Zenitas

I’m a loyal Hyatt Globalist member and a frequent guest at Hyatt Regency and Park Hyatt properties. One of the small pleasures I look forward to during my stays is the welcome amenity, typically something like chocolates or a bottle of wine in my room. However, I've encountered some inconsistencies regarding these amenities, and I'd love to gather your collective wisdom on how to work effectively with My Hyatt Concierge to make these little welcome surprises more consistent.

In my experience, when I've reached out to My Hyatt Concierge prior to arrival, I've gotten varied responses. Sometimes they're incredibly helpful, assuring me they'll contact the hotel's Guest Services Manager directly. Other times, my requests seem to be met with vaguer promises of "putting in a note," and the outcome is unpredictable.

I've even been told by some that asking for a welcome amenity spoils the surprise and that it defeats the purpose of hospitality to request something expressly. Consequently, I sometimes find myself checking into the hotel only to find that there's no amenity waiting, leading me to inquire at the front desk whether my prior communication was noted, which is a position I'd prefer to avoid.

My question to the community is this: Is there a strategy that you've found effective for ensuring these welcome amenities are delivered? Should we be mentioning a special occasion or providing a personal reason (like looking forward to a particular property) to prompt action, or should we be explicitly asking for the amenity from the get-go?

Furthermore, have any of you encountered similar situations and could share how you resolved them or made your preferences known to My Hyatt Concierge in a way that guarantees follow-through?

Your experiences, tips, and insights on navigating My Hyatt Concierge services, and making the most of our Globalist status, would be greatly appreciated. After all, isn’t the joy in the small details that make our travels memorable?

Looking forward to your stories and advice!

EuropeanPete

If you really want something, I think you have to pay for it. If you don’t want to do that, you should treat amenities as an unexpected bonus.

Markie

Welcome amenities are not part of the World of Hyatt product, unless you book through a Prive advisor.

craigthemif

I can guarantee you that your WoH confidential customer profile contains far more information about your tastes than you actually might feel comfortable with. Mine apparently says that bananas are my preferred fruit.

What I wouldn't want my WoH profile to say is "a real pain in the a$$ about welcome amenities. Always bugging us to get something special. Apparently on 20th honeymoon / birthday /anniversary getaway this year"

The best tip I can give you is to NOT deal with your Concierge, but instead check into hotels after 5-6pm, when management has had time to prepare your room for you. (including having it cleaned after the prior night's guest checks out) The best way to have an amenity never arrive is to check-in too early and be assigned a random room by the front desk. At busy hotels, the guest who received your preassigned (and therefore reassigned) room is often the one who got your chocolates...

Welcome amenities are a hotel-specific initiative. Just because Hotel A gives you a bottle of wine doesn't mean that Hotel B should give you one. If you want something specific, then arrange with your Concierge to have it waiting, but added to your hotel bill...

mcgahat

I am not being critical of the OP but.....it is very interesting to see what people value in a stay. While I appreciate a well thought out amenity, I often end up never actually eating whatever is thrown out. Also, a cheap bottle of wine that will just leave my tongue a shade of purple that is almost permanent, they can just keep.

Kacee

Published Globalist benefits are great and are generally consistently delivered.

Personally I don't feel any entitlement to "extra" benefits. Agree with the comments upthread that if I request something extra, I would expect to pay for it.

lost_in_translation

The important thing to me is that welcome amenities are commensurate with the quality of the hotel, otherwise the hotel might as well not bother, IMO. If you’re staying in a PH / RC level property and the welcome amenity is an $8 bottle of red wine that the average guest would never buy themselves it’s pointless / poorly thought out and the hotel might as well not bother (offer a decent bottle of wine / champagne or nothing at all). In contrast, that would be a fine welcome amenity in a limited service property.

skj

Sounds like the PH Paris-Vendôme with their €5 bottle of Bordeaux ...

notquiteaff

I can’t imagine ever reaching out to beg for a welcome gift.

antonius66

Going to bet you are over 40 . Seems to be the SOP for a lot of people these days. Begging for, expecting and being surprised at not being given all manner of free things, charity, giveaways etc simply because they like it or want them. For something that isn't a stated benefit, I would feel awfully strange (to put it politely) to proactively ask for an extra free thing. Do I like welcome amenities at nice hotels? Sure, sometimes when they aren't garbage. Would I ask for one? Absolutely not.

Dave510

Welcome amenities are not standard elite benefits, which is why it's inconsistent; they have no obligation to provide it at all. I would definitely not demand a specific type of welcome amenity, and look forward to the "surprise" nature of it.

SP03

What kind of amenities are you looking for? If you are looking to pay for a box of chocolate or a bottle of champagne to surprise you when you arrive in your room, and a PH isn't able to deliver, then that's certainly concerning!

However, if you are looking for something for free, then hotels are certainly not obligated to deliver. You may want to consider your value to both the hotel and to Hyatt. If you are highly valuable to either, they will work hard to surprise you to keep your business.

platbrownguy

I am trying not to be critical but this is not a good approach. OP is just going to be disappointed if OP actually feels entitled to welcome amenities. OP may just misunderstand and think welcome amenities are an entitlement.

The only time I ask is when the hotel asks me first, usually a GH/PH pre-arrival note. For Hyatts, I pretty much have one response for when I'm with family (crib, 2x XL robes and 1x kids robe if available, sparkling water, etc.), one for me arriving solo but late (would love a little wine and cheese before bed etc), and one for me arriving solo but early (could really use a 1pm check in etc).

all that said, OP almost certainly already has the "grubbing grifter" designation in OP's profile, so... might as well lean into it?!

notquiteaff

Guilty as charged (> 40).

When I was a Diamond member, I sometimes received an amenity that was memorable and much appreciated. And sometimes it was something like the green apples of the HR Mainz that were the subject of many posts here...

Dave510

Off topic, does anyone know if there's a way to access or request my customer profile (I remember Marriott had an option like that, due to EU laws) with Hyatt?

I am almost certain they have something like "wants room temperature to be as close to fridge temp as possible", and would like to verify it. The AC in my room would be set to anywhere from 16-19 degrees celcius, about 90% of the time.