Hotels in Manhattan are often very expensive during peak season. The Hyatt Regency Jersey City is actually one of my favourite hotels in the area because of easy access to downtown NYC through PATH. The station is a stone’s throw from the hotel’s entrance, and has fast access to Newark Airport as well.

The Freddie Awards were being held here a few weeks ago, so I had this property booked for two nights before moving to the Park Hyatt. The award ceremony itself was great, although Aimia/Aeroplan didn’t win anything (unsurprisingly). World of/Hyatt also didn’t win anything, which was rather ironic.

Hyatt Regency Jersey City – Booking

Hyatt is one of my preferred hotel chains. I haven’t been the biggest fan of World of Hyatt changes, but you can still get great value through their points. The hotel is a category 5, with redemptions at 20,000 points a night or 10,000 + $125 on cash and points. Rates are often over $400, so that’s a fantastic deal.

This hotel was completely sold out for weeks leading into to the Freddies, so I was very happy I had locked in a points redemption months before. I had also applied a suite upgrade certificate on this points redemption, which you can now do with World of Hyatt. That’s one feature I really like about the new program. The upgrade normally clears in to the Hudson River suite.

Hyatt Regency Jersey City Review – Empire Suite

Imagine my surprise when I check in and the check-in agent tells me I had the presidential (Empire) suite, but gives me keys to a fourth floor room. That’s one of the lower floors, so I thought at first he had made a mistake stating the room category.

I’ve had my share of nice suites, but this room was absolutely stunning. I was just completely blown away. “Surprise and delight” is the term that some loyalty programs attempt to use –  that certainly described how I felt.

The Empire suite was massive, with a long entry hallway and a large closet for visitors.

The living room had plenty of seating and room for at least 20. There was also an attached corner kitchenette.

The half bathroom had plenty of towels for guests.

There was an additional seating area by the bedroom.

What was most stunning about the suite, however, was the private patio. It  was simply spectacular. It was as large as the suite itself, and had panoramic multi-million dollar views of downtown and midtown Manhattan.

You could also see the Statue of Liberty if you looked south.

The weather was pretty good during my stay, which made me enjoy the patio even more. One morning was quite foggy, and the views was just magical. It was unlike anything I seen, even though I’ve been to New York more times than I can remember.

How Did I Do This?

I got this suite largely because of my Globalist status, and the fact that the hotel was sold out. Given that Globalists are entitled to suite upgrades at arrival, that could potentially be a reason why I was slotted into this room. This is one of the exact reasons I like elite status. If you weren’t Globalist, this would never happen to you. It also just happens that these experiences always happen at Hyatt properties, so despite their devaluations, I just keep coming back, for good reason of course.

When I want an upgraded room, I usually send management at the hotel an email prior to arrival. While I was emailed by the hotel, that was because they thought I had a duplicate reservation, so this was definitely an unexpected upgrade. This suite has a rack rate of $5000, and isn’t even sold online. It was also ironic given that there were a lot of bloggers and loyalty program executives stuck with a regular room while I had the best suite in the property. 😉

Room rates start at $241 USD. Book your stay at the Hyatt Regency New Jersey here.

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