taffygrrl

We stayed at the Park Hyatt Sydney recently; our visit began well but ended with great disappointment.

We stayed three nights on points for my partner's landmark birthday. They were kind enough to upgrade us to a Harbor View room. It was a room with a good view of the cruise ship terminal and CBD, and if you leaned out of the balcony you could see the Opera House - so quite nice.

The first service incident was when we came back for a meal in the Living Room. There were a fair amount of people but we managed to snag a table by the window. Once we sat down we waited...and waited...and waited for someone to come over and take our order. Subtle cues were not effective; we wound up having to call for a waiter. (This wasn't the only incident of this sort that we had in the Living Room.)

Things became more awkward a little later. The table next to ours, adjacent to the window, was vacated. It was empty for several minutes, and someone came over asking if he and his partner could sit there. They did and we had a delightful chat and they placed their order. Then one of the staffers came over and kicked him and his wife out of the table, saying the manager wanted someone else to sit there! He said another couple had been waiting for that specific window table and asked our neighbor and his partner to move to another long table with no view which they'd be sharing with other people – quite a downgrade from a romantic table for two by the window! The staff dropped the ball in a really bad way. The man who was sitting next to us kept saying, "But I'm a guest here!" and it turned into a very ugly argument. Ironically, the very next table by the window opened, but the new couple weren't willing to take it – they had to have THAT SPECIFIC table end evict our neighbors. It was an object lesson in how NOT to do hospitality.

We got our own personal lesson on poor hospitality on the morning we checked out. There had been substantial rains and there were leaks all over the hotel; we were on the 2nd floor and there were buckets in the hallway to catch the drips. Our room also sprung a leak in the WC area, a yellow, stinky and substantial drip from the ceiling that left a large puddle on the floor. (Staff later put an ice bucket there to catch the drip, and it overflowed the ice bucket in a few hours.) A tremendous member of the hotel staff came up, saw the leak and did his best to remedy the situation. He gave us keys so we could sleep in a non-harbor-view room, gave us a bottle of wine, and told us that in the morning our breakfast and transport to the airport would be comped. I called downstairs to confirm everything and asked them to put a note in our file for shift change, because I know how these things go. Sounds like a grand slam home run on how to treat a guest, right?

Not so much. The next morning I came down to the lobby and spoke to the front desk. They said they'd never heard a thing. They treated me as if I was trying to scam them and did their best to make it uncomfortable for me. I was firm and polite. I gave them the name of the staffers I'd worked with the night before – and they called those staffers AT HOME to check and see if I'd really been comped breakfast and a ride to the airport. After receiving an affirmative answer, the front desk staff said they would inform the dining room staff we were being comped breakfast. Surprise, surprise, no one in the dining room had heard a thing, and they also treated me like I was running a scam. "I'm sorry, but if you're here on points you're not allowed to have a free breakfast." I sent them back to the front desk to confirm. I say "them" because this happened THREE TIMES. As soon as I'd resolve it with one and they'd apologize for the confusion, they'd leave and I'd have to go through it all over again. Then the front desk staffer came over and said that arranging a limousine at this late time would be difficult. I said, "I thought you were just arranging a taxi to the airport?" She looked shocked, as if she'd never thought of the idea of setting up a taxi. Lo and behold, once that conversation ended the transport got sorted in five minutes.

The Park Hyatt is a beautiful property, but the staff leaves a lot to be desired. I stayed at a different hotel in Sydney earlier in the week, and though the room and facilities were not as nice, the staff was top-notch and went above and beyond to make my stay better. It was very nice of the Park Hyatt to promise me so many things to make up for the issue in my stay, but their failure at follow-through made it an even worse experience than the original leak was! Their service is not of the caliber that I would expect at a Park Hyatt.

m0hamed

That is a truly terrible stay. I would email the GM and open a case with Hyatt Consumer Affairs.

The property is beautiful, but the service definitely isn't on par with what it should be or what they charge.

JetAway

The day will come, perhaps sooner than they realize, when they will not be able to charge what they now charge. At which point they may begin to put more effort into customer service. The fact that the hotel was literally leaking buckets says it all; what a great metaphor.

Zol

For those of you who have stayed, what is the privacy / exposure into the room like? Do you have to keep the blinds down at all times, based on pics and memory passers by have full view of the room internals?

m0hamed

What on Earth are you planning on doing?!

There's a reason this is where artist management and record companies have international celebrities stay.

Obviously higher floors are better, but there is a boardwalk around the perimeter of the hotel.

sydneyflyer12

If someone wanted to make a concerted effort to see into your room they probably could but I certainly wouldn't say that I've ever actually been concerned about privacy when staying at the PH. The hotel is elevated above the boardwalk enough that someone would probably have to be using binoculars to really see into your room. If you're staying in an opera view room, I suppose it's possible that if people in harbor view rooms went out onto their balconies and instead of looking at the opera house, turned and craned their necks to get a view of your room they might be able to vaguely see in if the doors were open.

In general I'd say the privacy in the room is more than adequate. The balcony is definitely more exposed but I can't imagine how/why that would be an issue.

Red259

Recently completed a stay here on an award. Without a doubt i would strongly discourage people with no status or low status to not waste their points. I have only discoverist and booked an award here. Upon checkin i asked if there was a chance any rooms with a view were available. The guy at reception said he could book me in to a king deluxe so i would have a partial view for as an extra $100. I readily paid for it. My room was on the third floor at the very end of the hotel. It takes like five minutes to get to the room from the elevator.

i finally get to the room and my view? My frickin view is of a street and the construction next door. Even leaning over the balcony you cant see anything but a frickin tree. I dont even know what i paid extra for. Is there a frickin room without windows because that us the only way it would be worse.

Twice on my one night stay my keycard deactivated requiring going to reception to get it fixed. Again annoying because i wasted 20 minutes walking back and firth on keycard issues alone. The room itself was ok i guess although i have also stayed at the Sheraton and see minimal difference in room quality.

Its the first park hyatt i have been to where nobody tried to help me with my bags on arrival.

i went up and looked at the rooftop pool and it was pretty pathetic looking. The bed was a bit too hard for my taste.

Overall i regret wasting the points on staying here and im even more pissed that i paid extra for a mediocre room.

sydneyflyer12

If you're expecting upgrades at top tier Hyatt properties with discoverist status you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Paid upgrades are obviously a different matter. Did you complain to management about the upgraded room?

Red259

I wasnt expecting an upgrade as discoverist. I didnt complain because i had just gotten in after over 26 hours of flying and was too tired, but i should have demanded my money back because the whole reason i paid money was to have some semblance of a view and they failed to provide that.

sydneyflyer12

I would definitely reach back out to the property and [politely] express your displeasure to them directly.

m0hamed

In future when you don't like a room, tell them immediately. Generally they'll find you something else.

JetAway

You got "taken." They dumped an unsaleable room on you for an extra $100 plus all your points.

Aventine

I would want the 100 dollars back or a better room for that 100 dollars.

Ausriver

Your 100 dollars were paid for a larger room. The deluxe is almost double the size compare with the regular room. I do not see what you are complaining for... If you want the view, go further and pay for an opera deluxe.

JetAway

He thought he was paying for a view and was led to believe that was the case. Certainly worth complaining about.