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In This Post
Is Hyatt Ziva Cancun Safe
I realize the headline seems sensational but after my recent experience (outlined here) and after doing some post trip research and finding story after story of security failures and occurrences of crime at Ziva and sister property Hyatt Zilara, I find myself truly wondering exactly that- is Hyatt Ziva Cancun safe? To be clear, I’m not suggesting that my experience is evidence of a lack of safety but I can certainly say that it speaks to the quality and inadequacy of the security staff. As you’ll see the security staff spent very little time focusing on actual safety issues during my experience at Ziva.
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Originally this was going to be a review of the property with lots of photos, tips and tricks but I absolutely cannot in good conscience tell anyone who reads my site to visit this property. This is a detailed account of my recent experience.
I booked the Hyatt Ziva Cancun for 4 nights for two people. After booking was complete, I found out a few of my friends were in Cancun on the same dates so I wanted to see what our options were to hang out since I know All-Inclusives don’t allow non-paying guests to visit. So I called Hyatt reservations and they told me that the only way to ensure my guests would be able to spend the day with us was by adding them to our room reservation since guest passes are subject to availability. I decided to wait until we checked in to see if there were any passes available and if not I confirmed that my room was a 4 person capacity room.
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Hyatt Ziva Cancun Check-In
At check in a very nice person (Marisol) at the World of Hyatt check in desk told me we could do guest day passes but that they were only for half of the day, so we’d have to buy 2 for each of my friends so she offered to see if there was a discounted rate they could offer to add them both to the reservation for the whole night. She said she had to make a phone call to get the info and she would call me as soon as she found out how much it would cost. I went back in a short while later to use the bathroom and she let me know she had give me incorrect info about the day passes because they were not offering them. I didn’t care much because I figured we might as well just add them so they could stay the night if they wanted to.
Later, she left me the following voicemail- word for word ” Unknown Depositing new message “Hi, Miss Walsh. This is Marisol speaking from Hyatt Ziva. It’s gonna yesterday. I made your checking and you told me that you would like to bring, uh, two extra persons for today. Uh, I just called the reservation’s team, and they told me that you booked with points. So, um, if you want to add the two extra adults, uh, you need to use more points for this. Uh, I suggest you to contact directly world of Hyatt or the other option is pay directly here. $220 per extra person per day that I think it’s a little bit expensive. So if you have more points, I suggest to use them for the two extra persons for today. Uh, if you need just, uh, more information or if it’s something else that I can do for you Just, uh, contact me. I will be here at the main desk. Okay. Thank you”.. Click here: 14699825011 to listen to full voice message. Sent from my iPhone
OUCH $220 per person, so $440 total. But with the Bonus Journeys Promotion and all those extra points, it stung a lot less.
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First Thing in the Morning
I went to the desk and asked if I could add them prior to them arriving because I didn’t want hem to know how much it cost since it was pretty pricey and I didn’t want them to feel bad or try to give me money. The desk agent said I had to wait until they got there because they needed Identification but that I could authorize the charges ahead of time so that no prices were discussed. At the same time, my friend arrived and I walked him over to our spot on the beach and took his id from him so I could finish the process.
Encounter 1 (Hyatt Ziva Cancun Front Desk)
At the desk was a different person so I let her know I was adding my friend to the reservation and handed her the id, she seemed really confused by this. She said, I’m sorry but I don’t think we’re selling day passes today. I let her knew I wasn’t doing a pass- instead I was adding two additional people to the room and she said she wasn’t sure if that could be done. So I told her that Marisol told me I could and that she had just left me a voicemail- the agent went to confirm this with Marisol and that cleared up her confusion. She then added my friends name and had me sign a form. I explained that I didn’t want anyone to know the price so we also filled out the form for my second friend who was arriving a few hours later, but again, I would have to bring her id. (makes perfect sense.)
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Encounter 2
Here’s where things get a little weird. I walked back down to the beach and I could feel several hotel employees looking at us (but ignored it since people always look at me since I’m so beautiful). We ordered some drinks and chatted a bit before I started noticing more and more male hotel employees looking at us and sort of congregating around us. This continued for 15 minutes or so until a man ( approached us and politely asked how our stay was going and informed us that our reservation was only for 2 people… so I stopped him and said I just added my friend to the reservation a little while ago- you can call up to the desk to confirm. I also let him know he should have done that prior to making us uncomfortable for the past 40 minutes and insinuating that a guest was doing something like that without first checking with the front desk. He stood there as he radioed to the desk and about 3-4 minutes (felt like 20) later he apologized and went on his way. Wish the story ended here but it definitely didn’t.
Encounter 3 (Hyatt Ziva Cancun Front Desk)
The situation seemed to be cleared up, so we resumed our day for about 20 minutes before I started noticing security looking at us again. We tried to ignore it and asked our waiter if we could order a round of drinks and lunch to which he replied “We just have one problem, you’re not a hotel guest” to my friend. (Are you kidding me?) I asked him who told him that and he said the security guard! So I pointed at the group of guys staring at us and asked the waiter if it was one of them and he answered affirmatively. At this point I jumped up and went back to the front desk- which isn’t exactly convenient from the far end of the beach.
I walked over to the front desk and waited a few minutes for someone since (of course) there was no one sitting at the World of Hyatt desk. I explained the situation and my resulting frustration with multiple encounters after paying $440 EXTRA. For that much money in addition to my precious 25K Hyatt points, things should be done properly. Mistakes happen and I can understand once, but twice in 25 minutes seems like they don’t have their stuff together. The woman (Elizabeth) at the desk apologized profusely and I told her it wasn’t her fault and to please just do what she needs to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Seemed like we were good to go at this point. I also reiterated that it was very important the rest of the day run smoothly because my pregnant friend was on her way and I didn’t want to have any issues when she got there as this was already embarrassing me in front of my first guest. She assured me all I needed to do when my friend arrived was bring her license to finish the form.
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Encounter 4
At this point I get a text from my friend
“The security guard won’t let me in the hotel, he says there are no guests registered in my name.”
Off to the front desk I went. Surprisingly I hadn’t lost my cool at this point (which is amazing because I have very little patience in general.) I ran over to the first person I saw at the desk and said I have a guest coming and she’s super preggo and stuck at the bottom of the driveway, can someone please call down to security immediately and let them know to let her up. Guess what the response was? I’m sorry- we’re not allowing guests today. This AGAIN? Here’s where I start to get a little excited as I demand to speak to a manager or Elizabeth (desk agent I spoke with twice) or Marisol, at this point I’ll take anyone just to get my friend out of the heat and off of her feet. The agent disappears.
I feel it’s important at this point to remind you that I have already completed the paperwork and authorized the charges.
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Encounter 5
Instead of someone calling security to let my friend up- I am approached by a fairly large man (head of security I’m told) and a very rude manager, Thelma. She asked me in an exhaustive way, “what exactly is the problem here?” Like as if she were the one being harassed and interrupted during a beach vacation. I start to explain to her what’s going on, but interrupt myself to plead that she let my friend into the hotel lobby at least so she can sit down and then I’ll explain everything.
This is where I start to get very uncomfortable, the man walks towards me and stands very close to me and he’s essentially towering over me. He gestures to the couches off to the side and sternly tells me to sit down. At this point I was wishing my P2 was there because no one is going to try to intimidate that tall glass of water. But instead it’s just me so I try to collect myself and I sit down and I explain as fast and as thoroughly as possible that my friend is already cleared, the paperwork is done etc.
This lady proceeds to explain to me that although the room sleeps 4- it’s only one king bed, so I should have booked a separate room. I absolutely cannot say for certain but I really got the feeling (and this is completely subjective) that she was saying it wouldn’t be okay if I was sharing a bed with them- like as if to judge what she perceived to be an alternative lifestyle. Of course it could also be that they thought I was like a drug dealer and adding a pregnant woman to my room would somehow help me with that or something but the tone was very judgmental. She then said you should have booked a separate room. Let’s unpack this, I booked a room that sleeps four and cleared 2 extra guests for one night at every stage of the process, so why on earth would I need a second room? I very firmly reiterated this point and the man told me to please relax in the most aggressive way possible.
But I was still aight at this point- now where I lose it is when Thelma tells me my friend is not coming up and they’ve restricted guests for the day so she’s not allowing it. At this point I’m definitely getting louder and very frustrated. I think they could see I meant business as I stood up and (lucky me for never deleting voicemails) began playing the voicemail Marisol left on speaker.
Oops! Don’t they look stupid (?) since I have a voicemail from the same day contradicting everything they’re saying.
Sure enough “security dude” stood up too but then Thelma said okay we’ll honor the terms from the voicemail but next time book two rooms. She took her sweet ass time walking out of the lobby and then my friend was ESCORTED up BY security. I took her license to the desk and found the original woman, Elizabeth and I asked her why this was happening and I could tell she was as confused as I was. She assured me she would go to her manager and make sure that security and everyone at the desk understood that these were hotel guests. I also told her to please explain the situation to the manager and see if there was anything they could do on the price of the guests and she said they would be able to do a $100 credit (which was okay since the total was $440.)
If you’re wondering whether the credit was ever added or if anyone ever called me as promised, the answer is unsurprisingly no.
Encounter 6
This was not a direct interaction, just what appeared to be a concerted effort to make us uncomfortable. As I walked down from the lobby with my friend back to the beach at least 6 security guards stared at us and spoke into their radios. Then the head of security passed by our spot on the far end of the beach no less than 15 times over the course of the next hour. Obviously when I’m in a group I’m not intimidated any longer, but my day (if not my trip) was ruined at this point.
As you can see from the chat below there was no reason or basis to try to refuse the additional guests.
Outcome
The next morning as I was walking down to the pool, one of the security guys from the day before spotted me and immediately radioed someone- maybe it was a coincidence and maybe it wasn’t but I was extremely uncomfortable and despite the fact that I paid $600 for the last night of my stay and got an incredible deal on AA’s 777 Lie flat product, I decided to leave early and forfeit the last night and paid $1200 to fly Jetblue premium economy home. Yes, That’s how uncomfortable and miserable this encounter was. I’ve NEVER had a a hotel employee (or any man for that matter) accost me like that and have never been treated with so much disrespect for doing nothing but overpay for guests.
So, Is Hyatt Ziva Cancun Safe?
I think this situation is enough for me to have serious concerns about the safety of the Hyatt Ziva Cancun resort as a whole because the security staff is obviously very poorly trained and not at all focused on the safety of guests. I still can’t understand how or why that happened but I can affirmatively say Hyatt should be ashamed of themselves and as much as I hate to say it, women should avoid dealing with the staff there by themselves. (Bear in mind I’ve been to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Macau, Chennai, Milan, Czech Republic and France ALL BY myself and only ever had one experience that was worry-some.) Here’s that crazy story: Think Uber is Safe? Think Again! My Terrifying Story and How Uber Failed to Intervene in the Worst Way.
Attend this property at your own risk. It’s very disheartening that security was more concerned with intimidating paying hotel guests than the safety and security of vacationing families. It’s also a bit disturbing that the security team spent so much time on the private beach with us than keeping the resort secure by monitoring the front beach which is completely public and has no barrier to hotel entry but for security.
bill says
I really like the work you do and I enjoy the vast majority of posts here. I agree that your experience at the hotel was unacceptable and you and your guests were not treated appropriately.
The story you promise in the headline, the URL, and the opening paragraph isn’t what your story is about. The Hyatt hotels in Cancun may not be safe, but your story is about them going over the top to avoid letting someone else onsite, not about a crime occurring. You don’t even link stories about a crime/crimes occurring at the hotel. This feels like lashing out at the hotel and trying to create a bigger story when the truth of what happened to you should suffice as a post. You were treated poorly onsite, your pregnant friend was left at the gates, and there was a major service issue with as an-yet-unmet service recovery. That’s not the post you’re talking about up top.
Bougiemiles says
I appreciate the feedback and was definitely concerned this type of post wouldn’t come across that well via text- I didn’t want to make more out of the intimidation than was necessary to get the point across but I can see how that might have been a mistake. Thanks for reading!
bill says
It’s your blog, and you can do whatever you would like. I can certainly see why you felt unsafe given the circumstances. It might seem fair to split this into two posts – one about your experience and then one documenting the other experiences people have had at the resort recently. I’ve gone to the Ziva in the past and had a nondescript stay, but after reading about your experience, I won’t be going back.
Bougiemiles says
How many times do I have to tell you people, my name is Bethany. Thanks for reading!!!
YoMama is disgusted says
You are just a cranky Karen! White privileged trash!
Bougiemiles says
And you sound like a real winner, not a piece of trash at all ;), also my name is Bethany
DT says
I think Bill’s comment was correct.
I also think that YoMama’s comment was racist.
I understand your frustration but you allowed your emotions to control you.
I had similar situations but whenever I allowed my emotions to take over I regretted it in the end.
Jake says
What is wrong with you (Jay and Yo mama)?
If you can’t give a constructive response in a respectful manner, then better just keep it to yourself.
I appreciate hearing your experience and definitely would not stay at Ziva based on this.
But couldn’t you have booked another hotel for the rest of the stay rather than forfeit your original flight?
Bougiemiles says
I appreciate your comment more than you know! Thank you.
Alan Flynn says
Exactly
Ew says
There is no such thing as “white privilege.” In this situation, it’s called an entitlement to service. An entitlement which was paid for. There is no privilege to be treated as a queen. You work hard, earn your money and spend it on service which you are then entitled to receive. Go away, liberal troll.
JakePB says
This seems like clickbait to me. It’s undeniable that the hotel created a monumental sh*tshow, but your article’s title (and even the lead up msg on Twitter) are not a match to the content. Thank you however, for the quote of the weekend: “people always look at me since I’m so beautiful” – my wife and I got a great laugh out of your self assessment. You left out humble tho…
TFB says
The article’s title is “HYATT ZIVA CANCUN: WHY I LEFT EARLY AND FORFEITED $600 + FLIGHTS”. Not sure how that doesn’t match the content.
JakePB says
Both here and on Twitter, the presented reason for the early departure and extra $600 expenditure was due to questions of safety. The question is openly asked, “Is Hyatt Ziva Cancun Safe”. In caps WHY I LEFT. She presents safety concerns as the why.
Trevor says
Seems like she answered the question posted in the title to me; doesn’t seem disingenuous or anything..
Frank says
I agree with Jake. The title right under the main headline says “Is Hyatt Ziva Cancun safe?” in big bold letters. The story is not about that at all. It’s about disastrous customer service and a tacked-on unrelated question without evidence distracts from a legitimate complaint.
Bethany says
You’re the best and as always…. correct. Lol
Bougiemiles says
I definitely see what you’re saying and I wanted to present the objective facts as much as possible but I felt genuinely nervous when the security manager made an attempt to intimidate me by invading my personal space- that’s why I didn’t feel comfortable and was as I stated on twitter -concerned for my safety. I realize that I was physically safe at that moment but intimidation and aggressive behaviors are very unsettling and can certainly make a person feel unsafe. Also I definitely see what you’re saying about the article not completely matching the content- I started to research the topic a bit and sort of stumbled on to what I thought was a good point- that if security is so inadequate, maybe it’s not as safe as people think. It’s also really hard to get the point across with these types of posts because so much of an experience is visual and I am no wordsmith. And yes, it’s true- no one has ever accused me of being humble.
Manuel Romero says
Hi this hotel was in the past The Royal,since they change to Hyatt the service is very poor for say the less,I have a membership there and my daughter was there for honeymoon,she said that the hotel is old,rooms are not really clean and the staff is not the same than the time we bought the membership,Once I tried to take some friends to spend the day with us and guess what? Yes,we couldn’t.
So I understand you.
Bougiemiles says
Thank you for reading 🙂
Tom says
It was definitely a customer service fail. Hyatt definitely deserves the lions share of the blame. But you also made it about as complicated as possible.
As far as losing the money, id charge it back on the CC. Hopefully WoH reads this and just refunds that last night.
As far as the airfare, why not just book another hotel for the last night?
But thx for the post, was considering bringing my family of 5 here late this year, will strongly reconsider.
Bougiemiles says
Well originally I was told we would be able to buy day passes, so the addition of them as hotel guests was just out of necessity at that point. I think it’s wise to reconsider- check out the twitter thread- lots of people have troubling issues.
Patrice says
Personally I think Hyatt is overrated and I dont understand why it is hyped by so many blogs. I guess you got bonvoyed by Hyatt.
Bougiemiles says
I love this comment and agree.
Nathan says
Feels like over drama to me. I hope you get a big check from Hyatt. Even from the first paragraph I want to hate Hyatt but by the end, the arc of your story doesn’t match.
Bethany says
I’ll settle for that LOL.
Mak says
Thanks. Was just considering a stay here, and will now look elsewhere. Clearly a “the guest is always wrong” sort of place.
Bethany Walsh says
Exactly.
Me says
I would never even waist my time writing about it. I am glad they are protecting the property. So many people try to bring non- paying friends in and abuse the system. So they thought you did the same. Miscommunication…
Jorge Jimenez says
So I was I. I guess its going to be the Grand Moon Palace. Th
Mike says
Sounds like you had a major communication problem and I truly believe there is quite a bit more to the other side that we are not being told.
My family has stayed at the Ziva Cancun several times, always felt safe and had a great time. I am glad that security is ensuring that there are no extra guests, as that is not just about their money, but also ensuring that unknown people are not at the hotel.
I have had multiple exchanges with Thelma and she is amazing. One of the nicest managers I have dealt with and has helped us out on multiple occasions, getting an extra room when they were sold out, or making last minute changes out of policy, even working with the Andaz to ensure the whole trip is perfect. So if she did not treat you well, you must have really gotten under her skin.
Sorry you seem to have had a bad experience, but I am reading a bit of a diva vibe here.
Bougiemiles says
Sounds like you REALLY like it there, do you go on cruises too? And yes, a woman being intimidated by a male security guard must be a diva.
Mak says
@Mike Your post sounds like it was written by the hotel given your first name basis with “Thelma,” but to whatever extent @Bougiemiles did “get under her skin,” a hospitality professional wouldn’t allow that to manifest itself in the form of such shabby and abusive treatment. I’m usually a fan of Andaz, but if you consider the one in Cancun to be of the same sort of quality as this place I’ll be sure to give that a miss too.
Bougiemiles says
I’ve definitely never had this type of treatment at Andaz, but I haven’t been to the one in Cancun. I agree with your point Mak… whether I got under her skin or not, you don’t treat guests this way. Also FWIW- I’m very polite and gracious when it comes to service industry people because I was a server for years to put myself through school so I can’t imagine I did anything that would have made her feel a way.
Too Many says
Lesson here is: the property is fine if everything goes according to original plan. Changing things or having service issues will likely result in frustration and lack of service.
That said, when someone makes a statement about wondering if safety is an issue, the traditional sense of a guest concerned about being safe is in relation to the environment, or from other aggressive guests. In this case, it does not appear to be a true issue. A more accurate description is a sense of unwelcome attitude from hotel employees and their security.
GCC says
Couldn’t agree more that this seems a bit of a stretch to be hyped as a security issue for the general public. Was there at the exact same time, and had an awesome time with excellent customer service. Got back yesterday. Was very impressed by CoVid protocols (better than US), and security/safety was a non-issue. Were there a few hiccups? Sure, but everything was handled graciously.
Then again, I was not trying to get people from off property on property, which is notoriously difficult at any all inclusive. I’m actually impressed that Hyatt even allows anyone at all, as many do not.
That said, the rates they were setting seem ridiculous, but it doesn’t strike me that there was a security issue that readers should be concerned about. It’s unfortunate that they had difficulty meeting your request.
Robert Fuschini says
My wife was attacked by security who left a bruise on her wrist while stealing our bags until we paid a made up fee. I would go into more detail but the story is already on their Facebook wall if you really want to go find it. We we regulars there had visited every year at least once after the rebranding. I have dual citizenship. This resort is dangerous. Especially for women.
Bougiemiles says
Robert, I would love to see the post, let me know if you have a link to it on facebook, I’ll put it in the post.
Bougiemiles says
Also, I’m really sorry that happened to you guys.
Steven says
Cancun and most resort areas in Mexico are sh*tholes focused on ripping gringos off. I confine my Mexican vacations to non touristy areas such as Mexico City and Guadalajara. I haven’t been back to Cancun since the Xcaret resort tried to charge me $150 for replacing my sons wristband. They implied that he had given it to someone else to use and I had to threaten to leave to get the charge reversed. A good rule of thumb is that if you have to wear a wristband to use the facilities, the place is a sh*thole and doesn’t deserve your business.
Markus says
I can contess to that I went to cancun in October for 3 days the main strip by the hotel zone was a dump trash and dead palm fronts it was dirty the beach was straight up s#it i will never go there again
Jam Jam says
Hyatt Ziva Cancun is an all-inclusive resort for hotel guests. I know they are really strict that their resort is made for just hotel guests. I didn’t even know you can get day passes.
Your situation was definitely not ordinary. If you checked in with your guests then there wouldn’t be any issue. The security was doing their job by getting on your case when you brought new guests in. I doubt the front desk ever had to notify the security that new guests are going on existing reservations. Therefore, your situation was something new to them.
I’ve been to Hyatt Ziva Cancun multiple times and never had an issue. Of course, with your experience, I would NEVER bring new guests to an existing reservation nor that I ever planned to try in the past.
William says
Totally with you until you started implying it was a “lifestyle” issue, for which you admitted you had no evidence other than your feelz.
You have a good case here and I didn’t find the hed misleading, but perhaps you’d find more sympathy, and more credibility, if you kept to the facts instead of going for a victimhood doubleplay…
Bougiemiles says
That’s why I called it out- I wanted to be fair to them and still give an honest account of what I felt. That’s also why I joked about the pregnant friend colluding in crime, I can appreciate your point though and was definitely wondering whether I should include it but went with my gut.
Chen says
Perfect case of “making mountain out of a molehill”. Honestly, you complicated it and sometimes brought it upon yourself. And then topping it off with sensationalized click bait article. I hope you get boatload of points from Hyatt you are hoping for by doing all these. For the record, have stayed in Ziva and had nothing but amazing experience.
Jan'a says
Just stop. If you don’t like her posts then stop reading them.
Brian says
You are dead wrong,
Joey says
Am sorry you experienced that and I agree it’s a customer service fail. I’ve been to Hyatt Ziva Cancun twice in the past with my friends and always had a great time and felt safe (then again all my friends and I planned the trip together and specifically all booked Hyatt Ziva.) I didn’t know they allowed guest day passes as well but to prevent customer service fails like this one it may be better if Hyatt Ziva Cancun simply don’t allow any guest day passes until they get their computer system corrected and security team properly trained.
Overall though I still think Hyatt Ziva Cancun is safe.
Ashlie says
What a ridiculous and mean spirited hotel.
Lindsey says
This is a sensationalist headline. I’ve been to this property more than a dozen times, many of them as a single female, and I have never once felt anywhere near unsafe.
What you outlined is a terrible customer service experience. I totally agree with you. You were given the runaround and I would’ve been frustrated in the same shoes. However, it was not unsafe.
You were trying to do something that they are not doing in their normal fashion at this point in time, which is bringing in external visitors to the property in a pandemic. They told you you could, so I get why you’re frustrated, but they have been heavily restricting the number of additional people who are coming onto their property because of the pandemic. You had a bad customer service experience as a result of those unclear rules (And the gray area between whether or not your guests were actually hotel guests at that point, since it sounds like they were not overnight guests and you were just adding them to your room as a way to get around the visitor restrictions)
But let me be clear, this was not about safety. This was about your frustration at how that rule was enforced. If anything, they were being TOO safe because they were not allowing your outside visitors to come and go as easily as you would have liked them to be able to.
Write this for what it is, you had a bad customer service experience because of a rule that was in a gray area. You were not endangered/threatened/unsafe.
Jeff says
“ignored it since people always look at me since I’m so beautiful.”
Nothing says diva and entitled more than this. You might want to consider leaving out this type of superfluous chatter in future articles.
Bougiemiles says
Look, I am what I am and I guess you’re right- I certainly don’t need to say it (it’s quite obvious.)
Brian says
I don’t see any safety concerns here. Sometimes hotels, like any business, do have customer service issues and have room for Improvement.
GoodGrief says
That comment was so obviously said in jest I’m embarrassed for you Jeff!
Michael says
OK so I’m not crazy! I had a billing issue with Hyatt zilara rose hall and it was living hell to clear up that involved being accused of theft and then gaslit over email being told that never happened.
I wanted to book something like 6 nights on points but only 3 were available for award stays. I called and they made me a booking that was 3 nights points and 3 nights cash rate.
At checkin, they told me I was only booked for 2 guests for the points nights and 1 the others and I had to pay them the difference for the cash nights. I said my booking was clear to the agent and I am a gloabalist- work it out with Hyatt.
The check in girl called her manager who presented a great idea. They’d call Hyatt corporate to pull the recording of the call. If I was told it was only one person those nights I’d pay, if not, Hyatt would pay the resort for the mistake. I couldn’t be happier because either a) I was right or b) this was an honest mistake on my part since I was on the phone at work and may have acknowledged this incorrectly (very unlikely but I’m. It perfect)
At checkout, they DEMAND I pay and allude that I was trying to rob them. I tell them the story of what they were going to do and they start to tell me that I am making the whole thing up and better pay up.
I pay, as I don’t want to deal with Jamaican law enforcement and write “under protest” on the additional charge.
They DEFINITELY made me feel unsafe and gaslit!
I immediately contact Hyatt – who was MASSIVELY USELESS. They put the hotel in touch with me who just keeps trying to gaslight me into believing none of this ever happened. I am FURIOUS.
I tell Hyatt I don’t want to do it, but I will charge it back if they don’t sort it in the coming days. They don’t, I charge it back.
after hounding Hyatt on Twitter and emailing the CEO, Hyatt agrees to mail me a check for the over billing. They give me something like 20k Hyatt points and make the property give me 8k points. The property still insists I made this whole thing up.
Lo and behold, time passes and I assume the chargeback will be resolved by Hyatt saying they paid me but since it was against the property, the property plead guilty and I won the chargeback.
When push comes to shove I loved my time there and did get made whole and then some- but I totally see what you mean about them not having their act together and then making you feel uncomfortable for their incompetence.
Jay says
It is extremely frustrating when things go wrong on vacation.
It is made even worse when nothing is communicated from one staff member to another and then the onus is now on the guest.
A company like Hyatt should do everything in their power to be sure the guest receive’s the upmost in hospitality !
One last thing, if you had points would it not have simplified the process by just booking your friends a room for the night #20/20 !
Jan'a Maughan says
Please keep writing your blog! I enjoy it and appreciate your tips. Please ignore the haters!
Bougiemiles says
Thank you so much Jan’a and I always do ignore them LOL. There’s a ton of other blogs they can read.
Christian says
I’m going out on a limb here but I presume that you reached out to Hyatt corporate. What did they say?
Bougiemiles says
I actually have not done so yet, I certainly will this week and will let you know how it turns out. Thank you so much for reading 🙂
Christian says
Oh, ignore the hate. I’m not sure what’s up with all the vitriol but I I suspect that the commenters don’t realize just how bad they look when they say this stuff. It’s not like they’re saying anything remotely constructive or useful.
Bougiemiles says
Seems like a weird concerted effort- I’ve seen things like that before. Whatevs lol. I appreciate the kind words and thank you for reading!!!
Monty says
Playa Hotels & Resorts showing how they are definitely not Ritz-Carlton or the actual Hyatt.
Mike says
It’s not the same as the Royal. Although I definitely have had some great times at Zilara. Occasionally, things happen that ruins the mood. Have been there dozens of times. Anybody been to the Aqua or The Grand Hyatt in Playa recently? Any thoughts? Mike
Bougiemiles says
I’m glad you enjoy it there- it’s a great value from a points perspective.