When I feel a rant coming on, at first I second guess myself. Is what I’m experiencing really rant worthy? Would other people rant about this too? Once I’ve answered YES to those 2 questions, I rant :) So here we go. Oh Hyatt, I have such a love-hate relationship with you. But this week, you’re making me mad! Maybe I’ve misread you or misunderstood your intention, but I don’t think so. And now I’m asking our readers to back me up or tell me I’m wrong. We shall see.
It all started when my Departures Magazine came. I was flipping through it and noticed a Hyatt ad for their Park Hyatt hotels. You all know I love the Park Hyatt properties and this year alone I had two amazing Park Hyatt stays (Buenos Aires and Milan). So of course the ad caught my eye. What really caught my attention was that the ad was a Special Offer for a complimentary third or fourth night at participating Park Hyatt hotels. Hmm, this could be a chance to plan a trip to try some Park Hyatt’s I haven’t stayed at yet.
As you can see from the ad, I had plenty of Park Hyatt properties to choose from, or so I thought. Because of my Globalist status and all the nights I’ve stayed at Hyatt hotels this past year, I have access to a Hyatt Concierge. She’s great, so I sent her an email asking her to check on a few Park Hyatt’s for me. I gave her a window of almost four weeks. And here’s what she replied:
I did a search on a few of our properties within the travel window you provided from the offer and I was only able to locate that rate at the Washington Park Hyatt and the New York Park Hyatt. None of the random international Park Hyatt’s I checked have the offer.
Come on Hyatt, you’ve got to be kidding? I did read the small print and there’s nothing there that would lead me to believe that there would be NO international availability. You take out a two page ad and list all these fabulous international properties and none of them are available? You waste my time, get my hopes up, and zippo, nada, it’s all smoke and mirrors. I don’t get it.
Now I know many of you are thinking that I’m nuts anyway for being so loyal to Hyatt. For sure, they’ve had a rough year and are on everyone’s list of worst mismanagement of a hotel chain in 2017. But according to all these emails I get, they say they’re trying :) Well belly up to the bar Hyatt, you’ve got to get your act together! I’m pissed off and shaking my head.
So you tell me, does this ad seem like false advertising? Am I misreading something in the ad? Or is this just the way it goes in the world of advertising. Maybe I’m naive. I’ve shown the ad to a few friends and they all interpret it the way I did. Your thoughts?
I signed up for the 20 stays in the final quarter to keep Glodalist status. Now Hyatt says they can’t find my signup!
I have the internet history showing I went there on Sept 24th and will have 20 qualifying stays before the end of the year. SUCKS!
Wow, Marshall, that sounds like a huge mess. Hope it resolves in your favor, and soon!
Thanks. I made friends with the GM of a Hyatt I stay at regularly. He and I went to the same school. He is trying to help. I have a total of 47 stays this year, but many were with points, so they don’t count. BTW, has anyone else run into this? From now on I am doing a screen shot of ANY promotoins I sign up for.
I had some issues with stays in 2016 but no issues in 2017. Good luck, Marshall.
Your issue could be your concierge. I have heard of others having a poor experience with theirs.
I appreciate your comment, Matt, but so far both by phone and using email, she has been great.
Not sure where and when she checked but spot checking that rate code Jan 11-15 there is availability in Goa, Hamburg, Abu Dhabi, Beaver Creek, Maldives, Zurich, Paris…. only place didn’t have was Hangzhou and Beijing. Then I got tired of checking. so not sure where you checked or when you checked but your rant might be unwarranted.
Sorry, FDW, you’re right. I should have mentioned that my dates were in March. Good news for anyone who has a trip planned in early January though! Thanks so much for checking and letting readers know.
without knowing your exact dates there is availability in the above mentioned Park Hyatts from the 9th to 13th of March.. so did you actually check your dates or just rely on your advisor? It might be that they didn’t actually check the specific rate code, DUSA…. because both the PH NY and DC have free night offers that don’t require a specific code….
I’m emailing my concierge now. Something about all this is not making sense. You’d think she’d know about the code. I’ll let you know how this works out. Thank you!
Contact the hotel yourself by email or phone. They are generally available. I found plenty of dates too. Now if I could only take advantage of it…
Great idea, Geoff. I’ll do an experiment and let you know. Thanks for reading!!
Ben Lucky posted a response to this on Twitter as follows: “I think the problem may be the concierge? Having no problem using promo code DUSA on Hyatt’s website.”
https://twitter.com/OneMileataTime/status/938877890128617472
Thanks for letting me know, Kalboz. I’ve emailed my concierge about the DUSA code issue as to whether or not she used it, and I’m also checking with a friend who works at a PH in China to have him see what’s available at his hotel in March. Still a mystery as to whether it’s the concierge, the dates in March, or the hotels. My concierge also mentioned that hotels have the right to opt out of this offer, but hard to imagine that so many have opted out.
All roads are leading to the concierge giving me really bad service! I’m bummed and tomorrow will be calling Hyatt and asking for a new concierge. Stay tuned as unfortunately the saga continues. Thanks to you all for helping me sort through this!
I will say that the two hotels I checked in China didn’t display any availability so perhaps some the PHs in China have opted out….
Did you specifically ask the concierge to check the DUSA code at first check?
Hi FDW, I did not say “use the DUSA code” but I did mention the ad in the Departures magazine and the offer and she seemed to know, judging from her reply, what I meant. Regardless, she’s clueless and right after I answer your post I’m calling Hyatt to request a new concierge. Stay tuned! Thanks for your comment.
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I have a complaint regarding the rates advertised on the website for the “Stay 3 Nights, 4th Night Free from $200USD” offer.
I booked 5 nights and received one night free, however, my nightly rate was $250/night in the billing details instead of the starting rate of $200/night.
I think the offer is falsely advertising the rates to appear to be lower than actual.
$200average/night x5 nights = $1000. If I truly received one night free as the offer states, then my bill should be for $800 + taxes and fees.
When I went to the billing details, the nightly rate increased to $250/night.
The advertisement on the website states that the room rate starts at $200, but $200 is not a rate that is actually an option.
HI JB, Hopefully you’ll be able to get any billing discrepancies worked out with Hyatt and the hotel you stayed at.