I just got done staying 3 nights at Hyatt Carmel Highlands. My wife, who is also a Globalist hasn’t had a chance to stay at all during the Hyatt promotion so we decided to stay at the Hyatt Regency Monterey for 1 night before our flight out the following afternoon. I read a few reviews and heard it was nothing special so my expectations were already low. She still had all 4 suite night upgrades and it’s doubtful that we will use all of them this year with cancelled work and personal trips due to COVID.

We moved over at noon after we checked out of Carmel Highlands. My concierge had already confirmed early check-in. When we got to the hotel we saw a super irate customer yelling at the two Hyatt employees. She was saying she drove all the way down from San Francisco and booked earlier that morning. The girl at the check-in desk explained their system was currently down and she couldn’t check anyone in. The woman was yelling saying that she needed to leave her bags. They offered to store her bags but she said she didn’t trust them with it. She said she didn’t want to leave it in her car either. At this point a male Hyatt employee seemed to lose patience with her (I don’t know how long she was there arguing). He explained to her that normal check-in is not until 4 PM and she didn’t have a right to check-in before then anyway. I could tell he was frustrated. She argued back that she saw when she booked they were completely wide open. She yelled at them saying what happens if the “system is still down” at 4 PM when she checks in. They said they could take her # and call her once it’s up but that they didn’t want to say what would happen if it still wasn’t up by 4 PM.

She stormed out angry. They told us the same thing. I said that my Globalist concierge confirmed that we could check-in early but they said they couldn’t access anything. It was sunny out near the hotel so we decided to just wait 15 minutes outside in the back where they had some chairs. It was honestly nice to see some sun after 4 days without more than 30 minutes a day of sun. Sure enough, within 10 minutes the girl came out to get us. She also apologized if she seemed short but she was dealing with the other woman. I only mention all of this as I’m not sure if this happens often or not but note that they say if the system is down they can’t check you in at all and you can’t access rooms.

Note that there are NO restaurants open at all. They didn’t offer any points and only offered us to pick up a breakfast sandwich or fruit or coffee the following morning. We asked how much we could have and they weren’t sure and said “maybe around $30”. They also gave us two vouchers for alcoholic beverages at the outdoor stand which had some drinks (sodas, coffee, drinks, beer, etc). They also had candy bars and stuff. I asked the girl at the outdoor store if we could get a candybar and a fellow Globalist mentioned to me that you can only get breakfast sandwiches. I don’t know if that was correct or not. We didn’t even use all of it as there wasn’t anything decent. Just got a coffee, water and a breakfast sandwich (which wasn’t too good).

We booked a cheap rate of $150/night and used one of our upgrade certificates. Rate was $470 for a Monterey King Suite. I have to be honest. The Suite was really nice. Very modern and looked to be recently renovated. The room was in perfect condition and looked to be recently painted. It was Suite # 534 in building 5 by the pool. Everything worked perfectly. AC’s worked well and were super quiet. Split wall AC unit in the bedroom and also one in the living room. HUGE LED TV’s in both the bedroom and living room. We weren’t in the room too much except to sleep but it was really comfortable. The shower was huge. About the only thing I could complain about is there was almost no counter space in the bathroom.

The suite had a large living room with work desk. There was also a guest bathroom off the living room area. I wasn’t expecting such a nice room as the outside of the hotel is super mediocre. They also told me at check-in that water was included for Globalist. There was no robes or slippers in the room and I called to ask if they could bring two of them and also some bottled water. They asked how many I needed and I said 5 bottles and a nice gentleman brought all of the stuff quickly. The ice machines ARE working and they are near the elevators on each floor.

All in all a good stay. I can’t speak to the normal rooms but the Monterey King Suite was really nice. We were only in the room a few hours besides the full night sleep and it was very comfortable. Could be a good option if you’re only looking for an affordable option or not going to be in the room much.