This week the Compensation Clinic case deals with a Hyatt-affiliated hotel in Spain called Hyatt Regency Hesperia Madrid.
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You can access Hyatt Regency Hesperia Madrid’s website here.
READ MORE: World of Hyatt Rate & Bonus Points And Miles Promotions
The Hyatt Centric Gran Via Madrid is one of the better Centric-branded hotels where I have stayed at, not a huge fan of the ones in Lima and Santiago. However, the Hyatt Centric Kanazawa, Japan is a good one as well (I was the first guest to check-in last year).
I was at the Madrid Centric for four nights the other week but decided to burn the last three at the Hyatt Regency Hesperia, as I had expiring free nights certs that I had had trouble using (not worthy hotels to stay at).
The hotel’s location is fine – a block away from the InterContinental, where I had stayed a few times back when I was still a Royal Ambassador. I also liked Hesperia’s well air-conditioned fitness center on the rooftop.
The hotel had upgraded me to an executive suite that was not very functional. The bedroom was super tiny. The suite was also facing the main road, with some traffic noise coming through the windows. The toilet flush didn’t always work.
The hotel also had trouble bringing me mouthwash. I requested it three times, and they always brought more dental kits. Finally, after the third or fourth failed attempt, I sent an email to the front desk that took care of the issue.
They didn’t have a Manager on Duty available during the weekends.
These were minor issues, however annoying. The reason why I ended up requesting compensation from the corporate was failed wake-up calls on Monday morning.
On Sunday evening, I requested two wake-up calls at 5:30 and 5:45 AM for the following morning, as I had an Iberia flight to Munich at 8:10 AM. The calls never materialized. The person working at the front desk claimed that they didn’t have a record of this request when I asked when leaving the hotel.
I dropped a note to my Hyatt Concierge requesting 10,000 points for the inconvenience, and they were posted to my account.
Conclusion
If you ask me, how was the breakfast or the Regency Club at this hotel, I have no idea. The hotel didn’t provide a welcome letter or sent me an email before the stay explaining the benefits.
There was a roped-off area at the lobby bar that indicated that it was the Club, but I got zero service when I went there once during my stay.
I believe that this Hesperia was part of NH Hotels previously. Unfortunately, Hyatt and the owner/management have not spent enough money on employee training to bring it up to the standards you expect at the Hyatt Regencies.
There is at least one more misbranded Hyatt hotel in Europe – Grand Hyatt Athens that is at best a Hyatt Regency if even that.
There used to be a lovely Park Hyatt in Madrid called Villa Magna that was reflagged years ago. It is reopening this year as part of Rosewood.
