worldcupfan

Overall, I like the Four Seasons more when paying, but definitely prefer the GH's pool area over the FS. That said, the GH is a great hotel.

wuhoo

i have to say i have had a very different experience at this hotel than most. the hotel itself is great. very nice inside, rooms are well appointed albeit a little small, the location is very good although a tad far from mtr, and service in general is very good. the regency club itself is also very good, but imho not the best out there. the spread was bigger in china (shanghai, hangzhou, xian), and i consider the food in japan (tokyo, kyoto) to be the best. plus, how can it be a chinese hyatt but only have one chinese dish for breakfast and evening each? i understand its the most western of all chinese hyatts, but i wouldve hoped for some more authentic food.

my problem was with the concierges, both in the regency club and lobby. we had such a bad experience that i have also sent a complaint email in to hyatt -- the first time ever for me.

the first problem we had was with our room. well before our arrival i had requested a harbour view room but was told there would be an additional charge. after identifying myself as a diamond member, i was told upgrade would be done based on availability at check in. fair enough. fast forward to check in. the concierge/check in agent noted our request and again asked for an additional charge for the harbour view room. i declined. as it turned out i not only did not get a harbour view room but i also did not get on a regency club floor. understandably, the time period i was in was high occupancy (new years), but my understanding of diamond benefits was that i would be upgraded if there were available rooms. the fact that they again asked me to pay for a harbour room shows that there was availability. i did not pursue this because we had had a long trip and just wanted to go to our room.

second problem was much more egregious. after receiving our room keys, i asked the agent about the fireworks display for new years eve since there was some question among my friends and i about what time it would be. the agent flatly denied that there was any sort of fireworks display. i inquired further, informing her that i knew there was on the previous year and it went on around 8p. The agent told that there has never been any fireworks display on new years eve, only ever on chinese new years eve. again, i asked her how that could be since i knew people who watched it last year. once again the agend told me there has never been a fireworks display, this time with an edge to her voice that i could only interpret as condescending. i was very taken aback and decided not to question it further and left. i have never had such an attitude displayed to me ever in any dealings with any hyatt, especially not in asia at a regency club. my wife was shocked and very unhappy with the attitude. as it turned out, there WAS a large fireworks show on new years eve beginning at 11:40p. how is it even possible for a regency club concierge to not know about such a large event and then to get snooty with me for suggesting that she was wrong?!

after this check in experience, we resolved to use the concierges as little as possible during our stay from that point on. this was a big deal for us, since we have typically utilized the concierges heavily especially when we were in japan. luckily for us we knew several people in hk so the decision did not prevent us from enjoying our time in hk. we did need to use the concierge to arrange for transportation back to the airport for our departure. since we did not trust the regency club concierges anymore, i called downstairs to the lobby concierges the day before we were to leave. initially we had planned on taking a cab to the airport express rail line to get back to the airport. based on our costs and luggage, the concierge suggested that we take the hotellink shuttle to the airport instead. we had taken that shuttle in, and while convenient had found it took over an hour to make the trip because the hyatt was one of the last stops. i mentioned this to the concierge, who then informed me that while the hyatt was on of the last stops on the way in, it was also one of the last stops on the way back so the trip would only take 40 minutes as compared to the airport express at 42 minutes plus cab time. looking back at it now, this seems an odd statement to make, but i didn't think about thoroughly enough so decided to take the hotellink shuttle instead of our original airport express rail. we made a 9a reservation, to which the concierge called back 10 minutes later and informed us it needed to be at 8:55a. the next morning, we made it downstairs at 8:50a. The hotellink shuttle did not show up until 9:05a. now, i do not fault the concierge for their late arrival, but it contributed to our subsequent dissatisfaction. we were the first stop since the shuttle was empty, and ended up making two more stops to pick additional passengers at separate hotels. it wasnt until 9:45a that we finally left hong kong island. we ended up getting to the airport at 10:20a. my wife made the comment to me, "Do these hotel concierges even KNOW their own city?"

LIH Prem

Yes, I've also found this property to be very stingy with any sort of upgrade (view, GC level, etc). On my last stay, I booked 4 nights GC room using points, and one night in the middle of the stay using an FFN night. They wanted me to pay US$100 to upgrade my one FFN night to GC level. I politely declined, and she ended up comping me the one night in the middle of the stay on the GC level.

I was also there in December and found the people that worked in the GC to be much friendlier and more helpful than the concierge. Some of it was cultural on my part, I'm sure, and I also found it hard to communicate with some of the people working at the concierge desk.

HKG has the best airport express train I've ever seen, especially the way the entire thing is designed and layed out and how it pulls right into the terminal at the airport. There's in-city checkin, so you could have checked-in and checked your bags at the Central airport express station (taxis have a special area they pull up to for the airport express at the station, so there's no level changes to do the check-in), and if you're really on a budget, there's a free shuttle bus from the convention center that's connected to the hotel for the Airport Express. (But I always just take a taxi.)

I still love this property, but I've only ever stayed there using points and FFN nights.

-David

Fly Me To The Moon

Compared to the CNY fireworks display, the one on 31.Dec is "nothing".

RTWSTARALLIANCE

Here on FFNs. I contacted the Hotel in advance and was advised upgrades both for harbour view and Club would be based upon availability. I had a feeling for the e-mail I would not get both on the Club floor. Upon arrival we were given a great view room with Club access. That was ok with us.

A couple of things. I had thought from threads the Lounge closed much earlier. Actually it is open daily until mid-night. Also. HSIA is complimentary for Club members even if not on Club floor. We are enjoying our stay.

Pickles

From your comments, it sounds like you did get Club access, even though you did not get on the Club floor. Why would you care to get in the Club floor? Frankly, unless you end up on the 30th floor, the Club floors at the GHHK are a PITA because you have to change elevators.

For a long time now, I've been either given a Club floor or access to the Club, and very frequently (4 out of 5 times on average) I've been given a Harbourview room.

MW147

Hong Kong people are a lot like New Yorkers. They move fast, speak fast, and tend to come across as condescending and impatient. As I am a New Yorker, this all does not bother me. I just give it back to them and demand what I am entitled to. Then we all smile at the end.

Hong Kong hotels in general try to upsell. I have stayed at this GH several times. I have also stayed at the Renaissance that is next door, which is also attached to convention centre. I have had clerks there ask me if I want to pay for a harbour view upgrade. I always say no, and get it 50% of the time anyway. It's seems like it is just the way they do things in HK.

I think that the GH is an excellent property (I agree that the rooms are a little small). I do not have experience with the RC staff. I used to stay at the RC in the old Hyatt Regency on Kowloon side. The RC staff there was really great - best I have ever encountered in any hotel anywhere.

My business partner once had a medical situation while we were guests at the GH. The staff there was amazing. They went above and beyond.

Just ignore the attitude and you will be fine. I know that you should not have to do that in a 5 star property, but that's HK.

RTWSTARALLIANCE

I would tend to use the kiosk to buy a train ticket into town. We did this at first and the machine would not sell us a return ticket. At HKG I've always used the counter since I would usually be in on CX with a coupon for a train discount. If you use the counter the agent can sell you a return ticket at a I think 10% discount to the kiosk one-way rates. I know you get a discount the ? would be how much. Either way it is less than 200 HKG round-trip. And remember upon arrival into the City (Central) you can use the free bus to your Hotel or just take a taxi. The GHT was like 26 HKG all in.

On a side note. The Hotel has "London taxi" comp service on a first come, first serve basis for a limited area.

Another note. I have been wanting to add pages to my US passport. Thinking where I can do this I looked online since I was actually going to be in one place three nights. HKG Consulate was perfect. I made an appointment online. The first one of the day and took a cab over. Second in line for American Citizen Services. Waited 25 minutes while they added the pages at no cost. Beats sending it in to PHL for processing.

LIH Prem

Do they still offer the r/t discount? I didn't see anything this time around. (There were same day discounts, and things like that, but no discount at the machine for the normal r/t as you noticed.)

Or you can just buy an Octopus card at the airport. I remember passing a counter where they sold that stuff after customs on the way into the arrivals hall. Of course, I didn't realize that was my only chance to buy it at the airport and ended up just using the machine to buy the one-way express ticket to HKG and I picked up the Octopus card the next day.

I never did turn in my octopus card. Do they expire, or are they good forever?

-David

RTWSTARALLIANCE

We got our rt ticket with the slight discount from the agent which was just before you board the train.

We have Octopus cards from a couple years back and they still had a balance on them when we used them. That being said you have to put a minimum $50 HKD on it so you will probably always have a balance. If you stay in the general area of Central it is not worth buying a day pass. The card I believe gives a 10% discount.

? Do they still have tourist one day passes? We bought those before.

LIH Prem

I didn't see any agent before the train this time. I must have missed it. I had a heck of a time even finding the ATM this time.

I think they still have the one day passes, but I've never bought one.

-David

mjcasta

The Grand Hyatt Hong Kong achieved a milestone and totally shattered my expectations.

I have stayed on property in the past and my reviews were mixed. In the past I found the staff to be a bit detached and the service lacking.

My recent return, I quickly noticed what must have been a total reorganization of leadership. From the very first moment to the last, the service, attention and quality of stay were substantially enhanced.

My experience began with a gentleman greeting at the aircraft door and escorting me via cart to a dedicated immigration lane. Following clearance, I was greeted and escorted to a private jet black BMW sedan for my ride to the hotel. Upon arrival, I was escorted to the Club Level and my room by the General manager and Head Concierge.

The stay was an eroute stopover to Denpasar. The prupose to see the New year fireworks on Victoria Harbor. From aircraft door to my room in 45 minutes; and, just moments later I was harborside. An incredible experience.

My impressions may be a bit clouded by my experiences upon arrival. But, once on property, I was able to view and experience many enhancements which include the Club Staff, Concierge, Business Center, Room Service, Club Breakfast, etc.

Across the board, the product is head and shoulders above my previous visits. Truly the jewel of the Hyatt Asia brand. Mr. Gordon Fuller and his team present a marvelous product, which I look forward to enjoying again soon.

sfvoyage

Does this property still use "June Jacobs" toiletries in all their rooms? A few months ago, they told me they no longer provide L'Occitane in their suites.

IncyWincy

Could you let us know whether you booked this airport transfer beforehand and how much it cost? Thank you.

Pickles

This is true as of a week ago. I do miss the L'Occitane products, which are a marked improvement over these "June Jacobs" products. They remind me of the economist Jane Jacobs, which doesn't help.