Benefiting from Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts at Park Hyatt Hamburg

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• C77 says:

  16 Jul16 July 04:43

  I was under the impression that with a Platinum card, FHR rates can only be booked via Amex / on their website in order to qualify for the rate and exclusive benefits. How can Bon Vivant book these?

  • barnaby100 says:

    16 Jul16 July 06:32

    They are a Virtuoso agent- a scheme which has similar benefits to FHR.

  • Rob says:

    16 Jul16 July 09:18

    Not sure of the process, but all luxury agents can access them – you still need to have a Plat card though.

• barnaby100 says:

  16 Jul16 July 06:31

  The FHR rate typically bears no resemblance to any rate on the hotel website (it is more expensive) whilst so far the Bon Vivant rate has been the same as a published rate.

  • Rob says:

    16 Jul16 July 09:17

    That is the key difference between FHR (which can vary) and Virtuoso / Bon Vivant.

    We ‘overpay’ via FHR occasionally to guarantee the 4pm checkout though, or when we will use the food credit.

• Adey says:

  16 Jul16 July 08:33

  There are also offers such as ‘3 nights for the price of 2’ and ‘4 nights for the price of 3’ with the FHR programme.

• Kevin says:

  16 Jul16 July 08:39

  I am a massive fan of booking via the FHR programme. I’ve used it in Barcelona, New York, Bali, and a few other cities. I’ve been upgraded every single time – sometimes to rooms / suites 2/3 categories above what I’ve booked. I’ve basically received every benefit listed, every single time.

  This has incredible benefit when considering that sometimes a room’s rate may be £250 per night, and the upgraded room may be £850 per night (this happened at the EDITION hotel in NYC). Throw in the “pay for 2, stay for 3” deal and it becomes a no-brainer.

  One note of correction: the rates are definitely not fixed. When in Bali, we initially booked The Ritz at around £320 per night, and then a week later the rate dropped to £240. A simple call to the concierge and they were able to cancel the booking so that I could rebook it at the lower rate (they can’t rebook for you as it’s churning).

  Overall, I can certainly recommend FHR! It’s the reason I’m renewing my platinum card.

  • Genghis says:

    16 Jul16 July 08:45

    What was your opinion on the RC Bali?

    • Kevin says:

      16 Jul16 July 09:14

      The hotel itself is really good. We were upgraded from a ‘Lagoon access suite’ to a ‘Ritz Carlton Lagoon Access Suite’, which was around 130sqm, or something ridiculous. The bed is probably 2.5m x 2.5m, there’s a massive bathroom and a guest loo, plenty fruit supplied, a daybed, etc etc. The suite was truly impressive!

      The hotel is very large, and you need buggies to get around (readily available). The pool area is quite good, but the beach is not that good. Overall, the service was very good, but I did not find the food to be all that impressive.

      The location is not great. Nusa Dua is full of resorts, so you are very far removed from any sort of Bali vibe. We had a great time at the hotel, but only stayed 4 nights and decided not to extend. After that, we spent a night in Canggu, and then two nights at the Marriott Courtyard in Seminyak – where the gold status also helped – early checkin, late checkout, discount on food etc. Unfortunately no upgrade there as the hotel was 100% full.

      • Genghis says:

        16 Jul16 July 10:12

        We stayed only one night in April and by the sounds of it we got the same room as you. The room itself very impressive, one of the best I’ve stayed in, and grounds very impressive, pool nice. The service was a right shocker, however. As such, I only gave it a 3* TA review. On check out I explained everything that had gone wrong to the duty manager so hopefully such feedback is taken onboard to make this a really fantastic hotel. We much preferred our remaining time at the Conrad up the road.

        • PAL says:

          16 Jul16 July 15:07

          You guys think Bali has lost its appeal now?

        • the real harry1 says:

          16 Jul16 July 15:16

          I was very unimpressed with Denpasar as far back as the year 2000 – not my scene at all – that’s where 80% of tourists stay and I would advise against, it’s pretty awful

          however the rest of the island is great

        • Genghis says:

          16 Jul16 July 15:29

          We stayed just outside Ubud for 4 nights then to the RC for one night and the Conrad for seven. Highly recommended. We avoided Kuta area completely. I went in 2009 and it wasn’t my scene then so not at all now I’m in my early 30s.

  • Darren says:

    16 Jul16 July 09:50

    Maybe it’s down to frequency of use, I have only used FHR once in the Pen in BKK, didn’t receive the upgrade but found the benefits of breakfast and late check out very useful. The dining credit was a little restrictive, but handy nonetheless.

    I use SLH Club all the time, mainly because I prefer smaller hotels rather than chains, which gives free breakfast, upgrade if available which I have been quite fortunate with. But, the scheme is changing to a more ‘focussed’ experience.

• Butzi says:

  16 Jul16 July 08:42

  I have heard a lot of negative things about the Club and the breakfast/restaurant, since it must be very crowded!?

  • Rob says:

    16 Jul16 July 09:08

    I have been here at a weekend and found it busy. Pretty dead at 9am on a Friday. Club was always very empty.

• PAL says:

  16 Jul16 July 08:48

  Hey Rob, any reason you keep going to this rather than Kempinski or Grand Elysée?

  • Rob says:

    16 Jul16 July 09:07

    Force of habit; unwillingness to risk a surprise on a 1 night stay; convenience for S-Bahn to airport

• Simon says:

  16 Jul16 July 10:42

  The misconception that Amex is expensive is not true. FHR rates (and virtuoso) are what a hotel website would have under “best available rate” – it is a flexible rate
  It is true that hotels sometimes offer a 5-10% discount directly but these rates are pre paid and non refundable. Amex tells fhr guest that they benefits are consider to a value of prox 500usd.

  • Rob says:

    16 Jul16 July 12:07

    Not true for Amex, true for Virtuoso.

  • barnaby100 says:

    16 Jul16 July 14:58

    Not true for Amex. Some hotels have a totally different FHR rate. Four seasons would be a typical example. RC in Singapore is another that I can think of (better booking directly with the hotel and negotiating for extras in my experience)

• BLT says:

  16 Jul16 July 10:44

  OT but related to Amex platinum. I was caught up in the BA IT fiasco and my MAN – NCE flight was cancelled. BA paid EU compensation and hotel but refused to cover consequential loss of F1 Monaco GP tickets. Sent claim to Amex platinum (AXA) which has been refused on the grounds that as I made my own way to NCE 48 hours later I’m only covered for the inconvenience insurance. They have a huge exclusion on any consequential loss to not include cancellation of a flight by the airline. So beware Amex platinum insurance is not comprehensive.

  • Jonathan Martin says:

    16 Jul16 July 22:47

    Hi BLT – can you confirm that BA paid your wasted hotel nights?

    I missed out on 2 nights in Venice and, apart from paying Eu261 & some incidentals, BA are refusing to pay the lost hotels (inc 1 night at Stucky Molino!).

    Thx,

    Jolly.

    • BLT says:

      16 Jul16 July 23:08

      Not the wasted hotel nights. They reimbursed hotel at MAN airport we had to book due to cancelled flight. Seems like between BA and Amex/ AXA you are screwed for consequential loss.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.