Arrived on Sunday, Dec 11. Had been trying, through Globalist Concierge, to apply a suite Certificate to my room, which was booked as a King, lowest rate at the time. Nothing was happening with the upgrade in advance of my getting here, despite checking in with my Concierge the day before and noting that junior suites, let alone Ocean Front Suites were showing as available for the dates of my stay. Too a while for the person checking me in to note that I am a Globalist, at which point the usual thank-you's began, and was upgraded to an Ocean View room, which is one of the side-long rooms you see down the arms from the central core. Got to the room and then phoned my concierge asking about the certificate application. She'd said she'd not received a response, again, and offered to phone them and she'd phone me back once she had info.
Yes, they are new, having just opened Dec 1. The person she spoke to asked if I'd come to reception to discuss the situation. So, I went. The person I spoke to, Jesus (prefers to be called Jeshua, after I explained the situation, asked for proof that I had a valid suite certificate. At first, that stumped me, since I'd never been asked that before, and I mentioned that it was typically handled by the Concierge without my involvement, but I then remembered the Hyatt app on my phone. Went to my Awards and showed all the certificates valid between now and Feb 2024. Jeshua asked if he could take a photo of the page, then went to Terms and Conditions and asked if he could take a photo of that to also show his boss. I had no problem with that. He went away for about 15 minutes. Came back and was prepared to offer me a Tropic View Swim Up Junior King -- there were no Ocean Front Suites available, even though I showed him the availability for pay.
Went to look at the suite after he checked physically that it was ready, and I agreed to the switch because almost 2 hours had gone by at this point and I just wanted the thing settled. It's a slighly longer room from the front door to the door leading to the terrace of the swim-up, than the 3rd floor Ocean View room they originally had me in.
Otherwise, check in was straightforward as was moving my bags. They do offer a at-check-in-only special 50% discount on a spa package for 2. I'm here solo, and had no interest in going twice for all that's offered, but ymmv.
This website, arrived at by photoing the QR code on the back of the room key envelope, gives the details on restaurants, daily activities, etc.
hzlrm.resortsbyhyatt.com.
In brief, only the same 2 places are only open each day for breakfast and for lunch - the buffet restaurant and Lola Beach, which is an outdoor restaurant. I've been having breakfasts there in the shade, as it's by the beach and there's always a nice breeze blowing; you could sit in the sun if that's your pleasure. The buffet restaurant does have indoor and outdoor seating.
Sundays and Wednesday evenings, the buffet restaurant has Fish Night and it was very good. Great shrimp and a separate seafood soups and a cooking station where there's salmon, a white fist, shrimps clear and blue, octopus, squid, along with some veggies. It was excellent. Buffet items included a few ceviches, various cooked veggie dishes, and some additional seafood items in chafing dishes. Lots of salads, cheeses, fruits and desserts. I'll be back there tonight.
Lola serves for lunch and for dinner the Mexican dishes that a dedicated restaurant at other all-inclusives might have.
You only need reservations if you're going to Tempest, the Asian restaurant, for Sushi or for Teppanyaki; if you're going for the a la carte menu, no reservation needed. I went a la carte there. The shrimp shumai was enormous (only 1, whereas it seems the veggie shumai are smaller and you get a few of those) and was too salty for my taste. However, the Korean-style short rib was a definite winner. Fall-apart and very tasty.
Capri, the Italian, was good and not so. The Beef Sphere, a carpaccio that's rolled into a ball was excellent, I thought, while the seafood risotto was okay - rice was not cooked enough and was too soupy. (The GM asked how my meal was, and I was honest about it, especially when he asked about my comment on the risotto.)
The Coffee shop is very nice and the lemon and the pistachio ice creams are tasty! They make some good coffee drinks and have various naughty desserts of different kinds. Social Bar is fine, but I'm not much of a drinker. About to head to Legends for the France Morocco Match; don't know about their food offerings.
The Lola Snack Bar, as opposed to the restaurant has some smaller offerings that were tasty.
Service is friendly and efficient. It's generally much less noisy around the pool than at the other Hyatt all-inclusives I've been to, but that's going to change tonight cause they're having a shindig out there starting at 8:30P. Glad I face away from it.
The one thing to watch out for is walking on the beach, and it's a wide beach to the ocean and with no seaweed small so far: there are lots of branches, stones, spiky burrs and more that aren't cleaned up. Be sure you're wearing a foot covering if you go to the water or just to one of the chairs that are out on the sand. I was "ouch, ooch, eek, yikes"ing my way just about every step when I didn't put my shoes on!
Haven't tried the spa, which you're driven in a cart to as it's quite the hike from the hotel. The pool isn't really geared towards something like lap swimming, and you'll have to wait till late in the afternoon for any portion of it to be in shade. There are daybeds that can be rented and there are umbrellas that can be moved and opened up near the lounge chairs that are plentiful. The gym is mostly all there, with a few arm and leg machines not yet ready to go, but all equipment is brand new and otherwise working.
Hope this gives some idea of what to expect. I did have a conversation with their Chief Concierge about the suite certificate issue and how this has always been handled by the Concierge without any requirement for proof on arrival, and also the beach-cleaning. He also claimed that the Ocean Front rooms aren't fully built out yet; not sure I buy that, but I'm okay with how this turned out. I'm able to get my swimming in with the shared pool outside my room. Since it faces the bushes, with some distance to those, it's fairly bright and away from people looking in if they're in the general pool area. In the hotel overview photo above, my room, 125, is in the left arm coming away from the center and facing away from the main and only pool.
PS - There is some construction noise I can hear, but doesn't seem to be coming from those Ocean Front rooms!