dewby

Breakfast for diamonds is great here. The full deal.

Room upgrades are per policy and the front desk crew are young but attentive.

My last stay was superb I have to admit. Very welcoming of a returning guest and homely.

The rooms and bathroom will not be to everyone's taste. The shower in the large canal view is basically a part of the room with direct view which I don't mind but others may.

The location is less noisy agreed and I like it that end of town but some things are a long walk.

I stayed in the centre of town last week and the noise was unbearable. No thanks. Andaz is good on that front.

I still think rates are a little high. 350-500 for a standard room is not ok but Amsterdam is expensive.

chad75

Amenity is (was) the obligatory stroopwafels and a selection of meat, cheese & mustard from jutter speijs.

FD1971

Couple of things to add to reduce the confusion what is offered to a Diamond and what is offered as part of a suite.

Most Hyatt properties in Europe offer a bottle of wine and/or a food amenity to suite guests per se, so it is not necessarily offered to Diamond guests. Some hotels are a bit cheaper and do not offer wine and/or food for smaller suites and/or one night stays, so ymmv.

There is a certain tendency in Europe, especially at higher end properties, i.e. PH, to give a Diamond a one category upgrade and not the best available room.

Good point, so guests should check whether the Airport Express BUS 197 might be the better option instead of going via Central Station.

RTW1

You are right... that was what I was referring to. Not here though, they must feel that a €800 a night suite doesn't merit anything extra since you can use the mini-bar and the wine offered downstairs from 17:00-19:00 :-).
It felt a bit cheap/inattentive, that's all.... a very minor thing in an otherwise very enjoyable stay.

And the 197 Bus is definitely the way to go if you travel from the airport. Just a 5 minute walk from where it stops to the Andaz, just a minute or so more than when you take the tram from central (that route could take you 15-30minutes longer).

FD1971

Exactly, to a certain point I can understand the rationale of a hotel and that they do not put a bottle of wine in a suite in case someone books an € 100 weekend rate and uses a suite voucher.

But this is the Andaz Amsterdam, rates starting with a 2 are rare, the 4 is more and more common (Kudos to them for putting the hotel on the map like this) but under the bottom line, they had some issues.

I am really looking forward to the Regency, really hope for rates closer to Cat.4 and €200 in the beginning putting me in a position to start thinking about moving over from the HP.

Maybe, it is just me, but I still do not see the value for money in comparison to the Sheraton, even the Pulitzer or the Hyatt Place.

chad75

Speaking of pricing, I was hoping to make a weeks booking for much later in the year to lock in a DSU. For December the current flexible rate is 600 euro a night. Obviously (or hopefully) it will drop as time progresses - but it is somewhat absurd to be charging anywhere near that price. Especially for the small entry level room facing the elevator shaft.

Although I guess that 600 euro does include about 3 euro (wholesale value) of snack food - so swings and roundabouts etc.

RTW1

December is a pretty popular month for Amsterdam.... so that's why they get away with the high rates. Compare it to November and you will see a €200 difference :-). And as a Diamond it's very unlikely you will see that interior room....

Maybe it's a good time to use a P+C rate?

Richey66

Agreed, if even if you value Hyatt point 1,5c per point, it would still be around 300 EUR and you get night+stay credit and points.

dewby

The Andaz can be had often with BRG. I would look.

Kayak.com and kayak.de are worth comparing. Aroma.com has good rates from time to time if kayak does not pick up.

My stay last week was 175 with a BRG.

On the suite front ask for the bonus points at check in and you will find that the waffles and cheese gift are already in the suite.

RTW1

Then they must think because I'm Dutch that I didn't want them :-).

dewby

Ouch.

I have had 6 suite stays in 2014 and always had those caramel waffles in a white tin with blue deco and the salami and cheese cardboard box.

I do hope you have at least taken advantage of the free wine???...

Gwaahjo

I was curious if anyone knew a reason why we would have gotten complimentary breakfast, being only Platinum and booking points?

We only had ordered off the menu (as opposed to the buffet) for the 2 of us, assuming we would be paying, but when I asked for the check she said it was included.

It was a nice surprise, just wondering if we had done something (such as be nice while every other guest seemed to be complaining about any little thing) or it is a common thing.

angiez628

I was planning on booking this hotel today for an August trip with points but have run into a snag. I am traveling with my daughter and her infant son. I tried to book with points/points and cash but was informed that 3 to a room was not permissible for an award stay.

I have no status on hyatt as I normally travel with my husband and he is platinum so we always book through him. I have enough ultimate reward points to transfer to hyatt.

Here are my options as I see them.

1. Book through ultimate rewards for three people at (36000 points per night).

2. Book the standard room without telling them we have three, but I prefer not to do that if possible. I will also need to request a crib. I would be ok sharing a bed with my daughter, but would prefer two if at all possible.

3. Just pay cash for a room for three.

Can anyone offer any suggestions on the best way to effectively use points in this case to get the most room possible on the least amount of points/cash. I would consider getting the hyatt credit card to get platinum status if that would help, but don't know if I have enough time.

RTW1

You probably have gotten some bad information here.... The occupancy has nothing to do with booking with cash vs points, although since points can only be used for standard rooms (or suites) you might not find availability.

You can easily see what's available by using the reservation website and entering the occupants and age for the child. If you see a standard room available that will also be available with points. However if you only get the larger rooms, those are simply not available for awards unless a suite is available and you want to spend the points for that.

Option 2 is really not an option since the property has to comply with local regulations and that's were the max occupancy comes from. If you get caught, and you will, they will either refuse you or requir you to pay rack rate for a larger room.

angiez628

If the maximum allowed in a standard room is only two, how is that not an occupancy size issue. There are plenty of standard rooms available, but we are not allowed to use them.

I guess I am just surprised because I have not traveled with an infant for a long time and my daughter has only traveled internationally for work so we didn't realize that a 8 month old baby puts us in a position not to be able to use points for this hotel. Hopefully I will be able to find a more family friendly hotel.