace with easterly and southerly views of London.

The staff are great too. Nothing ever seems to be too much for them and in my experience, they’re always smiling and polite. And I always get a small welcome gift and a card on every visit.

Sometimes, I even get invited to enjoy a complimentary cocktail at the bar.

Speaking of the bar … this is what that looks like:

A top floor location with a patio (complete with heaters and blankets for when the weather gets cold), a drinks menu with reasonable prices (by London standards!), and a bar staff that can make a pretty decent whisky sour. What’s not to like?

As a place to retreat to after a day out or a day of attempting to be intelligent, this is pretty good, and when I view the Hyatt Place London City East as an overall package (it’s also reasonably priced by London standards), it’s easily the best Hyatt Place that I’ve stayed at.

More importantly, it’s the only Hyatt Place I’ve visited that I would happily visit over and over again. Heck, I’d even bring Joanna here 🙂

Bottom line

I can’t remember the last time I visited a Hyatt Place/Hyatt House in the US and thought to myself that I must visit again, and I can’t remember the last time I didn’t regret not going out for breakfast when staying at one of these properties.

Even when it comes to Hyatt Place/Hyatt House properties outside the United States, I’ve heard reports of US-style service (remember when that was a good thing?), US-style breakfasts (these are less common), and elites not getting any more than the rules say they’re entitled to.

And while all of that is fair enough – no one has the right to expect more than the rules say they’re entitled to – the fact remains that the Hyatt Place London City East doesn’t seem to feel the need to follow the rules and provide the very least that it can get away with.

For that reason above all others, it deserves a lot of credit, and for that reason, I’m going to keep giving it as much of my business as I can.