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Hyatt Regency Indian Wells – Executive Suite with Amex FHR Benefits
Miles is on a Diamond Challenge, and as a result he’s looking for awesome deals to get those extra few nights to push him past the 12 nights in 60 days mark – so what better a time to take a little side- trip and review a hotel you’ve always been thinking of staying at.
Even better? It’s an American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts member with buy 2 get the 3rd free at $124/night. That’s $83 a night pro rated!
- FHR gets guaranteed check in at 12pm
- Late check out at 4pm
- Breakfast for 2 each day
- Room upgrade based on availability on check-in
- An extra amenity – in this case $100 resort credit
Few things about the benefits not listed.
- Resort fee of 26 bucks can’t be paid for with the resort credit.
- Movies, also, can’t be paid for with the resort credit. Food, spa, activities can be.
Breakfast ended up being roughly $35/day. That’s $105 in savings right there. Along with the Resort credit which we used for a couple lunches was $205 in savings on a $107/night room including resort fees. Here’s where it got even better.
Our upgrade?
From a view king to an Executive Suite – which more or less is a ground floor version of their penthouse suite. It was also $300 more expensive per night.
This is the exact reason that I am such an advocate of the American Express Platinum card if you travel at all.
- We got a free night.
- Over $200 in amenities on a room rate of $258 over 3 days.
- Upgrade worth over $300/night.
- At buy 2 get 1 that’s $600 in value
- Add in the airline credit of $200 a year with the card
- Global Entry reimbursement of $100
With this little trip alone we earned $200 in amenities, $600 in upgrades, and $124 in free room promotions. That’s nearly $1000 without including the other fringe benefits of the card. At $450 a year in annual fee, we’ve just paid for 2 years of membership on one trip. Not too shabby!
The interior is modern and refurbished
On to the suite.
The upgrade was amazing. It gave us so much room to spread out and relax. For two people and a Miles it’s definitely way more space than we needed but the Front desk associate that checked us in HOOKED US UP!!!! I’ve had way more amazing upgrades than I have had that latter, and I think being platinum status with hyatt helped a bit.
The hotel certainly looks great. Our room had some minor upgrades but as a whole I think could use a face lift to match the rest of the look and feel of the hotel. The space was enormous but there were little signs of aging – like the showers ( which were dated and had terrible water pressure ) and the problem with insects. It’s a desert hotel and I think some of this can be attributed to guest behavior – with food laying around, but that bug was found when we walked in the door. We were paying a significant reduced rate compared to what this hotel goes for in peak season. It was 110F every day we were there, but the resort was still packed with families. Had this been a peak season rate in the mid 300s I would not have been happy. Especially if I had booked this suite in peak season at over a grand a night ( which, unless I win the lottery, isn’t happening anytime soon, but DAMMIT hypothetically I wouldn’t have been happy 😉 ) The only other complaint would be that the ice machine was next to the bedroom, and Miles loves to sleep with a fan app buzzing, but when it wasn’t, you could clearly hear people getting ice. I’m a light sleeper and it woke me up.
The food in the hotel, from what we had, was delicious. The small sundry market off the entrance is awesome too. Great little things to nibble on: sweets, sandwiches, pastries, and Starbucks coffee ( YESSSSSS)
Would I go back?
Absolutely, if it were this price. There are sooooooo many incredible hotels around the Palm Springs area, and being a hotel geek – I’d chase the best deal. But at roughly $100 a night to stay in a 4star hotel in a huge suite… I mean Cah’mon – you can’t beat that! And Miles gets closer to Diamond?!?! It’s a no brainer!
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