Grand Hyatt Singapore

Grand Hyatt Singapore should really work on its entrance, which is extremely underwhelming! Upon arriving at the hotel, we got out of the limo and immediately felt like Frogger from that Game Arcade in the 80s. We had to see if we could cut through the throng of passersby without being hit by any. The problem is that the pedestrian sidewalk is right in front of the hotel's entrance, instead of a few feet away.

The foyer is quite vast, well lit but devoid of any seats or adornment. There is a difference between Minimalism and not knowing what to do with a space, which seems to be the case with this foyer. Going further inside brings one to the front desk, the concierge and the cashier's counters. The place never runs out of people; even when all the guests are asleep, security men and the hotel staff roam around. The occupancy rate is supposedly very high, up in the mid-90%, making requests for late-check out a difficult thing. Normally, at other Hyatt locations, late check out means 4 p.m., but here in Singapore, it means 2 p.m. This becomes a problem for people whose flight is not until late night. In our case, our flight departed at 11:40 p.m. We did find a solution for that, but I will save that story for later.

I had a junior suite, called the Grand Deluxe King. All the junior suites are located in the main tower, while the other rooms are situated in the annex. The suites have two Bang & Olufsen TVs (one in the living room, the other in the bedroom; they are really advertising this B&O quite a lot. There is also a B&O store right in the front of the lobby/foyer area, just in case one is enthralled by the sets found in the suites). The other rooms in the annex have the plasma TV sets, but the rooms are smaller than the suites (it makes sense, of course). I was supposed to change to the room in the annex on my 4th night, but overbooking caused them to ask me to stay where I was, which was to my advantage, anyway...

The junior suite separates the work area from the bedroom. The office cum living room area has a nice desk with all the necessarily plugs and Internet accommodations. The room's safe is located at the bottom drawer by the desk; it is big enough to put a small laptop and equipped with electrical outlet for laptop battery charging. Unfortunately, a 17" Mac Powerbook will not fit into that safe. A "mini" long sofa and two armchair companions are placed across the television set. Refrigerator and mini bar needs are discreetly tucked behind closed cabinets. It makes the room look clutter free.

The bed is not exactly Westin's Heavenly Bed, but it suffices. The reading lights are placed so that they cross each other: if there are two people sleeping in this bed, the left person's reading light will come from the upper right hand of the bed, and vice versa. It is not necessary to do this and it creates some unnecessary shadows as well.

The bathroom area has ample amount of space. It only comes with a rain-forest-like shower in addition to the usual shower head. There is no bathtub. Plumbing is rather poor. One can actually hears the water trickle loudly when one opens the faucet at the basin.

***

The well-reviewed Straits Kitchen is all right. My friend and I kept getting hassled at having to sign the bills about 30 minutes before the end of the breakfast period. They should really just lay off that annoying habit and let us be. I do not care what time they close the register. Keep it open until I am ready to sign.

There are many stations for different ethnic food, but most of the taste was mediocre at best, except for the South Asian counter that was tucked in a corner so remote that I had missed it on the first morning. The Roti Prata, Naan and Dal were freshly made (I see them make 'em).

***

The swimming pool is more a relaxation pool. Forget lap swimming because there is no one straight lane available, especially not when there are many kids in the pool. There is only so much you can do avoiding the unpredictable movements of the kids.

The Spa is fine: there are plenty of aerobic machines, Nautilus, and free weights. The steam and sauna, albeit small, work well; and so is the warm/hot dipping pool/jacuzzi. The only thing that they could improve is to put the massage rooms in a more remote area. At the Spa, the 5 to 6 massage rooms are placed along a major corridor, but none of the rooms is sound-proofed, which means that inside, while one is trying to relax, one can hear chatters non-stop from people walking from the reception desk to the work-out room.

***

If your focus in going to Singapore is shopping at the nearby Orchard Road, then the Grand Hyatt Singapore will do the job fine. It is actually located on Scotts Road, only few steps away to Orchard Road. If you want a late check out, check elsewhere. The (Mandarin) Oriental in the Marina offers a Club Experience that allows one to check out at 8 p.m.

(Speaking of the Oriental, that was where we ended up going after we checked out of the Hyatt at 2 p.m. We left our luggage at the Hyatt, then went to the Oriental to have a Spa experience, dinner and drinks, and then return to the Hyatt to pick up the luggage and left for Chang-I.)

The Grand Hyatt Singapore
10 Scotts Road
Singapore 228211
Tel: +65 6235-4111
Fax: +65 6734-0375

Park Hyatt Los Angeles (California, USA)

After a disastrous stay at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach, it was a relief to find that Hyatt's top collection of Park Hyatt Hotels does mean that one gets a comfortable and well-designed place to stay. Or at least, that was how I found the Park Hyatt Los Angeles, located at the heart of Century City, only few steps away from Westfield's Century City open-air shopping area.

I am not sure how old the facility is, but it did seem that the building was not of recent years. The lobby, however, contained the Park Hyatt signature of boutique-like minimalist approach, especially the check-in counter. At first, I was given room 1211, a junior suite that had a gorgeous view of the beautifully-lit fountain on the Avenue of the Stars and of the entrance to the hotel. Unfortunately for me, I got a strong whiff of cigarette smell as I opened the door and entered the suite. Thus, I was re-assigned to another junior suite on the 11th floor (room 1114 to be exact), a much better smelling room, but a blah view of the MGM building not too far away. The floor configuration was rather interesting: it was not a straightforward corridor, but a zigzagging one.

The layout of the suite was reminiscent of the suite at the Park Hyatt Saigon. There were also similarities in terms of the wallpaper (same beige stripes, except at the PHLA, the stripes were thinner); and the bedroom doors at an angle. Although the suite could be used for two people, there was only one basin in the bathroom, which became rather inconvenient when two people would like to use it at the same time.

The shower stall was way too small for two people. The one at the Park Hyatt Saigon, for example, could accommodate three people at once without any problem. The hotel was also rather stingy in issuing towels. Normally, even in a Grand or Regency Hyatt hotel, there would be at least three bath towels. Here at the Park Hyatt Los Angeles, only two were provided. I am sure that upon request, extra towels would be provided without any problem.

The safe deposit box could accommodate a laptop. It also had an electrical plug so that one could charge the laptop while being safely stored.

All of the staff (the valet parking attendant, the bellboy, receptionists, room-service staff) were very friendly and efficient. Although it was expected for hotel people (especially at this level of a Hyatt) to be courteous and friendly, one does not necessarily encounter such courtesy and friendliness the way I had found them at this Park Hyatt in Los Angeles. Too bad I was only staying for one night, and during the stay, I hardly could explore the facility except for my room. Suffice it to say that on future trips to the city, I would not hesitate to return to the hotel to enjoy more of its offerings.

Park Hyatt Los Angeles
2151 Avenue of the Stars
Los Angeles, California 90067
USA
Tel: (310) 277-1234
Fax: (310) 785-9240

Grand Hyatt San Francisco (California, USA)

Location, location, location: this Hyatt is one of a few number of hotels located directly within a block of the heart of downtown San Francisco, the Union Square. Unlike the Westin nearby, Hyatt's entry is from the Stockton Street side, not from the Square (Post St.) side. To avoid the valet overcharges, there is the Sutter/Stockton Garage located conveniently, diagonally across the street.

The hotel could use some updates in the lobby, which always seems to be on the dark side. As any other Hyatt hotels, the Grand Club level (akin to the Regency Club level) allows you to have a separate breakfast area in the designated Club Floor. Breakfast up there is standard fare of juices, bagels and toasts, cold cuts, fruits and yogurts, coffee and tea, and a good supply of newspapers. If you get a window seat, you will consume breakfast with a nice view of the city.

On higher floors, silence envelopes your surrounding. You have the vista of this beautiful city in front of you and the vibrant Union Square beneath you but without all the cacophony of downtown noises. After ten or eleven at night, the City goes to sleep anyway, not like New York and Tokyo that stay up late and party on (not that there is anything wrong with that.)

Hyatt's almost square-like building makes the corridor within much shorter than a typical hotel, which can be a nice feature, eliminating the need of trotting a long way from the elevator to your room. The Hong Kong Ritz Carlton has a similar feature. It works for me.


Grand Hyatt San Francisco
345 Stockton Street,
San Francisco, California, USA
Tel: 415 398 1234 Fax: 415 391 1780

Hyatt Regency Long Beach (California, USA)

Awmygawd! Don't let the pictures fool ya! Call me spoiled, I do not care, but I shall never return to stay at this hotel. I think the raison d'être of this hotel was to provide lodging for convention attendees (the hotel was located not too far from a convention center). I had high expectations from this hotel based on the pictures they posted on the company website; boy, was I in for a surprise...

When I drove my car into the driveway of the hotel, my sixth sense told me that there was something amiss about the hotel. Don't ask my how, but it felt ominous. My suspicion was confirmed when I stepped into the lobby: a vast area with huge pillars and cheap-looking bars that you could find only in small resort towns. How this happened in the rather nice city of Long Beach I did not know. Giant pillars and a vast interior with high ceiling were supposed to make one feel in awe of the space, but a lack of coherent design made me feel like someone had just come in and looted the place empty.

It got worse as I arrived on my assigned floor: the very long corridor was so borrrrrrrrrring that it almost put me in a somnambulant state while walking to my room. How could it get even worse? Just open the door and you would find out soon: bad layout, old carpeting, sorry furniture, dowdy furnishings, and windows that started at the height of one's hip, just like the ones found in cheap seaside motels. The television was put inside an armoire that faced a wall. To watch the tele, you have to bring it out from the armoire and swivel it to face the bed. Even then you did not get a full view of the screen.

I am surprised to note that even the Hyatt Regency in Surabaya (Indonesia) is much better and more desirable than this one in Long Beach (the surprise being that the former is in a third world country, if we still call it that; while the latter is found in a prosperous California city). I invited some friends to stay in another room which I had reserved for them. They were to arrive much later, but when I found how our rooms looked like, I called to tell them not to bother to show up. I told them that I would stay overnight just to see how it was, but I could only swallow so much of this ugliness. Four hours after I checked in, I gathered my belongings and checked out. The same receptionist who checked me in was surprised to see me leave before the night's end. I did not want to hurt her feelings by saying that her hotel left much to be desired, so I fibbed and informed her that there had been some changes and I needed to depart.

Let me save you the trouble by not putting up any information of the hotel the way I have done with other properties reviewed in this site. Should you ever be in the spirit of masochism, then find out how this dowdy hotel could inflict pain to your senses.

Park Hyatt Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

The Park Hyatt Saigon opened just this past July 2005. I checked in four months later, staying in 3 different rooms (2 standard and 1 suite). The prime location in District 1 (considered most desirable in Ho Chi Minh City [or HCMC], the city formerly known as Saigon) makes most of the landmarks available within walking distance. The hotel is next to the Opera House, close to the "Hotel de Ville" (French for "City Hall"), and not too terribly far away from the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Independence Palace. In addition, the upper-end shopping malls are located in this area as well. Most taxi drivers do not know where Park Hyatt Saigon is because it is quite new, but because of its close proximity to the well-known Caravelle Hotel, the latter became a convenient point of reference.

The standard room was quite small. In the first room that I occupied, there were crumbs inside the folder of the hotel information; and no clock (alarm clock). When we came in, there was no welcome bowl of fruits. They were to come much later. Even the Grand Hyatt Jakarta sent one staff member to bring the welcome bowl of fruits immediately after I settled down. The Hyatt Regency Surabaya already had fruits waiting in one's room upon check-in.

The second room, another standard room, had an alarm clock (which made me realize that the first room was missing one). These standard rooms are not the most perfect for a two-person occupancy, unless one devices a schedule for bathroom use (there was only one basin). Even a standard room at Ritz Carlton would have two basins.

The suite definitely worked better, with ample amount of space, a walk-in closet, a writing desk that doubled as a vanity table (right before the bathroom). The suite I had was at the end of the hall. Because the hotel had a curved outer wall, the suite occupied a rather odd space. As a result, the living room area did not look as pleasing as it could be. Alarm clock was again missing from this room. The hotel needs to work on consistency.

Check-in was done in the room, but there was no offer for an express check-out, and I forgot to ask about such service.

Room Service was excellent: I was rather picky in how I wanted my Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) served, but when it arrived, it was exactly as I had instructed it to be served. Other services such as turn-down and shoeshine were very satisfactory and timely.

For some reasons, I was always placed in the 7th floor (there are a total of 9 floors). Standard rooms are rather small but cozy. Noise from the streets in front of the hotel is carried all the way up to my rooms, day and night. At night, it is common for the electricity to fail. The explanation that came from the hotel was that the electricity was supplied by the State, but at night, the State switched it off and therefore the hotel had to turn on its own generator. They apologized the first time it happened and promised that it would not happen again; that it was not a usual thing. Well, luckily I was not born yesterday and knew better. Every night there was a black-out, sometimes more than once. If they knew that the State was going to turn it off every night, the hotel should anticipate it by getting the generator already going to provide a seamless transition from one power supplier to another.

Both the spa and the gym were very nice, clean, and well-attended (in the late afternoon until late night). Both the steam room and the jacuzzi were big. The pool was great for lap swimming. Third-floor guests with pool view actually had a small patio area between their rooms and the pool area. They had French windows so they could step out and go to the pool directly from their rooms. I tried the spa on the first night: ample amount of space for a Thai massage. There was a shower stall inside the treatment room. I took a shower but was surprised that they did not change the bath/shower mat between treatments. Apparently, someone had previously showered there, and no one had bothered to change the mat for a new client.

There was a lot of miscommunication:
- Before I left Saigon, I informed the staff that I would return quite early one day and asked if I could do an early check-in. I was assured that there were plenty of rooms for that day and that one room was confirmed for my checking-in early. When the time came, I was told that there was no room for early check-in. A group of people had just come and had used all the rooms. I had to wait for more than an hour to have a room ready. When finally it was ready, a staff took me to a 3rd floor-room, which was not my preference. So, she moved me back to the 7th floor. While chatting with her, I found out that occupancy that day was only 45%. So, why was it that they said there was no room available?
- I re-checked in to a standard room on a Thursday, but would move to a suite on Friday, and depart on Saturday. I made sure that the limo reservation was for Saturday, and to remind them of the room change. On Friday, I was told that my limo was ready. I had to explain to them that it was not until Saturday that I would need it. By instinct, I checked back on Friday night, and right enough, no limo was reserved for me for Saturday. So, I re-reserved the limo for the departure date. It was confirmed. Much later at night, I got a call, asking if I would need a limo for Saturday, and I told them that I had indeed reserved one earlier. The next day, on departure date, the staff was surprised to find out that I had booked a limo. There was none in the system that noted that.
- The staff charged me double for the first stay, not taking into account that I had prepaid for the hotel via the Internet (the hotel knew very well that I had prepaid because there was a credit on top of the folio). While both sides (the hotel and I) caught the mistake, there was no courtesy call to let me know about it. I had to go down with my laptop to show all the paperwork, and the assistant manager came up with a receipt for a credit already done that very same day (but did not tell me about it.) This was an honest mistake, perhaps the staff members were not yet used to the system.
- Postscript (and take this as a Caveat Emptor): Goldpassport.com never did a perfect job. Something was always missing, and this time it was no exception. They did not calculate Platinum points correctly, including omitting the prepayment in the calculation of the points. However, upon notifying the customer service, the problem was corrected. This blew my mind because usually I would get a courtesy acknowledgment e-mail, followed by the actual correction few days later. This time, it happened within minutes!

There were two things that in my mind I had allowed all this to pass:
1. The hotel was relatively new, only 4-5 months old.
2. Although they made several mistakes, the staff members were extremely friendly and accommodating.

If and when I return to Saigon, I would not hesitate in staying at the Park Hyatt again. While I was in that city, I visited different hotels, saw the lobby areas and observed their atmospheres, and I definitely prefered the Park Hyatt over the other hotels. There was an elegance and tranquility about the Park Hyatt that was not to be found in the other hotels, at least for now.

Grand Hyatt Jakarta (Jakarta, Indonesia)

Grand Hyatt Jakarta occupies one of the most coveted locations in the city. From the 70s and probably slightly before then, the M. H. Thamrin Boulevard is a major artery and an example of what a civilized city Jakarta could be. It has less to do with the luxury hotels and shopping malls that line the boulevard than with the discipline that is enforced when it comes to vehicular traffic. During rush hours, there is a mandatory 3-person rule for the main road, except for taxis.

The hotel sits atop one of the more glamorous shopping complex that is Plaza Indonesia, anchored by the Japanese Sogo department store. The lobby looks grand with white marbles and colossal columns, joined by trickling water and vegetation placed in cascading levels. Entering the lobby and immediately looking back and up, one could find a piano lounge, where people wind down or conduct informal business. The echo of jazz music in a grand lobby like this reminded me of old-style colonial hotels from the 60s and 70s (all right, I am way too young to talk about the 60s).

I requested an end-of-the-corridor room and got my wish, with the Fountain on the M. H. Thamrin as my view. The "Selamat Datang" (welcome) sculpture has been a fixture since my childhood days when my family would stay at the Hotel Indonesia or the President Hotel (now the Nikko Hotel Jakarta). Unfortunately, I stayed at the hotel near the Islamic New Year, Lebaran. On that Islamic New Year's Eve, there was a round-the-clock procession of people chanting and praying, joined by honking cars and cursing motorists trapped in the traffic jam.

The room, not a suite, is pleasing to the eyes. The Grand Hyatt brand has really streamlined their designs, or at least, that has been my observation while staying at the various Grand Hyatt hotels. The rooms may not be immediately identifiable the way most Ritz-Carlton rooms are from one location to another, but there certainly is a common thread between the Grand Hyatt rooms: the type of wood, the look of the bed, and the layout of the work area. The bathroom is fairly standard: bathtub, shower stall and a basin countertop. The walk in closet is located across the bath area.

The gym offers plenty to do, and the locker and relaxation areas are sufficiently staffed. There are steam and sauna rooms facing each other, separated by a cold dipping pool. Four to five chaise longues are placed nearby. The shower stalls are equipped with multiple showerheads that attack your body from different angles.

The coffee shop offers "buffet" dinners: such buffet offerings are very common in Asian hotels. They are extremely popular because they offer limitless trips to the counters, and they give a break to the restaurant staff. Usually when one wants to order à la carte, one is encouraged to get a buffet instead. Most of the time, the price of each entrée is such that it only makes sense to order the buffet, instead.

What makes the Grand Hyatt Jakarta more desirable is the fact that it sits atop the Plaza Indonesia and is adjacent to an annex called FX. This gives one the option to eat outside of the hotel without leaving the compound. On rainy or extremely hot and humid days (which is the majority of the time in Jakarta), this becomes a convenient solution.


Grand Hyatt Jakarta
Jalan M H Thamrin
Kav 28-30
Jakarta 10230
Indonesia
Tel: +62 (21) 390-1234
Fax: +62 (21) 3193-4321