CcELast month we stayed for two nights at the Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach. The hotel is a category 5 on the Hyatt award chart, so we used 20,000 points per night, which also allowed us to receive free parking (free with Globalist status on award stays, otherwise $23). The hotel also has resort fees of $30, which are waived for Globalist members.

After booking, I used a Globalist Suite Upgrade voucher to confirm an upgrade to a King one bedroom suite. A few days before our stay, the hotel’s General Manager reached out via email to ask about our arrival time and confirm our party size. Since I told him we were 4 adults and one child, he proactively said that he would see if they could accommodate us in a larger room.

Arrival and check-in:

We arrived and parked our car at the hotel’s self-parking garage and took the elevator down to the 2nd floor, and then the main staircase to the hotel’s front desk on the ground floor. The hotel’s valet and self parking entrances are on the east side of the building (the side opposite the beach).

We arrived at around 1pm and checked in. Checking in was a bit lengthy and the front desk attendant at the Globalist desk did not seem to be familiar with all the elite benefits, because after thanking me for being a Globalist member and confirming my points booking, said that the cost of parking would be $23, which I had to correct and point out as actually being free. There was also no question about needing 4pm checkout. She also (correctly) set up the restaurant breakfast benefit (the hotel does not have a Regency Club), to comp 2 adults and 1 child in our party, with the additional two adults as paying guests.

We were also told that we had been upgraded to an oceanview two-bedroom suite, which we were very happy to hear because of all the extra space, which was much needed.

The hotel’s common areas are on the second floor. There is also a coffee shop directly in front of the main restaurant.

Two-bedroom suite:

The suite was on the 9th floor, just above the Pool, and it was enormous. The dining room table was by the entrance next to the full kitchen and the living room.

The living-room was spacious and had a sofa bed, although the working station was a very small counter space next to the TV. I ended up just using the dining-room table as a work space.

The small bedroom was near the entrance, and faced the main pool. There was a full bathroom next to the smaller bedroom, by the suite’s entrance. This was the smallest of the suite’s two full bathrooms.

Opposite the first bedroom and bathroom and past the living-room was the master bedroom with the master bathroom. The master bedroom had unobstructed views of the beach.

The master bathroom had both a shower and a bathtub, and a separate toilet.

The master bedroom also had a large closet with the safe and bath robes, but no slippers. I ordered some through the Hyatt app.

The suite had a balcony which faced both the pool on one side and the beach on the other. It was accessible both through the living-room and the master bedroom, and the views and weather were perfect that weekend to sit outside. Below are some views from the balcony at different times of day.

Overall, the suite was spacious, comfortable and surprisingly quiet for being right above the pool. The room had a couple of maintenance issues like one bathroom drain not working properly, one toilet having issues flushing and a couple of doors not properly locking. Some of it we reported and were fixed during our stay. We thoroughly enjoyed our time during our stay.

Amenities:

As mentioned, the pool was right above our room, and it was relatively empty considering the size of the hotel. I chalked it to the fact that the beach in Clearwater is very nice. The pool does have a weird set up, because it’s on the 8th floor, but the hot tub was on the rooftop, which was inconvenient. In any case, the rooftop was closed during our stay for a wedding, so we could not use the hot tub anyway. The pool did have a fenced-in children’s pool which our son used during our time there.

Also being right above the pool, the logical thing to do was to just take the stairs from our room right down to the pool, since our room was the one directly above the kiddy pool (see above photo). However, the staircases only had one-way access. As such, going to the pool required walking the entire length of the hallway and taking the elevator down. I also felt that for whatever reason (engineering, logistical or design issues) the hotel missed out on having a great infinity pool with unobstructed views of the Gulf of Mexico at sunset. The location and set up is perfect for an infinity pool, yet somehow it just wasn’t designed that way. The pool tiles also felt very slippery during the time we spent there.

The property also had a Camp Hyatt for kids. It seemed closed when we walked by, and I’m not sure what the rates are, if any, or what hours they operate.

Restaurant breakfast:

This hotel does not have a Regency Club. Globalist members receive complimentary full breakfast or buffet for up to 2 adults and 2 children at Shor, the hotel’s main restaurant on the second floor.

My wife, our son and I ordered from the menu both days, and my wife’s parents ordered the buffet. The food was tasty and fresh, and the buffet looked very clean and had plenty of food variety.

While the Hyatt Globalist breakfast benefit covers up to 2 adults and 2 children, in practice the hotel covered our entire breakfast bill, which was over $100 both days. This is very common at Hyatt properties that offer full breakfast. The only thing that wasn’t covered was the $12 mimosa flight, presumably because it was alcohol. I had one both mornings and it was really good and refreshing.

Service the first day was very good and attentive. The second day we sat in the outside terrace to enjoy the weather, and service was below average, with our son’s breakfast not being brought out, which required a reminder after we were almost done eating, and then another 15 minutes to bring out (meaning they had forgotten to make it). Waters were never refilled.

We also ordered lunch for take out from the restaurant the day of our departure and picked it up at the coffee shop. The food tasted good and was priced reasonably. We also took advantage of the fully equipped kitchen and cooked lunch one day in the room. There are several good restaurants with fresh seafood within a couple of blocks of the hotel, and we tried two of them during our stay.

The gym and the spa are also on the 8th floor. We did not use either.

One of the best features of the hotel is the location and the beach itself. Clearwater is a great beach, and although Florida has had its issues with red tide the past several months, there were no issues when we went. The beach has umbrellas, beach chairs and cabanas with lounge chairs, which you can conveniently charge to the room and earn points for. We rented a cabana one of the days. It was $40 for the entire day, or $20 after 3pm. An umbrella with 2 chairs was $30 all day, and $15 after 3pm.

Overall impression:

We really liked this property, the accommodations, restaurant food and overall service. We are local and are very familiar with Clearwater. This was a staycation for us, and I can see myself going back for another one several times. While the category 5 price puts it out of range for using Hyatt category 1-4 free night certificates, I felt that the 20,000 price for the location, hotel quality and Globalist benefits was more than justified. We loved the property and definitely recommend a stay there if you ever visit Clearwater.

The is a post from FreeTravelGuys.