Stay or Skip? What To Know Before Booking the Category 4 Park Hyatt Mendoza

When judging a hotel stay, how do you balance great service and nice amenities against broken items in your room? Can you write those off when considering the bigger picture?

What if you’re upgraded to a suite at a luxury hotel brand — does that change your view on what you can tolerate in terms of torn carpet or broken room fixtures?

My wife and I recently spent a night at the Park Hyatt Mendoza in Argentina’s wine region. And the hotel could be really great, but it needs renovations before that can happen. Here’s a look at the positives from our stay and why I think the Park Hyatt Mendoza needs a renovation before it can justify its price tag.

Booking the Park Hyatt Mendoza

In 2024, the Park Hyatt Mendoza was reclassified as a Category 4 property under World of Hyatt’s annual category adjustments. In other words, standard guest rooms can be booked for 15,000 World of Hyatt points per night — though that could be 12,000 points during off-peak season or 18,000 points on peak dates.

As a Category 4 property, you can book the Park Hyatt Mendoza with a Category 1-4 free night award. You can earn those through Hyatt’s Milestone Rewards, Brand Explorer benefit, or The World of Hyatt Credit Card.

If you’re paying cash, rates hover around $300 per night for a standard room (before taxes and fees). Deluxe rooms cost over $500 per night on most days.

Hot Tip:

The Park Hyatt Mendoza is among the most affordable Park Hyatt hotels to book with cash or points. Redeeming 15,000 points for a $300 stay is a solid redemption. This provides 2 cents per point in value, which is above our average valuation of Hyatt points at 1.5 cents apiece.

Things I Liked About the Park Hyatt Mendoza

Let’s start with the positives, which included the location, above-average amenities, and fantastic service from the staff. We enjoyed the 1 night we spent at the Park Hyatt Mendoza in early December.

Great, Walkable Location

The Park Hyatt Mendoza faces Plaza Independencia, and the pedestrian-only street extending from the other side of the park is lined with shops, cafés, and restaurants. The neighborhood behind the hotel also had numerous bars, restaurants, and shops.

The hotel was easily reachable from the airport and within walking distance from several tourist spots in the city, including the Parque San Martín and the government complex near Parque Cívico.

Top-Notch Service From Staff

Staff at the hotel were impressive throughout our short stay — even before we arrived. I received a friendly email from the hotel a week before our arrival asking about our estimated arrival time and offering assistance with airport transfers, booking activities, or just general information. The tone of the email came off like staff were ready and willing to help with any questions we might have.

On arrival at the hotel, a bellhop rushed to our Uber to help carry our belongings, even though we just had 2 small backpacks and a carry-on roller bag — all this assistance even though it was 10 p.m. when we arrived.

The woman at the front desk was friendly and efficient. She gave us an efficient overview of the hotel’s amenities (which were numerous!) and then highlighted my Hyatt Globalist elite status benefits. Along with an offer of late checkout and our complimentary breakfast the following morning, she also upgraded our stay to a Park Suite.

The Park Suite was available for $450 per night during our stay and covered nearly 1,200 square feet. There was a spacious bedroom with earth tones and a comfortable, king-size bed.

The room’s entrance put us into a sprawling living room with multiple chairs and sofas, as well as a 6-person dining table, half bathroom, and even a nook with a desk and computer chair.

And the main bathroom had a large room with both a shower and bathtub inside, accessible through a glass door.

But the service went beyond just giving us an upgrade to a suite. We enjoyed the welcome gift staff had put on the coffee table in the living room. This included a pack of roasted cashews, a note from the general manager, and a bowl of fresh fruits. The cherries were a surprise — not a typical item in fruit baskets I’ve received at other hotels.

And the positive service extended to each interaction we had with staff. From the employee who greeted us at breakfast to the server who brought coffee, employees were friendly and helpful. Security guards and bellhops at the entrance were friendly every time we passed. Employees at the front desk were efficient and smiling whenever we asked for information, when we checked out, and when we asked them to hold our luggage while we ran a last-minute errand at checkout.

Fantastic Breakfast Buffet

I love a good hotel breakfast. Know what’s even better? A good hotel breakfast that’s free, thanks to elite status perks. The Park Hyatt Mendoza provided a buffet with numerous options, including pastries, cold cuts, fresh fruits, hot dishes, and an omelet station. Consider us surprised that there was no type of potato on the buffet, though.

And since Mendoza sits in Argentina’s wine region, there was even self-serve wine available at breakfast in the morning.

Servers also could bring coffee and tea, while multiple types of juice were available on the buffet.

Hotel Amenities

The Park Hyatt Mendoza is a large property and even has a casino on the ground floor. While we didn’t visit the casino, we did check out several other amenities, and they went beyond your typical hotel offerings.

For example, Bistro M, the same restaurant where we had breakfast, had an outdoor patio next to the hotel’s entrance and overlooking Plaza Independencia. This was a great spot to enjoy a meal or drink outside, and umbrellas provided comfort in the afternoon.

At the rear of the property, there was a small pool surrounded by lounge chairs. And there were restrooms nearby.

The spa was spacious and had modern amenities inside. And a fitness center nearby was compact but still had numerous types of equipment to suit nearly any exercise plan.

We also loved the art available throughout the hotel. For us, the highlight was this statue dedicated to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of “The Little Prince,” who stayed at the property in 1930 when it was the Plaza Hotel.

Downsides of the Park Hyatt Mendoza

While the hotel had numerous positives, the negatives were a bit surprising. I think the Park Hyatt Mendoza needs a major renovation — something it hasn’t done since 2001 when it converted from the Plaza Hotel to a Park Hyatt property.

Room Deficiencies

When our editor Nick Ellis stayed at the Park Hyatt Mendoza in December 2022, he noted that the rooms felt dated. Now, 2 years later, they’re more than dated.

There were cracks in the baseboards in our room — something we didn’t expect at Hyatt’s most premium brand and definitely not in a suite at a Park Hyatt.

Our room also had tears in the carpet in a few places, and the carpet was separating from the baseboards in multiple spots. Painting imperfections were also visible along the baseboards.

The rooms shouldn’t look dated or have cracks and tears, point blank. But it makes even less sense when you consider the hotel became more expensive when redeeming World of Hyatt points. Since the Park Hyatt Mendoza was upgraded from Category 3 to Category 4 last March, I find it puzzling considering the state of the hotel’s rooms.

Lost Dining Option

Moreover, the hotel eliminated a restaurant sometime in the past 2 years. Grill Q, a classic Argentinian grill, is no longer listed on the hotel’s dining page, and this was just an empty space during our recent stay.

Slow Internet

If it’s not too much to ask, I’d also like to see the Park Hyatt Mendoza upgrade its internet during a renovation. Downloads of 10 Mbps throughout the property left much to be desired, though the connection was reliable.

In all, the Park Hyatt Mendoza has a lot to offer and a lot it can be proud of. The staff and amenities are great overall. However, the rooms need improvements badly. Guests shouldn’t encounter torn carpet and cracked baseboards, at a bare minimum. And while those are being fixed, updating to more modern decor wouldn’t hurt.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we enjoyed our 1-night stay at the Park Hyatt Mendoza in Argentina. It has a good foundation that it can build on, but building is definitely required. The hotel’s staff and amenities were great, but our room (a suite, nonetheless) had surprising deficiencies. The hotel needs a renovation before it can truly be great — and before it can justify its recent move to a higher award category.