PH Hamburg: they should not call it a junior "suite"
 

My learning: Always read the fine print.

So, as a Globalist-level Hyatt member of consecutive 20 years I never really cared about room categories. I have had more than my fair share of upgrades on my regular King bed room bookings into suites over the years, as you would expect for a top tier program member. But as a business traveller, I never really needed a second room.

Now, this week, me and my family were forced out of our apartment because of water damage caused by some poor workmanship of a plumber. For wife, son and cat I wanted a suite with separated bed an living room. Quick look on Hyatt homepage, and I picked the cheapest available "suite" at the Park Hyatt Hamburg, called a junior suite. At check in I was allocated a junior suite as booked "because we are fully booked, so no upgrade" (rubbish, there were other suite categories available for booking). Again, I did not bother to start a discussion as any suite would be good enough for me. Imagine my surprise when I realized that a junior suite in PH Hamburg language is nothing else but a glorified regular room with a bit more space, but no separation at all between bed and living space.

Shouldn't there be some rule that only accommodations with more than one room should be called a suite, and anything else maybe only a deluxe room or grand room or something like that? In French, suite refers to a sequence of rooms. And yes, in the descriptive fine print separated rooms are not promised ("With 48 - 54 square meters of space, this elegantly decorated twin-bedded room features a waterfall shower and a drop-edge tub"), so blame is ultimately on myself; but still ...

Other properties have been doing this, you would find the same situation at PH Paris, but yes -- PH Hamburg has been playing games for years and, considering the lowish Hamburg rates, will be for the foreseeable future. I wish management would care, but they don't! Try the Fontenay, while not perfect, the grass really is greener there.

As a self-described "20 year globalist" you should know better than anyone that Junior Suites **frequently** are just one larger room. This isn't anything new or unusual.

Also, it seems awfully presumptuous for you to walk in there and expect something you clearly didn't book. You should have booked two rooms and asked for adjoining if possible, or simply booked a 1 bedroom suite if that's what you required. You could have also tried to use a Globalist upgrade if that books into a 1 bedroom at that hotel (which appears to be the case... they don't even list the "Junior Suite" under suites on the website!)

"Self-described"? You either are or are not, right?

Hmmh, does it? I usually don't ask for an upgrade, because I typically do not really care (and I am generally not comfortable asking for goodies). But this time I did. Hyatt clearly lists it as a Globalist benefit: "Enjoy an upgraded room based on availability at check-in, up to standard suites". Now the standard suite has been available as I know from their booking site, and I have been denied a benefit that I have earned through many many loyal stays over the years. Not cool.

When I booked, I went straight to the booking page. There is no distinction between rooms and suites there, just a listing of available accommodation types. The suite part in the junior suite name is truly misleading.

My whole post is about the fact that I find the nomenclature "junior suite" misleading, that's all. A suite should be a suite.

Why did you bother booking a Junior Suite if you expected the upgrade to the 1 bedroom? Why not just book a standard room? Regardless, they obviously felt that they did not have standard suites open (perhaps they'd already upgraded others - are you SURE they had standard 1 bedrooms empty for the night???) If you are 100% certain that the standard suite WAS open at the time you arrived (not preassigned to someone else which they have every right to do) then you have a legitimate gripe on that front, but the notion that Junior Suites MUST have a separate bedroom is hogwash - that's not industry standard and NEVER has been. You should have known better.

I did not expect an upgrade to a 1 bedroom, I expected the junior suite to be a 1 bedroom. And yes, because i had my family and quite some luggage with me I asked for a larger suite than what I expected the junior suite to be. That's all.

I typically NEVER book a suite (since I don't need the space) so I am not familiar with industry tricks around "junior suites".

Yes, I am. It was bookable when I booked, and it was still bookable after I had checked in. It probably was one of those small lies that receptionists are taught to tell guests ;-)

I agree with 59Impala and others. At least in the US, "Junior Suite" almost always means a larger single room with some sort of sitting/lounging area but rarely (if ever) comes with a door between the rooms.

I think that as long as one of the true suites was available for your entire booking period (Park Suite King/Twin) the hotel should have proactively upgraded you to it. And if they don't, you should feel free to escalate saying the Terms and Conditions will give a globalist an upgrade to the best room available including standard suites.
You are NOT guaranteed an upgrade to a premium suite (so if Park Executive is the only upgrade available they do not have to give it to you).

All that being said - my general globalist experience is that half the time they'll give you the upgrade if available proactively. Half the time if you say "Park Suite Twin looks like it's available for my stay, can you do a Globalist upgrade to that?" then they'll do so.
I've only had a handful of times where it looked like the room was available and they weren't willing to upgrade to it (and in those cases they had already given me some sort of an upgrade).

My impression and experience has been that a junior suite is one large room that has a sitting area with a couch. A suite has two rooms with a separate bedroom and living room.

Possible. It's also possible the suites were pre-designated to other people besides you. There are different "levels" of Globalist in the Hyatt system. It's possible a higher level person bumped you and got a suite that was still listed as for sale in the system (because if someone buys it the upgrade can go away and they can put that Globalist somewhere else).

I have no idea if they lied and were just being nasty to you - but that seems unlikely. The more likely scenario is they gave that "for sale" room to a higher ranking Globalist but left it for sale until that person checked in. Another explanation is the inventory was off, and they didn't have any to sell BUT could upgrade anyone who bought the standard suite into a premium suite.

The other possibility is that the junior suite was part of the standard suite inventory despite the assumptions drawn from the website. Problem solved.

I know that's generally been true. But I also know there have been "changes" or missed details on the site, too.