beachfan

Hi! I'm going here on 10/22. Any tips, recommended rooms, etc. Only 4 suites, has anyone gotten upgraded?

ENIAC

I'm making two stays during a trip in January -- FFN earning.

Reviews on Trip Advisor, etc. suggest it is characterless, located out of the historic center but not very far and furnished in typical Hyatt style. Mixed views on service and quality. Frommers says that the rooms are "the quietist in a noisy city", that the rooms are better than the Fiesta Americana as are the tennis courts and pool. 17 stories high.

Comments welcome from those who have actually been!

Beanstalk

I stayed there for one night about a year ago. The description you mentioned was fairly accurate. The decor was your typical Hyatt. Not sure if Grand Beds are introduced since then. It is taller and hence the view better than the Fiesta America right across the street. But the Fiesta was more attractive architectually. You don't get much of Diamond amenity except room upgrade to the regency floor. The lounge was quite nice with good spread of evening snacks and breakfast. It is located away from the historical downtown but is easily accessible by local buses.

snorkmaster

I've stayed at this hotel 3 times. As mentioned, the location isn't fantastic for accessibility to the center of Merida, but all the action is a quick bus ride, $3 cab ride (IIRC), or scenic but certainly sweat inducing 20-30 minute walk down Paseo de Montejo. On the flipside, many of the nicer restaurants in Merida are to the north (see the Travel and Leisure article for a good Merida write-up), and the Hyatt is better positioned for accessing these venues (by short car or taxi ride.)

Despite the locational deficiency and slightly tired decor, I like this property -- the breakfast buffet in the restaurant is great, the Cat 1 redemption is a nice option, the parking is easy if you're driving, and the pool is a nice place to relax.

ENIAC

Now I stayed there I can give more info. Nice and well kept, free drinks in the lounge from 5pm to 7pm with an OK spread of sandwiches and nibbles. The rooms are comfortable, and in January the stroll to downtown was pleasant. The immediate area seems to be the most upscale part of central Merdia -- wider and grander streets than the Colonial core. Valet parking was fast and seemed to be free apart from the tip. Great value in points, but as this is FFN season I paid in money.

The one big weakness is their lack of knowledge of the GP program. On the second of my two stays I was told on checkin that as a Diamond I would have to pay for the RC upgrade. I argued and they relented. The diamond ammentity appears to be a fruit bowl -- modest but real. Except that on the second stay it wasn't there. It took a while to explain the concept to the guy on the front desk, and then there was a big delay in its arrival. It was finally delivered at 10:40pm, after we had eaten dinner, gone to bed, turned out the light, and put out the do not disturb sign. That didn't stop the delivery guy knocking. Nobody knew what a G1 bonus code was (the hotel lists it on the Hyatt bonus page) or how to check if it was on my reservation. The stay posted, but without the G1 bonus or the Mastercard notation -- I'm calling GP to have them added. I think the issues were with their training rather than knowledge of English, which was not too bad.

schriste

I spent one night here January 19th using an FFN. Rather boring architecture, but still an overall pleasant hotel. Tried to check in at 1:00pm on a Saturday and no rooms were available with a king bed. I was told that 2 queens were available, so I took that. I got a really dated dreary “corner” room on the 8th floor with old style print bedspreads. At this hotel a corner room is the kiss of death as it means very small window. The room had an overpowering smell of fresh varnish and/or paint, so I went back to the front desk and asked to wait for a king room to become available.

Fortunately the front desk person gave me king room 1601 on the regency club floor that was available for immediate occupancy. It too was a corner room, with an even smaller window than my dated 8th floor corner room. Fortunately everything else about the room was a VAST improvement. Brighter carpet, halogen lights in the ceiling, and a more contemporary looking bed. The room was also slightly larger.

The moral of the story is get a regency club room at this hotel as the rooms themselves are way nicer than the regular rooms (at least the one I was given).

tinkybelle

Im thinking of staying here in March and new updated reviews.
how hard is it to score a RC room on checkin for diamonds?
its not sounding too fab.
how long would it take to drive from CUN airport?

Bondiboy

From memory, the drive was about four to five hours .However, unless you intend to visit some nearby sites such as Chizen Itza - you may wish to consider taking the bus.

The luxury buses in Mexico are a delight to use and there is a bus depot (Hotel Americana ???) directly accross from the Hyatt. Merida is an absolute nightmare regarding traffic and will also the one ways streets, traffic lights, there is a good chance that you will get lost - and unless your Spanish is good - watch out.

I have stayed at the HR Merida several times and have posted at least one review. See:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ghlight=merida

My upgrade experience was not memoratble.

Merida however is great.

schriste

The club rooms go for about $45 more. If I returned I’d pay up front as the rooms are larger, on the top floors, and much brighter and nicer and of course there is a lounge too (but then I’m only a plat, so I don’t have a chance for a free upgrade). Perhaps you can reserve a club room… and give the hotel a call a few days before to check occupancy… if plenty of club rooms are for sale then you could change your reservation to a regular room.

Yes, The Fiesta Americana

poh2001

Just got back from Merida, where I spent 4 nights at the Hyatt. A large group of friends were there for a wedding, so I had a chance to visit many rooms on different floors.

Overally, I agree with most of the reviewers here, the hotel is fine but nothing spectacular. The past part was the huge breakfast buffet, which I really enjoyed...especially that it was open until 12 noon every day.

My room was on the 10th floor. It was spacious, yet dated and very tired looking. One of my friends upgraded to a room on one of the Regency Club levels (they start at floor 16, I believe) and needless to say it was much nicer. Flat-screen TV and new interior made it a nice, modern room. Would definitely reserve this room next time!

The pool was nice, but too cold and the pool bar only operated on weekends, which was a shame since it would have been nice to have an afternoon drink there.

Overall, the hotel is fine, and considering we got a group discount in which we paid $90 per night with breakfast included, I have to say it was decent value for the money spent.

SanDiego1K

I just had a very nice 1 night stay here, ending a week's trip to the Yucatan. The primary purpose of our trip was to try several of Starwood's haciendas that are within a 2 hour drive of Merida. We spent one night at the Intercontinental Merida, then several nights at haciendas, finishing up with a night at the Hyatt. I had initially booked the Hyatt with points, just 5K, so a great value. However, I decided it would be nice to have a suite, so rebooked at a sub $100 rate and used a suite upgrade cert.

Airport to hotel
You buy a voucher for your taxi at a stand outside the terminal. It is a fixed price of $18 US. It was about a 15 minute ride to the hotel. The return was also a fixed price, this time in pesos. It was 1200 pesos, or roughly $10. The outbound cost was higher due to an airport tax.

Location
Merida has 3 large hotels on corners of the same intersection. This is where you'll find the Intercontinental, the Fiesta Americana, and the Hyatt. Most car rental firms can be found in one of these hotels or on the 4th street corner. We rented from Hertz, whose office is in the Fiesta Americana. It made it very easy to drop off the car on our arrival at the Hyatt. Others have spoken to the fact that the hotel is not in the center of sightseeing, but an inexpensive taxi ride away.

Hotel
The hotel decor is very fresh, very Hyatt. It has a much fresher feel to it than the Intercontinental. Our suite was on the 17th floor where the lounge is. We loved our suite. It was spacious and well laid out. The hotel had no DVD, but the rooms manager sent someone out to buy one and installed it in our room. We were extremely impressed needless to say. Every hotel of our trip had a DVD player to offer, and he was unaware that his competition had moved ahead in this one small area.

The lounge is open for a continental breakfast, then reopens at 5:30pm til 9 for drinks and appetizers. The spread is heavy on breads, crackers, and cheeses, but also has a couple desserts, nuts, and dried fruits. There is plenty of table seating, but just a couple sofas.

I was having computer problems, and was given free use of a computer in the business lounge.

There are two restaurants in the hotel, one for Italian, and the other Mexican/continental. They have a very well priced buffet for lunch, just $10. It was Asian the day we were there. The prior day was Mexican and the subsequent day was Italian. That restaurant seating had the feel of a large ballroom. While I didn't like that so much, it completely filled during lunch, so they knew their market.

My husband worked out, and thought that the workout equipment was very good.

We were very content with our stay, and recommend the hotel to anyone going to Merida.

schriste

I stayed here again back in February 2010 for 2 nights also paying about $100 and used a Diamond suite upgrade cert. Agree with San Diego1K that the suite is a nice layout… a true suite with a large marble bathroom featuring a separate rain shower. I found it a great value for the price, but styling was pretty boring IMHO. I was dismayed that they had replaced the ceiling halogen lighting with LED versions that gave off an unpleasant cast (although this light was OK for the marble bathroom). The outside temperature was not that hot for my February stay so the room became clammy. Only choice was clamminess, or turn the room into an ice box (my wife does not approve of that option). BTW, the Hacienda Santa Rosa (Starwood) had a “dry” setting on their AC units that performed humidity removal… what a blessing. I wish that was more common. Anyway, this is not a bad hotel, but it is rather generic. For a business trip or a place to stay before flying home it is a good choice. If you are looking for some colonial charm or Mexican color… not the place to stay.

mazzydan

I'm headed to this hotel starting on Sunday and will post an update of my experience. I used my Diamond upgrades to secure a suite here during my stay. I'll be there for over a week so should get a pretty good feel for the property, staff, food, etc.

If anyone has any advice or tips they'd like to share please post them.

beachfan

Updated reports kindly requested

Katlor

I stayed at the Hyatt Merida in October 2014 and for the price ($98 a night or so) I enjoyed it. The styling of the hotel is pretty generic but everything is clean, and staff was helpful. I enjoyed the pool, which had a nice bar and patio set up with very tasty guacamole and tacos, for a very reasonable price. The club lounge was very pleasant-- nice wine and cheese and crackers, and a very helpful attendant. I had a room on the club floor that was pretty basic (small window, uninteresting decor), but clean. The hotel across the street is more historic, but if you want to visit it you can go to their bar. I caught a tour bus from the hotel to the Mayan ruins and enjoyed that trip (approx 2 hours or so to the ruins).