During my recent stay at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley (which I’ll be reviewing shortly), I discovered something that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before, in all of my years as a World of Hyatt Globalist member… though maybe I’m forgetting something?
In this post:
The Grand Hyatt Deer Valley’s unique(ish) Globalist Lounge
As most OMAAT readers probably know, many hotels have club lounges, which can be accessed in a variety of ways. Some have to be outright paid for, while others can also be accessed by certain elite members.
Many Hyatt hotels have club lounges, which guests can either purchase access to, or they can also be accessed by World of Hyatt Globalist members (or those on a Guest of Honor award, or with a club access award). For example, Hyatt Regencies often have Regency Clubs, while Grand Hyatts often have Grand Clubs.
Back before the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley first opened last year, it was announced that the hotel would have a Grand Club. However, when the hotel actually opened, they seemingly backtracked on that decision… I think I heard that they decided that the space that they allocated to the Grand Club wasn’t big enough, or something.
So when we booked the Grand Hyatt, my expectation was that there wouldn’t be a Grand Club. I was surprised at check-in to be informed that the hotel has a Globalist Lounge — that’s right, not a Grand Club, but instead, a Globalist Lounge.
What’s the distinction? Well, it seems that guests can’t actually purchase access to the lounge, but instead, it’s exclusively for Globalist members.
What was it like, and how was it different than a Grand Club? For one, the lounge wasn’t in a permanent space, but instead, just seemed to use up whatever conference room wasn’t currently occupied. During our three-night stay, the Globalist Lounge was in two different conference rooms — one was large and had a good number of windows, while one was quite small, and was windowless.
The Globalist Lounge serves breakfast, snacks throughout the day, and had an evening selection. By (admittedly very low) US standards, I’d say the food selection was actually above average compared to the typical Grand Club.
For example, the breakfast selection included cereal, yogurt, fresh fruit, pastries, smoked salmon, cheese, cold cuts, and several hot options, like oatmeal, egg bites, sausage, potatoes, and more.
During the day there were cookies, packaged chips, and whole fruit.
Then in the evenings, options included veggies, cheese, cold cuts, empanadas, gyoza, soup, beef medallions, broccoli, and more. As is standard at US lounges, alcoholic drinks were available for purchase.
The property seemed to be really empty during our stay, and I couldn’t believe how few Globalists there were. The two times I checked out the lounge during the hours with a real food spread, there was at most one other party there, while the lounge was staffed with three to four servers.
What’s the logic for this Globalist Lounge concept?
I found the Globalist Lounge idea to be surprising, since it’s basically like a Grand Club in temporary locations that you can’t actually pay for. That seems a bit backwards, on the surface. That’s because hotel owners are typically frustrated by how lounges are largely filled with elite members getting access for free, with fewer people actually paying for access.
I can’t help but be curious about the motivation for this:
- Perhaps the hotel thinks this is a nice thing to do for Globalist members that will win long term business, but given the temporary location, the hotel doesn’t feel good about selling access to this lounge concept
- Perhaps this gives the hotel a lot of flexibility, since it can decide which days (or time of year) it wants to open the Globalist Lounge, and when it doesn’t want to, which is trickier to do if you’re selling access
- Perhaps this is about limiting the number of people with access to restaurant breakfast, especially during busier periods; for Globalist members, the downside with this concept is that if you get access to the Globalist Lounge, then you can’t have complimentary restaurant breakfast
I think Globalist members will have mixed feelings on this concept. On the one hand, some people may be bummed that they don’t receive restaurant breakfast, since this conference room setup is a downgrade. On the other hand, some people will certainly value the snacks and drinks during the day, plus the evening spread.
As I view it, we got the best of both worlds. Since we booked through the Hyatt Privé program, we also received restaurant breakfast. So we could have breakfast in the restaurant, and then visit the lounge during the day, if we wanted to.
That being said, we didn’t really partake in the evening spread too much. After all, we didn’t travel to Deer Valley to eat dinner in a conference room. I love a club lounge with amazing views and nice ambiance, but this definitely wasn’t it. Even if you’re not going to leave the hotel, the lobby is so much more charming of a space, with great views, cozy fireplaces, etc.
Bottom line
While I’ve been to a lot of hotels with club lounges, I just witnessed my first-ever “Globalist Lounge” during a recent stay at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley. Think of it as a club lounge in alternating conference room venues, but it’s only for Globalist members, and access can’t be purchased.
I’m sure people will have mixed feelings about this — some people won’t like that this prevents Globalist members from having complimentary breakfast in club lounges, while others will like having an all-day venue, and an evening food spread.
What do you make of this Globalist Lounge concept? Do you prefer this, or just a hotel without a lounge, where Globalist members get restaurant breakfast? And do any other Hyatts have a similar concept?
Ski hotels can have a compressed breakfast rush as everyone heads out to the slopes or tries to get off to ski lessons, so there is some benefit to additional buffet-style breakfast capacity. But it's hard not to believe that doing this is also a cost-saving move by the hotel property. It's certainly not a trend that I would like to see spread broadly: if a hotel is going to offer a lounge, it should...
Ski hotels can have a compressed breakfast rush as everyone heads out to the slopes or tries to get off to ski lessons, so there is some benefit to additional buffet-style breakfast capacity. But it's hard not to believe that doing this is also a cost-saving move by the hotel property. It's certainly not a trend that I would like to see spread broadly: if a hotel is going to offer a lounge, it should be one that is marketed as a Club lounge as that will help to maintain quality. Otherwise hotel management could have an incentive to cost reduce the lounge offering - that certainly seemed to be the case at many Sheraton lounges, to find a cheap way to meet the lounge or breakfast requirement.
On a separate note, the area where this hotel is located is notorious for poor snow coverage. It is lower elevation and has significant sun exposure. It's hard to imagine that this well become a good ski location - only group business can support this hotel. The Four Seasons will also suffer from this. People won't want a 45 minute drive to ski school. Skiing back to the property will only be possible for a few weeks a year.
I think you should write about your expectations for a lounge because in some way some hotels try but don't win with you
At least it will probably not be overcrowded
This Park Hyatt can charge $60+ / person for breakfast so this is definitely a way for them to reduce benefits. The real clue is no complimentary happy hour, but a cash bar.
Food appears slightly more upscale than at the Fairfield. Slightly.
I'm confused. I was just there over Thanksgiving and wasn't told about any lounge. Was this instead of breakfast in the restaurant?
That looks bad in terms of delivery, the flexibility is nice but if I'm staying 60 nights per year. Justifying longer Uber rides car rentals and inconvenience of dealing with Hyatts limited footprint I prefer a restaurant breakfast.
I guess it depends on the day and how busy I am. I could see myself taking advantage of this, but if it didn't fit within my schedule and I did have the time to sit down, I'd get a manager involved and get a proper breakfast.
Was there a Costco next door because all the food looks like Costco that you just heat-up.
This
Right? I know those egg bites anywhere.
Ben - I've always wondered what happens to all of the unused food at big hotel buffet spreads. I know that it varies by brand (and I'm sure by property as well), but the thought always crosses my mind when I see them. Do you know how they typically approach this? I remember reading that Four Seasons (at least most of them) have staff take home the perishable items, and I'd imagine the non-perishable items...
Ben - I've always wondered what happens to all of the unused food at big hotel buffet spreads. I know that it varies by brand (and I'm sure by property as well), but the thought always crosses my mind when I see them. Do you know how they typically approach this? I remember reading that Four Seasons (at least most of them) have staff take home the perishable items, and I'd imagine the non-perishable items get put out several times. I love a good hotel breakfast and it certainly is expected when paying high rates or having status, but it just seems like a massive waste of food otherwise.
As Ben said, no one travels to Deer Valley to eat dinner in a conference room. This whole thing feels like a way to allocate staff meals to a different line item. I hope!
Been to an IHG diamond lounge in a Hualuxe, similar setup to yours.
wow the signage seems so cheap and the lounge looks like a meeting room with kind of a setup to accommodate a lounge
even the restaurant buffet looks nicer
Did you read the article? That's exactly what it is.
This is about three things:
1) Cutting costs. Sure there's an evening spread but the breakfast provided here is cheaper than globalists ordering a restaurant cooked-to-order breakfast.
2) It avoids overcrowding in the restaurant and keeps the space open for "paying guests."
3) It's flexible and allows them not to operate a lounge all-year during low occupancy, etc.
I recently had a very nice 5 Night stay at the GH Kuala Lampur. I keep coming to this Hotel because how well Globalists are recognized and the amenities in the Lounge.
The evening ( supposedly cocktail hour) in the Lounge is actually a multi course Dinner.
Try to beat that!
“Perhaps this is about limiting the number of people with access to restaurant breakfast, especially during busier periods; for Globalist members, the downside with this concept is that if you get access to the Globalist Lounge”.
I am going with it being a way for the hotel to keep down Globalist breakfast costs and free up room in the restaurant for higher margin breakfast sales unless Globalists have the option to have the breakfast in...
“Perhaps this is about limiting the number of people with access to restaurant breakfast, especially during busier periods; for Globalist members, the downside with this concept is that if you get access to the Globalist Lounge”.
I am going with it being a way for the hotel to keep down Globalist breakfast costs and free up room in the restaurant for higher margin breakfast sales unless Globalists have the option to have the breakfast in the restaurant instead.
It’s going to be strange for me if the IHG Diamond breakfast benefit is better than Globalist breakfast, but maybe it’ll happen.
IHG Diamond breakfasts depend where you stay within their portfolio. Like, if you're just doing HIE, then, not 'great,' but you'll live. If you're doing Six Senses, Kimpton, and Intercontinental, probably decent. Stayed at a lot of the Kimptons in the UK, and each breakfast was good by UK standards.
Unfortunate the food goes to waste. As when I'm traveling some fresh vegetables, relatively healthy snacks and broccolini would cost a fortune or be unatenable at a restaurant
Looks like a fairly depressing conference venue
Good lookin’ Grand Hyatt. The expansion of Deer Valley is pretty cool. More hotels in advance of 2034 Olympics is also good. SLC has also come a long way since complete redesign of the airport. Well done, Utah.
Now if we could just get some snow to fall, best I've had this year is a skiff on my roof and lawn
No one there because skiing conditions are terrible. I had a trip planned for early February and we cancelled before the 21 day cancellation period. We’ll reassess as we get closer. I’m a NO for lounges that serve subpar food. Give me a restaurant breakfast benefit
That’s a shame. Are any of the other areas doing alright, like Alta, Snowbird, etc.?
The Cottonwoods seem to be doing ok. My kids are Sundance skiers but haven't been this year because it's just too warm. So much for our ski pass investment this year. And we're really going to struggle this summer for water
Phew. I guess that additional 2,000 ft. elevation makes the difference.
Not great about future lack of water... usually means fires. Ahh.
This "lounge" is only "open" during peak ski days (Christmas, New Years, MLK, Presidents Day) I'm guessing to keep the crowds at the restaurant manageable.
We were at HR Coconut Point in Florida for 5 days before and after Christmas in 2024. The hotel doesn’t have a lounge so for the first three days, we were offered breakfast in the restaurant, that included buffet with several hot items, an egg station, and we could also order off the menu. On the 4th morning, we suddenly saw signs for “Globalist Lounge”. Curious what it was, we followed signs that led to...
We were at HR Coconut Point in Florida for 5 days before and after Christmas in 2024. The hotel doesn’t have a lounge so for the first three days, we were offered breakfast in the restaurant, that included buffet with several hot items, an egg station, and we could also order off the menu. On the 4th morning, we suddenly saw signs for “Globalist Lounge”. Curious what it was, we followed signs that led to a conference room adjacent to the restaurant. It had the standard continental breakfast (with limited hot options). No egg station, no menu options, nothing. We went in, and then left with it 5 mins and told them that we’d prefer to have our globalist breakfast in the restaurant as we had for the past three days. They got a manager involved and once the manager knew that we knew what they were up to, they let us go to restaurant. On our last day, we ignored globalist lounge and went straight to the restaurant. No one said a word and all our breakfasts were properly comped.
Imagine the horror of those who didn’t know globalists could opt for restaurant breakfast.
This is exactly the scenario at this property as well. Total scam.
No egg station? Imagine the horror!
I live in the area so we have Staycations all the time at this hotel. Great way to use some free night certs especially for the kids. However, this is a major downgrade on the breakfast. It used to be that you got to eat at the restaurant which was SOOOOO much better. The breakfast here wasn't even lackluster. It was terrible. However, the evening snacks were easy enough for a full meal so in my mind it's sixes as long as they keep it that way.
I was there in Feb. 2025. I had a GOH certificate with a standard suite. Excellent room. I did the breakfast buffet each morning with the made to order egg station. My wife had her breakfast via room service each morning. Both were excellent options. Lovely hotel. How was your view of the highway and the constructions sites? The pictures make the property look like a winter wonderland which it is not. Still an excellent property.
While I can understand that the photos on the website are deceiving, a very minimal amount of research would tell you that the location is brand new and all currently under construction, including several new hotels. It's still a few years away from being complete. It will be quite an apres ski location once it is (and DV is far from my favorite mountain/area), so something to look forward to but I certainly wouldn't stay now.
Doesn't look terrible and the fact that it is open more than just for breakfast makes it a win in my book. I typically like a good lounge over a restaurant breakfast, unless it is really an over the top buffet, as it lets you go grab a quick drink or snack throughout the day when you come back and are tired and just want a quick something to hold you over.
People complain and they don't read. It's exhausting. Ben wrote that the space did not look permanent. So, perhaps, this is an interim offering with what space they have until a permanent area is completed.
It's like they're spending as little as possible while still trying to "do something" for the Globalists.
Even the crapiest of Asian lounges is better than this.
You haven't been around lots of Asia then. Once you get out of the larger cities, there are definitely some not so great lounges. Albeit I'd say all are better than the worst US lounges.
How was the snow/skiing?
That "lounge" looks a strategy for using up excess catering for a mid-level sales conference. Generic and tragically bad.