Read more from this trip – Christmas in Argentina:

• American Airlines Admirals Club LaGuardia Airport LGA
• American Airlines First Class LGA-DFW
• American Airlines Flagship Lounge DFW
• American Airlines Premium Economy Class DFW-EZE
• Park Hyatt Buenos Aires
• Park Hyatt Mendoza
• Casa De Uco Vineyards & Wine Resort
• American Airlines Admirals Club Guarulhos International Airport GRU
• LATAM VIP Lounge Guarulhos International Airport GRU
• American Airlines Business Class GRU-JFK

Introduction

• Dates of hotel stay: 2 nights – December 27- December 29, 2019
• Where: Mendoza, Argentina
• Paid stay / points: Paid

Mendoza has been on my travel list for awhile. I was excited to dine on Argentine steak and go on some vineyard tours. There aren’t many luxury hotels in the city of Mendoza so the Park Hyatt is really the best game in town. The hotel has 186 rooms and suites with prices starting at under $200 USD per night.

Location

The Park Hyatt Mendoza is centrally located in Mendoza directly in front of the iconic Plaza Independencia. The hotel is roughly 20 minutes away from Mendoza International Airport. There’s only one remis taxi company authorized to pick passengers up from the airport. You can expect to pay $10-12 USD to get from the airport to the city center.

While taxis in Mendoza are generally considered safe and trustworthy I opted to book airport transfers through the hotel for the convenience factor. The transfer was reasonably priced at $25 and my driver was waiting for me holding a sign with my name on it.

Lobby / Check-in

The lobby has high ceilings and is flooded with natural light thanks the floor to ceiling windows. There was a large Christmas tree in the center of the lobby, which was the extent of the holiday decorations at the hotel.

There was only one person in front of me in the check-in line. Once it was my turn the check-in associate welcomed me and thanked me for being a Hyatt Explorist elite member. He informed me that I’d been upgraded from a Standard King Room to a Mountain View King Room and would be given free breakfast. While the room upgrade is a published benefit of the World of Hyatt program for Explorist elites, the free breakfast is only a published benefit for top tier Globalist elites so I was very appreciative.

The Park Hyatt Mendoza lobby isn’t quite as elegant as the Park Hyatt Buenos Aires, but it still features lovely contemporary artwork from local artists.

Room Details

I’m going to get this out of the way now: the Park Hyatt Mendoza could use a renovation. The room furnishings are dated. With that said some giraffes compare it to the Park Hyatt Buenos Aires, which isn’t a fair comparison since rooms are 30% of the price. Now on to the review.

The King Mountain View room is a decent size coming in at 387 square feet. The king sized bed is firm and very comfortable. The feather pillows on the other hand are flat and way too soft. I ended up stacking 3 pillows on top of each-other to get the right amount of neck support.

The room features a 49-inch Smart TV. There aren’t many English language channels, but my go-to travel channels including BBC World and Al Jazeera English are available.

If you need to get some work done during your time in Mendoza there’s a glass surfaced work desk and brown leather desk chair.

Make sure to bring a travel adapter to charge your laptop since you’ll only find Type I plugs at the Park Hyatt Mendoza. Type I plugs have three flat pins in a triangular pattern. For charging smaller devices there’s a single USB power port.

In the corner of the room you’ll find a lounge chair with matching ottoman. The chair was comfortable and I could see myself doing some reading here.

The view from the room is great. You can see the Andes Mountains in the background, which look spectacular at sunset.

The closet is located in the bathroom and is on the small side. It wasn’t really an issue for my 2-night stay, but I can foresee it being problematic if two people need to unpack for a longer stay.

You’ll find a safe located in the top right section of the closet. The room safe is large enough to accommodate a laptop or larger tablet, but there aren’t any power ports to keep your devices charged while locked inside.

The minibar is sparsely stocked, but you will find highball glasses, chocolates, Pringles and Oreo cookies. If you picked up some wine during day tours of Luján de Cuyo or the Uco Valley wine regions you’ll also find wine glasses and a corkscrew in the minibar area.

The minibar refrigerator is stocked with coke, Fernet Branca, Heineken beer, Redbull, sparkling wine, still and sparkling water. Fernet is an Italian black licorice-like aromatic spirit that is often mixed with coke in Argentina.

Bathroom

The bathroom features a crystal washbasin area, white marble walls and mirrors with chrome detailing. 

The shower and bathtub are technically separate, but are combined in the same area. The rain shower has excellent water pressure making for a luxurious shower experience.

Fitness Center / Pool / Spa

To try to offset some of the caloric damage done at the areas excellent restaurants and wineries I made several visits to the on-site fitness center.

The gym is rather small for a hotel this size, but it checks all the boxes. It has stationary bikes, ellipticals, treadmills and weight machines.

The main cardio / weight deck can get crowded during peak hours so don’t overlook the separate smaller cardio area. You’ll also find an exercise ball and various weighted medicine balls in this area.

Free weights are available and should be adequate for most gym goers, but bodybuilder types may be disappointed by limited weight range. In addition to standard dumbbells they also have a selection of kettlebells.

The view from the cardio machines is pleasant, but not spectacular. You overlook a taxi queue on a tree lined street. There is some interesting people watching as you can see people come and go from the hotel’s casino entrance.

Directly outside of the fitness center you’ll find the entrance to the Kaua Club & Spa. One unique feature of the spa in their products. They feature skin care products derived from Mendoza’s wines.

The spa has five treatment rooms and a large relaxation room with views overlooking the hotel’s Japanese garden.

Hotel guests are able to enjoy the spa area, which includes a cooling plunge pool and whirlpool.

There’s also a dry sauna and Turkish steam bath. Giraffes often like to steam after a long flight to sweat out the toxins.

The Kaua Club & Spa features a 17 x 10 meter outdoor pool. It’s open from 8am-9pm year-round (heated April 1st to October 30th). After checking-in to my room I headed out here for some sun bathing and swimming. A limited food and beverage menu is available at the pool. The servers are attentive and didn’t need to be chased down for drinks.

Breakfast

Breakfast is served daily from 6:30am-11:00am in Bistro M. The restaurant’s opening hours accommodate guests who have to leave on early morning tours.

The breakfast buffet has a nice variety of food available. Starting out they have capers, Danbo cheese, olive oil spread, smoked salmon (not pictured – they were restocking it) and pickled onions.

At the next station they have butter, cream cheese, ham, fresh tomatoes, roasted tomatoes and salami.

For those craving a sweet breakfast they have muffins.

Sweet croissants are also available.

The sweet breakfast offering continues with cinnamon rolls.

Healthier options are available including flax seats, fresh fruit and oatmeal.

The healthy options extend to their yogurt offering.

Traditional American breakfast items are available including bacon, breakfast sausage and potatoes with onions.

Options with protein include ham and cheese omelets and scrambled eggs.

Next up they have scones. Apricot jam and dulce de leche are available as toppings. Delicious!

Beverage options include fresh squeezed orange / watermelon juice and cucumber water.

Sparkling wine is included in the breakfast buffet. However, I recommend making mimosas with this as it isn’t very nice on its own.

Overall Verdict

First Class Giraffe Approved

The Park Hyatt Mendoza is an excellent value for the money and an excellent home base if you plan to explore the wineries of Mendoza. Don’t come here expecting a modern 5-star luxury hotel experience and you won’t be disappointed. The hotel’s staff is friendly and helpful, the rooms are well appointed even though they’re a bit dated and the breakfast buffet is satisfying.