In various parts of the world hotel chains are offering a dining club, primarily geared towards local audience but often free to join for anyone. LoyaltyLobby will look at these programs in the coming weeks, starting today with Club at the Hyatt (Asia-Pacific Region).
One item that can be a large expense on your trips is dining during hotel stays. Not all hotels have lounges and even if they do, the F&B options do not really substitute a dinner. Hyatt is one of my most frequented chains with well beyond 50 nights per year. The Food & Beverage Outlets at Hyatt worldwide (especially in Asia) are almost always above average so I was very interested as soon as I learned about the existence of these memberships. After eyeballing the programs for some time and inquiring at the various hotels I frequent the most, I finally bit the bullet and signed up at my local Grand Hyatt Bangkok.
I checked out 3 or 4 different properties that offer this. Here is a quick rundown incl my personal analysis of the Bangkok one and the most important vouchers they include.
Grand Hyatt Bangkok – 11,000 THB First Time Membership Fee (290 USD), Renewal 10,000 THB.
7x 500 THB Cash Vouchers (3,500 Total – 100 USD)
1x Complimentary Celebration Cake (2 lbs)
1x Complimentary Bottle of House Wine when dining for lunch or dinner
2x Complimentary Corkage Charge on Wine & Champagne (2 bottle limit)
1x Buy One – Get One for Spa Treatments at i.sawan (‘might’ make sense but Spa is overpriced)
1x 20% Discount in any Restaurant for 6 people & up (Good for Groups)
1x 50% Discount on Lunch or Dinner at ‘The Dining Room’ for up to 4 people
1x 50% Discount on Lunch or Dinner at ‘Tables’ for up to 4 people
1x 50% Discount on Lunch or Dinner Buffet at ‘You & Mee’ for up to 4 people
1x 50% Discount on Lunch or Dinner at ‘Spasso’ for up to 4 people
Here is the PDF outlining the current (July 2015) benefits of the Bangkok Membership:
The discounts are the usual dining discounts (10% for one, 50% for two, 33% for three Diners and so on). The discount at the Erawan Tea Room is capped at 15% which is a bummer for me as I frequent this one the most. Furthermore: 20% on Spa Treatments (which I find overpriced), 20% off at the Dry Cleaning Shop which is useful for me, 15% off at the Erawan Bakery which shall serve me well too.
The discount vouchers for the group dinners, especially in combination with the corkage fee waiver was the ultimate reason why I decided it is worthwhile to me as I can hold a small birthday dinner basically twice as the Membership validity is 13 months and I timed my application properly for that purpose.
The final thing that gave the ‘Go’ for me are the benefits you get at other Hyatt’s including for myself the Park Hyatt Beijing where it offers 15% at the Xiu Bar on Spirits incl Bottle Service. I frequent that one every now and then. This alone will provide for good savings given the high CNY at the moment.
There is a list (access here) I found with the participating Hyatt’s worldwide (provided by the Hyatt Incheon 2 years ago, the hotels are pretty much the same though).
Keep in mind, to use this discount at Hyatt Hotels apart from the one that issued the card you are required to be a registered guest. On top of that, these offers are geared towards local residents as mentioned. Some hotels might be strict about this (Hong Kong for example) and some others aren’t. These things are subject to change at a moments notice but it should be any problem to use a local address of whatever sort. The issue does not exist for me as I’m currently maintaining a residence in Bangkok but it might be useful for those of you who are interested.
For what it’s worth I looked at the Park Hyatt Beijing initially which costs 2,988 CNY however with 490 USD it is significantly more expensive than the program in Bangkok. In theory you get that fee back completely as you receive 6×500 CNY vouchers plus 1 Bottle of Wine at the outlet of your choice but there were some voucher restrictions I didn’t like plus I find the food at the Park Hyatt Beijing a bit overpriced, meaning I would normally not eat there and therefore the savings would be moot. I eliminated that option very quickly. So you should definitely compare!
Conclusion
This is a great way to save significantly if you are dining at hotels with at least 2 persons and you can make use of these discounts. Estimate your benefits in a realistic way and don’t be blinded by features you won’t be able to use.
These memberships are market dependent. The Club at the Hyatt is the Asia Pacific version of it while in Germany it’s called Hyatt Gourmet Club and works vastly different. You can find information about the Gourmet Club provided by the Grand Hyatt Berlin (access here).
