Well this is sort of sad for us points loyalists. The Grand Hyatt Santiago is one of the nicer Hyatts in South America, and a great property for redeeming points. I stayed here in 2012, and had a fantastic stay.
It’s a beautiful hotel with a great Grand Club, and best of all it even belongs to Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts and Virtuoso, so you can earn points and stay credits while getting the extra perks associated with those programs. Well, unfortunately the Grand Hyatt Santiago will lose its Hyatt affiliation as of July 31, 2017.
This means that as of July 31, 2017, World of Hyatt members will no longer be able to earn or redeem points at the property, or receive any elite benefits. However, until then you can continue to make bookings for stays after August 1, including points bookings.
The Grand Hyatt Santiago will eventually become the Mandarin Oriental Santiago, and will be the brand’s very first hotel in South America. While Mandarin Oriental will take over the hotel as of August 2017, it will initially be named Hotel Santiago. Then the hotel will undergo an extensive renovation, the first phase of which is expected to be completed by August 2018, at which point it will be branded as a Mandarin Oriental. For more information, check out Mandarin Oriental’s press release about the property.
Bottom line
It’s interesting to see Mandarin Oriental opening their first property in South America. The Grand Hyatt is a great hotel, and I’m sure they’ll even make it much better. However, as someone who loves points, I’m not thrilled about the hotel losing its Hyatt affiliation, given what a good use of points this property was, and the benefits you receive with elite status. However, I’m sure others will be excited about Santiago getting a “true” luxury brand.
What do you make of the Grand Hyatt Santiago being rebranded as a Mandarin Oriental?
(Tip of the hat to LoyaltyLobby)
The Hyatt was lovely. I stayed there at least 3 times. But Hyatt cancelled 117,000 of my points and I will never stay at a Hyatt again. I hope Mandarin can make a go of it there!
People mention the Renaissance and San Cristobal, and even the W - but why is everyone forgetting the Ritz? It's by far the nicest large hotel in Santiago.
Why MO has taken on the tires and rather hideous Hyatt is beyond me. Even after renovations, this property reduces the MO brand and it's strange that this is how they decide to enter the market in SA.
The Grand Hyatt was a great hotel to stay for business or pleasure. I have stayed there for 15+ years and always enjoyed it. How could Hyatt let them go is a question that I would like an answer to. Now, the only option is the Hyatt Place which is horrible, what was Hyatt thinking??? Looking at the W for my next stay...
I've stayed certainly about 20 times at the Grand Hyatt Santiago, mainly while I had a project in Chile between 2011 and 14. Most recently I stayed on a leisure trip over last New Year. As others said, it's a great hotel and an even greater Club lounge. Also staff was very loyal and excellent.
Now, as the frequency of my visits to Chile has decreased, recently, and my loyalty to Hyatt will end in...
I've stayed certainly about 20 times at the Grand Hyatt Santiago, mainly while I had a project in Chile between 2011 and 14. Most recently I stayed on a leisure trip over last New Year. As others said, it's a great hotel and an even greater Club lounge. Also staff was very loyal and excellent.
Now, as the frequency of my visits to Chile has decreased, recently, and my loyalty to Hyatt will end in early 2018 due to the World of Hyatt changes, the property leaving actually helps me getting over changes.
@ Kelly T - The hard sell for Hyatt visible across the blogs might have something to do with the fact that Hyatt recently started paying out bloggers for referral links. Suddenly, everyone shows a GREAT DEAL of interest in the Hyatt card and multiple posts are devoted to it. Surely a coincidence!
I can only hope one by one Hyatt looses its best properties . MO offer impeccable customer service unlike Hyatt ,very pleased with this news . I was an avid supporter of Hyatt however following a series of appalling service issues I will never support or recommend this hotel group again . I have great respect for onemileatatime however of recent times in fact over the last week it seems to be a Hyatt promotion...
I can only hope one by one Hyatt looses its best properties . MO offer impeccable customer service unlike Hyatt ,very pleased with this news . I was an avid supporter of Hyatt however following a series of appalling service issues I will never support or recommend this hotel group again . I have great respect for onemileatatime however of recent times in fact over the last week it seems to be a Hyatt promotion website which is particularly disappointing given the Hyatt brand has been deeply tarnished not only by WOH and its lack of customer focused management but from several recent hotel experiences whereby Globalist status was viewed with utter disdain.
I stayed here in Dec 2016 for a couple nights. Used a DSU I had to burn and was disappointed to find out that suites still have CRT TV's and an overall dated vibe. Exec Lounge was fine itself but frequently overwhelmed with construction noise from the Club levels renovation. One can only hope MO will take this hotel out of the 80's.
It won't be a true luxury experience until they finish the major construction project directly in front of the hotel - as of now, it is a mess along Avenida Kennedy.
The Renaissance on the other side of the road is a great option - much more modern and even edgy than you would expect with this brand (nice Club level too that looks out on the Hyatt). At the other end of spectrum, the...
It won't be a true luxury experience until they finish the major construction project directly in front of the hotel - as of now, it is a mess along Avenida Kennedy.
The Renaissance on the other side of the road is a great option - much more modern and even edgy than you would expect with this brand (nice Club level too that looks out on the Hyatt). At the other end of spectrum, the Courtyard Marriott down the street may be one of the best in the world operating under that banner; it is also eligible for the annual Marriott certificates.
I was stayed there last week when the news broke. The staff were all a bit worried about job security, etc. due to changeover. The hotel is already undergoing a massive renovation to the rooms -- I'd estimate that about 1/3 of the rooms have been completed so far. I was in a newly renovated room on the Grand Club level and the new room design is very nice. I would assume this round of...
I was stayed there last week when the news broke. The staff were all a bit worried about job security, etc. due to changeover. The hotel is already undergoing a massive renovation to the rooms -- I'd estimate that about 1/3 of the rooms have been completed so far. I was in a newly renovated room on the Grand Club level and the new room design is very nice. I would assume this round of rooms renovation is a part of the hotel's overall plan as I can't imagine they would renovate and then re-renovate. Overall my stay was pretty fantastic - I was only there one night but the hotel allowed me to check-in early at 8am and out late at 8pm due to low occupancy.
Interesting move. Most corporate travelers would be reluctant to book at a luxury chain like MO, RC, St. Regis, etc. on business travel, even if the cost is reasonable because the optics are bad (looks extravagant), so I suspect they will lose considerable business travel business. Not sure Santiago is a market that can support a true luxury hotel. The San Cristobal tower is probably the closest hotel the city currently has to that category.
I was there a year ago and loved it as well. This news is especially odd as there were signs in the lobby that the hotel rooms were being renovated.
That Hyatt hotel was VERY underwhelmed. Maybe Mandarin Oriental can remodel that hotel. Stayed at Renaissance which is opposite of this hotel few years ago. Both hotels are situated in a very nice location.
How sad! This property is near and dear to me after my family and I stayed for an extended period last year. The staff are all so amazing and kind and I was looking forward to returning at some point in the future.
Hopefully they keep the same level of service at the property. The location was great and felt very safe and comfortable.
Stayed here many times using the no-longer-available $99 Hyatt Stay Certificate. It was sweet b/c I'd always get lounge. Oh well, time to try another chain
Hyatt keeps going downhill. Instead of adding properties to their almost non-existant footprint they reduce the number of hotels.
Glad I got a chance to use my points here last Jan!
Great hotel,a big loss to the program.
This hotel was awesome and good use of points!! I love the W santiago too but it is much more expensive on cash and on points.
Well, the Renaissance Santiago Hotel and Santiago Marriott Hotel are good ones too. Its even more awesome as they are classified as Category 5 which means you can use that 7 Nights reward certificate from Marriott Air+Hotel package over here.