There are some strange reasons that hotels might either have a delayed opening, or might be closed temporarily. For example, the St. Regis Cairo may never open because it’s owned by a Qatari company. Meanwhile in Abu Dhabi, the Grand Hyatt mysteriously closed for a few months, and then reopened.
Well, here’s another interesting situation. The Hyatt Regency Kathmandu has ceased operations temporarily while they work on a labor dispute with employees. Per a message posted on the hotel’s website:
At Hyatt, it is one of our top priorities to deliver outstanding experiences and service at all our hotels worldwide. At this time, Hyatt Regency Kathmandu is currently working through union negotiations until a fair and collective agreement is reached. Until then, the hotel will temporarily cease operations and not accept any bookings. The hotel is contacting hotel guests and groups with existing bookings to ensure they are aware of the situation and relocated to other comparable hotels. We hope the hotel will be able to resolve this issue promptly and continue to deliver the service for which Hyatt Regency Kathmandu is known.
Hyatt Regency Kathmandu
Sure enough, when you look up availability at the hotel you’ll see that the Hyatt Regency Kathmandu isn’t accepting reservations for the next two weeks, through June 29, 2019.
If you have a stay coming up at the Hyatt Regency Kathmandu in the next couple of weeks, this situation is most definitely worth being aware of. The message on the hotel’s site suggests they’ll reach out to guests, though who knows if that’s really happening, given the dispute.
While labor issues are common in the hotel industry, usually this results in strikes or hotels offering limited service. So for a hotel to shut down completely due to labor negotiations is quite extreme.
The Hyatt Regency has long been popular with World of Hyatt members, given that it’s a Category 1 property, so a free night here costs just 5,000 points per night. Furthermore, it’s generally considered to be the best hotel in the city.
You can read my review of the Hyatt Regency Kathmandu here.
Is anyone impacted by this Hyatt Regency Kathmandu closure? Anyone have a better sense of what exactly the dispute is, given that it’s resulting in a full shut down?
RobASFO says:
June 15, 2019 at 7:53 pm
After a 3 1/2 week trip through India and Nepal in March-April 2019, staying at mostly Taj Hotels and the BrijRama Palace Hotel in Varanasi (highly recommended), the Hyatt Katmandu was definitely the low point of the trip. Rooms were pleasant but not luxurious, service standard but not outstanding, and despite my room on the Club Level, the entire stay was sort of ho-hum: in...
RobASFO says:
June 15, 2019 at 7:53 pm
After a 3 1/2 week trip through India and Nepal in March-April 2019, staying at mostly Taj Hotels and the BrijRama Palace Hotel in Varanasi (highly recommended), the Hyatt Katmandu was definitely the low point of the trip. Rooms were pleasant but not luxurious, service standard but not outstanding, and despite my room on the Club Level, the entire stay was sort of ho-hum: in other words , you could have been anywhere in the world and not really cared.
While this might be one of the better hotels in Katmandu, it was unmemorable and certainly not worth blogging about it’s closing IMO.
I visited KTM 4 times over the period 1998-2010 for trekking, and it seems that the quality of available hotels has increased considerably. While the Yak and Yeti was regarded as the top of the line back then, my first stay in 1998 was the Shangri-La. The lobby and grounds were truly a haven from the city, but the rooms were definitely Motel 6 level.
Ten years later I was at the Annapurna, supposedly a...
I visited KTM 4 times over the period 1998-2010 for trekking, and it seems that the quality of available hotels has increased considerably. While the Yak and Yeti was regarded as the top of the line back then, my first stay in 1998 was the Shangri-La. The lobby and grounds were truly a haven from the city, but the rooms were definitely Motel 6 level.
Ten years later I was at the Annapurna, supposedly a 5* hotel, but clearly not up to the current level of the Hyatt. We were locked in for 3 days because of potential demonstrations and violence; the hotel was full of correspondents from CNN and the like.
Best points hotel or best hotel at this price maybe. But certainly not the best hotel - the Dwarika runs circles around it (at twice the price of course).
That's a shame. I have stayed at this hotel and it is very nice and very convenient. It's like a sanctuary in a chaotic city.
@Eskimo they have a club but Hyatt didn't book me the club room rate so Yak and Yeti said I am not eligible..lol
@Noah Silverman
Hyatt walked guests to Yak & Yeti!!!. I almost fell of my chair. This sounds just like an SNL skit. I would probably be on the floor if Yak & Yeti does have a club floor and honor your status.
I find it pretty unacceptable that Hyatt didn't inform me and I arrived at a pretty much empty hotel and had to wait around. The person on staff told me it was going on for three days so they could have at least posted to website. Weirdly enough Hyatt app shows me staying there with an assigned room #.
Hi Lucky. I was not informed of the closure until I checked in yesterday and was transferred to the Yak and Yeti (who also has excellent food and staff) I booked a club room for 7000 points but didn't get any of the benefits at Yak and Yeti. I assume I should get some type of points refund but Hyatt seems to be dragging their feet.
I have a reservation there this coming week, haven’t heard anything and don’t see anything on their website about this???
@Lucky not sure if you know but what happens to people who were already checked in...does someone come around and say you got 30 minutes to get out?
Rumor has it the issue started at this hotel the same day that Bernie Sanders checked out.
Boy, will Bob Seger be miffed when he learns about this.
Now they need to start paying everyone at least 1 dollar per hour I guess before it opens again.