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
- Grand Hyatt Singapore Grand Corporate Suite
- Grand Hyatt Singapore Diamond elite amenities
- Grand Hyatt Singapore Grand Deluxe Room
- Service issues at the Grand Hyatt Singapore
- Transportation issues
- Final thoughts on the Grand Hyatt Singapore
- Stories from my trip to Asia
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.
Final thoughts on the Grand Hyatt Singapore
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.
Stories from my trip to Asia
- How I booked a $90,000 trip to Singapore, Bali, and Hong Kong for less than $1,500 out of pocket
- Cathay Pacific business class lounge SFO
- Cathay Pacific business class SFO-HKG
- Cathay Pacific business class HKG-SIN
- Dragonair business class lounge Hong Kong Airport
- Garuda Indonesia economy class Singapore to Bali
- Villa Bulung Daya in Antap, Bali review
- Conrad Bali Nusa Dua Resort review
- Conrad Bali Penthouse suite review
- Conrad Bali pool suite review
- Cathay Pacific economy class Bali to Hong Kong
- Grand Hyatt Hong Kong review
- Cathay Pacific The Pier first class lounge at Hong Kong Airport
- Cathay Pacific first class Hong Kong to San Francisco
Do you think the service depends on whether you are a paying or a free guest. Probably on the expectations of receiving tips.
The front desk agents don’t get tips and the guys out front don’t know we’re on an award stay. Tips have nothing to do with room assignments or cars being arranged without request. It comes down to incompetence.
@GHHH- There’s no such thing as a free guest. Everyone always pays, whether via cash or points (or C&P). It’s not as if the hotel doesn’t get reimbursed on point and C&P stays.
Ok…the deal with the car and van situation, I would have gotten downright American UGLY on his ass.
Yea, that was a scam if I’ve ever heard of one.
I can only wonder what the Uber driver thought…and don’t the Uber drivers rate you??
If I was you, I’d still take your case up with Hyatt corporate. As George mentioned, you are a paying customer and deserve much better than what you were treated.
If I’d been there when the Uber drivers arrived (whom I felt terrible for by the way), I would not have let it slide. Even the cab drivers parked out front were giving the Hyatt staff an earful about it. I reported it to Hyatt, but they simply forwarded my comments to the hotel and the manager responded with a lame apology. I hope he does “look into it” as promised and makes sure it doesn’t happen again.
I do think you should take it up with Grand Hyatt Singapore management – at the minimum provide them with the story of your experience – even give them the hyperlink of your post. These scams don’t and should not occur. Perhaps there was a misunderstanding when your father said “We’ve already ordered one”. I usually say ‘Someone’s coming to pick me up’ which is techinically correct for Uber and probably more widely understood in Singapore.
I did bring it up to management, but they swept it under the rug with “we’ll do better next time.” Hopefully this was just a one-off and it doesn’t happen again.
I’m between the grand Corp suite and the duplex suite which one did you prefer ?
The Grand Corp is NICE – way nicer than it appears in photos. Lots of space and a little kitchen. I think the Duplex Suite is more of a novelty – slightly smaller too. I know people who stayed in both and prefer the Grand Corporate Suite.