BOOKING

We booked with Hyatt Cash+Points for $125 + 10,000 points per night. Cash rates are easily in the $500+ range, so it makes redeeming points a very attractive offer.

We used a Suite Night Award and were booked into a “Park Suite King” and “59 to 72 sqm: Sitting area: Shower and bathtub: Flat TV: DVD: Butler.”

CHECK-IN

When we were headed to the hotel from the domestic airport (Buenos Aires-AEP), the cab driver had never heard of the hotel– we had to show him name of hotel– but it wasn’t until he read the address that he finally had a general idea of where to take us. Then, he drove right past the entrance, but we said it was fine and just jumped out at the intersection. Walking up, the hotel staff obviously seemed a bit confused that we were arriving by (what looked to be) foot.

At check-in, she confirmed our stay and rate and said, “we have a great room for you in our historic building” — perfect. As it turns out, there are essentially 2 hotels in one: a newer building with many more rooms and the old, renovated “palace” or mansion, connected by a courtyard (and underground walkway).

underground walkway between the two buildings

ROOM

The room, a Park Suite on the Palace side, was very well appointed but somewhat small. In fact, I’m not sure that it could even qualify as a “suite” as it had no separate sitting area or room, just a bedroom with a very large bathroom. From what we’ve read online, the suites are much larger in the newer, more contemporary building, but we really liked the style, feel and decor of the Palace building with the very stately feel of the deep molding around the ceiling and the huge antique windows.

view from room window

Within a few hours of checking in, two of the “butlers” arrived with our welcome gift: a fruit tray with apples, some type of chocolate snack and a bottle of Malbec wine.

BATHROOM

The bathroom was huge- almost as big as the bedroom itself. There’s a bathtub in the main, open area with the sinks and then a closed-in shower and separate toilet area. Plenty of space for two people to get ready at the same time.

SERVICE

While we didn’t need anything special while we were there, we found the service at check-in, breakfast, etc. to be top-notch. They were very helpful if needed, and friendly- everything we’ve come to expect and appreciate in a Park Hyatt.

Welcome letter

PROPERTY

The historic property feels regal and luxurious and, for us, provided a comfortable home base for our stay in Buenos Aires. While we didn’t get as much time to enjoy the courtyard as we would have liked, the view from the breakfast table was charming and it was nice to have the feel of both an old, palatial building coupled with a new, modern one.

One if the lobbys

Big area with an in house florist

RESTAURANT(S)

Breakfast was included with our stay and was served in the larger, more modern building. Totally worth the walk, though, because everything was fantastic: a very fresh, hearty breakfast that we looked forward to each morning. There were many options and we took our time savoring the breakfast each day. It was on par with other Park Hyatts around the world, but much better than the Park Hyatt Mendoza where we’d just come from.

A few pictures of the other restaurants and bars:

BOTTOM LINE: 

The Park Hyatt BA didn’t disappoint. We’d eagerly stay here again if we found ourselves in Buenos Aires. The luxurious-feel, historic building and delicious breakfast all fit into what we’ve come to know and love about Park Hyatts.

The post Palacio Duhau – Park Hyatt Buenos Aires Review first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

BOOKING

The Park Hyatt Dubai is a Hyatt Category 5 property, meaning award nights will cost you 20,000 points or 10,000 + $125. Booking with points didn’t make much sense, though, as we were able to book a special 3-night minimum Ramadan rate of about ~$150 US/night + tax. Best of all, when booking with cash or Points + Cash, you can apply a Diamond Suite Upgrade which will land you in a suite and get you access to the minibar for free. More on that later.

CHECK-IN

We arrived at the Park Hyatt Dubai around 9:30 pm on a Thursday night during Ramadan after a very long travel day from the US (see Etihad B787 “Business Studio” EY 130 Washington-IAD to Abu Dhabi-AUH). So, being a bit dazed, we were still very impressed with the hospitality and professionalism that we’ve come to expect at Park Hyatts around the world (it’s our favorite hotel chain!). The check-in process was quick and efficient and we were promptly escorted to our room. 

PARK SUITE ROOM

Having originally booked a Park King (52 m²/559 ft²), my Diamond Suite Upgrade landed us in a Park Suite (109 m²/1173 ft²) for our 3-night stay.

The Park Suite was enormous and featured a living room:

A half bath was right off of the living room:

A large desk and mini-bar area:

–> BEDROOM

The bedroom was also quite spacious and had a king bed and another TV:

 The bathroom was about as big as the bedroom and had a full shower, tub, giant luggage area/closet and a partition that opened into the bedroom:

Possibly the best part of upgrading to a suite at the Park Hyatt Dubai is the free minibar access, especially if you’re traveling with a few people and plan to have a few drinks when on vacation.

The minibar was restocked 2x daily and included the following:

• 9- assorted mini bottles (Johnny Walker Black Label, Jack Daniels, Ciroc Vodka, Beefeater Gin, Bacardi Rum)
• 2- 375ml of wine (1 red, 1 white)
• 4- beers (Corona and Stella)
• Plenty of sodas, tonic and fruit juices

All of this basically ensures that you won’t have to buy a single drink here/in Dubai on your stay.

Did we mention there are chips, candy bars, cookies, and a few other snacks?!

The suite had 2 balconies that extended the length of the room and looked onto Dubai Creek:

ON-SITE DINING

The property essentially has 8 restaurants so you will not want for food while here (even during Ramadan!):

• Traiteur
• The Lounge
• The Terrace
• Cafe Arabesque (breakfast buffet)
• The Thai Kitchen
• Pistache
• Shisha Lounge
• Pool Bar

One of the many lounging areas

Sitting area of the coffee shop

CAFE ARABESQUE – BREAKFAST

As part of my Hyatt Diamond status, breakfast was included, so we certainly made sure to take advantage of it.

The main breakfast restaurant was Cafe Arabesque and they had service until 11 am daily, which allows for a lot of flexibility when relaxing on vacation.

The buffet spread was huge. There was a large pastry station with a cool oven warmer:

A fruit station, cold cuts with smoke salmon and trout:

Fresh self-serve juices:

There’s also a pretty extensive hot dish choice that is included with the buffet and seems to be unlimited. We tried the Turkish Menemen, Shakshuka with Feta Cheese, Idil & Sambar, Foul Medames, etc…

Shakshuka with Feta Cheese: baked eggs, peppers, onions, tomato, paprika and a baguette

Turkish Menemen: scrambled eggs, chili, peppers, onions

While we never actually saw a bill, it looks like the cost was around 150 AED/person, or $40 US.

THE THAI KITCHEN

We enjoyed dinner at The Thai Kitchen on our last night in town because it was close and convenient.

We found the restaurant to be well-decorated with a good ambiance, although it was rather empty at the time of our visit:

While we were waiting, the server brought us a complimentary order of Fried Taro with a tasty sauce:

We split the Green Papaya Salad and the Red Duck Curry and found both to be delicious:

The food was well priced at about 42 AED (~$11.43 USD) for the curry and 38 AED (~$10.35 USD) for the Papaya Salad, but the drinks were way overpriced. A bottle of Diet Coke cost 27 AED (~$7.35 USD).

PROPERTY

The property is really quite expansive and very private, secluded and safe feeling. While it’s not beachfront like many of its competitors, the Park Hyatt’s location on Dubai Creek and surrounded by green golf courses and a giant pool make it feel like quite the oasis.

A 3-D model of the property is on display in the lobby

POOL

No stay in the Middle East would be complete without a mention of the main method to cool off and keep your sanity in the blistering heat and the pool at the Park Hyatt is the perfect place to do just that:

GYM

The gym is well appointed and has everything you’d expect + a bit more like a TRX, foam roller, punching bag etc…

SERVICE

While we didn’t have extensive contact with the staff at the property, we certainly experienced excellent service at every step of our stay, from check-in to breakfast to poolside drinks.

BOTTOM LINE:

The Park Hyatt Dubai lives up to our expectations from other Park Hyatts we’ve stayed at (Maldives, Sydney, Vienna, Washington D.C., New York etc…). The real trick here is booking with an inexpensive cash rate (around ~$150 USD) and upgrading to a Suite for free minibar access; it will save you a small fortune in drinks.

The post Park Hyatt Dubai Hotel Review first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

The 5-star hotel is a bit smaller than several other Park Hyatts, but it’s perfect for a small city like Mendoza. I really love how Park Hyatts stay true to the culture and history of the city and especially loved the restored 19th-century Spanish colonial façade.

The hotel lobby is grand and full of marble, with large, floor-to-ceiling windows and a beautiful dining room.

Main Lobby

We were shown to our room and felt like we were staying in a palace. Since Jeffrey used one of his Hyatt Diamond Suite Upgrade Awards, we had been upgraded to a suite, so we had SO MUCH ROOM! The room and the hotel were very nice, but arguably not as fancy as, say, the Park Hyatt Vendôme in Paris.

I always love the tasty welcome treats at the Park Hyatt- and the Park Hyatt Mendoza left a treat for us each night of our stay instead of just the first night! #winning

Living area of our suite

More of the living room

Bedroom

Views of the city

Bathroom

We had breakfast each morning at the M Bistro, the hotel’s dining room, where breakfast is included for Hyatt Diamond members.

Breakfast/dining room

The only choice was the buffet, which included made-to-order eggs — all we need for a filling and delicious breakfast. They also had a great selection of pastries, bacon, sausage, cold cut meats, cheeses, and even a smoked salmon bar (with capers, cream cheese, egg whites, lemon slices, etc.). The fresh-squeezed fruit juices were also a treat for us  — whenever fresh-squeezed carrot juice is available, Jeffrey drinks about 5 glasses.

Breakfast buffet

More breakfast options – free breakfast is probably the very best perk of being a Diamond member!

The best part is that breakfast is served until 11am, so sometimes we’d show up right at the tail-end for an early lunch — perfect for saving a bit of time and money.

View of the hotel from Plaza dela Independencia

The hotel’s location was perfect for a few nights’ stay in Mendoza – it’s just across the street from a beautiful park – the Plaza de la Independencia – and within walking distance to many delicious restaurants and shopping. The Plaza de la Independencia has plenty of green space, fountains and a few museums – it’s a great place for people watching and orienting yourself with a new city, as locals are strolling through and enjoying life with their friends and families, too.

The post Park Hyatt Mendoza Review – Mendoza, Argentina first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

Criteria:

• Must be a Category 4 Hyatt hotel
• Relatively expensive in $ to other Cat 4 properties (based upon 2 sample bookings with price averaged together)
• Minimum of 4.5 TripAdvisor rating
• Well reviewed or recommended as a good Category 4 property here

Ways to stay for free:

• Use a free night certificate from the Chase Hyatt credit card
• Spend 15,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points for a free night
• Spend 7,500 HGP points + $100 for a free night

16. Andaz Savannah

TripAdvisor: 4.5

Sample price: $278.50

15. Hyatt Escala Lodge at Park City

TripAdvisor: 4.5

Sample price: $511.50

14. Park Hyatt Toronto

TripAdvisor: 4.5

Sample price: $251.50

13. Park Hyatt Busan

TripAdvisor: 4.5

Sample price: $284

12. Hyatt French Quarter New Orleans

TripAdvisor: 4.5

Sample price: $303

11. Grand Hyatt Dubai

TripAdvisor: 4.5

Sample price: $315

10. Park Hyatt Saigon

TripAdvisor: 4.5

Sample price: $321

9. Park Hyatt Siem Reap

TripAdvisor: 5

Sample price: $335.50

8. Hyatt at Olive 8

TripAdvisor: 4.5

Sample price: $361.50

7. Grand Hyatt Berlin

TripAdvisor: 4.5

Sample price: $382

6. Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa

TripAdvisor: 4.5

Sample price: $509.50

5. Park Hyatt Hamburg

TripAdvisor: 4.5

Sample price: $330.50

4. Grand Hyatt Seattle

TripAdvisor: 4.5

Sample price: $361.50

3. Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur

TripAdvisor: 4.5

Sample price: $210

2. Grand Hyatt Melbourne

TripAdvisor: 4.5

Sample price: $239.50

1. Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Resort

TripAdvisor: 4.5

Sample price: $523

The post Hyatt Top 16: Best Use of Free Night Certificates (Category 4 Hotels) first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

This brand new building houses the Park Hyatt in the first 25 floors

BOOKING

Although Jeffrey always handles hotel bookings, I had absolutely no hope of staying at the new Park Hyatt New York — Jeffrey had told me that he had checked and you couldn’t book it with points just yet. He had called Hyatt Gold Passport and asked about booking with a Points + Cash rate and then applying a Diamond Suite upgrade to the reservation. The phone rep said that since the Hyatt New York is a “special property, they do not participate in the suite upgrade program.” She only offered him a suite upgrade rate of 30,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points + $400 per night — no thanks. But, when he went online a few days later (and right before our trip), they were offering base rooms (Park Deluxe King) for 30,000 points so he booked it!

CHECK-IN

The property is smack-dab in the middle of Midtown and very convenient to subway lines. We were dropped off at the corner of 57th and 7th and had just a 1/2 block stroll over to the hotel.

Right before we got to the hotel, Jeffrey logged into his Hyatt app to confirm the reservation and noted that instead of being listed as 30,000 Hyatt points, the rate was listed at $623.14–this might shed some light on how Hyatt corporate and individual properties transfer points and money. Presumably, the Park Hyatt New York received $623 from Hyatt Gold Passport for our stay?

I’m skipping ahead a bit but this might explain why Jeffrey earned 3,510 points on an award stay (full award stay, not points + cash):

Multiple bellmen were waiting on the sidewalk of the 90-story One57 tower to greet us, although none insisted upon carrying our baggage. Although we considered this to be a perk because we feel much more comfortable managing our own luggage, some Park Hyatt guests may think otherwise. The 90-story tower is humungous, but only the first 25 floors are part of the Park Hyatt. After walking through two sets of double doors (that swing with a touch of one of the bellman’s remote controls), we walked in to find a mini reservation/check-in desk. When we arrived, though, they were having trouble with their iPads and escorted us onto an elevator to the main lobby and main reception area for our check-in. This was fine with as the downstairs lobby was rather informal and to be rushed into checking in at a property like the Park Hyatt New York would have been questionable to me. I picture the business traveler or leisure traveling spending $6,000+ over a five-night stay in the city and being rushed through a check-in and given a key as quickly as possible– I don’t care who you are and whether you’re spending personal money, OPM (other people’s money) or using your Hyatt points, if the property fetches in the $900+/night range, you’re at least implicitly asking for some personal treatment, and that entails a proper, formal check-in upstairs.

Once upstairs, we were given the check-in spiel and told that we’d been upgraded from the base room to a Park Studio Suite — I’ll take it! We were offered the option of a 4pm checkout and graciously accepted as we had a late flight out. As a Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond member, we were told that we had a $60 per person voucher on our account for breakfast each day. They said this could be taken in the main restaurant, the bar area or by using room service/in-room dining.

Sitting area near the main reception area

Reception Area

The less formal Living Room lounge– adjacent to the more formal Back Room restaurant

More of The Living Room lounge

The hallway leading to our room

ROOM

The receptionist escorted us up to our 9th floor suite, number 907, which overlooked 57th Street with views of Carnegie Hall and views as far down as 6th Avenue. She explained the many great amenities of the room and also mentioned that we could have up to 2 items pressed as part of their complimentary service.

The room begins with a hallway with a huge trunk at the end. Once at the end of the hallway, a turn leads you to the bathroom on the right and the bedroom then sitting area on the left.

Park Studio Suite

Park Studio Suite sitting area

Park Studio Suite

Park Studio Suite bedroom

All of the room was very high tech and highly automated. An iPad Mini was available in the room which housed information about the hotel and also allowed for room service ordering. I used the app to request a bucket of ice and had a knock at the room in about 5 minutes.

Also, the number one perk in my book of any hotel these days is a Nespresso machine:

BATHROOM

The bathroom is large and roomy with a door separating the toilet and another door to the shower. A large bathtub is in the main part of the bathroom next to the sink (with no door separating the tub from the bedroom). The toiletries all fit the natural theme of the room — very natural, olive oil/aloe vera based products.

My favorite part of the bathroom is the nightlight– when you wake up in the middle of the night, there’s a small motion sensor that turns on a very faint light, just enough to see but not enough to even begin to wake you up. It sounds a little unnecessary, but I can’t count the number of times I’ve stumbled around a completely dark hotel bathroom looking for a light switch.  

Jeffrey’s favorite part? The TV in the mirror.

Another cool perk in the Park Hyatt’s bathroom is in the shower. There’s a mirror built into the wall (presumably for shaving your face) and, when the shower is first turned on, it immediately fogs up. But, soon, the defogger activates and the mirror is defogged… what?! The Park Hyatt is on top of the little details.

One last note about the bathroom:  the white tile and bright lighting made the room feel open and spacious. And, unlike other hotel’s bathrooms (like the Andaz Wall Street), I wouldn’t have a problem sharing this room with someone other than my husband. The new trend of showers with no doors in a wide open space is fine except if you’re traveling with your kids or friends– or really anyone where a little bit of privacy goes a long way.

Park Studio Suite bathroom

Park Studio Suite bathroom

Park Studio Suite shower

Park Studio Suite bathtub

SERVICE 

The service at the hotel, unsurprisingly, has been fantastic. Like all other Park Hyatts, the extra mile goes a long way in impressive guests and making a lasting impression. After checking in, we left the hotel for a few hours to explore and returned to a bottle of champagne on ice waiting for us. An accompanying note congratulated us on our anniversary and hoped we were having a good time celebrating our special day. Again, the extra mile was notable and much appreciated. Little touches like this make you remember the Park Hyatt’s extra touch when planning a future celebration.

Celebration Champagne (or… prosecco)!

Celebration Prosecco!

THE GYM AND POOL

The pool, on the 25th floor, is a whopping 65 feet long, one of the longest pools in Manhattan hotels. With a wall of windows, the view of Carnegie Hall from the pool is breathtaking.

The gym is larger than I expected, with plenty of options. Although my preferred exercise that weekend was walking around to explore, the spacious gym was a dream.

RESTAURANT

As a Hyatt Diamond member we had breakfast included with the room and could spend up to $60 each. While room service is nice, and available as the Hyatt Diamond breakfast amenity, we didn’t want to miss out on a meal in the main restaurant so we headed down to the Back Room, the Park Hyatt New York’s in house restaurant. The chef, Sebastien Archambault, hails from the Park Hyatt Washington’s famous Blue Duck Tavern–review attached–(a favorite of President Obama). If you think it’s hard to spend $120 for two at a hotel breakfast, think again. I tried the WAGYU SIRLOIN ($48) with crispy poached egg and onion and Jeffrey tried the 57TH STREET FISH PLATTER ($23), complete with smoked salmon and pickled herring. Those entrees paired with a $13 juice each quickly brought us up to our $120 target. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium and was so delicious that it melted in my mouth. Although it was a nice portion, I had no problem finishing the plate – it was the perfect amount of food. Jeffrey’s fish plate was tasty, too, and a nice substitute for the traditional egg breakfast. The smoked salmon was full of flavor and paired perfectly with the fish-roe-topped-cream cheese.

While we were in a slight hurry to get on with our day, our breakfast took about one hour from start to finish. It seemed that most people wanted to sit and enjoy their time in the restaurant rather than rush. Even after we were finished, the waiter mentioned something about relaxing and Jeffrey just asked for the check instead. The extra time wasn’t annoying — rather, we appreciated the unhurried attittude of the waitstaff and would much prefer a slightly longer breakfast than a rushed one. This unhurried breakfast was an interesting carry-through on the belief that Park Hyatt is a destination in and of itself, so no need to hurry out the door for bigger and better experiences.

The Back Room restaurant

The Back Room restaurant

The Back Room’s menu

The Back Room

Wagyu Steak

57th Street Fish Platter

BOTTOM LINE: The Park Hyatt’s luxury, prominent location and cozy suites made our celebratory weekend a trip to remember. I liked our stay so much that I’m trying my best to talk Jeffrey into buying one of the condos in the One57 tower above the Park Hyatt. The only problem so far is the $90 million price tag.

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Booking/Check-in

I booked a 2-night stay in a “Premier Park Deluxe” about 3 days before check-in at a great rate.

As I approached the entrance, 2 bellmen sprinted towards me to help with my luggage and escorted me to the check-in desk. The counter was spread out and quite spacious. They thanked me for my Diamond status, explained that breakfast was included for Diamond members and that it could be taken in the restaurant or ordered in-room. Because I’m still new to Hyatt, I was thinking that the breakfast was in lieu of the amenity, but the next question was what Diamond amenity I wanted. It’s a habit now to just say, “I’ll take the points” (1,000 points in this case), but I’m now regretting not hearing them out on food and beverage options. The agent then confirmed that they had me in a “Premier Park Deluxe King” and reached to imprint the keys– as she did it, I subtly asked if there might be any upgrade opportunities? She checked for a few minutes (I mean, what are they really doing on that computer? making it look like they’re pulling strings?), consulted with her co-worker and, about 3 minutes later, confirmed that they could move me up to a “Park Parlor Suite”….a move up of about 2 tiers (sample pricing based on a 2-night, midweek stay July 30-Aug 1, 2013):

– $469 Park Deluxe King/Twin
– $519 Premier Park Deluxe (618 sq ft) **BOOKED**
– $544 View Premier Park Deluxe
– $569 Park Parlor Suite (626 sq ft) **UPGRADED TO**
– $769 Park Suite
– $1,219 Park Executive Suite
– $2,469 Ambassador Suite
– $6,874 Presidential Suite

The bellman quickly approached with my luggage and gave me the nickel tour of all of the lobby dining options on the way to the elevator.

The Room

The first thing you’ll notice about the rooms and the property is that The Park Hyatt Washington (and other Park Hyatts, for that matter) does an excellent job of having very winding hallways, which prevents you from looking down the hall at a row of room doors. It almost makes you feel as if you’re the only guest.

My first impressions of the room: not necessarily “luxurious” but extremely nice. To some, it might seem a little spartan, to others, tastefully modern and sleek. The Park Parlor Suite was one of the longer, narrower rooms of the property and the windows opened up to another building, so it was a terrible view. You entered into the living room area with a large desk, 2 chairs, TV and a half bathroom. A recessed, nearly hidden door separates the bedroom:  again, a very large space with modern decor–bookshelves, light wood colored furniture.

The bellman, either extremely customer-focused or extremely bored, insisted on giving me the full tour of my room. It lasted at least 5 minutes, all the way down to detailing the location of the complimentary toiletries, shoeshine kit, bottles of water, etc.

The Bathroom

The bathroom was enormous! Equipped with a shower and a tub, both finished with a very rustic, yet elegant tile. According to the website, it is a: “spa-inspired” limestone bathroom with a separate soaking bath and rain shower.

The Gym

While it was a little hard to find (you take the elevator to the 3rd floor, walk all the way down the hall, take the steps down a flight and then walk over), the gym was great. It was clean, bright and, best of all, had windows across the length of it overlooking 24th street. There were more than enough cardio machines and they had a good selection of weights.

Right next to the gym are a pool and sauna– somewhat a shame that it’s all indoors, but a nice feature.

Lobby/Bars/Restaurants/Room-service

The property has 216 guestrooms:

• 28 suites
• 84 Park Deluxe rooms
• 104 Premier Park Deluxe / View Premier Park Deluxe rooms

The Park Hyatt Washington hosts three dining choices on the property:

1. The famed [highlight color=”grey/color”]BLUE DUCK TAVERN[/highlight]–a crowd favorite
2. A bar simply called “LOUNGE”–open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A little more casual than the Blue Duck Tavern
3. And the TEA CELLAR–serving “vintages” tea (never found out what that means, does it imply old tea?). Free coffee is served in the tea cellar in the mornings, but they also have an espresso machine that is open all day.

The Blue Duck Tavern Review

While I didn’t have a chance to try the Blue Duck Tavern for dinner, I really enjoyed their breakfast. I was the first one there at 7:15am, but slowly more people trickled in and the service was super quick. I ordered the SLOWLY POACHED EGG ($15) with charred corn, spinach and wild mushrooms. I liked it a lot although it was barely what I would consider to be a breakfast dish–very light and earthy tasting. The poached egg was very softly poached so really designed to just crack over the dish and mix around.

While the prices were the same as room service, it looked like the restaurant had a few more choices on the menu. Just to be sure what the deal was for Hyatt Diamond members, the server confirmed that you can order anything from the menu free of charge.

I already mentioned that breakfast as a Diamond member can be taken in-room in addition to the Blue Duck Tavern, so how could I not give the room service breakfast a shot at least one morning? I called to confirm that the included breakfast is the AMERICAN BREAKFAST ($32) which includes the “Continental Breakfast” + “A La Carte Eggs & Omelets” + fresh juice + hot beverage–basically anything from the menu.

The night before, I had sent my shoes off for the complimentary shine, requesting an 8am return…so what does The Park Hyatt do? Promptly at 7:59am, there was a knock on the door to deliver my freshly shined shoes, presented neatly in a wicker basket and wrapped in Park Hyatt bags. Then, just a a minute later and without missing a beat…breakfast was knocking on my door right at 8am–just as requested. The attendant wheeled in a cart, removed a  “silver” tray and then set all the dishes upon it. I had the EGG WHITE OMELETTE with goat cheese, ham and mushrooms. It was very fluffy, not noticeably oily or buttery. Since gratuity and tax is automatically included, the total came out to $47.04! The full amount, however, was removed at checkout for being a Diamond member.

Service

Much of staff was foreign, many of the wait staff and front desk agents had European accents. Likely a practical move to better accommodate international guests but also a good move to make the property feel international for sophistication reasons as well.

A previous review that I read was very well stated:  “Service uncannily there when needed and absent when not.” This was spot on of my experience, it started to feel like a mansion where service staff just disappear into the bowels of the building, using their own elevators, hallways and stairs. This feeling is probably attributable to the huge property and the hallways snaking around, leaving very little chance to see another guest on the floor or service staff moving about.

All staff was extremely professional, even the bellman (who might have just earned the title from bell boy just days before) that was still on his first month of the job.

BOTTOM LINE:  Unparalleled service, the serene property and excellent recognition for Hyatt Gold Passport elites makes the Park Hyatt Washington a top choice for D.C.

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