Review: Andaz 5th Avenue
Review: Park Hyatt New York
​Review: Andaz Wall Street

As a Hyatt loyalist, Manhattan offers quite a few options for Hyatt stays, but since it's Manhattan, you'll usually end up paying an arm and a leg. We've accepted this fact and since we are usually traveling over the weekend and only have one night in a hotel, it's a bit easier to deal with the hotel prices. Our favorite Hyatt brands are Andaz and Park Hyatt and New York City offers two Andaz properties and a Park Hyatt, all of which we've stayed at on different visits. 

The Park Hyatt is Hyatt's newest property in New York City and it's absolutely stunning. Like the Andaz 5th Avenue, the location is excellent and it's right by Central Park and also convenient to several subway lines, etc. The Park Hyatt is located on W 57th St between 6th and 7th Avenues. 

The Park Hyatt New York is a category 7 property, which is the highest category designation Hyatt has. As such, a standard room can be booked for 30,000 Hyatt points (if there is points availability to be found) and will usually set you back between $600 and $700 a night. I had a free Hyatt night available after being approved for the Hyatt Visa earlier in the year, so we decided to use that for this stay, which was an excellent value.

As usual on our New York trips, we arrived at the hotel early Saturday morning after taking a red-eye from San Francisco. We took an Uber from JFK and arrived at the hotel around 7:15 AM. The bellmen who greeted us were friendly and offered to take our bags. We were directed inside where we were met by another employee who asked for the name on our reservation and directed us upstairs to the main lobby for check-in. 

The elevator to the hotel lobby is to the left when entering the building and the lobby is located on the third floor. You'll pass the hotel's restaurant and bar on the way to the front desk and I loved the modern and artistic decor throughout the common areas of the hotel. 

We proceeded up to the lobby where we were promptly checked in by a friendly associate and given the keys to our room, which was such a wonderful thing to hear after our prior experience at the Andaz 5th Avenue a few months prior. We were also proactively offered late check out, which is one of my favorite perks of Diamond status given that we take a lot of weekend trips where we land Saturday morning and fly home on Sunday night. 

Our room was located on the 15th floor of the hotel, so we grabbed our bags and headed upstairs to get settled in. True to Park Hyatt's style, the hallways were full of wood paneling and were somewhat dark, but still very comfortable and rich looking. 

We had heard so many good things about this hotel and were so excited to finally be checking it out. Park Hyatt is our favorite of Hyatt's brands and we love the minimal but comfortable design of most properties. The Park Hyatt New York definitely did not disappoint. The room was large by New York standards and offered a wonderfully large bathroom. Immediately upon entering the room, you'll notice a very nice cabinet directly across from the door, which houses the minibar and coffee/tea setup. The minibar has a huge selection of snacks and drinks and the attention to detail is incredible. You can find everything from Krug champagne to fancy sweets and chips and the water bottles throughout the room are even Park Hyatt branded with wonderful NYC vignettes.  There are closets to the right of the door and next to the minibar and the bedroom was on the right side. The bathroom is to the left. 

The bedroom had a king bed, a chair (which I really wanted to take home with me) and a desk. I loved the personalized details throughout the room (which Park Hyatt usually does very well), such as the welcome message on the television and on the iPad, which can be used to control things throughout the room and do things like ordering room service if needed. As with many of Hyatt's higher end properties, controls for all aspects of the room, such as drapes and lighting were located next to the bed. 

Back in March, I wrote about how to book partner award flights on Etihad Airways.  We originally booked First Apartments both to Abu Dhabi from London and from Abu Dhabi back to London over the Thanksgiving holiday, but unfortunately, the airplane for our flight from London was switched from an A380 (which has First Apartments) to an A340 (which has Etihad's standard First Class). The airplane switch was somewhat devastating, but at least we will still experience the Apartments on our way home. We planned a whirlwind luxury long weekend in Dubai around these flights and I'll be covering all the details in upcoming posts. 

Review: British Airways Club World SFO - LHR
Review: LHR Etihad Airways First & Business Class Lounge
Review: Etihad Airways First Class LHR - AUH
Review: Park Hyatt Dubai
​Review: Afternoon Tea at At.mosphere Burj Khalifa
​Review: Burj al Arab Part I: One Bedroom Suite
Review: Burj al Arab Part II: Grounds and Amenities​
Review: AUH Etihad Airways Premium Lounge 
​Review: Etihad Airways First Apartments AUH - LHR 
​

We arrived at the Park Hyatt Dubai at around 10 AM after a slightly disastrous chauffeur ride from Abu Dhabi following our Etihad First Class flight from London. The Park Hyatt Dubai is definitely tucked away and a bit tricky to find, since it's located in the Dubai Creek area, which is about 20-30 minutes away from downtown Dubai. However, it's very convenient if you fly in to DXB because it's located about 10 minutes away.  I was ok with the fact that the hotel was located away from downtown because the area was very quiet (aside from an incident that I'll get into later and the fact that the Red Bull Flugtag was taking place across the creek on our second day) and beautiful. I can say without a doubt that the Park Hyatt Dubai is one of the most beautiful places I have ever stayed. It's beautifully designed with amazing Arabian design accents throughout, which I was completely in love with. There is also beautiful tile work and wood accents throughout the hotel's design and it was really incredibly gorgeous.

We pulled up to the hotel and beelined straight for the front desk. It was definitely early in the morning and I didn't expect that our room was available, but I was so mad about our ridiculous chauffeur ride, I was hoping we could get in to our room ASAP since we had a lot we wanted to do that day. I had booked a Park King room, which came to 1,030 AED, (about $280) and was honestly a bit on the pricy side for me, but I applied one of my Diamond Suite Upgrades, so I figured it would be worth it. When we arrived, we were told we had been upgraded to a Park Terrace Suite, but the room would not be ready for another 15 minutes. One of the front desk associates escorted us down a hallway to The Lounge, which is a small cafe serving breakfast and light snacks throughout the day with a large seating area where we could wait for our room to be ready. They knew I was a bit upset upon our arrival and offered complimentary breakfast or drinks, but we weren't hungry or thirsty, so we just sat and waited. After about 30 minutes, someone came back and told us our room was available, so we were able to go to our room quite early, which was definitely appreciated. 

The Park Hyatt Dubai is extremely spread out and honestly, very confusing to navigate. The hotel stretches across two wings which radiate out in opposite directions from the lobby. When walking to your room, you'll pass through multiple wings, which are connected by glass enclosed walkways and will likely either need to go up or down in the elevator to get to your floor. Because we had a Terrace Suite, our room was located on the ground floor, which meant we needed to take the elevator down to the ground floor from the lobby level. ​We found room 2108, which was located at the very end of the hallway at one of the farthest points of the hotel property.

Review: Park Hyatt Shanghai
City Guide: 5 Things to Do in Shanghai
Review: Grand Hyatt Shenzhen
Review: HKG Cathay Pacific “The Bridge” Lounge
Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class HKG - SFO


For the beginning of the first of many business trips to China last November (yes, seriously behind in posting this), I spent 7 nights at the Park Hyatt Shanghai. The hotel is located in the Shanghai World Financial Center, which, until the Shanghai Tower was completed this year, was the tallest building in Shanghai. The World Financial Center building is part of a cluster of three super tall buildings (including the Shanghai Tower and the Jin Mao tower) located on the Pudong side of Shanghai, which you can enjoy a view of while walking along the Bund.

The Park Hyatt occupies floors 79 to 93 of the World Financial Center and it's absolutely breathtaking in every sense. I had stayed at the Park Hyatt Tokyo the month before I checked in here, which is a favorite hotel of the travel blogging community, but there was no comparison for me. The Park Hyatt Shanghai is perfection.
I have found Park Hyatts to be a bit stuffy and somewhat old-fashioned in their decorating style from time to time, which I definitely thought was the case at the Park Hyatt Tokyo. However, the Park Hyatt Shanghai was just the right mix of modern and minimal. 

Upon arriving at the hotel, you'll walk in a set of glass doors and wind around a bit to elevators that only go to three floors: floor 1, floor 87 (the lobby) and floor 91, which is where the hotel's restaurant, 100 Century Avenue, is located. From the lobby, you will take another set of elevators down to the guest rooms, gym, and pool area.

Unfortunately, the lobby area doesn't photograph very well, and there are so many employees standing around in case you need anything at all (seriously, there are usually like 5 or 6 just lingering around), getting good photos was nearly impossible. Once you come out of the elevator, you will see the front desk in front of you and lots of seating arranged behind it along the windows for the bar and "pantry". Since the lobby is on the 87th floor, the views from the windows are stunning.

Check in went very quickly. The front desk agent was extremely polite and efficient. I presented my passport and credit card and confirmed I wanted the points rather than the Diamond amenity and before I knew it, I was off to my room. I had been upgraded very slightly to a Park Deluxe King, which as far as I could tell, just meant that I had a few extra feet in my room which fit a long and very random table and two chairs. The guest rooms are on floors below the lobby, so I took the elevator down a few floors and found my room. 

I really loved the abundance of dark wood throughout the hotel. It was used for accents and was all over the place, making everything look very rich and contrasting nicely to the white walls. The hallways were very dark but had dramatic lighting which made things very cozy.

Once I entered my room, there was longish hallway with a closet on my left, then the main room straight ahead. The hallway also housed the minibar and coffee machine as well as the bathroom and the toilet, which was separate and several feet away from the bathroom itself. The bedroom was minimal, beautiful, and comfortable with a TV, a desk and chair, a long somewhat random table, a chaise lounge, and the bed. All of the lights and window coverings were controlled next to the bed, which is something I love in hotel rooms. It's so much easier to push a button once you're already in bed rather than having to bump around trying to find all of the light switches. Pure luxury.

Travel Planning: Fall in Asia
Review: LAX Star Alliance Lounge
Review: Singapore Airlines Suites Class LAX - NRT
Review: Park Hyatt Tokyo
Recap: Time in Tokyo
Review: HND JAL First Class Lounge
Review: JAL Business Class HND - GMP
Review: IP Boutique Hotel Seoul
Recap: Time in Seoul
Review: ICN Cathay Pacific Lounge
Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class ICN - HKG
Review: Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui
Recap: Time in Hong Kong
Review: HKG Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge
Review: Cathay Pacific First Class HKG - SFO


When we found out that our award routing would take us to Tokyo for three nights, in Chris' mind, there was only one place to stay - the Park Hyatt Tokyo. The Park Hyatt in Tokyo is actually an incredibly iconic hotel and we found it was very well-known around the city. We never had a problem when telling taxi drivers the name of the hotel in English and they all knew where it was. As its biggest claim to fame, for those of you who have seen Lost in Translation, virtually the entire movie takes place at the Park Hyatt Tokyo and in the hotel's signature bar, the New York Bar.

We landed at Narita around 7:30 PM and grabbed a train and a taxi from the airport, then arrived at the hotel around 9 PM. Despite getting quite a bit of sleep on our Singapore Suites flight, we were still pretty tired. Upon arriving at the hotel, we were greeted by several employees who helped us get our luggage out of the taxi and another who met us and asked for the name our reservation was under. She then proceeded to escort us through the entrance lobby and up to the hotel's actual lobby on the 41st floor of the building. Upon stepping out of the elevator, you will arrive into an atrium area with seating and amazing views of Tokyo. The area is mostly unused except in the evenings when it turns into the Peak Lounge. As Diamond guests, we were able to attend a complimentary happy hour in the Peak Lounge, which happens every day from 5 PM to 9 PM. The happy hour offered a full bar, several bottles of white and red wine and champagne, and a few snacks. The snacks were not substantial, but the happy hour was nice and I would recommend checking it out if you're back from sightseeing early enough.

From the atrium area, she took us right and led us past one of the hotel's restaurants, Girandole, which is where you can get breakfast in the morning, then through the library and finally, into the reception area. At that point, we were met by another employee who took us straight to our suite to complete the check-in process. 

As I mentioned, check-in was completed in our room but I honestly was not a fan of the courtesy. To me, it was incredibly awkward to be walked into our room and to sit down in our living room, then be asked all the standard check-in questions and not be able to just relax once we arrived in the room. Luckily, it was a fairly quick process and of course the staff member was incredibly polite and professional. He explained the features of the hotel, asked us to select our Diamond benefits and then thankfully, we had the room to ourself.

Chris paid cash for a standard room and then used a suite upgrade that he received for participating in the Hyatt Diamond Challenge, so we were upgraded to a Park Suite King. We took a separate elevator that only goes to the guest floors up from the lobby to our room and the same bluish color scheme from the reception area continued into the hallways. Our doorway was flanked by ducks on pedestals, which made it look incredibly special and when we made it inside, the room was incredible. 

We walked in to a completely separate front entrance hall and only after walking through that could you see any of the suite. The layout was well thought-out and had distinct areas, but was only actually separated by an accordion style wall. The suite had a living room with dining table and desk, a large bedroom, an incredible bathroom and even a dressing table and large closet to place our luggage in. 

The room was beautifully appointed and the decor was timeless. There were light Japanese touches throughout, which really made us feel like we were in Japan despite actually being in a Western hotel chain.

We visited D.C. earlier this month and Chris insisted that we stay at the Park Hyatt. He's been a huge fan of the brand for a while now and really couldn't resist the idea of staying here during our quick weekend trip (aren't they all?). It was in a great location in the heart of D.C. - we were walking distance to Georgetown and a quick bike ride away from all of the monuments. What more could you want?

When we arrived at the hotel, it was way too early for any rooms to be available, which unfortunately always happens due to our penchant for red-eye flights, so we stored our bags and went for a walk around the area. I love D.C. and always enjoy walking around whatever neighborhood I find myself in and this time was no different. There were quite a few other high-end hotels on the same street (Fairmont, Westin, etc) and lots of cute, colorful homes just a few streets away. We got a call from reception not long after we left saying that they had a room available, so we headed back.

The hotel is gorgeous from the outside and is home to The Blue Duck Tavern, which is their amazing in-house restaurant (more on that later).

The lobby is quite unique with large glass walls on either side of the entrance decorated with cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, the chairs the Park Hyatt seems to fancy are absolutely awful. You'll find these same slip-covered chairs throughout their properties and I'm really at a loss as to why.

The front desk was rarely unattended, but I managed to catch it that way since it was pretty early in the morning. The agent who checked us in was extremely friendly and helpful and we really appreciated being able to shower prior to meeting friends for breakfast. Unfortunately, we ended up with the curse of the early check-in - our room was one of the smallest in the hotel according to the floorplan, which was a bit disappointing.