Andaz Fifth Avenue (NY) REVIEW - MASTER THREAD
Jan 18, 2014, 4:36 pm
#1021
Used to be garyjr316
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: LAX or SBA
Programs: AAdvantage, MileagePlus, Gold Passport, Hilton HHonors, Marriott
Posts: 800
points suite upgrade
We have a 3 night reward stay booked in June in a standard room. Would love to hear people's thoughts about whether or not it's worth it to spend the additional 15k points per night to upgrade to a suite. It's our anniversary so I'm surprising my wife.
Jan 18, 2014, 5:29 pm
#1023
Join Date: Aug 2007
Programs: ex-Delta DM (NWA was nice while it lasted), Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 213
And yes, breakfast downstairs is totally worth it. I can only think of a handful of Hyatts where breakfast is actually worth what they charge, PH Tokyo, PH DC, and here, totally worth it.
Jan 18, 2014, 8:27 pm
#1024
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: On strike
Posts: 8,135
The bacon was so ridiculously good that my DW called & tried to find out how we could acquire some for home consumption. Short answer: it's custom-cured by a very particular supplier. (I'd even use the A-Word: artisanal.)
Jan 18, 2014, 9:33 pm
#1025
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 1,982
Neither 75,000 or 120,000 points for a three-day stay in location that has many alternative options without splurging one's recently-devalued goldpassport points is good value. Ever think why Hyatt stands out among the chains in NYC for requiring 48 cancellation notice? Well, some brands have amazingly dynamic pricing and to stay competitive often sell rooms at a really cheap price, especially for New York. You do not get double vanity and complimentary pancakes, rather a clean room and central location, but then again you save your points for Zurich or Tokyo or wherever your options would be much more limited. However, if you want to celebrate your special occasion - do go ahead and book a suite, but then don't tell her how you paid for it.
Jan 20, 2014, 7:44 am
#1028
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: SJC/VCE
Programs: AA PLT (2.9+ MM), HH GLD, Hyatt Diamond, SPG PLT
Posts: 10,161
Neither 75,000 or 120,000 points for a three-day stay in location that has many alternative options without splurging one's recently-devalued goldpassport points is good value. Ever think why Hyatt stands out among the chains in NYC for requiring 48 cancellation notice? Well, some brands have amazingly dynamic pricing and to stay competitive often sell rooms at a really cheap price, especially for New York. You do not get double vanity and complimentary pancakes, rather a clean room and central location, but then again you save your points for Zurich or Tokyo or wherever your options would be much more limited. However, if you want to celebrate your special occasion - do go ahead and book a suite, but then don't tell her how you paid for it.
IMO (and IME) a suite at the Andaz is an excellent use of points as 3 nights at a suite in June = c. 2400 US. Is it as good a "value" for points as say Tokyo or Zurich? Maybe, maybe not. However, the OP is planning on being in NYC, not Tokyo or Zurich, which makes the Andaz 5th far more attractive/valuable for this particular trip.
Last edited by bdemaria; Jan 20, 2014 at 7:52 am
Jan 20, 2014, 8:29 am
#1029
Used to be garyjr316
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: LAX or SBA
Programs: AAdvantage, MileagePlus, Gold Passport, Hilton HHonors, Marriott
Posts: 800
Neither 75,000 or 120,000 points for a three-day stay in location that has many alternative options without splurging one's recently-devalued goldpassport points is good value. Ever think why Hyatt stands out among the chains in NYC for requiring 48 cancellation notice? Well, some brands have amazingly dynamic pricing and to stay competitive often sell rooms at a really cheap price, especially for New York. You do not get double vanity and complimentary pancakes, rather a clean room and central location, but then again you save your points for Zurich or Tokyo or wherever your options would be much more limited. However, if you want to celebrate your special occasion - do go ahead and book a suite, but then don't tell her how you paid for it.
Question though... you say it's a waste of points etc, I am curious what your recommendation would be?
Jan 26, 2014, 6:18 pm
#1030
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Warm, sunny Florida
Posts: 251
We booked a 5 night award stay at the Andaz for late Nov/early Dec pre-deval points. Just picked up Platinum status this week with Chase. From the above, I believe the recommendation is to Get. The. Suite. even though it'll run me about another 50k points or so. I'd like to get into a Splash Suite for the misses as she'll be exausted from our second child otw in April. Anything special Platinum membership will provide (my feeling is a resounding no) or other points to make note of prior to departure? Thanks!
Jan 26, 2014, 6:28 pm
#1031
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 1,982
Last edited by LilZeppelin; Jan 26, 2014 at 6:38 pm
Jan 26, 2014, 8:42 pm
#1032
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Bay Area, Ca
Posts: 543
It's not as if you choose the suite you want with points or diamond suite upgrades. It's the Splash suite that you get with the latter, so might be the same with points reservations. You might want to look into applying for a world elite mastercard, such as Virgin Atlantic one, to get free breakfast.
Jan 27, 2014, 2:13 pm
#1033
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Warm, sunny Florida
Posts: 251
Yeah I don't know how it would work. I do carry an Arrival card so I'm at least covered. Looks like the benefits of breakfast though are a one time per trip not per night sort of deal. Doesn't matter too much though as were using awards for flights and hotel but was curious :-)
Last edited by nuclfusion; Jan 27, 2014 at 5:06 pm
Jan 27, 2014, 6:00 pm
#1035
Moderator: GLBT Travelers & Hyatt Gold Passport
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: CVG
Posts: 15,300
Yeah I don't know how it would work. I do carry an Arrival card so I'm at least covered. Looks like the benefits of breakfast though are a one time per trip not per night sort of deal. Doesn't matter too much though as were using awards for flights and hotel but was curious :-)
I'm pretty sure the benefits are not for award stays just for stays booked through them.