MikeFromTokyo

Do you have any friends who are entitled to corporate rates? Friends help me out with corporate rates at various hotels all the time. As long as the person making the reservation is entitled to the corporate rate, anyone they reserve the room for can have that rate.

Otherwise, trying to use that code might not be a bad idea- just be prepared to pay a rack rate for at least one night if they do not allow you to stay at that rate.

GP points and FFNs aside, there is no way I would ever pay $400 a night for the GH NY. For that price, or slightly more, there are many much better options in the city.

MarriottHotelsFan

Seriously, don't spend $400 for the GH, you can stay at FAR BETTER hotels for that much but if you do, I won't ask you what you're smoking, and you can always use Costco Certs.

yaromac

I’ve stayed here several times, alone on business, with colleagues for a conference, and most recently, together with my family ~ four stays in the last couple of years. What makes a great Hyatt? I would say consistency of excellence. For us, this hotel has never failed to disappoint.

Staff:

The staff have always been absolutely first-class. At check-in, I’ve always seen a line of smiling Hyatt check-in agents. Yes, sometimes, at busy times you might have to wait (the Diamond/Plat line is faster). But when it’s your turn, you aren’t rushed. The staff gives everyone the time they need to ask questions, they explain about the hotel’s amenities, and they are unfailingly cheerful and polite. They help with finding you the right room, I’ve heard and experienced them discussing with you what’s more likely to be quiet, or to have a little extra space. I skimmed the other reviews, here on FT and on tripadvisor, and as one member wrote, s/he checked in early, and the front desk agent told her they love early check-ins because it gives them more time to get to know you. How many times have you been told this when you’ve checked in early and believed that they absolutely mean it?

Regency club:

I’ve read some posts where Flyertalkers regret that the coffee (cappuccino etc.) machine in the RC is gone. I think it's in the new Marketplace downstairs in the lobby! I’m sad it's not in the club any more too, but seriously, that thing was on the fritz or the source of long lines several times when I’ve been in there (I appreciate the comment someone made about the tourists having trouble with pressing one button, but I always seemed to be behind those tourists!) The existing coffee is fine and fast. The food and snacks in the lounge have always been very high quality as well – gourmet deserts you’d pay a fortune for if you were outside the hotel, for example. In the regency club, I have always encountered nice staff who do everything they can to give you a great (relaxing) experience during the daytime, and to speed things along so everyone gets what they need in the morning. Yes, sometimes it’s very busy in the mornings, and you have a line – if you don’t want to wait you can ask about a coupon for the restaurant downstairs and if you don't want to do that, grab and go from the Marketplace... Many options.


Rooms/upgrades:

Every room I have had has been spotless, the amenities reflect Hyatt’s usual high standards, and whenever I see housekeeping staff they invite me to have a nice day. Maybe the rooms aren't as fresh/updated as in newer hotels, but hey, they've said they are going to embark on a room update. My upgrades have been great, both with and without using the diamond suite upgrade electronic certs (they have several kinds of suites).

Management:

I haven’t had service like I've had in this hotel, first rate on every level, at any other Hyatt, and I’ve stayed in some of the much touted ones in big cities all over North America and Europe (although I haven’t traveled much in Asia where I hear the hotels are a cut above). For example, for a recent visit, I mentioned to the manager (Mike – he posts on tripadvisor and from what I read, is possibly the same guy who responded to a member here on Flyertalk who posted about the cat 7 upgrade for this hotel), that it was my mother’s 70th birthday and I was a repeat guest. Nothing was too much trouble for him, from allocating us the perfect room, to treats and amenities, ~ way over the typical Diamond amenity, and a genuine concern to make sure that my mother had a great trip and we were all really well taken care of to the best of their (considerable) abilities. He was amazingly fast and helpful on email (I was a little hesitant about posting this because I don’t want to open the floodgates of email for him, but I just can’t resist pointing out his above and beyond service). At check-in, the front desk agent also showered us with kindnesses, champagne (!) for my mother, coupons to try out the Marketplace, I love NY t-shirt for my daughter.

Marketplace:

A great new addition with high quality ready prepared food and snacks you can grab and go ~ 'bye 'bye expensive room service even if you don’t have club access! (Yes, I know there is also inexpensive and good food close by but the lobby of my hotel works best for me!) On the topic of this Marketplace, I think it’s a great concept, works extremely well and I’d like to see it in a few more Hyatts.

And did I mention the location?

You can’t finish a review of this hotel without mentioning that it is superbly located for sightseeing on foot and with the many options at Grand Central- well, you can see that throughout the thread – what I wanted to add was that in this city, famous for its brusque manners, I have consistently found this hotel to be an oasis of professionalism and warmth. I will never stay anywhere else in NY, even if they open an Andaz on every corner!

pclee

I stayed two nights and checked out today.
GRAND LOCATION!
i got upgrade to junior suite without using e-cert. Super awesome/wonderful staffs.
very generous RC club. they even provide a coffee/water coupon to use at marketplace. Just ask nicely.
Definitely stay again but want to try andaz 5th.

777 global mile hound

Its nice to see such positive reviews.I especially admire yaromac and the way this reasonably new poster goes into details.
With 34 posts a warm welcome to FT and the Hyatt forum ^
I look forward to more of your trip reports.I can't say my rooms have always been spotless or odor free
I do agree with many of the observations especially the front desk agents who seem to take their careers and company seriously by delivering high levels of heartfelt service as you so nicely pointed out.
Am also impressed by the management here.They are really listening to guest feedback here and elsewhere not doing what just happens to work for them........As I stated in my previous post it sounds like another renovation is coming to all the rooms........

If Gold Passport can keep spinning their promotional magic not only will I stay loyal to the program but most likely the Grand Hyatt in New York despite that at present there are better room standards in New York City
with the new redemption category there will be better redemption value elsewhere once the new changes take effect.
With the new improvements coming to the Grand Hyatt it could more fully justify its two category jump through the roof shortly down the road
From management to the team itself its the people that make your stay at the end of the day
Cheers

SportsTech

Like most United GS's, I'm lucky enough to fly on my company's dime and our travel policy includes enough "high yield" (and discounted) C or F fares to keep me near the front of the line whenever there are IRROPS at ORD...so I love the GS program. But I'd be in the back of the bus with the other 1K's if I had to pay out of my own pockets.

We don't have any corporate relationship with Hyatt, so I'm stuck with whatever I can find as a AAA rate or hotels.com. And $400 for the GH NYC is awfully steep; I can stay at the Trump for about $100 less most nights, and that's usually a really nice hotel!

RichardInSF

Sorry to interrupt the love fest.

I guess I am just not as valued a customer as you are because while I did note an improvement in the room furnishings on my last stay, I've never had anything even close to excellent service at this hotel. As I noted earlier, on my last stay, the room cleaners removed dirty towels one day but didn't put in any clean ones. I thought the snacks in the evening in the club room were fairly basic and disliked that the RC desk was not staffed for much of the time.

I guess I'll continue to prefer the "much touted" Park Hyatts in places like Paris, Milan, and Chicago, if that is what you were referring to.

I do have to admit that I've never seen a rate of $300 a night at the Trump -- maybe the above poster can help us all in that regard!

bmw303

Does anyone know of cheaper public parking near Grand Hyatt NY? I think the valet parking fee per day is $55 at the hotel, so I was hoping to find some public parking at around $20-25 per day...

Thanks.

stevens397

Whenever you to to NY, go to www.nyc.bestparking.com.

You can enter the address or intersections, enter your arrival and departure times and you will get a map grid of all of the garages and what they charge. Some will give you reservations (which have come in handy more than once as I was about to be turned away) but all will give you printed guarantees. The guarantees require you to use a credit card on departure.

bmw303

thanks! do any of them grant in-out privileges?

Flying Buccaneer

We had a very nice stay at the GH over Memorial Day weekend. When I made the reservation for a king room, I confirmed an upgrade to a junior suite. We arrived at the hotel at 10:40 a.m. on Saturday, and the agent at the desk welcomed us and asked what bed type we wanted. When she found my reservation, she did a double-take and told us that our room was not ready. She said that a room was ready, but that if she were us, she would wait for the "very nice suite" that had been reserved for us. She gave us some coupons for coffee/tea at the grab and go place and a key to access the regency club. We left our bags and went out for a few hours.

When we came back at 2:00 p.m., our room still was not ready. However, the agent checked with housekeeping and assured us it would be within a few minutes. He told us to have a seat in the lobby and he would get us when it was ready. Sure enough, within 5 minutes, he came over with our keys. We retrieved our bags and went up to room 3425.

We understood why the agent suggested we wait. The suite had a gigantic living room/dining area. The bedroom itself was larger than the typical hotel room and about 2x as large as the typical NYC hotel room. The bathroom was tiny, and the toilet was awkwardly situated next to the wall. As others have noted, the decor was a little dated, but that was not an issue for us.

Breakfast in the regency club was typical continental, and the club got very busy a little after 9 a.m. each morning. As RichardInSF noted, the desk is the club was only intermittently staffed. We never checked out the afternoon tea, but the early evening snack spread was OK for a small snack before dinner, and the desserts in the evening were worth checking out.

Check-out was easy. The agent who had checked us in came over while another agent checked us out and asked us how our stay was. We told her that it was excellent, and thanked her for advising us to keep the room that had been reserved for us. She said that room 3425 is not really a room for sale and is usually reserved for "friends" of the hotel. It was nice to be a friend.

We only had a few issues:

• Our room keys did not always work for accessing the regency club. We finally went to the front desk to get them reprogrammed and did not have a problem after that.
• The hotel charges $2 to leave each bag with stored baggage after check-out. That seems a little petty.
• We wanted to visit the American Museum of Natural History on Monday. Mr. FB asked the concierge if a taxi was the best way to get there on a holiday. The concierge suggested walking to 42nd St and 6th Ave and taking the B train up to 81st St. We walked to the station and waited. Thirty minutes later, after three D trains had passed, we figured out that the B must not be running on a holiday. Perhaps we should have figured that out sooner, but a concierge at a major hotel should have known that.

These minor issues aside, we enjoyed our stay very much, and (given Starwood's apparent effort to abandon Manhattan) will probably return when we visit NYC again later this summer.

bmw303

glad to hear your stay went well. I do have an FFN stay with the family later this month for a couple of days...is there any chance they'd upgrade us to a junior suite?

wishful thinking?

Thanks

jetsfan92588

Has anyone ever been asked for ID when using a corporate rate here?

NDDomer86

The only two Starwood Properties that have left recently are W NY-The Tuscany and W NY-The Court, which the general consensus on here was that they were a single property in two different buildings anyways. They opened the Four Points Times Square last year and have the W NY-Downtown, Sheraton Tribeca, Element Times Square, and Aloft Harlem all coming online this year. All said and done, Starwood will be +2 in Manhattan at the end of the year as compared to last year.

Flying Buccaneer

It was a joke!