I had a birthday year ending in a ‘0’ late last year, so decided to plan something a little bit special to celebrate – a one night stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney was in order.
Ever since I toured the place that I wrote about a few months ago, I was pretty keen to head back and experience staying at a $990+ (at rack rate) hotel. Would it be worth 3-4 times what I would normally consider spending on a hotel room?
Research & Booking
Firstly, I didn’t actually pay over $900 for the night – as I outlined in a previous post, Hyatt sell gift certificates for their properties which are generally real good value (relative to a paid stay) at the high end – Sydney Park Hyatt included. I spent around $350 for the one night certificate, including shipping to Australia from the US – which is way more palatable to my budget. Hyatt have since changes their certificate prices, so the gift certificate needed for the Park Hyatt Sydney would now cost $460, which is still worth considering for a special occasion.
For other hotels, the certificate options are outlined in the table below:
Certificate costs are as follows:
The method for research and booking I outlined previously still holds, just with the new certificate bands and costs.
With the stay booked easily over email, I also confirmed by email the tentative upgrade from the base City & Harbour View King room into an Opera House View King thanks to my Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum status, which entitles you to a (space available) room upgrade. I’ve only ever stayed at a Hyatt a couple of times previously, and this status came as a result of the milepoint premium membership that was available last year for $60. Apparently the milepoint guys will be doing another premium membership run soon, so keep an eye out for that.
The Stay
I don’t live all that far, relatively, from Circular Quay, and after arriving by ferry we walked to the Park Hyatt with our minimal baggage, where we were greeted with a brief odd glance – we came in the front, quay-side door which is actually the back door, and were probably eyed up initially as sightseers rather than paying guests.
No matter, on presenting ourselves at the front desk and handing over the Hyatt certificate for payment, we were escorted to our room by the same friendly staff member who checked us in, with a quick tour of the room too. Once she’d left, I started snapping a bunch of pictures.
As you can see, the room was pretty nice – both in terms of the view and the well designed interior, which had a range of nice touches such as the mixed use table, which you could work or eat dinner at with a couple of people fairly easily.
My only complaint was that the room was already starting to show some signs of wear and tear and the hotel had only reopened 9 months before – scratches on the wooden surfaces, marks on the carpet – it wasn’t pristine.
Some additional touches included the Nespresso machine hidden in the minibar closet, and a range of good quality amenities in the bathroom. Yes, these got taken home.
After hanging out in the pool during the afternoon and enjoying the vast rooftop views, a drink in the hotel bar was in order.
We took breakfast the next morning in the main restaurant, purely the for the location and to see what the Park Hyatt could serve us up that might match it.
I went for the buffet while my other half ordered off the menu. Both were excellent, and once again, there stunning location just elevated the experience.
Stay here yourself
There’s no mainstream credit card that offers Hyatt points in Australia – the Diners Club offerings let you transfer to Hyatt Gold Passport, but then you’re stuck with using a Diners Club. It wouldn’t be worth the bother. As such, using points isn’t really an option unless you stay and earn Hyatt points a lot – not that easy for the average Australian traveller.
See if you can find a Hyatt Gold Passport status upgrade somehow – I’ve seen a few options for this in the past, but nothing more recently. If an offer comes up, I’ll of course post about it.
The best way is to pay by using the Gift Certificate route – it halves the cost to $460 , which is still expensive – but this is, most definitely, an experience.
Conclusion
We had a great stay. No, I wouldn’t pay $900 a night. But yes, it’s a cut above other Sydney hotels I’ve stayed – you just can’t beat the location and the views. The good service, decent food and the design touches created during the recent refurbishment are just the icing on the cake.
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