We just had a bad stay at this property - the following letter explains the problems encountered:

Mr. Ted Kanatas
General Manager
Manchester Grand Hyatt
One Market Place
San Diego, CA 92101
[email protected]

Dear Mr. Kanatas:

I had made a reservation for 2 rooms for the above stay since June 2006 (or thereabouts). During the stay, starting with checking-in, we ran into numerous service and staff problems which made the stay bad enough to qualify as my worst Hyatt stay ever (and I’ve been a Hyatt Diamond for 4 years – so that’s quite a few Hyatt stays). The problems are as follows:

1. The reservation was made for two rooms which I was paying for. The name of the occupant of the second room was added a few weeks prior to the stay so that in the event that we did not arrive together, our friend could check-in. After checking in, we found out that the second room was not on the RC floor (which is not a problem); however, the keys also did not access the RC. We went back down to the desk to get rekeyed for access. The young lady at the front desk went and got Crystal, the original check-in clerk who refused to grant access saying that the hotel was full, the room wasn’t on the RC floor, didn’t want the RC to be too crowded and I wasn’t even on the record for the second room (but wrote down the above referenced Reservation Number). These arguments are pretty ridiculous especially given that the convention that was in town (which caused the hotel to be full) is not a group that is likely to have a lot guests that are entitled to RC access (and certainly true since during the entire stay I did not see anymore than 10 people in the RC at any time) and during our last stay at your property, our room was in the Seaport (other) tower with RC access. Also, it is common practice with Hyatt properties to grant Diamond status perks to more than one room when the reservation is made by and paid for by the Diamond member. At the HR Atlanta, two suites were pre-blocked and both rooms given RC access, at the former PH Los Angeles two suites were pre-blocked and breakfast certificates were given for both rooms, and at the PH Toronto both rooms were upgraded and breakfast certificates given for both rooms – all completely pre-prepared and no request necessary. While at the desk, I called Gold Passport Diamond Customer Service who agreed that RC access for both rooms should be given. Crystal, however refused to budge and the whole time displaying a self-satisfied smirk on her face.
2. Regency Club hours were indicated in room literature to close at 10PM, however, we tried to get some bottled water at 9:10PM only to find that it’s closed at 9PM. A call to guest services was met by the attitude of “what do you mean 10PM, it’s 9PM”. A request for a call from the management was not met during the stay. Also, the RC offerings were the worst seen at any Hyatt property in our experience. Morning offering was only 3 types of cereal, dried out smoked salmon, small amount of tomatoes & mozzarella cheese left, limited selection of pastries, and juice. That said, the RC attendants were the most pleasant staff members encountered during the stay.
3. On Sunday, 5/20, morning no newspaper was outside the door at 9AM. Guest services responded to the call stating that I had not requested a newspaper. I have never been at any Hyatt where you had to specifically request that the “generic” newspaper be delivered. This is contrary to the information stamped on the upper right of the newspaper which was finally delivered, that you can get a credit on the folio if you request that the newspaper be NOT delivered.
4. Signage (both on the external part of the garage and also immediately upon entering the self-parking area in the middle of the garage) for parking indicates that handicapped parking entrance is to the far right of the parking garage; however, I was repeatedly harassed for parking in the handicapped area (with a valid handicapped parking card) saying that area is valet only. Now, isn’t handicapped valet parking an oxymoron?
5. On 5/24, housekeeping knocked on the door at 8AM asking if we were checking out that day. I realize the need to turn rooms over but isn’t normal practice for there be some report given to housekeeping of departures that day and if they were wondering about timing, shouldn’t they contact the front desk to determine if a guest has checked-out?
6. Each day after housekeeping service, the HVAC setting would be adjusted up and turned off and window opened causing the room to become stuffy and uncomfortable everyday. Also, turndown service was always very early and consisted only of replacing towels and drawing the drapes.

Some of these problems may be acceptable for a brand new property or one that had undergone a major renovation. However, it is not acceptable in an established property (signage issues especially). The attitude displayed by most of the staff is never acceptable in any hotel especially an upscale Grand Hyatt. I’ve had better service at some of the basic hotel chains like Days Inn and La Quinta Motels.

While I’m still a loyal Hyatt customer since I find most of the properties to be superior, I would be extremely hard pressed to justify a return visit to the GH San Diego. I also feel that compensation of a significant number of Hyatt GP points (12k-15k would be reasonable) is justified for the problems with this stay.

I may be contacted at xxx-xxx-xxxx or peteropny for any additional comments.


Sincerely,

Cc: Karen Smith – Gold Passport Concierge @ Flyertalk.com
[email protected]