I have stayed at the Grand Hyatt, New York many times. Originally because it was the only Hyatt in New York, then because it was easy for the bus from JFK, and more recently because it has decent weekend rates and great transport links. It’s location is good – a 20 minute walk to Macy’s, for example.

Check-in

A few days before arrival I received a check-in email confirming a special WiFi for Diamond Gold Passport members – so bring a copy with you as it has log on details. The email indicates that the Diamond check-in line is to the right of the front desk; it is to the left.

The agent at check-in was nice, and I think tried to give as good as spin as she could. Basically she vanished for about 15 minutes to ‘see if I can get you a better suite’. In fact that room would not be available until 7pm, so I declined. She didn’t mention that instead I was getting an Executive King which they seem to classify as a suite when it suits!

Lobby

The lobby has been remodelled and is much more modern. I did like the old, all sparkly gold, decoration although I hate to admit it. It is dark, but no too badly and there are lots of places to wait.

So, why the Grand Hyatt?

The two night stay was upgraded using a Diamond Gold Passport Suite Certificate but I didn’t get the room I had expected. I wrote about this at the time – the post is here – and here is a short update. The Deputy Front Office Manager acknowledged my complaint, and has offered to make sure that I get a better room on my next stay. My poor survey score also generated an email (from a different Deputy Front Office Manager) promising to do better. However, the images on the web site are unchanged, still possibly confusing customers.

The Room (red dot)

The room as you can see from the image above was in a corner and consisted of three distinct area – entry/seating, bathroom and bedroom:

The room was fairly quiet although there was a decent amount of door banging along the corridor. With the bedroom so far away from the corridor, it was good enough to sleep. There was a TV in both the bedroom and sitting area, with a decent number of channels. With the room set back in to the hotel, it was fairly dark in the room. There was an empty fridge under the TV in the bathroom, but the coffee maker was on request. I did receive 4 coupons for free coffee from the lobby at check-in as a Gold Passport member.

I slept well and was in the room when the cleaning service came – they checked that I wanted sheets and towels changed, and were through their process very efficiently in a good time.

Grand Club

One of the highlights of the hotel is the Grand Club, which now features a nice outside terrace area.

Opening hours are shown below:

The seating is arranged on the same level as the food area, four tables slightly raised on the way out to the large terrace.

My previous experiences have been that the Club was packed with hordes of people and that the food ran out pretty fast. This time, however, it was never too busy as I always managed to get a seat and there was plenty of food, restocked on a regular basis. In the evening there was warm pasta, cheeses, hams and other nibbles. The booze and wine is not free and works on the honour system. There are a wide range of soft drinks , plus coffee and tea, available at all times.

Breakfast featured a couple of warm items and wide range of typical breakfast fare – smoked salmon, cheese, ham, bread, bagels, fruit, pastries, muffins, breads as well as the expected juices etc.

The staff were friendly and always clearing away dirty plates.

There are two PC’s – one just for boarding passes – with printers. I used this to print off my Macy’s money saving vouchers before my visit.

Check Out

A 4pm check-out was readily agreed and I waited for my Uber driver outside the main entrance. Probably the worst driver I’ve ever had, so I should probably have caught a cab or the town cars being arrange by the doorman.

Overall a good stay in a solid hotel. My AARP rate of $199 made it good value too.