Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve Review
The Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve is a beautiful resort located on Coco Beach that offers breathtaking views and lots of ways to relax and enjoy the Caribbean sun. Like other resorts in Puerto Rico, this is a popular option for visiting the Caribbean without needing a passport. Despite the beautiful property and many fun and enjoyable dining options, my stay was plagued with multiple issues that simply were not handled well over the course of my stay. In this Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve review, I share what there is to like at this resort and how the staff fell short consistently during my visit.
Location
About 30 minutes away from the San Juan Airport (SJU) and just 45 minutes from Old Town San Juan, the location feels remote while giving you just a quick drive from the airport. Car rental works best here especially if you want to explore the surrounding area since the resort is not close enough to anything to venture out. The Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve was not originally a Hyatt but rather converted to a Hyatt Regency in late 2019.
Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve Review: Typical Booking Cost
The Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve is a category 5 property in the World of Hyatt program. With 99 suites and villas, there are good upgrade opportunities here with status if you don't want to book directly into a suite or villa.
Standard Room
- 17,000 points off peak
- 20,000 points standard
- 23,000 points peak
Standard Suite
- 29,000 points off peak
- 32,000 points standard
- 35,000 points peak
Premium Suite
- 34,000 points off peak
- 40,000 points standard
- 46,000 points peak
I took a different approach to my three-night booking. With the cash rate of about $250 per night for two of the nights, I elected to do a points plus cash booking. You can do this through the Pay My Way option where you can pay through a combination of points and cash. I used 20,000 World of Hyatt Points for the first night since the cash rate was well over $350. I then used cash for the last two nights.
Check-In at Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve
Prior to my arrival, I noticed in my Hyatt app that I had been upgraded to a King Bed Ocean Front Deluxe room. I compared this room type to the villas but decided to stick with this room rather than asking for an upgrade to a villa. This decision was based on several trip reports I saw in the Travel on Point(s) Facebook group and some additional research.
I chose to self park to try and save a little bit in the wallet. While Globalist members receive free parking on points stays, I did not expect to receive that here since I booked a combination of cash and points. (Somehow they only charged me one night of parking.) Staff members with golf carts are available to help offload luggage from cars, even when self parking. While the resort is cash-free, having cash to tip the valet staff was helpful.
The check-in process started out wonderfully with a welcome drink, coffee vouchers, and information about the resort. I appreciate when a resort makes it easy to understand the property. I received a list of what restaurants are open and a resort map.
Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve Review: King Bed Ocean Front Deluxe
The rooms are grouped in two-story bungalows, with each bungalow having a handful of rooms. Although the bungalows lack elevators, the helpful staff assist guests with luggage up the stairs.
The spacious room included a separate seating area with a couch.
The lack of a double vanity in the bathroom was somewhat surprising. But the wet room set up combining the bath tub and shower was a nice touch.
The counter area has a refrigerator and a coffee station, as well as a nice ledge area that is ideal for luggage.
The views from the balcony were simply stunning, making the balcony one of the highlights of the room. Some balconies offer greater privacy than others. Depending on your room, guests may be able to see into your balcony from their own.
Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve Review: Dining Options
Most of the dining options were in one general area of the resort. I found that making reservations for dinner was helpful when dining during peak times. You can view all the dining options on the website. I breakdown the dining options I used, below.
Restaurants
Nory Teppanyaki is the resort's hibachi style restaurant, which was very good and offered great service and environment. The menu had lots of variety at many different price points. Drinks and gratuity do add up, so you can expect to pay around $125 for two with drinks and entrees. The food was fantastic and I enjoyed the experience.
There is also Nori Asian which is attached to the same restaurant but offers a more traditional dining experience without the hibachi set-up.
Nectar offers local and Caribbean cuisine. The service was friendly and the food did not disappoint. I had a sampling of dishes from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic.
Breakfast is served at the Water's Edge restaurant and was complimentary with my Globalist status.
Globalist breakfast was served as a buffet with plenty of options. Guests also have the option to order from the menu.
The restaurant also had an omelet station.
Service was excellent on my first morning but less impressive over the next two days.
Bars and Other Dining Options
The Sand Trap bar has a lot of potential. This bar and restaurant has a large golf simulator that also appeared to include other video games and options as well.
This is a good place to redeem the welcome drink vouchers. Unfortunately, the bar is undergoing renovations, so food orders were being served in to-go boxes. Eating out of takeout boxes felt out of place at a large resort like the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve.
The pool bar caters to guests lounging poolside, serving drinks and food. Food here was also served in takeout boxes with little condiment packets. Having been to many resorts of varying levels of sophistication, I think there are better ways to serve poolside food than in to-go containers. The experience felt like I was having food delivered through a service like Uber Eats rather than at a Caribbean resort.
I also noticed a food truck near the pool and the beach, but it was never opened during my stay.
The resort also has the Market, a spot for grab and go snacks and beverages. This is an affordable breakfast option for those who don't have complimentary breakfast.
Property & Amenities
The Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve has a spa, concierge service, meeting facilities, business services, and room service. But the one part of any resort I'm always excited to see is the pool. The Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve boasts a large lagoon-style pool. The pool has something for everyone, including in-water chairs, a volleyball net, smaller raised pools with their own seating areas, and kid-friendly lagoon areas. The entire design of the pool impressed me. Aside from the main pool, the resort has other smaller pools closer to the bungalow areas, which were nice for a late night swim after dinner.
You can enjoy cocktails from the swim up bar, or lounge in a chair and order food and drinks. The pool also sits just steps away from the beach, which has plenty of seating as well. I found the bar service to be friendly and efficient. The service from lounge chairs was inconsistent throughout the day, which could be related to staffing.
I tried calling the spa multiple times to schedule an appointment but was never able to connect. I also noticed a building that looks like it could have served as a Regency Club at one point, but it looked like it was out of use.
In addition, the resort has plenty of large spaces for weddings, conferences, and other events. These events may lead to a larger number of guests on certain days of your stay. On the date of my departure, there was a wedding and a convention starting that day, which were taking over 300 rooms according to the staff.
Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve Review: Problems During the Stay
I find myself to be an easy going traveler with not many needs, and I really dislike the debate over whether guests are entitled to compensation when something goes wrong. I think it's common in the award travel space for folks to think they deserve compensation every time an inconvenience arises.
However, as the issues piled up, I became a bit frustrated while still trying to enjoy my time there. Given that I typically stay around 40-50 nights per year at Hyatt properties, the minimal issues I have experienced have typically been addressed either on site or after via the property surveys.
Minor Issues
The phone rang shortly after I got to my room but I couldn't answer it. It turns out that the phone was dead and not charging. I decided this issue could wait because I wanted to first make dinner reservations. I tried using the QR code available in the room to make reservations. The QR code took me to Open Table, which said there were no tables available. I eventually went to the front desk to make my dinner reservation and when I mentioned the phone problem, the front desk rep requested the staff to come fix the phone.
At the front desk I also asked about getting fan for the room since it felt warm in there. They responded that they would look into it and get back to me (they never did).
No Coffee for You!
On my first morning, I ventured down to the market to get some coffee and use the coffee vouchers I received when checking in. The vouchers clearly said they were valid between 7 and 9 am. But as the staff informed me, the voucher actually mentioned a different coffee shop at the resort, but that coffee shop wasn't open between 7 and 9 am! In fact it did not open until 3 pm and was apparently on other side of resort. According to the staff, this had been a recent change. In any event, I never did figure out where this other coffee shop was, so I never got to use my vouchers for coffee.
The Major Issues
After dinner on my first night and a long day of travel it was time for some sleep. However, the air conditioning was not working in my room. The thermostat showed 65 degrees when I arrived and I never adjusted it or touched it. But thermostat was still showing 73 degrees when I returned from dinner. I had also never heard back from the staff about the fan.
To add to the hot room, I also noticed a lot of little bugs gathering around the coffee maker and fridge area. I am well used to bugs all over the world, but this was not just a couple of stragglers but truly was an invasion.
At this point, it was late and I just wanted to sleep after my red-eye flight. In retrospect, I should have called the front desk and had these issues sorted out that night.
Room Switch
After a rough warm night of sleep, I went to the front desk, where the staff said they would switch my room. I had the choice of a couple of other rooms in the same building. A staff member escorted me to the room to inspect. I specifically asked about the air conditioner given that the unit was again set to 65 degrees but showed 73 degrees. I was assured it is supposed to go that low. After switching rooms I went down to the pool for the day. But when I returned in the afternoon, the room was not cooler at all and it appeared the air conditioner was also not working.
I called the front desk and they submitted a maintenance request. Eventually, an engineer came to work on the unit and I was assured it would work now. It did drop to 70 degrees while they were there. Finally in the early morning hours it did drop to 67 degrees. I tried to get a fan again and this time they said that fans are limited and I had not been on any waiting list for one. Just when I thought I was in the clear on the last night, the bug invasion arrived again. Coincidence or not, it was again late at night and in the same area as in the other room.
Checkout
On the morning of departure, I reviewed the room bill. One thing I appreciate about Hyatt is it can be very easy to review your bill in the app. Everything looked in order except for me being charge for just one night of parking instead of three. Given the many issues with my stay, I left that alone. After breakfast, the valet helped get me and my luggage to my car at the self-parking lot.
I then went to the front desk to checkout. The staff was not friendly at all and did not ask how the stay was or even thank me for staying. They asked if I wanted to review the room bill, but I declined since I had already looked at it in the app that morning.
Later at the airport, I decided to review the bill again. Lo and behold, they charged me for breakfast on that last morning. I reached out via chat to the hotel directly (ironically, I had not noticed that feature before and now was wondering whether it would have been of any help during the stay). Not only did they not offer to handle it themselves, they told me to follow up with their accounting department. This annoyed me as it seemed like an easy fix. My reply was courteous but blunt, as I informed them it needed to be rectified and that I had already had enough problems during my stay. They promised to resolve it, and I soon received a fresh bill while boarding my flight.
The Follow Up
If you have stayed at a Hyatt you know that you almost always receive an email survey about your stay. I did not receive one which I thought was odd. I can't recall the last Hyatt stay where I didn't receive an email survey, but I know it happens from time to time. After a week. I decided to follow up with an email based on my experience. It was lengthy but polite and simply stating the issues I experienced. First off, I simply expected an acknowledgement that the resort fell short during my stay. Secondly, I thought it would be appropriate to receive back my first nights stay given the issues and room switch.
That did not happen. I did receive an apology, but it felt like perfunctory lip service and far from genuine. They mentioned they looked forward to me coming back for a better more improved experience. I replied that I would not return in light of my experience. Again I received a canned response with no personal touch to it.
Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve Review: ToP Thoughts
I think it is safe to say, the overall thought here is it was not a good stay when it came down to it. Really the main focus of my issues was with the room. A resort in the Caribbean needs to have working air conditioners and you want to be able to relax. Secondly, I felt as if something was missing when it came to operations, from the top down. The communication from the staff was off at times with the issues and what they were empowered to do or not do service wise. That was clear from my interaction with the management with my email follow-ups.
The Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve is a beautiful resort with amazing views and a lot to enjoy. But how the staff's handling of what could have been minor issues was the resort's shortcoming. It really comes down to so much potential, but not so grand at this Caribbean resort.
Have you been to the Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve? Let us know your thoughts the Facebook group.
