Park hyatt mendoza hotel casino & spa

I embarked on a 2-week trip to Uruguay and Argentina in early December I visited Punta del Este, a famous seaside resort town in Uruguay; Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital; Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital; and, finally, Mendoza, the city from which Argentina’s world-famous wine region gets its name.

I had visited Argentina several times before this trip — in fact, I studied abroad in Buenos Aires while I was a college student — but somehow never made it to Mendoza.

I was determined to make a wine-centered trip a reality on this trip to South America — but I needed a place to stay while I was there.

I wanted to explore the Valle de Uco (Uco Valley) during my time in Mendoza, which is about an hour from the city center. So my first thought was to book a hotel or a bed-and-breakfast directly in the valley so I could be close to the wineries.

However, I was booking fairly close-in to my departure, and those properties are small, which meant they were all sold out for my dates.

I then remembered that Park Hyatt has a property in the city of Mendoza, so I ran a quick search to see if it was available on points, and sure enough, it was!

Once I did some more digging and found out that it was going to be relatively easy to secure a tour of the Uco Valley despite staying in the center of town, I booked the hotel immediately for myself and my cousin, who I was traveling with.

Read on to find out what it’s like to stay at the Park Hyatt Mendoza Hotel, Casino & Spa!

Hotel Location

The Park Hyatt Mendoza occupies a central location in the city of Mendoza. It’s located in front of Plaza Independencia, a large park where events were held on both nights of my stay.

Many of Mendoza’s top restaurants, wine bars, breweries, and cafes are well within walking distance from the hotel, though things were very quiet when we arrived on a Sunday afternoon. On Monday, however, the town was buzzing with activity, especially around dinnertime (which starts no earlier than p.m.). If you’re going to spend any time in the city of Mendoza on a trip to the wine region, the Park Hyatt offers a tremendous location for taking advantage of all the city has to offer.

The hotel is located about 20 minutes by car from El Plumerillo International Airport (MDZ). The easiest way to get to the hotel from the airport is by taxi or rideshare. When we arrived, there were no taxis in the line outside the arrivals area. I tried to get an Uber, but none were around. Finally, I tried Cabify (iOS, Android), a Spanish rideshare platform that operates in Spain and certain countries in Latin America — Argentina included. I was able to hail a ride with Cabify and the minute ride from the airport to the hotel cost just $10 — it was about the same price on the way back to the airport at the end of my stay.

Hot Tip: Planning a trip to the region? Read up on all the best ways to get to Argentina using points and miles.

Booking

This property is a Category 3 World of Hyatt hotel, meaning award nights cost 9, World of Hyatt points on off-peak dates, 12, points on standard dates, and 15, points on peak dates.

Both of my nights were priced at the peak 15,point rate — but I was able to book 1 night with my free night certificate that I get annually as a perk of The World of Hyatt Credit Card. For the second night, I transferred 15, Chase Ultimate Rewards points earned with my Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card to my World of Hyatt account and booked the second night.

The hotel was charging about $ per night during my stay. Because we value World of Hyatt points at cents apiece, I only spent about $ worth of points in total, since the other night was booked with a free night certificate — I’ll take that deal any day!

This would be considered a “good deal” when booking with points, and I was happy to keep the cash in my pocket.

There aren’t a ton of choices for points travelers in Mendoza. Marriott has the Sheraton Mendoza, which sits at around the same price point as the Park Hyatt, if not a little less expensive. In addition, Marriott has the Auberge Du Vin, A Tribute Portfolio Hotel, in the Uco Valley, but that’s about an hour outside of town.

Checking In

My cousin and I arrived at the Park Hyatt around noon. We pulled up to the front entrance of the hotel where a staff member was waiting to open the doors to the car and take our bags.

The porter asked for my name and told me our bags would be delivered to the room as soon as it was ready.

We made our way to the front desk where there was no line. A check-in agent assisted me right away and was able to find and link my 2 separate reservations with no problem, guaranteeing we wouldn’t have to switch rooms.

I’m just a World of Hyatt Discoverist member thanks to holding the World of Hyatt card, so my benefits were limited at this property. The front desk agent did tell me that she was able to upgrade me to a higher floor and also offered a late checkout of 2 p.m., which I declined as I had an early flight on the morning of my departure.

Much to our pleasure, the room (a standard 2 Twin Beds room) was ready upon check-in. After waiting just a few minutes for our room keys we headed upstairs, ready for a quick nap before we set out to explore the city.

Lobby

The Park Hyatt Mendoza consists of 2 main buildings. The lobby, some of the hotel’s restaurants, and meeting spaces are housed in a Spanish colonial building that dates back to the 19th century. In addition, there’s a more modern “tower” that houses the guest rooms and suites.

The hotel began its life as the Plaza Hotel, which you can still see written atop the ornate columns framing the property’s entryway.

The lobby building featured a large outdoor terrace, on which the hotel had set up numerous tables, chairs, and umbrellas. Somewhat surprisingly, I never saw that many people sitting out there to enjoy the balmy weather, though it might’ve been a bit too hot to spend a lot of time outside.

The lobby is large and airy, with soaring ceilings and plenty of light coming in from huge glass windows on the backside.

The furniture wasn’t the most updated (that’ll be a theme throughout this review), but there were plenty of places to sit and relax. I was there around Christmastime, so it was decorated with a tree and other festive touches.

To the immediate right of the entrance was a dedicated sitting area, and to the left was one of the hotel’s restaurants, Bistro M.

At the back of the lobby was a glass-enclosed atrium that blended the colonial-era lobby building with the more modern hotel tower that housed the guest rooms and suites.

The atrium featured works of art and soaring glass walls and ceilings, allowing the entire space to be flooded with light.

Amenities

For a relatively compact property, the Park Hyatt Mendoza packs a punch in terms of amenities. Here’s a look at what it offers to guests:

Parking

The Park Hyatt Mendoza offers complimentary self and valet parking for guests.

Wi-Fi

The Park Hyatt Mendoza’s Wi-Fi was fast, consistent, and worked flawlessly in all the public areas I visited, including the pool.

Pet-friendly

This property markets itself as pet-friendly, with a program designed for dogs:

• Reservations with dogs need to be made at least 3 days in advance
• A $30 fee applies per stay of up to 6 nights
• After the sixth night, another $30 “deep-cleaning fee” applies
• Only dogs under 50 pounds are permitted
• There can be 2 dogs in 1 room as long as their combined weight is 75 pounds or less

Pool

There’s a small outdoor swimming pool at the Park Hyatt Mendoza, but I found it to be very enjoyable.

I visited the pool on my first afternoon in Mendoza, after a long walk around town. It was the perfect respite after spending 6 jam-packed days in Buenos Aires and then taking an early flight to Mendoza.

It was livelier than I expected, too, with fun music playing in the background and several groups of travelers swimming, enjoying cold beverages, and just having a great time.

Since it’s a small pool, the deck is also compact and doesn’t have a ton of chairs. However, I had no issue locking down 2 of them for a few hours.

There was a small bar set up in the corner of the deck staffed with friendly servers who were happy to mix up cocktails and bring food over from the nearby Uva restaurant.

Fitness Center

The on-property gym is open 24/7 with key card access and is well-equipped for a hotel of this size. It has everything you’d need to get a vacation workout in, including cardio machines, weight machines, free weights, and more.

Spa

The Kaua Club and Spa is a full-service spa that offers a full range of services including massages, facials, and nail and hair treatments.

Drawing on the local area, some of the treatments you can select are wine-centered.

I didn’t have time to visit the spa, unfortunately, but I noticed that the prices were very favorable for someone with U.S. dollars (keep in mind that prices fluctuate very frequently in Argentina due to its current high-inflation economic environment).

Casino

The Park Hyatt Mendoza boasts an on-site casino, Sun Plaza Mendoza, with table games, over slot machines, a high-limit area called the “Salón Prive,” and a bar.

I took a pass through the casino and noticed it was bustling with people, but the staff members repeatedly told me to not take photos on the casino floor, so I didn’t push my luck (pun intended).

The Room

It’s easy to tell the Park Hyatt Mendoza is an older property, but nowhere is that more apparent than in the guest rooms.

To be clear, I found the room to be a very comfortable place to lay my head, but it’s in need of renovation to bring it up to today’s standards, especially for a Park Hyatt property.

Let’s take a look.

Bedroom

My 2 Twin Bed room was relatively compact, but it was fine for 2 travelers. The door opened into a small foyer. Immediately to the left was the door to the bathroom, and straight ahead was a large window with a view over the cityscape.

In the center of the room were the 2 twin beds — there wasn’t a lot of space between them, so you’ll want to be comfortable with the person you’re traveling with, even though you won’t be sharing a bed with this room type.

On the outside of each bed were small nightstands with an alarm clock on one side and a telephone on the other. Each nightstand had a glass for water, a touch I always appreciate as I constantly wake up to have a sip of water throughout the night.

The back corner of the room featured a sitting chair, a floor lamp, and a small side table.

And in the front corner was another chair and a glass-topped table that could be used for dining or working, and in front of the beds was a smart TV mounted on a decorative wood backboard.

The room’s minibar area was built into an angled wall that separates the bedroom area from the bathroom.

On top were 2 complimentary water bottles, mugs for tea or coffee, a kettle, and some other supplies for making tea or coffee.

Below was a cabinet that housed the minibar snacks — though it was very lightly stocked with just a couple of sweet treats, a small can of Pringles, a single tall glass, and a bottle opener.

The minifridge was similarly sparse, though I did appreciate that a Champagne flute was popped in there in case I wanted to open one of the small bottles of bubbly.

The room was comfortable and was still in fairly good shape, but the design is very outdated and could certainly be modernized, especially because the Park Hyatt brand is supposed to represent the very best that Hyatt has to offer.

Bathroom

The bathroom was interesting in this room as it had 2 entrances and the aforementioned angled wall. One entrance was in the foyer and the other was next to one of the twin beds — and it was very close to the bed, which could be a problem for some.

The bathroom was covered largely in white marble. There was a single vanity on the angled wall with glass countertops — not my cup of tea, design-wise, but it worked just fine.

The toiletries were wine-themed, of course, and I loved how they smelled. They were replenished each day while we were out exploring.

There was a separate water closet with a toilet and bidet — a common sight in hotels outside the U.S.

The shower and bathtub were in a “room” of their own. Again, not my favorite design, but I could see how that was likely the only option for including a separate bathtub with limited space to work with.

The shower door consistently fell out of its track, unfortunately, and the showerhead went rogue on occasion, sending water everywhere.

Also in the bathroom was the room’s closet, which was of considerable size.

It had hangers for clothes, a luggage rack, a safe, a couple of robes, a pair of slippers, and more.

Bottom Line: The Park Hyatt Mendoza features comfortable guest rooms, but there’s no doubt they could use a refresh. But as long as you go in with your expectations set, you shouldn’t have any issues thoroughly enjoying this property.

Food and Beverage

I was surprised at how many options there were for eating and drinking at this property, given its relatively compact footprint. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to explore the dining options all that much because of what we had planned, but let’s take a look at what’s on offer.

Bistro M – Restaurant & Terraces

Bistro M is an all-day restaurant at the Park Hyatt Mendoza. It boasts dishes created with local ingredients and classic flavors of the region.

This is where the breakfast buffet was served each morning. If I had top-tier Globalist World of Hyatt status, it would have been included in my stay, but since I’m not a Globalist member, the buffet would have cost Arg$5, (~$27 at today’s exchange rate).

I would have appreciated having breakfast if it had been included, but that’s a pricey meal in Argentina, and there were plenty of places nearby at which you could get breakfast for much less.

Bistro M serves breakfast daily from a.m. to 11 a.m., lunch is served from 1 p.m. to p.m. Monday through Friday, and dinner is served daily from p.m. to a.m.

Las Terrazas de la Plaza

Las Terrazas is a casual all-day cafe with outdoor seating on the hotel’s expansive terraces fronting Plaza Independencia.

It serves coffee, tea, cocktails, and light meals. Las Terrazas is open from Monday to Wednesday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. From Thursday to Saturday, it’s open from 9 a.m. to midnight.

Grill Q — Parrilla Argentina

Grill Q is a classic Argentine parrilla that serves iconic dishes like empanadas, mouth-watering steaks, and, of course, delicious red wine.

The restaurant is open for dinner on Fridays and Saturdays from p.m. to a.m., and for lunch on Sundays from 1 p.m. to p.m.

Uvas Lounge & Bar

Uvas is a contemporary wine bar that serves a huge range of wines, paying homage to the local area.

It’s an expansive restaurant — there’s space inside in addition to an outdoor terrace which got crowded during World Cup matches (yes, I was in Argentina during its run to the World Cup championship, and it was as crazy as you’d think it’d be).

You could also order food and beverages from Uvas to the pool. I was doing plenty of eating during this trip, so I only ordered a cocktail, the Cynar spritz, for just about $5.

It was delightfully bitter and refreshing — perfect for a couple of relaxing hours by the pool after days of traveling.

Uvas is open from Monday to Wednesday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., and from Thursday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Ambar Living Bar

Ambar is located within the on-property casino and serves a range of cocktails, beers, and wines along with bar snacks. It’s open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 a.m.

Room Service

After a full day of wine tasting in the Uco Valley, nothing sounded better than relaxing and ordering room service. The Park Hyatt Mendoza has an extensive room service menu offering breakfast, lunch, dinner, and all-day items that are available from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily.

I ordered a club sandwich (~$15) and my cousin ordered pasta Pomodoro (~$11), which was served with a selection of bread. While not inexpensive by Argentine standards, I found the prices to be extremely agreeable for room service. The food was delivered in under 20 minutes and was hot and delicious.

Service

I found the service to be excellent at this hotel. Check-in agents were friendly and quick to get the process completed, bellmen were attentive and always asked if we needed help getting a taxi or with directions, and all the other members of staff were so friendly and genuinely interested in our story, what brought us to Argentina, and what we thought of their country, its food, and, of course, its wine.

Final Thoughts

Despite the hotel being outdated in many ways — some may even say this property doesn’t live up to the Park Hyatt brand standard — there were so many things about this property that made me smile, like the amazing staff members, the great little pool deck, and the old-world elegance found in the public areas of the hotel.

The Park Hyatt Mendoza’s location is fantastic, it’s a great deal on points, and it offers so many options for food and beverage. It’s true that this hotel needs to make investments — and soon — in bringing its guest rooms up to snuff, but I wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again if I’m lucky enough to go back to Mendoza.

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