How Diamond Status Scored Me a Presidential Suite at Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa

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If you’ve been following my blog for a few months, you probably know that I am mildly obsessed with Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa  It really is a great place to vacation with a family, and Diamond status made it considerably sweeter.

Nature meets “fancy”

It’s interesting to note that our first visit started out in a basic (well, upgraded) room, followed by a regular suite and culminated in the super fancy presidential suite with the evening turndown service. But let me back up.

As I’ve mentioned before, I had several suite upgrades that were burning a hole in my virtual pocket. My Hyatt Diamond status is set to expire on February 28th, and I got a bit spoiled by extra room, nice upgraded amenities etc. So, while the kids were out of school, I decided to book one last (I think) Hyatt getaway while utilizing my suite upgrade.

Originally, we were supposed to go to a property in Orlando, but the weather forecast looked much better in Bonita Springs area. So, I swapped the reservation without penalty when I saw that Cash+Points rate became available at  Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa That’s the nice thing about hotel points, you can do crazy stuff like that.

We were booked in 1-bedroom Bay suite that has one king bed and a sleeper sofa. My kids fight when sharing a bed, and I didn’t really want to drag a sleeping cot with us. So, I called the hotel right before we were about to leave and requested a rollaway (free). To my shock and amazement, I was informed that we were upgraded to a presidential suite that had two bedrooms. I asked if it would be OK to bring extra people with us, and they said sure. The suite has an occupancy limit of 7.

As soon as I got off the phone, I called my in-laws who live across the street from us. I asked them if they would like to come along and they agreed. It’s funny because it was actually their wedding anniversary and I completely forgot. My father-in-law told me: “I figured you guys were probably planning a surprise for us.” Umm, sure.

So, I brought the whole gang and we immediately went to the club lounge for dinner (access is free with Diamond status). Later in the evening we enjoyed complimentary deserts, followed by fabulous breakfast in the morning.

On to the suite. It was yuuuge! Seriously, I was dancing for joy when we entered it. There was so much room to spread out.

My in-laws shared a bedroom on the right, which had a lock for privacy. They also had their own bathroom. 

We put the kids in the living room. They also had their own small bathroom (without shower)There was a nespresso machine. I like, I like!

I forgot to take photos of our bedroom, but suffice to say, it was magnificent. There were a total of 4 balconies if I remember correctly. Normally, this suite costs over $1,000 per night, and that’s without lounge access. Instead, I paid $145+7,500 Hyatt points. Unlike last time, they did charge me resort fee of $30 per night (plus tax), but I felt it would be highly obnoxious to try to get out of it. Yes, I hate resort fees with a passion, but my cheapness has its limits. We sure got our money’s worth even with bogus surcharges.

The following day we took a ferry to a private Hyatt island where we spent a few hours. But mostly, we enjoyed pools and the new waterpark:

At one point my husband and I went down the slide together while using a double tube. I was in the front and somehow the stupid thing overturned. Well, my husband (who weighs 250 pounds) partially landed on top of me, which was mildly painful and a little scary! I told him it was poetic justice. I crushed his spirit and in turn, he crushed me…literally.

We got most of our meals at the lounge, but did order one lunch at the pool. It came to, drum roll please, $100 for six of us. Nothing fancy, just some sandwiches and soft drinks. This is an upscale resort, and they price food accordingly since you are, essentially,  in captivity. So, yeah, having lounge access for two days was a wonderful thing.

My embarassing moment

I’m an early riser, so I went to the lounge by myself to have breakfast around 7 AM. Afterwards I went back to the room only to find that my key wasn’t working. I kept swiping it to no avail. Finally, I decided to knock on the door.

These sleepy kids (not mine) opened the door and there were exhausted parents in the background. Somehow I mixed up the floor number and tried to enter the wrong suite. Those poor people were sleeping, probably after an exhausting flight. Sad.

 

Bottom line

Even my husband was impressed by the presidential suite. It will be hard to go back to our normal way of doing things, but we’ll survive. He asked me how much the trip cost us, and I told him it was around $600 for the 2-night stay, including gas, lunch and housekeeping tips.

I speculatively value UR points transferred from Chase at around 1.25 cents each. I also used $100 Hyatt gift card that I bought at a 20% discount to pay part of the cash portion of the bill, and the rest was covered via sign-up bonus from Barclaycard Arrival Plus.

My husband thought it was a fantastic deal. Most importantly, we got to do this trip with my in-laws who loved every minute of it. Was our mini-vacation free? No way. But consider what we got: The suite for six people! Free food! Free boat ride! Use of waterpark! All of it during holidays when the rates are at their highest. I’m not complaining. In fact, I would go again in a heartbeat, but our savings account just can’t handle it. Back to reality. Goodbye Hyatt Diamond status, and thanks for the memories.

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