Best Hyatt Category 4 Hotel Redemptions Part 1 – Park Hyatt, Andaz and Grand Hyatt
The Chase Hyatt Credit Card ($75 annual fee) gives one free anniversary night every year for a stay at a Hyatt Category 1-4 hotel. To help identify some of the better values, I have looked through the list of category 4 hotels in an attempt to figure out which properties provide the most “bang for the buck” when using free night certificates and/ or points.
I am basing my decision on a combination of price and location – a hotel in a place I would actually want to visit for a couple of nights and where I get good value. Note, a Hyatt category 4 hotel typically costs 15,000 Hyatt points for an award night or 7,500 points + $100 on Points + Cash.
While I am sure that some category 4 Hyatt House/ Hyatt Place properties will provide significant value, I am going to focus on the higher-end brands within the Hyatt portfolio to identify the best hotels for the free night/points redemption.
A quick note on the rates I have tracked below – the rates correspond to the advance purchase rate on the first Saturday night of each respective month. If the first Saturday falls on a holiday weekend, I use the second Saturday of the month as a proxy for the weekend rate. All rates are in USD.
Park Hyatt
Hyatt has 7 Park Hyatt’s in category 4, with the majority of them being in Asia. Europe and America both have 1 Park Hyatt each that falls in this category, namely Park Hyatt Hamburg and Park Hyatt Toronto. The table below shows the rate for each hotel on a monthly basis as well as the TripAdvisor ranking within the city.
Based on the table above, it looks like Busan would be a good option since the rates are the highest. However, the top ranked hotel in Busan was as much as $100 cheaper on the dates I checked. While Busan is known for its beaches, it’s primarily a commercial city and Seoul/ Gyeongju are higher up my list of places to visit in South Korea. Park Hyatt Toronto is relatively more expensive and seems a good deal based on price but I would rather just book the Hyatt Regency Toronto which is a category 3 hotel and costs 12,000 points.
The hotels that stand out to me from this list are the Park Hyatt Goa and Park Hyatt Siem Reap.
Park Hyatt Goa
In my opinion, Goa is definitely worth a stopover for a couple of nights on a trip to India. PH Goa is a gorgeous resort with lagoons and waterways as well as palm trees and lush green lawns. It has easy access to Arossim beach, which is nice and quiet, unlike a lot of the other beaches in Goa. The average rate for the hotel is around $225 (although it tends to be higher during the peak season in Dec/ Jan), which is 1.5 cents per point, when using 15K points for an award night – not great but not too bad either. While you can find cheaper options in Goa, I wouldn’t mind using my free night at the PH Goa since its a beautiful property and Goa is a place I want to visit again.
Park Hyatt Siem Reap
Angkor Wat is on many a bucket list and the Park Hyatt Siem Reap provides easy access to the temples at Angkor Wat. Additionally, the property is located in the center of town and is within walking distance to tourist attractions within Siem Reap. Similar to the PH Goa, cheaper options are easily available so using an award night here is more for the experience, rather than maximizing value out of the 15K points.
Andaz
Hyatt has 4 Andaz properties in category 4, with 2 in the Americas and 2 in Asia. The table below shows the rate for each hotel on a monthly basis as well as the TripAdvisor ranking within the city.
Based on the table above, I don’t think the Andaz in Delhi or Shanghai are optimal redemptions. I want to explain my logic here since the rates for the Andaz Shanghai aren’t significantly different from the PH Goa or the PH Siem Reap. I prefer to use my points at a resort type hotel (where I am likely to be spending more time in the hotel itself) versus a city hotel (where I am likely spending more time outside of the hotel room). Hence, I think PH Goa is a better redemption option for my use case but I can certainly see where some people might prefer a city hotel such as the Andaz Shanghai.
Andaz Savannah isn’t a bad redemption based on rates but I would prefer the Hyatt Regency Savannah, which is a couple of blocks away and only costs 12K points as it is a category 3. The easy pick here is the Andaz Papagayo as rates are consistently above $250 per night and its the top-ranked hotel in its region.
Andaz Peninsula Papagayo
This is another gorgeous resort property located in Costa Rica. Given the consistently higher rates and the excellent reviews from TripAdvisor, I would call this a “sweet spot” in the Hyatt Category 4 list amongst the higher end properties. It’s easy to get 2 cents per point value at this resort when using points although one caveat to note is that its in a remote location so food can get expensive during a stay here. I haven’t been but its on my list of places to go.
Grand Hyatt
Hyatt has a number of Grand Hyatt properties under Category 4 and spread out across all three regions. The table below shows the rate for each hotel on a monthly basis as well as the TripAdvisor ranking within the city. Please note that I have not tracked hotels such as the GH Beijing or GH Sao Paulo where rates were consistently under $150 per night for the dates I checked.
Based on the table above, the hotels that seem most interesting to me are the GH Melbourne, GH Washington and GH Seattle. The GH Berlin rates were lower than I expected, especially in the summer. At first glance, the GH Taipei seems good value but I could only find standard rates so it’s not an apples to apples compare and the hotel is haunted so I am going to avoid it. GH DFW is an airport hotel – not a bad redemption if needed but not one that I am going to actively plan for.
Grand Hyatt Washington
The hotel is in a great location, in the middle of Penn Quarter with Ford’s Theater a couple of blocks away and the White House within a 10-15 minute walk. If you prefer not to walk, the DC metro has a station in the basement of the hotel. Rates can fall below $200 per night at times so check before you redeem an award night. Rates are typically higher in the summer so likely a better opportunity to redeem then. Read Shawn’s review of his stay at the hotel here. (Grand Hyatt Washington DC Review).
Grand Hyatt Seattle
GH Seattle is in a great location in downtown Seattle, and offers good value for a category 4 redemption with rates typically greater than $230 and going up to as much as $400. The hotel is a few blocks from Pike Place market and walking distance to other attractions. It’s also just around the corner from the Hyatt Olive 8 (another category 4 hotel) and some folks might prefer the modern design of the Olive 8.
Grand Hyatt Melbourne
The GH Melbourne is located in the city centre, close to Federation Square and walking distance to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, if you fancy watching a cricket match. This is a great redemption as rates consistently seem to be above $350 and can go as high as $500. Reviews and rank on tripadvisor are very good, plus the central location in Melbourne make this an excellent choice for a category 4 redemption.
Conclusion
Looking across the top 3 brands of Hyatt, the Andaz Papagayo and the GH Melbourne stand out as getting the most “bang for my buck”. PH Goa and PH Siem Reap seem worth a visit while GH Seattle and GH Washington can be a good weekend redemption. In Part 2, I will look at the Hyatt/Hyatt Regency hotels in the category 4 list.
Let us know if you have stayed at any of the hotels mentioned above or if we missed out on a category 4 hyatt you like.
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[…] and great value when redeeming anniversary free night awards from the Chase Hyatt Credit card. Both hotels are category 4 properties and cash rates commonly exceed $400 per night, making the $75 annual fee on the Chase Hyatt Credit […]
Is there a part 2 yet? Please link it as I do not see it?
I think you are doing yourself a disservice by limiting the search by brand. I understand maybe you do not want to look through everything, but in addition to the HP Nashville and the HR Coconut Point, I have personally stayed at the HP Portland-Old Port over the summer when rates were over $400 a night.
This is actually the first part of two. In an effort to not make the post too long, we have decided to split up the brands. Hyatt & Hyatt Regency are coming soon. We did decide not to do HP or HH simply because those properties are less unique.
**UPDATE** Just returned from two nights in the Andaz Savannah — AMAZING hotel with great location. Worth every singled of the 15,000 points it takes to book a night. Plus, since we were booking with points we were given a complimentary upgrade to an Andaz Suite with a balcony overlooking Ellis Square. Staff is young and a little disorganized — if not frenetic.
Housekeeping didn’t come to our room at all, and when we mentioned this at checkout, one of the managers comped the dinner we ate in the hotel the night before.
All in all, it’s an amazing hotel with unbeatable location and a staff that might mike small mistakes but are willing to make things right at a moment’s notice.
Based on lot of reviews, Andaz Papagayo is not a good enough value and is “over-rated”. The reasons are:
1. You have to spend an arm and a leg for inferior food. They get you because there are no food establishment near (based on reviews even Bora Bora, Maldives has more restaurants near to their high end resorts). If you lots of dough to spend, then it can work but you really have to deduct your $250+/day from the Hotel room rate to show the real value..
2. The beach is inferior and even in pictures it shows that (the Hotel website doesn’t have lot of them because it is not that good compared to other Hotels).
3. Various cooking and drink classes they offer is really expensive compared to what you get.
etc.
4. There is not much snorkeling around the beach either. Only attraction seems to be some Monkeys coming around which you get almost “anywhere” in Costa Rica.
etc.
I have seen many people who have been incredibly happy with this property. I have also seen many of the things you mention talked about as well. Maybe more of a reason to try it out myself!
good mr. shiv.
[…] Best Hyatt Category 4 Properties by Value: Maximize Your Free Cert Redemption! […]
Hello, great post, thanks! Where did you get the table which shows the average rates per property?
Thanks!
[…] the Hyatt credit card, you get one free night at a hotel up to a Category 4. So, this post with the best value redemption Category 4 Park Hyatt, Andaz and Grand Hyatt is just […]
I’m staying at the Andaz Savannah this weekend on points. Recieved a free suite upgrade over the phone. Right now suites are running $400+, putting the value at more than 2.5. Not a bad deal, IMO.
Yeah, sounds like you got a nice redemption.
Really wish there was a Category 4 in Hawaii. Only a Category 3. The rest are 5 or above.
Yeah price in Hawaii tend to be higher which drives the categories up. The Hyatt Place Waikiki is nice enough, but certainly not a beach resort.
Stayed at the GH Melbourne during the Australian Open with rates over $500/night. Surprisingly there was award availability. Great redemption and great hotel. Got to eat in the club lounge with many of the players and coaches.
That’s amazing they had award availability – would be great to stay there during the Australian Open.
Park Hyatt Saigon is also worth it. It usually runs at least $250 a night.
Thanks. I have heard great things about that property.
Great article / concept – nice work
Thanks, glad you liked it!
All good options except when there are blackout dates…even though there supposedly aren’t
I hate it when hotels play games. There does seem to be a lot of that with Hyatt lately.
We have an upcoming stay at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa (Category 4) and prices, including taxes and resort fee, exceed $400 per night. Certainly targeted towards families, but the resort has great reviews.
I echo Marty’s suggestion for the HP in Nashville. We stayed there while still a Category 3, which offered even more value with points. Right in the heart of the downtown experience.
Thanks for the additional suggestions.
Thanks Greg. The Coconut Point hotel does look nice for families. They just renovated their water park I believe as well.
This is an incredibly helpful post. Thank you for this!!
If you don’t mind, I would love to share it on my blog and obviously give you credit and link to this post.
Thanks
You can certainly share a link and a summary but cannot copy over the text of the article.
Hyatt Andaz Papagayo is our go-to Cat 4 redemption. We’ve been 4 times and we always use the free night in late January/early Feb when rates ate close to $600 all-in(very high resort fee). That’s value.
Add in free breakfast and there is decent value despite remoteness(which we like) and high food and drink prices.
And the weather in their dry-season(our winter) is perfect.
GH is DC is excellent too. The Metro located in the basement is very convenient. $$ rates on weekends are usually much lower, for obvious reasons, than weekdays. Very good hotel.
Andaz Papagayo definitely stands out in the category 4 hotels!
I can appreciate the different perspective of this blog, based on price and location. There were a couple on here that I previously had not thought of that now may be contenders.
I’m glad this post helped!
Thanks for the comment, glad it was helpful!
Hyatt place Nashville was raised to a cat 4 was mid 300s last summer as a cat 3 . Comes with free breakfast and good location.
Nice, that sounds like a good redemption value!
One of the rare times that a post extolling the virtues of the Hyatt credit card actually provides useful information. Good job. Thanks.
About the only thing to add is that you’re clearly never likely to fly to Siem Reap or Costa Rica just for the one free night.
I have stayed at 9 of the hotels you mention and the only ones I would avoid are the PH Toronto and the GH Washington DC, not because they are bad but due to better/cheaper options nearby. Andaz Shanghai is one of my worldwide favorites so don’t discount that one…
Thanks for the comment, yeah the far-flung places don’t make sense for one night but hopefully you can combine the free night cert with some points awards!