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Grand Hyatt Vail evaluation – The Factors Man

Positioned proper off the slopes of Vail, one in every of Colorado’s most iconic ski resorts, the Grand Hyatt Vail is a perfect lodging selection for these on the lookout for entry to the mountain whereas having a ways from the hustle and bustle of the busy resort. With its personal ski carry and an on-site ski valet, you will be on the slopes very quickly. A major location on the banks of Gore Creek offers friends direct entry to many strolling trails and a serene, genuine Colorado really feel.

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In the course of the planning section of my spring ski journey out west, I used to be fairly open as to which resort to go to and which property to remain at — it simply needed to be on the Epic Cross and be obtainable on factors. Happily, the Grand Hyatt Vail offered the most suitable choice — and I could not be extra thrilled with our determination.

What’s the Grand Hyatt Vail?

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The Grand Hyatt Vail, a part of the World of Hyatt program, is the kind of property the place friends can anticipate easy accessibility to the ski resort whereas having fun with the luxuries of a real resort lodge. With 285 visitor rooms and suites, this luxury property affords a room sort for everybody — ranging out of your commonplace studio to a two-bedroom suite — with many rooms that includes sweeping mountain views, balconies and even fireplaces. The lodge additionally has a number of eating places, a slew of on-site actions and even a heated scorching tub and pool (obtainable one year a 12 months).

Whereas the Grand Hyatt Vail definitely appeals to skiers and snowboarders in the course of the winter months, it is also an important vacation spot for nonskiers, as there may be lots to do on and across the property, each inside and open air.

Though we did not go to in the course of the hotter months, it is a lovely lodge for these seeking a resort-style summer season trip within the mountains, too, with many mountain climbing and strolling trails close by.

As this property is a part of the Hyatt lodge chain, friends can reap their World of Hyatt advantages whereas additionally redeeming and incomes factors throughout the program.

How one can ebook the Grand Hyatt Vail

Naturally, probably the greatest methods to ebook the Grand Hyatt Vail is through the use of your World of Hyatt factors. As a Class 7 property throughout the World of Hyatt award chart, the lodge prices 25,000 factors (off-peak), 30,000 factors (commonplace) or 35,000 factors (peak) per night time. Over the following 12 months, the property exhibits your complete winter (which means mid-December by mid-April) as peak pricing and most of Could, October and November as off-peak pricing. The remainder of the months vary between off-peak, commonplace and peak, relying on the actual date.

This pricing means should you’re seeking to go throughout ski season, you’ll be able to anticipate to redeem 35,000 World of Hyatt factors per night time. With TPG’s July 2024 valuations giving World of Hyatt factors a worth of 1.7 cents per level (thus a $595 valuation per night time), it is a nice method to redeem your factors for the reason that paid nightly charge over the winter ranges between $650 and $1,500 per night time.

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Moreover, when utilizing your World of Hyatt factors, resort charges are waived — which can prevent $55 per night time on the Grand Hyatt Vail. Now, should you’re seeking to go to in spring or fall, charges will be as little as $300 an evening, so you will wish to do the mathematics to see if redeeming factors is worth it.

Alternatively, when you have a Class 1-7 free night time award — which you earn after the 60 and 100 Milestone Rewards thresholds — these will be redeemed at this property, even throughout peak nights. Actually, that is how I booked my two-night keep when charges had been 35,000 factors or near $1,000 per night time.

Understand that when reserving any Hyatt lodge, you will wish to use one of many bank cards that earn essentially the most factors for Hyatt stays, in addition to one which probably affords computerized World of Hyatt elite standing for value-added advantages. These embrace:

  • World of Hyatt Credit score Card: Earn 4 factors per greenback spent on qualifying purchases at Hyatt motels and resorts; computerized Discoverist standing; and 5 elite night time credit per 12 months towards the next tier.
  • World of Hyatt Enterprise Credit score Card: Earn 4 factors per greenback spent on qualifying purchases at Hyatt motels and resorts; computerized Discoverist standing; and 5 elite night time credit per 12 months towards the next tier.

Associated: How one can plan your ski journey with factors and miles

The situation of the Grand Hyatt Vail

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The situation of this property will be seen as hit and miss — it actually comes all the way down to your private desire. The Grand Hyatt Vail sits in Cascade Village (in case you are taking a look at a path map, it is the village as far to the east as potential), and there is not a lot else close by. There is no true “village” such as you’ll discover on different components of the mountain, so there will not be any outlets or eating places proper out your entrance steps. Nevertheless, the lodge operates a shuttle to each Vail Village and Lionshead each 15 to twenty minutes, and whereas I by no means skilled the shuttle myself, I heard from others that it ran fairly effectively. Or, should you lease a automobile, each villages supply two free hours of parking within the morning and free parking anytime after 3 p.m.

However this extra eliminated location additionally makes it fascinating. The property is quiet and peaceable. Whereas on the again patio or stress-free within the scorching tub, you solely see the mountains within the backdrop — not a busy avenue with crowds of individuals. And the lodge affords a ton on-site, so that you may discover that you simply by no means want to go away.

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These seeking to spend the day on the slopes can even respect the chairlift proper outdoors the property. As a result of the chairlift is solely for lodge friends and people staying within the close by condos, there may be by no means a carry line. Actually, with this chairlift, you’ll be able to totally keep away from the bottom of Vail all through your complete day — in order for you.

Nevertheless, should you’re touring with little ones who’re enrolled in ski faculty, you may end up taking the shuttle or driving to ski faculty. Due to this, you will want to go away loads of further time within the morning and, sadly, miss out on the true ski-in, ski-out expertise — one of many causes you keep at this property.

Throughout our two-night, three-day keep, we truly by no means left the property post-skiing, and that labored extraordinarily properly for our household. We visited the villages in the course of the day whereas taking a fast ski break and utilized all the pieces that the lodge needed to supply after an extended day of snowboarding. If we had been staying for an prolonged time period — greater than 4 nights — we most likely would have most well-liked a location nearer to the village. However for our keep, we appreciated the situation.

Rooms on the Grand Hyatt Vail

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With many room varieties obtainable on the property, you are sure to search out one which works on your wants. The usual rooms — that are these obtainable with factors — embrace a 340- to 360-square-foot room with both two queen beds or one king. Barely upgraded rooms embrace mountain view rooms and deluxe mountain view rooms, that are the identical dimension as the usual rooms however have higher views and, in choose rooms, balconies. Then there are premium rooms, that are bigger at 540 sq. toes; every of those affords mountain views and a fire — plus two queen beds or one king. From there, many suites of varied sizes can be found, with the most important being a two-bedroom presidential suite.

Throughout our keep — which was throughout Presidents Day week, a peak time of 12 months — I overheard many individuals being upgraded to deluxe and/or premium rooms, which made me imagine that the property is kind of beneficiant with their upgrades.

As a Globalist member, we had been truly upgraded to a mountain-facing Grand Suite with a separate bed room with a king-size mattress and a front room. Though the upgraded room was a premium suite — with two actually distinct areas — we discovered the house to be tight (for a typical suite), however we did respect having a separate bed room to separate us from the children. With a pullout sofa in the lounge, we had been in a position to additionally squeeze in a rollaway, giving every child their very own mattress — a sport changer when touring with my household.

The room additionally featured a spacious, cool-toned lavatory with a door between the marble-tiled bathe, the bathroom and the self-importance. The element was good to given 4 individuals had been sharing the lavatory.

We had been assigned a first-floor room that featured a patio as a substitute of a balcony. We truly appreciated the patio, as we might stroll proper outdoors, and the children might play within the snow. We had been additionally just some toes away from the creek, which gave us that stress-free really feel whereas sitting on the chairs outdoors.

Our location was additionally inside strolling distance of one of many scorching tubs, making it simple to go out and in with out having to schlep by the hallways. However needless to say the rooms on the bottom flooring can get fairly chilly; it required us to crank up the warmth a bit. When you run chilly, you may wish to avoid the primary flooring, however I personally beloved the comfort of having the ability to stroll proper outdoors the again patio.

Resort room patio. JENNIFER YELLIN/THE POINTS GUY

Eating places on the Grand Hyatt Vail

With many restaurant and eating choices on the Grand Hyatt Vail, mealtimes on the property had been extremely simple.

Gessner Steakhouse & Bar

Gessner Steakhouse & Bar affords breakfast, lunch and dinner. That is the place we ate breakfast each morning and the place the lodge affords a big menu or a full buffet breakfast. I personally ordered off the menu every morning, however the buffet seemed fairly appetizing, too — particularly since you’ll be able to order an omelet with the buffet. Due to my Globalist standing, breakfasts had been included in our nightly charge. With out the Globalist profit, the buffet is $22 per particular person. My youngsters loved pancakes each morning, which might’ve price $19 with out the free breakfast profit.

Gore Creek Market

For breakfast — or simply snacks, pastries, ready sandwiches and extra all through the day — there’s the Gore Creek Market. This was an important grab-and-go choice for us that we utilized at occasions for breakfast, post-ski snacks and even late-night ice cream. On the market, you will additionally discover on a regular basis necessities corresponding to Advil, razors and water bottles. The market is one of the best ways to go if you wish to preserve your meals prices down — particularly for breakfast.

Hearth Lounge

Off the foyer, there’s additionally the Hearth Lounge. This was a really perfect place to take a seat and calm down whereas listening to music and having fun with the views. With the fireside going, you can get a drink, appetizers or a meal. Cocktails hover round $18. After 4 p.m., this was fairly a full of life and social space, with a patio off the again and steps all the way down to the pool deck.

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Makoto Vail

When you’re actually seeking to deal with your self, particularly should you take pleasure in Japanese delicacies, there’s the brand-new Makoto Vail helmed by famend chef Makoto Okuwa. We ate at this restaurant one night time and completely beloved the meals, in addition to the vibe. We additionally thought the pricing right here was fairly cheap — a few of the gadgets we ordered included ramen ($15), edamame ($8) and a salmon avocado roll ($16). For our household of 4, the meal ended up costing about $130 with tip included. Actually, it was nearly similar to the price of our room service the night time earlier than.

Actions on the Grand Hyatt Vail

Ice skating, sledding and every day treats

Whereas our aim was to spend the majority of our go to snowboarding, the lodge affords a lot extra. For the children (or children at coronary heart), there’s an ice skating rink with complimentary ice skate leases, sledding and every day treats at 4 p.m. From cookies and milk to s’mores, this was an important apres-ski exercise for your complete household. There are additionally many fireplace pits across the property to take a seat and calm down by.

Pool deck

The lodge additionally has a pool deck with a year-round heated pool and a scorching tub. There is a separate — and fewer crowded — scorching tub behind the lodge, alongside the creek, too. This was a spotlight for our household after an extended day of snowboarding.

Recreation room

Simply off of the market store, there is a small sport room. Right here, you will discover two foosball tables, a life-size Join 4 and a cushty TV space with video video games. My children beloved having the ability to simply go on their very own and hang around after a day of snowboarding.

Seating space on the market and sport room. JENNIFER YELLIN/THE POINTS GUY

Topgolf Swing Suites

Presumably our favourite exercise was Topgolf, which affords interactive video games corresponding to golf, soccer, hockey, dodgeball and carnival actions.

Positioned proper on the property, the Topgolf Swing Suites make it potential to take pleasure in hours of extremely enjoyable leisure with out stepping foot off the property grounds. There are 4 reservation time slots obtainable per day, permitting you to benefit from the suite within the morning, afternoon or night. We thought the pricing was cheap at $150, and though we simply had our household of 4, the suite can match as much as 12 individuals.

At every suite, there’s a hostess who will train you learn how to play after which additionally carry you meals and drinks. The menu was just like the common restaurant menu, with many foods and drinks choices. For a nonskiing exercise, this ended up being a spotlight, even for my daughter, who was hesitant going into it.

Ski valet on the Grand Hyatt Vail

Some of the handy elements of the lodge was the complimentary ski valet. Connected to the lodge, the ski valet makes it so that you by no means need to go outdoors in addition up and prepare. The valet holds your skis and boots for you in a single day, with the boots good and heat within the morning whenever you retrieve them. There’s additionally loads of seating with wire baskets to maintain your footwear (or anything) whilst you’re on the slopes.

On the ski valet, it’s also possible to lease skis (there are numerous package deal choices), making your journey that a lot simpler. We introduced our skis from dwelling with us, so I haven’t got firsthand expertise with renting right here, nevertheless it seemed to be an extremely simple course of. (You can even demo for the day.)

Moreover the ski valet, there is a small ski retailer. It got here in useful when my daughter introduced that her ski socks not match, particularly since pricing was similar to any native store.

Proper outdoors the boot room, there’s the Cascade Village carry, taking you halfway up the mountain. From there, you will discover a inexperienced path to the Delight Specific carry that may take you to the highest of the mountain. Regardless of being all the way in which on one facet of the mountain, we nonetheless discovered it simple to navigate to Vail’s well-known Again Bowls, a few of our favourite snowboarding whereas at Vail.

Notice that when returning to the lodge on skis, the paths are primarily blue and black, however you’ll be able to all the time get again down utilizing the Cascade Village carry to keep away from a few of the more durable runs, if wanted.

Globalist advantages on the Grand Hyatt Vail

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These with Globalist standing, Hyatt’s top-tier loyalty standing, are handled very properly on the Grand Hyatt Vail. Actually, there are numerous perks to make your keep that rather more satisfying. Attributable to having the World of Hyatt Credit score Card and touring very often, my husband and I’ve maintained Globalist standing for 15-plus years.

Since we used factors to ebook the journey, resort charges had been already waived at this property, but when we had been staying throughout an off-peak time when it made extra sense to pay for the room (as a substitute of utilizing factors), we’d’ve nonetheless had resort charges waived as a consequence of our Globalist standing. Moreover, these with Globalist standing on an award keep obtain complimentary parking. On the Grand Hyatt Vail, parking is a hefty $55 per night time, as solely valet parking is obtainable, so with our standing, we saved $110 by having this price waived.

One other profit for these with Globalist standing is the complete complimentary breakfast for as much as two adults and two children. In the course of the check-in course of, I used to be advised in regards to the profit and knowledgeable that this perk could possibly be used on the breakfast restaurant, for ordering room service or on the market — with no greenback cap.

We utilized the sit-down breakfast choice each mornings and did a mixture of ordering off the menu and the buffet, although one morning, my son most well-liked gadgets from the market. This combine and match labored extremely properly for our household and allowed us an incredible, hearty breakfast earlier than an extended day on the slopes.

And, as talked about earlier than, the property appeared to be fairly beneficiant with room upgrades for these with Globalist standing — or actually any standing. We visited throughout faculty break, so the lodge was nearly at capability however was nonetheless prepared to provide us any room obtainable, together with a premium suite.

Accessibility

The Grand Hyatt Vail affords six completely different wheelchair-accessible room varieties with 32 inches of clear width, starting from commonplace rooms to one-bedroom suites. All choices have roll-in showers.

All through the lodge, you will discover many wheelchair-accessible areas, together with the foyer, a number of public areas, the eating places and the swimming pool (with a carry). The elevators even have brail, making it handy for these with imaginative and prescient impairment wants.

The lodge felt very open, with extensive hallways and doorways. I’ve a father-in-law in a wheelchair, and I felt as if he would have been in a position to navigate to many areas and into the elevators with no downside had he been touring with us.

Moreover, other than valet parking on the lodge, the concierges can assist friends reserve accessible transportation for a price with advance discover.

Alternate options to the Grand Hyatt Vail

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When you aren’t swimming in Hyatt factors and wish to contemplate a unique property — whereas nonetheless utilizing some type of factors — there are a number of completely different choices.

Now, a well-liked query is whether or not one ought to keep on the Grand Hyatt Vail or the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek since each mountains are a part of the Epic Cross and fewer than 20 minutes aside. Whereas each mountains are superb — and a few skiers and riders want one over the opposite — in case you are mountain-agnostic and basing it on which Hyatt property to remain at, listed here are my ideas.

The Park Hyatt Beaver Creek is a Class 8 property, making it costlier than the Grand Hyatt Vail by 10,000 factors per night time in the course of the peak winter season. That alone helped sway me to remain on the Grand Hyatt Vail, although I’ve stayed at each properties.

That mentioned, there are professionals and cons to each. The Park Hyatt Beaver Creek has a greater location proper on the base of the mountain and a close-by ski faculty — an enormous comfort for some households. You might be additionally inside strolling distance of the village, with a big ice skating rink surrounded by many shops and eating places. Nevertheless, when evaluating the 2 properties in opposition to one another, I want the Grand Hyatt Vail. Each are great, however the Grand Hyatt Vail has extra of a resort really feel, and its outdoors grounds — together with the pool and the recent tubs — had been top-notch.

Backside line

For a two- or three-night journey, I’d keep on the Grand Hyatt Vail property once more. We had a wonderful expertise and actually appreciated the luxurious choices. Nevertheless, for an extended keep — or one the place I wish to discover extra — I would decide to remain nearer to Lionshead or Vail Village.

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