The Most Surprising Hotel Welcome Amenity I’ve Ever Received

It’s not often that I walk into a hotel room and am shocked (well, other than that time the child bandits broke into my room at the Sheraton Grand London), but that’s exactly what happened to me during a recent stay at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley (which I’ll be reviewing soon).

My most impressive Hyatt welcome amenity ever

I’ve written in the past about the concept of hotel welcome amenities. When you check into a luxury hotel or if you have a high tier elite status, it’s pretty normal to receive some sort of welcome amenity in your room.

For example, as a Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador member, I get a welcome amenity more often than not. However, often it’s as simple as a bag of chips… I guess I appreciate the effort, though it sort of falls in the “why bother” category.

For a typical luxury hotel, the most common welcome amenity is maybe a fruit plate and a bottle of wine, or a couple of bottles of fancy water.

Some hotels are known for going above and beyond when it comes to welcome amenities. For example, French hotel group Airelles really goes all-out in delivering for guests, and I’ve received a bottle of Dom Perignon as a welcome amenity.

Perhaps Cheval Blanc is the hotel group that consistently has the most over-the-top welcome amenities, which include alcohol, sweets, fruit, balloons, and more.

Anyway, a few days ago we checked in to the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley. I’m a lifetime World of Hyatt Globalist member and we had booked a Hyatt Privé rate, and my jaw was on the floor when I saw what was waiting on the table for us. Keep in mind that Grand Hyatt is an upscale hotel brand, but isn’t really luxury, so I really wasn’t expecting a whole lot from the amenity.

It consisted of a bottle of Piper-Heidsieck Cuvee Brut, plus a trio of caviar tins from Calvisius, along with some accompaniments. This is without a doubt the welcome amenity that most exceeded my expectations in all my years of travel, and it was among the most impressive amenities I’ve received.

It had a lovely note from Saige, the VIP + Recreation Manager, which added a nice personal touch to it.

In fairness, I probably got special treatment, but…

I of course want to be realistic here. I doubt that every Globalist member who checks in gets this. I’m not sure if it’s something reserved for World of Hyatt Globalist members on Hyatt Privé rates, or what.

It’s also possible, or perhaps most likely, that someone at the hotel Googled me, and figured out who I was (not that I’m anyone special, of course, but I do publish hotel reviews online, so…).

I otherwise had no contact with the hotel in advance (other than sharing my arrival time, etc.), and I’m not some diva that begs hotels to give me special treatment. And aside from my brief messaging with Saige about my arrival time and preferences, it didn’t seem like I was treated differently than anyone else.

I will say this — even if this was special treatment on account of my “blogger status,” it doesn’t change the fact that I’m impressed that the hotel is actually paying attention to who checks in, and tries to customize things a bit. After all, I’ve had hundreds of Hyatt stays over the years, and I find it’s very rare that a hotel actually customizes things.

It’s not like I need or expect caviar and champagne with every stay, but I do appreciate when it’s something that seems geared to me. For example, when I checked into the Park Hyatt Chicago over a year ago, I still distinctly remember how my welcome amenity was a dirty martini, my favorite alcoholic drink.

That drink cost the hotel less than a crappy bottle of wine, but it showed a level of attention to detail and customization that you rarely find, and it was something that was memorable to me. It cost the hotel maybe $2, and it’s the thing I most remember about my stay over a year later.

Executives at big hotel groups always talk about how they have such amazing CRM, and how they are going to use that to customize the guest experience. Yet so rarely does it actually amount to anything.

Let me give one additional example, which is super minor — I don’t think I’ve ever touched a hotel welcome amenity that simply had whole fruit, even though it’s probably the most common hotel welcome amenity. It’s not that I don’t like fruit, but I just rarely find myself wanting to bite into whole fruit in a hotel room.

When we’re talking about a major hotel group with good CRM, you’d think eventually a hotel could add a note in there “guest doesn’t like whole fruit plates.” Yet that continues to be what I get on a majority of stays.

Anyway, my point is simply to say that even if I did receive special treatment here, it’s just nice to see a hotel taking note, rather than the typical lack of customization, despite me having collectively spent a couple of years of my life at a brand’s hotels…

Bottom line

It’s not often that a hotel welcome amenity differs greatly from what I was expecting, but that’s exactly what happened during a recent stay at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley, where the amenity was a nice bottle of champagne and a trio of caviar tins.

I can’t say with certainty why I received that amenity (was it my lifetime Globalist status, the rate, the fact that I’m a blogger, or a combination of all three?). Either way, it’s nice to see a hotel paying attention, since this hasn’t happened during any other Hyatt stays I’ve had.

Bigger picture, I do wish hotels would put more effort into customizing things like welcome amenities, especially when they should have good data on guests.

Anyway, I’ll have a full review of the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley soon, as it’s an interesting property…