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?
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?
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