Overall: A solid option for mid-level luxury in an expensive city.
Pros: Location, views, Club lounge
Cons: Very thin walls, doesn’t feel very hospitable
Paid: $468/night with taxes and fees for a King room with Club Lounge access.
Could have paid: $0 and 20,000 Hyatt points/night for a Standard Room.
How to stay here without paying full price:
- Get the Hyatt credit card and link it to your account. You can also get a card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and set it up to link to your Hyatt account.
- Hit the minimum spend required to reach your bonus – as of this writing:
- $3K spend on the Hyatt credit card in the first 3 months gives you 25,000 Hyatt points; AND
- $6K spend in 6 months (total) gives you another 25,000 Hyatt points;
- $4K for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card gives you 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
- Wait for your bonus points to land in your Hyatt account. Transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards to your Hyatt account as necessary.
- Once your bonus points/nights hit your Hyatt account, search the app or website for award availability. Standard Nights at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco are 20,000 points per night, with upgraded Club Lounge rooms for 27,000 points per night.
- Book online through the Hyatt app or website.
- For a full guide, see my 5-step Guide to Booking Hyatt Hotels for Free.
Review: Grand Hyatt San Francisco
My partner was traveling on business and I tagged along. This is why we received a Club room and why we did NOT book this trip with points. It would have been a good value for Hyatt points, though! It appeared that Club Lounge rooms cost about $75 more per night than standard rooms, which might be worth it to you – more on that later.
LOCATION: The Grand Hyatt San Francisco is right by the Ferry Building and in a convenient area for downtown, if you’re there for work. It’s within easy walking distance of a number of great, if a bit touristy, restaurants. (Check out my review of the BEST San Francisco seafood restaurants – these are the opposite of touristy.)
Check-in was speedy and efficient. I didn’t get recognized for being a Discoverist and didn’t receive any free bottles of water, but that didn’t matter too much this time, since the Club Lounge gave us access to water.
We were in room 3308, a floor above the Executive Lounge, with some great views:
Furnishings were understated but elegant, and everything looked to be in good shape:
I loved that they gave me a real mini fridge (hidden inside this cabinet) with no nastygrams about getting charged $200 if you want to, you know, USE the fridge for your own food. The Conrad New York should take note!
The bathroom had a large shower but no tub and lacked a rainfall showerhead. But, everything was very serviceable with more than enough towels.
I really did NOT love how they won’t change any of your linens unless you proactively call Housekeeping. The norm these days in U.S. hotels is to do something like put a card on your bed if you want your bed linens changed, and put any towels on the floor that you want replaced. But THIS requires you to actually initiate a conversation about how you want Housekeeping to clean your room. And you know how MILLENNIALS HATE TALKING ON THE PHONE.
I found this to be a really un-hospitable thing to do in the hotel and didn’t appreciate it. I also don’t appreciate the trend of companies trying to shame you into saving them money under the guise of saving the environment.
Note, I’m not saying that a reduction in washing linens isn’t a good thing for the environment. I’m saying that hotels are doing it not to save the environment, but to save money on housekeeping labor. It’s always been your choice if you don’t want your linens changed, you’ve always been able to call the front desk about that. But under this system, you’re pushed towards not receiving housekeeping services, and housekeeping staff doesn’t like this trend either.
Lots of outlets pretty much everywhere in the room, which was good for my business trip:
The bed was comfortable, and I noticed earplugs beside the bed with a note about how the city of SF can be loud sometimes:
San Francisco absolutely CAN be loud sometimes, but street noise wasn’t the problem I encountered. The earplugs were mostly due to the paper-thin walls within the Grand Hyatt, not to the city noise. I could literally make out the dialogue on the Netflix show my neighbor was watching (Mindhunter), and he/she was watching it at a perfectly reasonable volume! I could actually hear my neighbor take off his/her shoes by the bed, and I’m pretty sure my neighbor could hear me fart. (Sorry.)
Needless to say, I’m glad I was on a business trip and generally waking up at 6:00 a.m. every day, because you could easily hear people just walking around in the hallways, which I wouldn’t have loved if I were trying to sleep in.
Review: Grand Hyatt San Francisco Club Lounge
I really enjoyed the Club Lounge. I think it’s probably a reasonable value at an extra ~$75 per night (the approximate increase in price relative to a Standard room). It’s not a steal of a value the way the Conrad Osaka Executive Lounge was, but it was nice. Some great views of the Bay from the Lounge:
Hours and Lounge offerings were conveniently printed on the back of my room key:
You could go in anytime and pick up bottles of water, soft drinks, or little carby snacks, which was nice. The “Continental Breakfast” was also more generous than simple cereal and pastries, with eggs, sausage, bacon, and fruit. Evening hors d’oeuvres were generous too, with two hot dishes and an assortment of salad, crudites, breads, and cheeses. Everything in the lounge was presented attractively and kept very clean and replenished:
Review: Grand Hyatt San Francisco Fitness Center
The Grand Hyatt’s fitness center exceeded expectations, while providing the same beautiful views of the Bay you already saw. The equipment list included 4 ellipticals, 3 bikes, 6 treadmills, 2 weight benches, a full set of dumbbells, kettlebells, 4 weightlifting machines, a full set of Kettlebells and medicine balls as well as Bosu equipment, mats, and ample space in which to use everything.
Value per Hyatt point: 1.76-2.0 cents, depending on whether you booked a Standard or a Club room.
A Standard Room would’ve cost $400 with taxes and fees or 20,000 Hyatt points, a value of 2.0 cents per point. A Club Room actually cost $468 with taxes and fees, but would have cost 27,000 Hyatt points, a value of 1.76 cents per point. Both are reasonable, but not over-the-top values, according to The Points Guy.
Bottom line: I’d go back, but it wouldn’t be my top choice.
This was a perfectly nice hotel, but the thin walls and lack of housekeeping (unless I went out of my way to ask for it) turned me off. However, the fitness center and Club Lounge were very nice and the hotel is in a good location. While I wouldn’t put the Grand Hyatt at the top of my list, I’d stay here again if the price were reasonable.
