Review: Grand Hyatt Chengdu

I was in Chengdu just a few weeks prior to this visit, and stayed at the St. Regis, which was beautiful. This time around I wanted to mix things up. I had heard good things about the Grand Hyatt, so decided to book that for my two night stay. The rate was 1,000CNY (~150USD) per night, so I just paid cash for my two night stay.

As a point of comparison, this is a Category 3 property, meaning that a redemption would have cost 12,000 World of Hyatt points per night, or using Points + Cash it would have cost 6,000 World of Hyatt points plus 75USD per night. In both cases paying cash was a better value based on my valuation of these points.

The ride from the airport to the hotel took about 30 minutes. Upon arriving at the hotel, I was greeted by a bellman who offered to help me with my bags, and explained that the lobby was on the 15th floor.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu exterior

The ground floor had eight sets of elevators, which simply take you between the ground floor and a few other floors (you have to go to the lobby to then get to your room).

Grand Hyatt Chengdu entrance

The lobby didn’t have much natural light, though was gorgeous. Every little part of the lobby felt so thoughtfully designed. It had several seating areas, including a lobby lounge, and to me felt a lot like a Park Hyatt.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu lobby

Upon exiting the elevators and turning left, reception was located at the far end of the hallway. Since it was so late at night I was helped immediately. I was impressed by how well the staff at the hotel spoke English, as it was a bit of a struggle at times at the St. Regis. The check-in process was professional and quick, and I was informed that as a Globalist member I had been upgraded to a suite.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu lobby

I was also given a letter outlining the hours of the Grand Club, which I had access to as well.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu Grand Club information

With a key in hand I headed towards the other set of elevators, to go up to my room on the 37th floor.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu elevators

I had been assigned room 3718, located at the far end of the hallway on the left.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu hallway

Grand Hyatt Chengdu floorplan

The suite I had been upgraded to was just lovely. Inside the entryway was the dining area, which featured a table with two chairs.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite living room

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite dining area

On the table was a fruit plate as a welcome amenity.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu welcome gift

Across from the dining table was the minibar, as well as a Nespresso coffee machine and a kettle.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite minibar

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite kettle

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite Nespresso machine

Past the dining area was a sliding door leading to the living room, which had a couch as well as a couple of chairs, and then a wall-mounted TV.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite living room

Around the corner was a comfortable king size bed, as well as a desk in the corner.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite bedroom

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite bedroom desk

At the foot of the bed was a bench, and then across from that was another TV.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite bedroom

Then there was a hallway connecting the bedroom to the dining room, and along that was the bathroom, which had a split layout.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite hallway

Closest to the bedroom were the double sinks, the soaking tub, and the walk-in shower.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite bathroom

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite bathtub

The shower compound was massive, and had both a handheld showerhead as well as a rainforest showerhead.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite shower

Toiletries were from June Jacobs. I used to strongly dislike June Jacobs toiletries when they were the Hyatt brand standard globally. Oddly I actually liked them this time around — I’m not sure if they were different than what they had in the past, or if I’ve just had enough time apart from the brand to appreciate it again.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu June Jacobs toiletries

Oddly the toilet was in a completely separate room. Like, not just that it was partitioned off, but it was down the hallway. The room with the toilet also had a sink.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite toilet

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite bathroom

Thanks to the room being on a fairly high floor, I had great views of Chengdu.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu suite view

Overall the suite was impressive. I loved the decor, and thought it felt more like a Park Hyatt than anything in terms of design. The only odd aspects of the room were the toilet being totally separate from the rest of the bathroom, as well as the lack of a desk, though I was happy working at the dining table.

In terms of the rest of my time at the hotel, as a Globalist member I could have breakfast at the Grand Cafe, located on the lobby level. While the hotel has a Grand Club, they don’t serve breakfast there, but rather send guests to the main restaurant, which gives you the best of both worlds.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu Grand Cafe

There was a buffet breakfast from 6:30AM until 10:30AM, and the selection was very good.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu breakfast buffet

I’ll let the pictures of the buffet speak for themselves.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu breakfast buffet

The cappuccino they serve in the restaurant was good as well.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu cappuccino at breakfast

The Grand Club was located on the 37th floor, and is open daily from 6:30AM until 11PM. I spent quite a bit of time here working, as I always prefer to get out of my room when possible. The Grand Club is beautiful physically, and is separated into a few areas. On the far ends of the lounge are areas with dining tables and couches.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu Grand Club

Then in the center section are communal tables.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu Grand Club

The Grand Club had whole fruit, cake, and cookies available all day.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu Grand Club snacks

There were also soft drinks and coffee available all day, which I always appreciate having easy access to.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu Grand Club coffee machine

Then daily from 5:30PM until 7:30PM they had the evening selection of snacks and alcoholic drinks.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu Grand Club evening buffet

The selection wasn’t especially substantial, though everything was beautifully presented and high quality.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu Grand Club evening snacks

There was also a pretty large, though not especially high end, selection of alcohol.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu Grand Club evening drink selection

The one thing that stuck out to me most about the lounge was how empty it consistently was. The evening I visited there was only one other person there the whole time, so it was one of the quieter Grand Clubs I’ve seen.

On my last afternoon I also ate at one of the hotel’s other restaurants, called #8. This place serves hotpot, which I had never had before. The decor of this place was so cool, with baskets hanging from the ceiling.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu #8 Restaurant

Like I said, I had never had hotpot before. I had a general sense of what it was, though didn’t really get the logistics. The staff looked at me a bit confused when I said I was dining alone. As soon as I sat down I got on my phone and wanted to read more about how it all works, and go figure the first thing I saw was “hotpot isn’t something you eat alone.” Oops!

Even though I was alone, it was such a cool experience, and the servers were gracious in guiding me through the process (a special thanks to Kevin, the assistant manager, for being awesome). After trying hotpot once, I totally want to return to a hotpot restaurant with a group. It’s sort of like fondue, only a bit healthier.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu #8 Restaurant hot pot

The hotel’s pool, gym, and spa, are located on the 13th floor. While I don’t really like pools (or any water, really, other than a shower or San Pellegrino), this one was at least physically beautiful.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu pool

The gym was alright, though it lacked natural light. It’s always a lot more motivating to get on a treadmill if you have a great view, though that wasn’t the case here.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu gym

I also got a massage on my last afternoon, which was phenomenal. It was easily one of the five best massages I’ve ever had. Best of all, it wasn’t awkward, following my last experience.

As you might have gathered, overall I was very impressed by the Grand Hyatt. However, I have to finish out the review with a major caution. The Wi-Fi at the Grand Hyatt Chengdu is terrible. Absolutely awful. It’s weird, because during the day the Wi-Fi in my room was very slow, though not totally unusable. However, at night (when it’s most important for me to work, while it’s daytime in the US), it was legitimately unusable. Here’s a speed test I ran:

Grand Hyatt Wi-Fi

So at about 2AM I’d go to the lobby to work, though there the internet would only be marginally faster. Like, there it would take 30 seconds for a page to load, rather than it not loading at all. This is so frustrating because I really liked the hotel, but I just can’t justify staying somewhere with Wi-Fi this bad. Meanwhile at the St. Regis the Wi-Fi worked well.

Grand Hyatt Chengdu bottom line

This is a beautiful hotel with nice rooms, a great breakfast, a beautiful Grand Club, a lovely pool and spa, etc. If you can live with the fact that the Wi-Fi is almost unusable some hours of the day then this is a good option. Unfortunately the Wi-Fi quality would prevent me from returning, though, which is sad.

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Review: Grand Hyatt Chengdu

Grand Hyatt Chengdu bottom line

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