About six months back, I booked a regular room for 2 on Hyatt's website for the Grand Hyatt Shanghai. The rate was confirmed for 2 people. Upon arrival at the hotel, I asked if there would be any upgrades (I am a Diamond Gold Passport), but the reply was no since the hotel was sold out. This was understandable. The check-in clerk then told me that my Diamond level accorded me the Grand Club privileges, I would have to pay an extra USD 10.00/night for my partner's use of the Grand Club. The clerk claimed that this was supposed to cover their costs! I found this ridiculous since there was no mention of this surcharge during the reservation on hyatt.com even though the system knew I was a Diamond member and would be entitled to privileges. After much heated argument, the hotel still would not waive the charge. I ended up paying because I did not want the start of a holiday to be like this. Upon return home, I wrote to the GM Mr. Edward Tai, and he had the USD 10.00/night reversed.

My question is: is this standard policy to charge extra for a partner's use of Grand Club? I am planning another visit to GH Shanghai in a few weeks, and I do not want a repeat of the problem.