777 global mile hound

Greetings all,

Warm wishes and a very Happy New Year in 2008 to all in the Hyatt Gold Passport Community^

As many of you may already know Hyatt has a new CEO in place by the name of Mark S. Hoplamazian

If you had his ear for a short time in a nutshell and without making his ear fall off
What would you really want to tell him in a clear concise and focused summary?
In general
The good or the bad about Hyatt and his growing portfolio of brands
and of course without question the Gold Passport Program

Thanks for the feedback all

Bondiboy

I would direct him to post #4 on the following thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=774147

I would also urge him to personally review the last 3 months customer satisfaction surveys for all properties and institute some form of management reward - with appropriate publicity - for the properties with consistent, outstanding service each quarter.

KansasMike

I would stress better customer service and consistency.

I would also adjust the Platinum level to about 25 nights/year and upgrade itse benefits. Or, start an intermediate elite level.

PhillyPhlyer40

Make all Hyatt REGENCY's have a REGENCY CLUB! (The dumbest branding I have ever heard of is NOT having a RC at a HR! )


Encourage/allow all Hyatts to have a DIFFERENT room service menu. I order RS as I work in my room most nights, but im tired of the same menu at EVERY hyatt.


IMPROVE HP's. I will NEVER stay at another HP as they are all DUMPS. (If they couldnt afford a new a/c, at least FIX the piece-o-crap-loud-as-an-airplane A/C)


If you dont have RC's at Hyatts, give diamonds SOMETHING...ie free water bottles at check in, etc. NOT just the points and a free breakfast that I am usually not in for.


EDUCATE your employees. You have some of the dumbest front line staff when it comes to elite benefits. I have stayed at $400/night places and they dont know what a DIAMOND is, or how to "make some breakfast thingies" that I asked for!


Spend your first 3 months on the road. Follow me! I end up at 3-5 DIFFERENT hotels a WEEK! Visit EVERY hotel! NOW! Find out how easy it is (ISNT) to check-in, check-out, get elite benefits, etc etc etc.

thezipper

I would tell Mr. Hoplamazian that he has some fantastic properties and some dogs.... having experienced both, I would suggest that he fully engage the "evangelists" he has within FlyerTalk and various BB's. A full-time "lurker" of some sort is required to address issues raised and provide feedback to the customer. If the customer is engaged, or feels he is being listened to, he will have much more "ownership" in said company. I could cite a few examples, but I'll wait till I meet him in person...

777 global mile hound

Thank you for your post Bondiboy

It certainly rings loud and clear of a bigger pressing problem with Hyatt
After all there is a policy at many Hyatt’s now that guarantee elites their bed types and no smoking/smoking preferences.
Do they have a policy for being walked? Probably not.At least none that I am aware of

Marriott does/Starwood does and so do a number of well known hotel brands
Hyatt. Brand / Guest Assurance policies at Hyatt are at present very fuzzy to none at all. That would be number one on my list.

Why is a hotel company and brand like Hyatt without a brand promise?
When they have all the potential to be one of the worlds most respected and trusted brands.
It no longer is a brand of top choice for me now that trust has been eroded
over the past few years
I am more forgiving of Hyatt Place as it is a newly launched brand.
However that too needs to say something just as any brand should.
Even a Hampton Inn inspires total trust for me and some of the newer ones are now excellent

777 global mile hound

Where do you feel the improved levels of customer service?
At the hotel level? Gold Passport or Hyatt Consumer Affairs
Thank you for the clarification

As for your Platinum elite suggestion I agree spot on and great feedback^
There is nothing worse for Hyatt and Gold Passport then to have an under performing tier level that lets other programs seem far more attractive in recognition and benefits

777 global mile hound

Thats a great point about the AC and thats a good reminder to consider not staying in them during select months.I am a light sleeper

Now I do not think Hyatt Places are dumps. I will assume they aren't your brand of choice as there are some shortcomings.
There are a few mixed cues with what the final product became.
Hopefully they will consider minor tweaking

It is possible that Starwoods new brand Aloft could walk all over them if they get the details that Hyatt messed up on
All in all the Hyatt Place brand has legs IMO and I like staying in them in the right situation

Aircoco

(1) Hyatt should properly train their staff before assigning them to the front desk.

Grand Hyatt Hong Kong does not know who or what is "Hyatt Consumer Affairs"; I was given a suite upgrade by Hyatt Consumer Affairs (with quotation and reference number), but I had to argue long and hard with the GH Hong Kong before eventually getting a "better room" according to them. And, the worse part is, the rest of the ppl were looking at me as if I was the unreasonable one.

(2) The Diamond benefits should be communicated to all GM clearly, and each property should understand and aware of the appropriate benefits.

Park Hyatt Saigon does not know what is Diamond benefits, and I had to call 3 times to eventually get a box of fruit cake.

Grand Hyatt Berlin does not even care.

(3) Intermediate Hyatt membership

I agree with many that there should be an intermediate level; adjust the Platinum level requirements to, say 10 stays or 15 nights a year.

Offer all Platinum some sort of tangible or exciting benefits.

(4) Diamond membership Room Upgrade

All Diamond should be automatically upgraded to the next level, as long as there is available room. This includes award or FFN stay.

(5) Diamond Check-in Line

Somehow, Hyatt does not differentiate between Diamond and a priceline customer. Then why in the world do you need a loyalthy program? You recognize your customer by giving them priority.

(6) Reward loyal customer

(a) If a Diamond stays beyond 25 stays or 50 nights a year, every 5 subsequent stays will get you an automatic suite upgrade, for example.

(b) For stay longer than or equal to 3 nights, that is considered as 2 stays instead of 1 stay.

All Hyatt mentioned above are my personal experiences, and probably will be too much to mention to anyone (if they listen) in 5 mins.

777 global mile hound

What happened at the Grand Hyatt in Berlin?
We enjoyed our stay there and found the complete opposite of you.
No suite but first class excellent club floor rooms and polite well meaning team members.
My only complaint as silly as it sounds was a 20 dollar single bottle of Perrier that I let them get away with for not asking first in advance the cost
I liked the stay so much I let it go.I didn't order a second one
And the meal looked like a deal after the bottled water charge
The odd thing was that other brands were in the expected price range for a hotel

thc

I hate having to babysit all my Gold Passport bonuses. I don't understand why the bonus code can't stick from the time you make the reservation online.

And this is purely selfish because I travel to SF about 6-8 times a year, but I really wish the Park Hyatt would come back to that city.

Wilbur

And to add the above remarks, which I support wholeheartedly, my parting remark to the new CEO of Hyatt as I leave his chain and program after six years at Diamond: Please have a Diamond telephone number that works 24 hours a day. How idiotic is it to expand your hotels in Asia, but have no working phone service during business hours when we are over here?

PS, it would be nice if the people who answer the Diamond line from 9 to 6 Eastern time or whenever it is open actually knew and understood the program. The SPG Platinum Concierge beats the Diamond line like a red-headed stepchild.

777 global mile hound

Sorry to hear that though I assume there are other reasons that affected your decision
I too considered leaving Hyatt and GP this year but decided their fast track offer and other various promotional offers were worth another shot /consideration.

Hyatt has fallen off dramatically with regard to taking caring of its customers (especially elites) in a number of properties.
Hyatt Consumer Affairs needs to step up to the plate when any customer experiences a problem stay and make things right.

The only other thing that kept the momentum in my GP return is the good folks in Omaha at Gold Passport. No matter how badly Hyatt keeps slipping the majority sincerely seem to care about our business, satisfaction and taking care of our accounts to the best of their ability.^

Firewind

Before the two points, below, compliment him on FFN! Then...

1) Fully integrate the dysfunctional Hyatt "family" - Summerfield Suites, Hyatt Place and Hawthorn - so that their participation is seamless.

2) Reach out to another chain, or greatly expand the number of properties in the four current brands.

In other words, compete and function as well as the Hilton family on these two accounts. Actually, there may be good reason to reverse 1 and 2, in terms of priority, but 1 above needs to work before 2.

OK, a 3 (4?), but not big: Explain the strategy with the Park Hyatts. Are they going away? Is Andaz ultimately envisioned to succeed them?

...And, I guess, finish with praise for the Diamond CSRs, who continue to work "miracles", and bridge a lot of mishaps and miscues, in my opinion...

By the way, didn't Karen and/or Amy pretty closely monitor this board, at least until the Y'attit fiasco, and Amy's very heartfelt farewell? (Indicating that this forum had been very important to her, a vice president.) We've never seen a farewell from Karen - to my knowledge - or actually anything, since then, except that she and Amy were not one and the same.

wth

Consider firing your IT staff or whomsoever is making the decision re. integration of the new brands (HP, HSS). It should not take this long and the target for full integration should not be a rolling target. Do it!!