The Grand Hyatt Singapore is located on Orchard Road, a busy shopping area and a great base from which to explore the city. It’s a Category 5 Hyatt hotel, which can be booked for 20,000 points or 10,000 points + $125 per night. Based on this chart, a Points + Cash redemption made more sense than booking on points or Barclay Arrival miles.
Using a Suite Upgrade Award at Grand Hyatt Singapore
Before my Hyatt Diamond status expired in February, I used a Suite Night Award to upgrade one of our rooms to a Duplex Suite. A few weeks before our stay, I was informed the room had been further upgraded to a Grand Corporate Suite. The suite was going for over $1,300 per night. Needless to say I got great value out of that Suite Night Award.
After a drawn-out and awkward in-room check-in experience, during which I was asked about my religious affiliation, which the agent then informed me would be added to a database accessible to all Hyatt hotels, I called my parents to see how their rebooking attempts were going. Thankfully, it worked out ok and they joined us a few hours later.
Grand Hyatt Singapore Grand Corporate Suite
The Grand Corporate Suite is 1,200 sqft and features a living room, dining area, kitchen, office, bedroom, walk-in closet and two bathrooms. It was very spacious, which was great because the second room we’d booked didn’t open up until the following day. Two of us had to sleep on the couch because the hotel was sold out and ran out of extra beds!
There a half bathroom right off the suite entrance, which was very useful in reducing the amount of time it took to get everyone ready in the morning. With our connecting room, we had a total of three bathrooms for the five of us, which was plenty. The suite was beautifully decorated. The only negative part was the view, which was of the building next door.
Office Area
The office area was very useful for a night owl like me. I would sit there at night, reading pointless listicles on Buzzfeed writing while everyone else was asleep. The sliding doors ensured I didn’t keep anyone up with my typing on that first night.
The suite bedroom was pretty spacious and had plenty of conveniently located power outlets. There was also plenty of storage space, a comfortable chair on one side, and a vanity table.
Master Bathroom
There was an adjacent bathroom with a steam shower, separate bath and tons of space for all the stuff that usually litters bathroom counters. The bathroom was well stocked, with plenty of extra items like toothbrushes, razors, and the usual bath products. There was also a scale. I’m not sure whether that’s good or bad in a food-centric city like Singapore.
The walk-in closet was a huge space saver, where our bags were easily stored and kept out of sight. The closet had a separate door leading into the hallway, which was very convenient when we moved out of the room. There was no need to drag all of our bags through the entire suite.
Grand Hyatt Singapore Diamond Elite Amenities
The Grand Corporate Suite was booked in my name and my Hyatt Diamond status had lapsed. We still received a welcome amenity, consisting of persimmons and three jars of vegetable chips, chocolate truffles, and pineapple tarts.
There were five water bottles on the shelf by the entrance, which were replenished daily. If that wasn’t enough, there were two more bottles on the dining room table, which were also refilled throughout our stay. Basically, we had enough water to eliminate the drought in California.
The kitchen was equipped with dishes, silverware, pots, pans, a Nespresso machine, and a refrigerator stocked with soda and yogurt. The drinks were complimentary. Or at least I assume so since I didn’t notice a charge for them at check-out.
Grand Hyatt Singapore Grand Deluxe Room
The Grand Hyatt Singapore’s Grand Deluxe Room would be more appropriately labeled a suite. It had a living room and desk right off the entrance, both of which were separated from the bedroom by a sliding door.
The Grande Deluxe room is about 550 sqft. Both the bedroom and bathroom seemed like they were the same size as the ones in the Grand Corporate Suite. While the closer wasn’t a walk-in, it still offered plenty of space. Overall, this was a very nice room and I’m puzzled as to why it’s categorized as a room rather than a suite.
Our two rooms combined into an 1,800 sqft apartment. We had two living rooms, a dining room, three bathrooms, two bedrooms and a kitchen. While I initially didn’t think it was necessary for us to have a suite since we would spend most of our time outside or in the club lounge, it was actually very nice to have so much space and a place to hang out while we waited for everyone to get ready before an outing.
Service Issues at the Grand Hyatt Singapore
Our stay at the Grand Hyatt Singapore was marred by a series of problems. First, there was the issue of our second room not being ready on that first day. Apparently, some ultra-elite guest had decided to extend check-out to 10 PM. However, they didn’t tell us this. Throughout the day, I kept getting different timelines for when our room would be ready.
A front desk agent showed up at 11 PM, when we were all asleep and the do-not-disturb sign was on, ringing the doorbell until my brother answered. She informed him that *a* room was ready, but not the one we’d been waiting for. We’d have to check out of that room the next morning since it was assigned to someone else. What’s more, they charged us for that night even though we didn’t even stay in the room (something that was corrected later).
Our assigned room opened up around noon the next day, but not before we received a visit from the Front Desk Manager at breakfast. He apologized and offered us 20,000 points. The apology was nice, but they could have done more to take care of the room situation while it was happening.
Transportation Issues
When we checked out of the hotel, I requested two UberX cars to take us to the airport, since neither Uber Van nor Uber Black were available. The bellman asked my dad if we needed a car and he told him no, we’d already ordered one. Next thing we know, a van pulls up and the bellman and driver proceed to load our bags. My dad intervened, letting them know that wasn’t our vehicle. It turns out the bellman had ordered a van for us anyway.
By the time I arrived at the scene, the two Uber drivers had been sent away. Why? Because the bellman insisted that since the car had already been summoned (even though we didn’t ask for it), we would still have to pay for it. This was a scam if I’ve ever encountered one, but since we were already running late thanks to an extra slow check-out process, we got into the car. I decided to deal with it later. The manager sent me an email, apologizing for the room incident and reversed the extra room charge from the first night. The car incident didn’t seem to be of concern.
Grand Hyatt Singapore: Final Thoughts
Aside from the restaurant and club lounge, I was disappointed by the service at the Grand Hyatt Singapore. The problem seems to be trickling down from management. The only time I ever saw them take responsibility, try to fix something, or even respond to my request for an update on the room situation was when I contacted the Hyatt Twitter team. I don’t know if I would stay at the Grand Hyatt Singapore again. I will give them credit for providing a generous room upgrade, along with excellent club lounge and breakfast benefits.
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