We had 5 trips booked for 2020, we managed 3. Not bad for such a cursed, horrific year. We tried going to Ukraine, Russia and Napa, and had a friend who booked the Napa Valley Andaz as a GOH, but even that couldn’t happen because Napa just burnt down in October. Finally, January 1, 2021. We jumped on a nonstop UA flight from EWR to CUN and had an amazing time. Below is our trip report of the Hyatt Ziva Cancun. Trip was booked by a friend and a group member, who selflessly and patiently worked with me on several trips and made arrangements on our behalf. To take advantage of the Guest of Honor benefit, you need to have a Globalist friend arrange a phone booking on your behalf, it only works one award stays or free night certificates. This is a benefit that was introduced back in 2015, when the Hyatt award program was still known as Gold Passport. The concept is that you as a guest of honor, will receive the same elite benefits as your Globalist friend who made the arrangements for you. Absolutely all Globalist perks are available to you during your stay, ranging from suite upgrades, late check-out, free parking, and more. A few challenges surfaced, such as the ancient system of completing paper forms to transfer points from one account to another, but a very small price to pay for such a huge reward.
At the start of the year, I transferred the necessary amount of points to the account of our Globalist friend, and he in turn booked the stay for the three of us as GOH (Guest of Honor).
We were booked into a standard King garden view but were upgraded to the Club tower Ocean View with two queens.
Ziva is a family-friendly all-inclusive resort in Cancun’s hotel zone on the tip of Punta Cancun, it sits on two white-sand beaches with cabanas, and plenty of daily activities. The room are modern and comfortable, and host furnished marble balconies. Typical to an all-inclusive, spacious, marble floors and bathrooms, cleaned daily for stays longer than 3 nights. Swim up suites are available, but not our scene.
Three infinity pools- including an adult only pool with two jet pools. An upscale (read, overpriced) spa with 13 treatment rooms and a hair/nail salon. Cancun’s nightlife spots are within walking distance. But we opted to not explore it due to the current pandemic situation.
Arrival: My husband arranged private transportation from Cancun to the Ziva, roughly 30-minute ride from the airport. Upon arrival, our temperature was checked before entering the hotel, and we were walked to the Club Tower check in. While checking in, we were offered the signature drink or any other alcoholic beverage, the Moet mimosas were delicious. My boys went to check out the property while I stayed behind to check us in. It was explained to me that we were upgraded to a club tower with double queen beds waterfront. Upsetting, as this wasn’t what I expected and was hoping for privacy for us and our son but accepted this upgrade.
The room:
The view of course was outstanding, the room spotless, I should mention that our room was not available until exactly 3pm.Our bags were disinfected and brought to our room. We changed and spent the rest of the evening exploring the gorgeous grounds of the hotel.
In the morning: I stopped by the club check in desk and requested a room change. Dealing with rowdy people who partied all night long wasn’t our idea of a great time. It took a bit of patience as the girl manning the desk didn’t have the authority to change our room and asked for my patience while she calls a manager. Within the next 30 minutes, we met a delightful young lady named Marisol, who apologized profusely and explained that she can move us to an entirely different building into a suite, but that it wont be a club tower, she said that she will make us a master key which will grant us access to the club tower should we want to stop by. This was in addition to our normal FOB to the new suite. We had to wait until 3pm to gain access to the two-floor pyramid tower suite. The Pyramid Suite Ocean front is comprised of two floors, two balconies, one of which had a hot tub. It worked out extremely well as our 21-year-old was with us, and we all got our own space and privacy. The downstairs had a pull-out sofa and a cot, television, balcony and its own bathroom.
The Food, Overall was not disappointing. There are many food options:
LaBastille, French cuisine, class elegant and relaxed, authentic French meals in a brasserie type setting. Go for the Escargots à la Bourguignonne and Parfait de foie gras et pomme au Calvados, sauce aux figues fumeés, you will thank me. Bouillabaisse was weak as was the Crème brûlée.
The Moongate, Asian influence; Dim sum and teppanyaki, Hibachi style dining. Least favorite. Place is hot, even now with capacity of roughly 15% in the entire resort and maybe 10 tables occupied, we were sweating with AC on full blast. We did not care for the food or service.
Lorenzo’s, Rustic Italian cuisine. Also was not impressed. Perhaps good for lunch, I’d skip dinner here. We didn’t care for the food nor the way the restaurant is set up. It seemed like were in an underground catacomb with bad service.
Chevy’s is an American diner, with Turquoise colored convertible Chevy in the middle of the floor. We’ve not tried it, though we stopped by to check it out. El Mercado is the Ziva’s buffet with many food stations. Great to grab fast food throughout the day. They do close for a few hours throughout the day to prep for lunch and dinner. Opens at 7am.
Tradewinds, Grill and Steakhouse, fantastic. Relaxed signature oceanfront venue, open for breakfast lunch and dinner. Their ribeye is delicious and super tender. Habanero’s, Mexican. Terrific tacos and ceviche, right on the beach. Try the dogfish turnovers.
Then there is the Candy shop (Pasteles) and the coffee shop (casa del Café).
The bars:
Tres Cerveza’s brewery, where we watched football while playing pool and eating ribeye nachos.
Juana Margarita Saasil Bar Punta Vista, outside the Club building Dips & Sips Poolside bar Bar Del Mar & Club Lounge
And if the above isn’t enough, 24-hour in suite dining I available.
To the meat of the deal: Somehow, I managed the entire stay for 25K a night for all 3 of us. Evidently it is lower than normal. Maybe there was a sale or perhaps I’m misremembering, I’m old it wouldn’t be the first time. The points were transferred from CSR to Hyatt. I am a Discoverist but was booked as a GOH by a Globalist. At the moment, Hyatt made it very simple and very painless to accelerate to Globalist quite quickly. For 2021, WOH drastically reduced the requirements for elite status this means that you will get top-tier Globalist status with just 30 nights.
Things are even better if you have or apply for the Hyatt Credit Card.
All registered (eligible stays) between January 1, 2021 and February 28, 2021, will earn double elite night credits! After that, you’d need just 22 elite night credits to get Globalist status. A mattress run of just 11 nights at a cheap local Hyatt from January 1, 2021, to February 28, 2021will yield a top tier status with Hyatt.
Globalists receive a Category 1 to 7 free night, a Category 1 to 4 free night, 4 suite upgrades, and 4 club lounge passes.
For those of us who resell, it is possible to earn Globalist status through Hyatt Credit Card spend. 2 elite night credits for every $5,000 spend.
We flew UA First for $99 pp. (upgrade fee), which was reimbursed by AMEX even though technically it wasn’t supposed to be, this was a real upgrade, not a seat assignment).
Return was on AA, more leg room, also reimbursed by AMEX
Had a checked in bag to the tune of $30, also credited by AMEX Hilton Aspire Airline Fee Credit I booked several activities for us using Ultimate Rewards, a fishing trip for my boys, where my son caught an 80LBS Sail fish as well as an 8LBS Snapper that was brought back and prepared for us at the French restaurant LaBastille.
A 10-hour excursion to a private club where we rode horses, atv’s and parasailed and snorkeled. A half day of scuba diving to an underwater museum, and an excursion to a cocoa plant. Without spending a dime.
In terms of Covid19 precautions, the hotel staff is fully masked and shielded. The restaurants are protected by plexiglass everywhere, staff serves food. You cannot even pour water or hot beverages for yourself. Floor markers reminding guests to social distance are clearly marked. Cleanliness is immaculate. Guests however, for the most part, are not masked, we observed very, very few people who are masked. During evening shows and other activities, the guests are not displaying concern about contracting the virus. And often are huddled together. My son tested on the 12th, and my husband and I tested yesterday. Thankfully, we’re negative. Math is challenging for me, always has been. I’m not going to even attempt figuring out the value of this redemption. I’m just going to summarize the week as magical, without any issues, safe, friendly, relaxing and truly enjoyable. Other than $200 in tips and $48 in food on the way back. We spent no money. If I were to guess, this was the most successful redemption for us, since we started on this amazing hobby.
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