re: Credit Card Rewards and Points Discussion

TL;DR version

Based on my experience, if you wanted a more intimate/romantic vacation in Cancun I'd definitely recommend. Don't expect a vibrant social/party scene though


Wife and I are planning at looking into Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall in the spring based on this experience

Can you use points at that Hyatt Zilara and how many per night? I just checked a few dates and points didn't come up

Hmm, not bad. The dates I'm looking at is $530/night so 25k points is a little more than 2 cents/point. Trying to figure out what to use my CSP points on

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I'm interested in your thoughts on the food, drinks, service, and atmosphere.

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Here is a breakdown with photos at the bottom


Airport to Hotel

Takes about 15-20min to get from Airport to hotel. We took a taxi (~$20, most give slight discount for Pesos) from the airport to Hyatt Zilara. You can reserve a Hyatt Zilara Lincoln Navigator ahead of time for ~$75 ($130 RT) depending on availability.


**When you get a CC bill, it will be in Pesos despite "$" so a $360 bill is about $20 USD**


Hotel Check in

When we pulled up, bell hops assisted us with all our bags while giving us wet towels + water bottles as check in process started. They also took out alcoholic drink order

Check in went over room details, hotel amenities, restaurant details/hours and so on. Due to Platinum status and being booked at king rooms at our level, we took the option to be bumped to a premium "suite" (all are suites) for ~$25/night. That gave us a slightly better room/balcony, better location and bigger balcony


Our bags were brought to our room within about 5 minutes of walking into the room.

Beach/Pool

Wanted to add this small section to say that poolside cabanas are first come first serve. I walked down at 7-730am and found the last cabana right next to the pool at the far side. No idea how early to get cabanas next to swim up bar or more centralized


Beach cabanas are always open it seemed like and the beach is incredible.

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food

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The food was solid but nothing special. I didn't have a bad meal but there was nothing that blew me away. Poolside swim up restaurant Pelicanos was under construction/closed

Marie Marie Me: Pretty good Wife: Meh -

Extremely hot which killed the mood. Ya it is summer but all other restaurants had AC

La Adalita (Cantina in Marie Marie) Me: Favorite Wife: Good

Serves cool Tapas with unique drink menu specific to the them. Some cool photos below

Chef's Plate (Premium Suite/Diamond Status only reservations)- Me: Solid Wife: below average

This is their reservation only fine dining restaurant and has a "FOrmal Casual" attire. It is a 6 course meal with a sommelier on hand. Service was excellent but food wasn't on that level for fine dining.

Sauce Buffet Me: Good Wife: Great

For the context of a buffet, it was great. We went for breakfast/lunch most days. A ton of options, made to order options for omelet and pasta plus allowed dry beach wear inside.


Asiana Me: Good Wife: Favorite

They were booked for Teppanyaki/Hibachi which everyone raves about for dinner. We went for lunch and they had good sushi and I enjoyed the sweet & sour pork. I also saw them give cooking classes


24 Hour Lounge

They have self service liquor station and random daily rotating options for chips & salsa with either ribs/chili/wings.

Cafe Bistro Place-

Pleasantly surprised with their coffee selection and quality. We got lattes probably twice a day to feed my caffeine addiction. The baked goods weren't my favorite selection but wife enjoyed them.

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drinks

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They use solid quality liquor. My whisky cokes were Makers Mark and tequila was typically Jose Cuervo (occasionally well). They do a good job of quickly mixing drinks that taste but they rarely put an adequate enough amount of liquor even when I asked for extra/double shots.

I ended up just filling up cups at the 24hr lounge self serve liquor station or my free room mini bar to top off all my drinks

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service

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Service was exceptional. I read a ton of horror stories about All Inclusive hotels and their service. At the Hyatt Zilara, every employee we encountered was helpful, friendly and social/engaging. Whether at a pool cabana, lobby or restaurant they constantly checked in to ensure every want/desire was met.

The only complaint would be that the concierge couldn't figure out how to get us or where to rent stand up paddle boards. Cost us a $20 taxi ride as they sent us to the wrong place

They also had free live shows every night in the lobby area at 9pm which were about 45m-1hr and entertaining. We saw some hip hop type dancing with acrobatics and a fantasy acrobatic type thing (pics below)

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atmosphere

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As mentioned earlier, I would recommend this for more intimate getaways. The wife and I needed some alone time and this was perfect. We had plenty of space at the pool, the beaches felt secluded despite prime real estate, restaurant tables were appropriately spaced and set for two etc

We did see social people and opportunities to meet people, we didn't want that and never felt pressure or forced to do things with/around others. There was a small social scene around swimup bar/ beach volleyball area during the day then lobby lounge + Teppanyaki at night. Just extremely easy to avoid that if it isn't what you want


Rooms

I'd recommend the lowest level King room available. They all seem to be categorized as "suites" with a jacuzzi and similar amenities. Other than a slightly bigger balcony, there seemed to be no difference between the King rooms


The "swim up" suites have their own pool area/chairs but they don't connect to the pool and unless the hotel was packed, I couldn't see a justification for them.





Pictures that I took. Youc an find more pictures on the many reviews

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Free Bottle of wine when we arrived in our room

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View of beach cabanas from balcony

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View of resort pools + Pelicanos from balcony

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Lobby daytime

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Walking up to pool from lobby

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Poolside chairs

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Beachside Dinner for extra ~$200 (I didn't do it)

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Hotel from beach

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Sitting at La Adalita Cantina background is Marie Marie dining area

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La Adalita Waiter making Mayan Coffee (Sorry but we brought our low end DSLR which sucks in low light)

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Free Lobby Show Pictures

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We've stayed at The Royal PDC many times and this looks exactly the same

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We've stayed at The Royal PDC many times and this looks exactly the same

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Probably because it was the Royal Cancun and Hyatt bought it


I guess Hyatt has been going through the process of trying to upgrade things since taking over. From what it sounded like, they are doing long term work on improvements

Chase Sapphie Reserve rumors

100K Ultimate Rewards Signup Bonus
$450 Annual Fee
$300 Airline Credit
Priority Pass Select
3X Points Travel & Dining
Visa Infinite

LINK

If you're getting $300 annual airline credit with only $450 Annual fee it is easily worth it

Rookie question. I am under the 5/24 Chase criteria until December. My wife is not. However, she is a stay at home mom and for taxes file jointly. Can I claim my income as hers for purposes of completing a credit card application in her name?

That looks pretty nice. Post makes me more likely to consider it as an option.

I rate your post a success

Looking through my stack of CC and I have a few that I haven't used in forever. I have a Sam's club CC (I use Costco now) and another from Synchrony bank - which I haven't used in 3 years and don't plan on using it again.

Should I close these cards or keep them open?