59Impala

I don‘t recall a bluetooth speaker in the room. Some guests did bring a speaker to the pool. I found it disturbing. And the concierge had to remind the guest to turn it off. The were mostly guests from Panama or Latinos from Miami (sorry to say…)

I guess it is a preference re switching. We would prefer to stay at the same. Place for the entire duration.

nas6034

good way to knock out a few places on the brand explorer.

tcATL

We were just there and it was $184 per day at the Zilara, but Globalists do get a 30% discount.

59Impala

that is still almost 130$, which is 30% more than before. That is still insane.

but apparently people pay this fee, so good for Hyatt… I for sure would try to negotiate via my MHC who has been amazing in many aspects.

soojin

Did you have to reach out to the resort preemptively for the upgrade? Or was this done at the front desk when checking in? I appreciate your time, thank you.

Beechy

We reached out to the hotel for the list of Globalist benefits and it stated an upgrade. Have a great time !!

Au4882

Yeah, running into this issue a lot at Cap Cana. It's really disingenuous and is a way to charge more for the room during peak periods. They dont' want to play by the seasonality pricing of 21-29k, and just automatically up it to 36k/40k/44k, bc people will pay it. Running into a situation right now where I'm trying to book for a week over the Holidays -- just can't figure out how many total points are needed (and what I'll need to transfer from Chase). I'd be fine if this rate was for swim up or ocean front or master suites, but this just irked me.

Reaching out to WoH MHC to try to get more visiblity into what I need to book - also vented to her about this practice at Cap Cana -- I know this will get me nowhere, but it made me feel better And she's been a pretty great concierge, so maybe she will pound some heads.

MidnightEnnui

The additional adult fee on awards reservations has now increased from $150 to $180. This is interesting because it is not reflected in the difference in cash rates moving from two adults to three adults, which has traditionally been, and is currently, $150.

In response to the above, I disagree. I think it is reasonable for a hotel to designate particular rooms as base, and thus, awards eligible, and others as premium, requiring an upsell. Just because a property can and will upgrade people to potentially open up more base room availability, it does not mean they should have to. From a business perspective, it limits their ability to otherwise sell these rooms for cash. The Alila Ventana Big Sur is probably the posterchild for this behavior, and no one laments not being able to book the Big Sur Spa Suites for base rates. There has also been no indication that the Ziva/Zilara Cap Cana engages in excessive and egregious room differentiation to limit awards availability, something which has been reported at the Hyatt Regency Monterey, Park Hyatt Aviara, and Alila Marea Beach Resort Encinitas.

You indicate you are having trouble booking base awards during the holidays, that is unsurprising. What is surprising is not knowing how much the room will cost, it should be listed, no?

Au4882

I wasn’t able to get a total cost for the stay, as I didn’t have enough points. It’s a minimum 7 night stay, so wasn’t able to search one night at a time.

Realized after the fact that I could use the award calendar for standard suites to see the nightly rates. During the week we aim to go, a standard resort view jr suite ranges from 36-44k per night.

I get that it’s an inventory management tactic, and at least they’re offering award availability at any rate. Just hate to see it be the identical room being sold at a “standard suite” rate as “standard room” rate.

59Impala

Just be aware, that the calendar view does NOT show availability, it only shows the required points, should there be availability.

soojin

This might be a stupid question, but how does tipping work at Cap Cana?

Do we need to tip everyone with USD?

Also, I’m getting emails about the VIP Fast track at PUJ. I’m assuming this isn’t really needed because $150 seems steep.

Thank you for your time.

59Impala

When the brand was announced it clearly stated gratuities are included. That sentence vanished. Actually everything is included.
But considering I am well off, and they were struggling during the pandemic (we visited twice), I left the following tips

5-10$/day at the club pool
5$/day at the ice cream/coffee parlor.
5$/meal at the buffet restaurants and other restaurants. If service really exceptional I gave 10$
50$ spread over the stay for the butler (12 day stays)
housekeeping sporadically, cannot remember the amounts.
we took 500$ in 5$ bills to tip. That was sufficient.

Staff were so grateful and we continued to receive excellent service.
I also brought Swiss chocolate to distribute, which was a highlight too, in order to show appreciation.

Airport VIP. No experience. In our cases/circumstances I would not have seen any advantage though.

Au4882

Noted -- thanks. Looking at 292k for 7 nights over New Years. Unfortunately, the airfare is just unreasonable, and much higher than Mexico and elsewhere in the Caribbean. So attention now shifts to the Mexico properties. ZIva Riviera and the Dreams properties open... hoping Ziva CUN opens, but no dice so far.

doctorslothmd

Planning to visit at the end of sept with my 6mo and wifey. Does anyone know what sections are off limits on the Zilara side (since we are traveling with a kid)? We are most def not partying, just going to the sister hotel for additional food options.

Thanks

RioAg

I believe 100% would be off limits on the zilara side with a child (no matter the age).