Park Hyatt Mendoza REVIEW - MASTER THREAD
 

Im planning a trip to Argentina.
Anyone have any imput on Park Hyatt mendoza?

Nice Hotel
 

This is a very nice hotel situated on the edge of a park. Rooms are really nice though the bathrooms have glass doors which may turn some folks off. The rooms remind me of some of the Westin with the heavenly beds. I stayed there using points and even though I am a Diamond was not offered the free breakfast. I didn't push it as the food at this hotel is really cheap - rather strange for a 5 or 4 star hotel. There is also a casino attached to the hotel. The pool isin't that big and nowhere as great as the one in Santiago, but my kids didn't complain.

Lots of nice restaurants on the side street next to the hotel. As in most of Latin America they only seem to get going after 9pm.

Let me know if there is anything else you need to know.

Unfortunately, we were only there for one night and didn't get around to the wineries. It is a nice little town. We went to a big park about 1-2 km from the hotel and then took a short tour to the top of a hill - there is a big monument up there and good views of the surrouding areas. The drive from Vina over the Andes was awesome.

My father and brother recently stayed at the PH Mendoza while in Argentina for a hunt. My father is in the hotel business and normally one of the worst people to travel with. He had nothing bad to say about the hotel and in fact raved about it. They were very happy with their stay.

The hotel and the Mendoza region have been getting a lot of press lately. My father clipped out a few articles about wineries he wanted to visit and faxed them to the concierge. The concierge was happy to arrange for tours of those wineries, as well as a car and driver to shuttle my father and brother around. I'm not sure what the cost for this service was, but Argentina is not particularly expensive these days.

Excellent stay in March
 

^ I spent three nights at the PH Mendoza in March, and it was lovely. I'm not even a diamond, but I got a nice room with a view of the Andes and free breakfast every morning (and I took full advantage, eating about 10 facturas de dulce de leche each time).

During my stay I went to four vineyards, and I also went out into the Andes, up to Cristo Redentor on the Chilean border. It was all amazing. I ate and drank fabulously well. I used the hotel car service for all my transportation. The price was reasonable and the drivers were great. We usually had a Peugeot 406.

The hotel staff was excellent -- a cast of all professionals. Almost everyone was greeting me by name by my second day at the hotel. I went to the spa for the Thai massage twice, and I recommend this highly. Also, the hotel restaurant, Bistro M, was probably the best hotel restaurant I can remember.

Don't miss this place! I look forward to returning. Maybe next time I'll have a chance to use the $20 casino credit they gave me.

Next time, I'd like to fly into SCL and take a bus to Mendoza just to get the full sense of the Andean crossing. Has anyone done that? By Googling, I found someone's travelogue with pictures, but I never actually found a good source for schedules, etc. I've never been to Valparaiso, so maybe I could that to the mix next time, too.

Of course, you can just take a quick flight from SCL to MDZ as was suggested. Last month, I flew into MDZ from AEP. This would be kind of a pain if you're not intending to hang out in Buenos Aires for a while, because coming from the States you'd have to change airports from EZE to AEP.

I have done the bus rides and have posted it somewhere here on flyertalk but can't remember which thread. We took the bus from Vina del Mar to Mendoza - it was a pretty nice bus with the seats going all a long way back (i.e. substantial recline though not as much as a UA C seat). This was a day trip and the bus was not more than 35% full. The driver/conductor saw me taking photographs at a few stops as well as along the way - so invited me to sit in the front seat (the one normally occupied by the conductor). This was a truly remarkable experience as I got to sit here while the bus climbed up towards the Cristo Redemptor? tunnel. There were a couple of Andean condors riding the thermals which made it even more enjoyable.

A few miles past the Argentine passport control, and if the day is clear, you will be able to see Aconcagua from the road though it isn't a very long viewing period. If you like scenery, this is a great road to be on. If you are comfortable with driving in Latam countries, this would be a good road to rent a vehicle and actually drive.

On the return we took an overnight bus that leaves Mendoza after 11 pm and gets into SCL around 6 am. We did this about 2 years ago and at that time the bus tickets were between 6-8$ one way. Hope this helps.

Any recent stay experiences here?

Also,

(1) Anyone have anything to say about the caliber of the hotel's babysitters?
(2) Anyone have any comments about the suites?

We're going for 10 days next November, and are so far booked in at a rack rate of 750 AED + 21%, then using 6,000 points per four night block for the upgrade to the suite.

Thanks for any updated guidance on this property!

Maybe you can get a babysitter for your husband and let me know how it goes? :D

Yeah, we're going in 11/07. I just noticed this property will drop from a category 3 to a category 2 next year - I think I will just pay full points for the suite, arther than cash and upgrade. 12K a night for the suite, seems a good deal. The suites here are BIG - the smallest one is 120 sm, I believe. We'll be excited to see what you have to say about the property!

Ten days in Mendoza is about 5-7 days too long - in my opinion - especially in November when it is extremely hot.

I have just returned from two separate visits to the PH Mendoza and while it is an OK hotel, it is not in the same class as (say) the PH Saigon, PH Melbourne. It is nowhere near the starndard of the PH Buenos Aires, Milan, Paris.

The hotel is actually a casino and I have come to the conclusion that hotels that are in the casino business care more about their casino than they do about the hotel business.

As a Diamond, I was given an upgrade to an Andes View Room - which is identical to all standard rooms except that you can see the Andes (as opposed to the park) if you look very hard thru the window.

Some examples of the service (or lack of service) issues that I experienced were:
* I had to chase up the Diamond amenity.
* There were some discarded empty water bottles in the corridor near the lift that remained there between the time I went to dinner and the time that I went to breakfast the next day
* Serveral international calls that were directed to me from the US were just not answered. When the phone was answered there was a voice message in English stating that no one was available and that the caller should "try again".
* There was no salt or pepper on the tables at breakfast on one morning


The taxi situation is somewhat of a mess.

Yhe gym and spa are open to the public (or some membership arrangement) and can ve very crowded.

The PH concept is a tad misapplied in Mendoza and I know HR hotels (e.g. Kyoto) that would have a much better claim to be PH.

It is not a BAD hotel - just not a great one.

We are renting a car. Does anyone have information about parking at or near the hotel?

Thanks for this. We are doing the Hyatts in Mendoza and BA next year. I was disappointed to see your take on Mendoza...glad to see you enjoyed the hotel in BA more.

Just saw that there is now a Hawthorn Suites in Mendoza City now:

http://www.hawthorn.com/reservations...asp?facid=4291

A google search didn't bring up much, but it looks like this will be opening soon.

Too bad Hawthorn Suites isn't eligible for FFN.

There was a Sheraton under construction when I was in Mendoza about 10 months ago. I'm surprised it is still not listed on the SPG website. BTW, I took a look at The Park Hyatt when I was there. Nice public spaces, but I did not see a room. Seemed out of place in Mendoza... which struck me as a place that had seen better days.

I will report back on suites - which are huge - 110M - after our stay in early November. Having dropped to category 2 this year, this place is a heck of a bargain. I nabbed a suite for 4 nights for 48,000 points (and could have done it as a revenue reservation for about $700 for 4 nights and 6,000 for the UG, but it didn't go that way for me).