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Now that Hyatt have been kind enough to match my Marriott Platinum status to Hyatt Gold Passport’s Diamond status I’m looking forward to trying out a few of their properties in 2016. While undoubtably there will be a few stays at airport Hyatts and Hyatts that just happen to be in a location where I need a hotel for a night they’re not what this blog post is about – instead I’m going to take a look at four Hyatt properties I’m hoping to visit in 2016, and they may not be the properties you were expecting.
Hyatt has a few hotels that come up time and time again when people discuss the more aspirational properties in the Hyatt portfolio – Park Hyatt Tokyo, Park Hyatt Sydney and the Park Hyatt Maldives just to name a few – but it may surprise you to know that none of them are in my plans for 2016.
The Park Hyatt Sydney against the backdrop of the harbour bridge – Simon Morris via Flickr
I haven’t picked any of the hotels on this list because of their stature or their great reputation (some don’t actually have a great reputation!), instead I’ve picked the Hyatts based on places Joanna and I are hoping to visit in 2016. So here goes….
The Andaz West Hollywood
Right from the start I’m kicking off with a hotel that seems to polarise opinion. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground with this hotel, people either love it or they hate it, and, amusingly, I’m not too sure I’m going to fall in the “love it” camp.
Ben (OneMileAtATime) seems to love this property but, having seen some of the photos he posted from a stay earlier this year, I’m not feeling the love for this Andaz. The suites look a bit spartan and, while definitely of a good size, the furniture looks like it’s come from the Burbank Ikea.
A suite at the Andaz West Hollywood – Image courtesy of Hyatt
At this point you’re probably wondering why I’m looking to stay at a hotel that I may not like…and the answer is simple – location combined with status benefits.
I used to live a 5 minute walk away from the Andaz West Hollywood so I know the area very well….and I love it. It is one of the most walkable areas of Los Angeles with the Sunset Strip on your doorstep, the restaurants of Sunset Plaza and La Cienega 5 and 15 minutes walk away respectively and a good grocery store and independent movie theatre less than 10 minutes walk away.
Combine all that with the fact that the property will give me full Diamond tier benefits (free breakfast, room upgrade, extended check out time) and you may start to see why I’m choosing to give the hotel a shot during one of my visits to LA in 2016.
Park Hyatt Vienna
I’ve been wanting to visit Vienna for quite some time and I particularly want to visit when the Christmas market is in full flow. As I’m not going to get a chance to do that this year (so yet another year will have passed without me having visited) I’m extra keen to make it to Austria in 2016.
Park King room at the Park Hyatt Vienna – Image courtesy of Hyatt
The first thing to note is that the Park Hyatt Vienna gets stellar TripAdvisor reviews….
….but, with stellar reviews come stellar pries (often in excess of $500/night) so I suspect this could well be a points or points & cash booking. The hotel is a Hyatt Category 6 property so would cost 25,000 points or 12,500 points + $150 cash per night and the latter option would be a pretty good deal.
The hotel is located in the “Goldenes Quartier”, the Rodeo Drive/5th Avenue of shopping in Vienna (that should keep Joanna happy!) and, being as centrally located as it is, it’s an easy walk to most of the famous sights Vienna has to offer. It looks like a great place to be based for a few days exploring the city and, if I end up booking a cash & points rate, this could be a great place to use one of my Diamond suite upgrades.
Andaz Liverpool Street – London
I love London when the weather is nice. When the sun shines it’s one of the most amazing places to walk around and explore…it’s just a shame it rains quite as much as it does! Nevertheless, the Andaz Liverpool Street has been on my radar for a number of years now but I never seem to get around to visiting it.
Location-wise it isn’t exactly central but, because it’s close to London’s “City”, you can pick up some pretty good rates on weekends when all the business folk have gone home….and that’s despite the property being ranked as a Hyatt Category 6 hotel like the Park Hyatt Vienna.
An Andaz Queen room at the Andaz Liverpool Street – Image courtesy of Andaz
I like to judge hotels by their entry level rooms (as that’s what I usually book) and, at 280 square feet the Andaz’ Queen rooms are a good size for a European city hotel. The room furnishings look modern (if a little functional) and the rest of the hotel looks very nice indeed.
With Liverpool Street station nearby the transport links are good and the hotel is just a 10 minute walk from the Thames, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. With all the history and beautiful buildings in the surrounding area, the Andaz Liverpool Street more than makes up for not being in the very heart of the West End, Mayfair or Knightsbridge and it would make a great weekend break in the summer. And that’s when I think we will end up visiting.
Park Hyatt Dubai
With the American Airlines devaluations due to kick in a few months into next year I’ve been looking around for some good used of my AAdvantage miles before they’re suddenly worth a lot less. One idea that I like to is to use AAdvantage miles for Business Class flights to Dubai on Etihad next winter – it would combine a great use of AAdvantage miles with my never ending quest to avoid the cold!
Park Suite at the Park Hyatt Dubai – Image courtesy of the Park Hyatt Dubai
We had some friends visit Dubai earlier this year and while they were less than impressed with the service and amenities at the Fairmont Dubai, they absolutely loved the Park Hyatt – and that’s a good enough recommendation for me.
Ideally I’d love to use one of my Diamond upgrades at this property but, in order to do that without handing over a lot of cash (prices can be on the high side during winter months) I’ll probably have to book the hotel using cash & points.
As a Hyatt Category 5 property I would need 10,000 points and $125 per night to book into the Park Hyatt Dubai and with rooms often over $450/night that could be a great value proposition.
Bottom Line
These are just some of my ideas for Hyatt stays in 2016 and, while I would also love to visit the Park Hyatt Bangkok when it opens later in the year or even the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme, these are the most likely Hyatt’s that I’ll try out during the year. I’ll be writing reviews for each property I stay at so it will be interesting to see how my thoughts on each property change (or not) after I’ve visited.
