Tagging Miles

Review: Sheraton Milan Malpensa Airport Hotel & Conference Centre

By 4 Comments





We’ve stayed at the Sheraton Milan Malpensa Airport Hotel a couple times now.  While we’d love to say that it is a great hotel, it’s pretty much just a convenient airport hotel with a really comfortable bed.  Early check in was impossible, to the point of us going back into the airport to store our bags until the “normal” check in time.  When we checked in (the second time), we had to request them to double check that we would be getting lounge access–courtesy of our SPG Amex–as the check in staff wanted to charge us for it. Threatening to call American Express seemed to do the trick, but this is not the way it should work.  Mind you my wife is gold with SPG (obtained through our American Express Platinum)

The Room

This is one of the better features of the hotel.  The room had a good amount of closet space, a nice bathroom, was relatively sound proof, black out shades existed, but were nothing fancy like the Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro and a very comfortable bed.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

The single best aspect of this hotel – the bed!

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

The Sheraton Milan Malpensa Airport Hotel Lounge

The lounge was ok. We arrived sometime around 4pm, and found most everything empty, including the bottles of wine offered. In fact, there was no bottle opener for the beer in the refrigerator, nor was there any staff available. We ended up returning to our room to grab the bottle opener, and finally returning to the lounge, after a brief visit to the airport deli, since we just didn’t have confidence that the lounge’s offerings would satiate our appetite.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

Empty offerings - pretty much what you can expect from the Sheraton Malpensa Airport.

Empty offerings – pretty much what you can expect from the Sheraton Malpensa Airport.

Wrapping Up

The Sheraton is truly an airport hotel that serves many airline crews.  It’s good for a quick layover 15 -24hrs where you need to be at the airport earlier or need a place to sleep.  If you are visiting Milan, stay downtown. While we could have stayed downtown, our early departure made us feel like it would just be easier to stay at the airport. Interestingly enough, we saw flight attendants for Emirates, Qatar, Saudia (I think), Oman Air (I think), and another airline that I could not identify.

IMG_2381

Review: Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro

By 4 Comments

We arrived early into Rio de Janeiro, roughly 6am, and made it to the Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro around 8am.  We were greeted at the front door and escorted to the check – in desk.  Once they had my Hyatt Passport number we were shown up to the Grand Club to finish checking in.  Even though the room wasn’t ready they let welcomed us into the Grand Hyatt lounge to enjoy breakfast.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

A little about the location – it is in the Barra de Tijuca area, rather close to where the 2016 Olympics are to be held. It is quiet, at least, when we were there. There’s a nice beach, some beach side eateries near by whether you walk up or down the beach, but overall, it doesn’t have nearly the hustle and bustle of Copacabana. We really enjoyed it as a nice break.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

 

The Room

After a relaxing breakfast we were shown the room.

The room was well apportioned, with a a really nice king size bed and comfortable layout, including upgraded amenities in the bathroom.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

It also had a nice balcony over looking the ocean.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

Plus with it being a new hotel they installed true black out shades.

 

The Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro Lounge

The Grand Hyatt has one of the better breakfast and dinner spreads that we’ve seen in South America.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

 

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

 

Other Areas

The hotel has a very nice outdoor pool, though there is not too much shade but the staff is very quick to offer to put up the umbrella.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

We didn’t have the chance to take advantage of the restaurants they do have three on site and the cafe is right off the pool.

Also, if you feel like you’d rather run or work out in AC vs on the beach they have some nice new equipment and a very nice aerobics room.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

They do have a spa with nice offerings though we didn’t take advantage of them this time but I’m sure my wife (and I) will be testing them out the next time we visit.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

Of course, if you do prefer to spend time relaxing on the beach, while it is across the street, the Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro has a dozen or two lounge chairs set up on the beach, with the area staffed by a number of hotel employees. We didn’t partake, but, I think they keep water in coolers nearby, and can probably serve any other desired beverages, and food–but I don’t know that last part for sure.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

Wrapping Up

Overall, the Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro exceeded our expectations, and we can’t wait to return.

Different Hotel Chains, Different Experiences, Different Hotel Status

By 5 Comments

I’m currently on a crazy trip, that spans 3 continents, 6 long haul flights, 2 shorthaul flights, and is my second attempt to fly the “Cycle” (which is baseball terminology). This trip talks about two different experiences with respect to recognition of hotel status.

In the course of the trip, we’re spending 4 nights on planes, two of them leading to early check-ins at hotels. Now I completely realize, and early check-in is not right, it is completely a courtesy. That said, I thought I’d share my experiences, since arriving early into Europe or South America is pretty common, considering most flights are overnight flights.

First Attempt: Checking into the Sheraton Milan-Malpensa International Airport

The Sheraton is on property at Milan’s airport, MXP, which makes it very convenient, when you arrive on an early flight. Its also convenient for airline crews, which we saw every single time we entered or exited the hotel–Emirates, Qatar, Etihad, maybe Air India and Oman Air. Unfortunately, the hotel staff (and probably management) know that they have a lock on the market (despite the Moxy hotel down the street), and they don’t miss any opportunity to nickle and dime guests.

So here we are, attempting to at least register our request for an available room, and we get to the desk, and the front desk staff member didn’t even look at our details or reservation, only saying “Did you pre-pay for early check-in?” Now we were staying on SPG points (7k SPG points, vs. 30k Hyatt Points for the Park Hyatt Milano, we had made the decision to go SPG the night before, so we knew they had rooms). We also have Gold status (which perhaps doesn’t mean much, except that we could stand on the cool rug…). Alas we opted instead to drop our bags (and had to do so at the airport, since the hotel refused to store bags, citing the Brussels attacks), and walked around central Milan for a few hours.

We returned back to the hotel, around 1:30, this time our room was ready for us, it was a reasonably fast check-in, despite more security procedures that we weren’t used to (but not disputing security, e.g. the hotel shares the passports of all guests with airport security overnight, or so the staff member told us). Then I asked about the lounge, since we were using our American Express Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Business card, which has that stated benefit. He denied it, saying that it would be a 40 Euro charge. I explained rather candidly (almost DYKWIA-esque), that we would not be paying 40 Euro, and that the first call I would be making once I made it to the room, was to American Express and Starwood. He offered the compromise that he would check with his management. About a minute after we made it to the room, he called to confirm we did in fact have gratis access to the lounge, and a Bellboy was on his way with the new keys.

Second Attempt: Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro

We actually arrived earlier to the Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro, primarily because our flight landed a whopping 30 minutes early. This experience was more professional, more, well, many things.

We provided our passports at the check-in desk, and were thanked for being Diamond members, and told that we’d be escorted to the Grand Club for check-in. Our room wasn’t ready, but they did all the formalities of check-in, and invited us to enjoy a relaxing breakfast while the room made ready for us. We spent about an hour waiting, but it didn’t feel that long, because there was frequent contact / check-ins, and offers for made to order eggs, and other food.

Now, I will caveat this with the fact that the hotel has only been open two months. In my experience, usually you see areas for improvements when a hotel has just opened. This was quite the opposite. The staff were all very professional, efficient, and just overall, great.

Not The Difference Between Mid- and Top-Tier Hotel Status 

I would argue that the different treatment was not the result of being a Mid-tier (SPG Gold) vs. Top-tier (Hyatt Diamond), member, but I can’t be completely certain. I will say that as a Mid-tier Marriott (Gold) member, I haven’t gotten the kind of treatment I received at the Sheraton Milan-Malpensa Airport. So I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the difference of experience was not because of the difference in status.

Wrapping Up

I’ll be completely candid, I’ve stayed at, less than a dozen SPG properties over my lifetime. My status is gained from a credit card. But I’ve read enough to know that SPG seems to intentionally make it hard, e.g. the “available suite upgrade.” Hyatt on the other hand, has been exceptional in my experience. All in all, for two brands that in theory have parity (until SPG more fully integrates with Marriott), as far as properties, status, etc. Hyatt knocks it out of the park while SPG is trying to charge the pitcher for the opportunity to throw the ball. Not all hotel status is equal.

Review: Grand Hyatt Singapore

By 3 Comments

We only had a short visit at the Grand Hyatt Singapore, but are always impressed with how well they leverage technology to provide a seamless arrival experience, to the point where we didn’t really stop walking until we got into our room, where we were checked in.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

Although the lobby is beautiful, we didn’t spend much time in it.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

Grand Hyatt Singapore – The Room

The room itself spacious for Singapore. I think it was a Grand King Deluxe. The only thing that didn’t work too well for me was the firmness of the mattress.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

 

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

The entrance was spacious, and despite it looking like it could be a little wasted space, I found it nice to enter a room and not feel claustrophobic at the entrance.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

It had a separate sitting room and desk (which I put to use to catch up on e-mail and change a flight itinerary).

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

Grand Hyatt Singapore – Grand Club

We had timed our arrival to allow us the flexibility to enjoy dinner in the Grand Club, partially because I was feeling a little frugal, and partly because I didn’t want to have to decide where to eat, it was an easy decision.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

The one thing I’d caution though, is that the Grand Club is a flight of stairs up from the floor you exit the elevator on.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

Most of the service was provided by the Grand Club staff, which helped, but made it a bit awkward as I was trying to decide what to have. The pace of service during evening drinks and canapes is also quite quick, and finding a seat could be challenging for late arrivals.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

There was a good selection of food, it seemed to be a mix of western and local flavors.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

Wrapping Up

Overall, we enjoyed the Grand Hyatt Singapore. I think I would return, although, I am also a fan of the Singapore Marriott as well, which is right next door, has, in my opinion, a bit more of a relaxed lounge, but significantly smaller rooms.

Review: Grand Hyatt Bali

By 2 Comments

This trip was our fourth visit to the Grand Hyatt Bali, you can find a previous review here .

We were happy to be placed in the same suite as we had stayed in back in June, 2015. The position is nice, being equidistant to the elevator in the direction of the pool, and a set of stairs directly across from the Grand Club. The room itself is laid out a bit differently, where as there is a large entry-way that doesn’t really have much of a purpose, except a place to drop your key and sunglasses, then to the left is a small sitting area, desk, and beyond that, a small dining area.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

To the right is the bedroom suite, and a second bathroom (immediately by the door). The bed we felt was very comfortable, and having the bathroom behind the bed offered us a little more of a buffer between us and the room next door. This was helpful, as the first couple of nights there was, what had to have been a stag party, in the room next door. Up at 3am  (or returning from a bar?) and still active when we headed to breakfast around 7am.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

Amenities

There is a separate pool for Grand Club guests. This is by and large one of our favorite aspects. We found the pool to be quiet, and just a little bit more private. Despite it being smaller, it was never crowded.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

The beach is rather expansive, but is perhaps not the best, because of the shallow location. Still, there is plenty of beach. Further along, there are a variety of activities available for folks of all ages, including a volleyball net, tot-lot like play areas, a water slide at the main pool, and plenty of areas to walk around.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

Grand Hyatt Bali – Grand Club

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

The Grand Club is one of the few open air lounges that I’ve visited. In fact, no other ones come to mind. This is a bit of a double-edged sword as we found out this trip. Despite the fans, it can get quite warm, but that’s certainly much more bearable in Bali. We did however have some heavy rains a couple of days, and the result was an influx of mosquito. The lounge staff did have bug spray, which did the trick, it just was another thing to prepare for.

It’s important to note that they remodeled the Grand Club sometime in the last couple of years. When we visited in June it was already remodeled, and I have to say, it is quite the improvement. There is more space, and more available food options. There is also an area where you can get eggs and pancakes in the morning, cooked to order, and in the evening, there’s usually the choice of two warm dishes, and a hand tossed salad.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

The true shine of the Grand Club, however, is the staff. Urip welcomed us each evening with more energy than a child at the gates of Disney’s the Magic Kingdom. Eka and Sri kept our drinks full, and even made the time to chat here and there, as they were able to.

Wrapping Up

It should come as no surprise, that after 4 visits to the Grand Hyatt Bali, my wife and I are more than open to another visit. Of particular note, is the fact that many of the staff that we interacted with, either remembered us, or knew that we had been to the hotel before. I’m not sure that anyone at the Grand Hyatt Bali specifically knew that we had been to the hotel not once, but three times before, but I suppose my standards can sometimes be overly high. I was also happy to have the same suite we had last time.

IMG_1586

Review: Hyatt Regency Mainz

By Leave a Comment

  • Intro: Visiting the Christkindlemarkets of Mainz
  • Review: Hyatt Regency Mainz
  • Wandering Mainz, including the Christkindlemarkets
  • Review: Lufthansa First Class Terminal and Lounge (yes, both!)
  • Review: Lufthansa First Class 747-8 – Frankfurt to Washington Dulles
  • Conclusion: Visiting the Christkindlemarkets of Mainz

As I mentioned in the Introduction, we arrived late into Mainz, roughly 6pm, after a full day of travel, so we checked in, dropped our stuff and headed to the lounge for a light bite before getting some rest. I thought it appropriate to share an updated review of the Hyatt Regency Mainz, but admittedly, I didn’t revisit all of the areas, so you can of course check out my previous review of the Hyatt Regency Mainz as well.

IMG_0808

Checking in was fast and easy. They even knew I had stayed before and welcomed me back. Even more so, they were kind enough to put my brother and father in an adjoining room (yes, I had them bunk together, there has to be some benefit of being the one with all the miles, after all!).

The Rooms

Both rooms were very similar (and in fact shared a wall), the only difference was a king bed versus two single beds. Here’s the king bed.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

Forgive the image on the television, there was some “breaking news” on FIFA World Cup Scandals. I’m sure that’s a big deal, but I guess it’s been lost on me.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

The one caveat about the bathroom I’d say is that you really need to be on your game not to get showered with cold water. There was a rain shower head and a handle (as you can see), if you didn’t have the right selection (which was hard to tell anyway), you risk waking up rather quickly with an ice cold shower, if temporary.

The Hyatt Regency Mainz Regency Lounge

Of course, I’m not a big coffee fan, but, my father is, so I had to learn the coffee machine to provide him that great cup of coffee (it was so much more than just a cup of “joe”).

IMG_0788

The spread in the evening wasn’t substantial, but there was some protein, salad, soup, and my favorite, plenty of bread. They also had some of my other favorite, which happens to include hops and barley.

IMG_0785

Oh, and there was wine and some bubbly as well (because not everyone embraces great German Beer).

IMG_0784

Breakfast at Bellpepper

IMG_0797

The morning my father and I left (my brother stuck around for another day, the lucky duck!), we enjoyed breakfast in the restaurant. The spread was pretty substantial, although not the best I’ve seen worldwide, but certainly as good as I’ve seen in Europe.

IMG_0798 IMG_0796

There was also an opportunity to get eggs however you like them… Of course my brother and father partook, while I was just happy to partake of the bacon (although in hindsight, I totally should’ve gotten an omelette).

Wrapping Up

Overall, the Hyatt Regency Mainz exceeded my (and my father and brother’s) expectations. For me, it was a second time. Of particular note though, was their consideration for my brother, as he spent an additional night. While it is not a stated benefit of being a Diamond, the hotel extended him the courtesy of the access to the lounge and a wonderful 6th floor room for his final night. It is small things like this, that for me at least, make Hyatt stand out among the rest. It is also why I’m already planning to visit the Christmas Markets next year, and intend to make the Hyatt Regency Mainz the preferred location.

Intro: Visiting the Christkindlemarkets of Mainz

By 5 Comments

I wrote in the early life of this blog, about Maslows Hierarchy of needs with respect to miles and points. In that post, I said the higher level was when you could share the best of “The Hobby” with family and friends.

This quick trip to Germany wasn’t the first such trip (the first was a round the world to China), but it was the first chance for me to bring both my brother –who had been to a Christmas market in Switzerland– and my father –his first time– to Mainz, purely to enjoy some gluhwein, chat, and bond.

Of course getting there is always the hardest part. I was able to fly us all on American Airlines 777-300ER in business, of course we had to connect in Dallas, and London, which made for a longer travel time than I would have preferred – map below:

Christmas Markets 2015

I figure that everyone’s seen so much domestic American Airlines First Class, and a ton of American Airlines Business Class on the 777-300ER, so I thought I’d share a brief review in photos below:

IMG_0666

IMG_0670

IMG_0682

We visited the British Airways Business Class Lounge in Heathrow, here are a few photos of that:

IMG_0697

IMG_0696

IMG_0689

I decided I needed to skip any photos of flying British Airways London Heathrow to Frankfurt, for a very selfish reason, my own good..

BAFlights

After an epic trip, we finally made it to the Hyatt Regency Mainz – that’s a post from last year, but I’ll be sure to update with this year, because my stay was amazing. To summarize, we stayed on the top floor of one of my favorite Hyatt Regencies in the world, and while it was unfortunate that my brother had to stay in Europe for work, my father and I flew Lufthansa First Class home, and even had some time to sample the First Class Terminal and First Class Lounge.

Making it all happen.

Getting 3 award seats on American is seldom easy. So, I went looking for the best bookable experience. BA was out, I didn’t want anyone to pay steep fuel surcharges. I wanted to avoid JFK if I could, since this was a quick trip. Ultimately I settled on DFW, which made for a long travel day with connections on both ends, but also offered a long enough flight from DFW to LHR for the 3 of us to get some good sleep. In total, the flight out cost a whole 150,000 miles (and an amount of greenbacks I won’t state since this was flying family that read my blog) for the three of us. In my opinion, that was quite the deal.

The hotel, I think I paid 6,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points per night for two rooms (so 24,000 points total). They folks at the Hyatt Mainz were kind enough to provide lounge access, and even put my brother in my former room for a night, after my father and I checked out (for better or worse, I made my father and brother share a room for two nights, and took the king room for myself).

Flying home for my father and I cost 110,000 United Miles per person, which was well worth it for Lufthansa First Class.

More to Come

I’ll cover the Christkindlemarkets in a further post, as well as the Lufthansa First Class Terminal and Lounge, and finally, Flying Lufthansa First Class. So stick around, won’t you?

8 Confessions before the New Year

By 2 Comments

Earlier this month, Nick at PF Digest shared some confessions. I thought I’d share some as well, because, emulation is a great form of flattery, and the end of the year is a time to reflect.

  1. Despite my vendoming nature, I’ve never stayed at a Four Seasons or Andaz hotel.
  2. On that note, I’ve flown economy at least 10 times. 8 were on Southwest, 2 were on American, one was even International (to Bermuda), the second was entirely by choice, if you can believe that.
  3. I haven’t had a Chase Sapphire Preferred in over a year.
  4. I’ve never stayed at a Westin, much to the chagrin of many, although I do someday hope to sleep in a Westin Heavenly Bed.
  5. I’m still pursuing lifetime Marriott Platinum Status, sometimes I feel like the only one in the blogosphere to do so (I’m only 246 nights and 704,735 points away!)
  6. I’ve never been to the Maldives, it’s on my list, but pretty low down, in fact.
  7. I’ve stayed at a grand total of 3 SPG properties, one each year, over the last 3 years. The nicest one by far was the W Singapore.
  8. Even though I’ve flown the Etihad A380 Apartments twice, it’s not my favorite. In fact, my wife asked whether I wanted to fly it home from the UAE in mid-2016, and I actually said no.

Happy New Year everyone!

Review: Grand Hyatt Santiago – Executive Suite with Terrace

By 3 Comments

Arriving into Santiago, we opted to arrange our airport transfer through the hotel. Let me be clear, the hotel option is never the cheapest, but for this trip, being only 2 nights, I figured that I wanted to reduce risk, and have a smooth transition from flight to hotel. It kind’ve loosely fits into my $20 rule, and we appreciated the driver, as he pointed various highlights out along the way, and shared some information about his country.

Check In

Arriving at the hotel, we waited in the lobby for a few minutes, as the front desk was short staffed, and the hotel was at capacity—there were not one, but two weddings that evening, in fact! Well, we were no sooner at the front desk, when we were recommended to take the elevator up to the Grand Club for check-in.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

The first concerns came about when the woman checking us in highlighted the fact that we were on a 1 night paid rate, using a Diamond Suite Upgrade, and our second night was in a standard room as an award. Hyatt’s standard policy is that they cannot guarantee that the hotel will let you stay in a suite, if you use do multiple reservations, any of which as all points. I get that, I totally understand the policy, but most times, hotels are generous and able to just make that happen. We were informed that if we wanted to stay in the suite the second night, it would be a $91 additional cost.

My response was “not happening.” I asked for an afternoon room switch, which she seemed to kind’ve begrudgingly agree to.

Of course, the experience turned a bit more positive, when she informed us that our room was ready, and that because there were no Executive Suites available at this early hour (roughly 11am), we would be staying in an Executive Suite with Terrace. We do enjoy having a terrace, in nice weather destinations, and this was no exception.

The Room

Entering the room, it was clear the hotel was a little older, but, for the most part, was nicely maintained. The door oddly didn’t have anything to help it close. I just state that, because, I didn’t expect it and opened the door with a bit more gusto than, perhaps I should have.

The living room was spacious, with a couch, a chair, an ottoman, a coffee table and a nice television. It was pretty minimalist, but it a kind’ve classic way. On the other end of the room (closer to the door), there was a gorgeous antique looking desk, serving cart, and an espresso machine, complimented by some complimentary snacks that were quite tasty.

The desk I want if I ever get to design my own office…


The terrace was right off the living room. The terrace was spacious, with a couch, two chairs and 1 chaise lounge. My one comment here is that I would’ve really appreciated a second chaise lounge. I’m not sure that I understand why they only had one.

 

Opposite the door to the Terrace was the door to the bedroom, to the left you had the entrance to the bathroom which had one sink, a Jacuzzi tub, a separate room with a toilet and bidet, and then a separate standup shower.

 

There was also a closet with the in-room safe.

The Hotel’s Public Areas

The hotel has a number of restaurants, although I can’t say that we spent any time in any of them, the lobby felt larger than I think it was,

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

but the highlight in our opinion, was the pool. Here you have a hotel in the middle of a city, near a major highway, and yet they were able to create a peaceful place to lounge in the sun. How did they do this? With a beautiful waterfall, that created enough tranquil kind’ve which noise, to drown out all the traffic passing buy.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

In addition to the pool, there was a separate standalone building with the gym and the spa.

The Grand Club

Entering the Grand Club, it reminded me a lot like the JW Marriott Rio de Janeiro, with 4 story high windows, it certainly looked much bigger than it really was. Aside from the main room, there were two side areas. I don’t recall ever feeling like the club was at full capacity, despite the hotel being at full capacity.

Breakfast generally involved a selection of meats, cheeses, cereal, juices—including Beet juice, that was interesting to see—and two hot choices, Bacon and scrambled eggs were the choices both days we were there. It didn’t seem to me like there were any “made to order” options, as some hotels have.

The evening drinks and snacks was held from 5-8pm each night. This is one of the longer hotels I have seen, usually they are only 2 hours. The service was very pleasant, and most of the beverages were table service vs. self service. The only challenge was, every so often all of the servers disappeared into the kitchen.

The food didn’t seem to really strike me as exhaustive, and they made a point to not leave a whole lot of it out at any given time, but they did replenish it through the night.

Wrapping Up

The Grand Hyatt Santiago kind’ve grew on us, as the stay progressed. I’m a huge fan of the pool, the waterfall, I think makes the experience so much better, especially in the middle of a city. The terrace suite made a big difference for us as well, as we spent a fair amount on time on it. One interesting experience upon checking out, though, and I need to do more research on it, because the person checking us out, charged us in US Dollars vs. Chilean Pesos, and when I tried to dispute not having been given a choice, her response was that it was the only way to not have to charge me the 19% local tax. I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced that before.

Note: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline, or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. The owners of this website may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links and advertisements posted on this website. For more information, please see our Legal Notice.