After reading great reviews about the all-inclusive Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos, I booked a week-long stay in March. I ran into some difficulties during the booking process, including lack of award availability, but found a way around that. If you’re interested in staying at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos, here are some tips for booking paid and points rates:
Redeeming Points at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos
The Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos requires 20,000 points per night. The Hyatt website does not display award availability. In fact, you’ll often get a message that, “The special offer/rate you have selected is unavailable during these dates”.
This may not actually be the case. Above that message are instructions for calling Hyatt Gold Passport to redeem an award.
To find award space, you have to call Hyatt Gold Passport and ask a representative to search for it. Only one of the five nights I wanted was available on points, while the hotel was still selling standard rooms. I imagine it had something to do with the busy Spring Break travel season, when there is much more demand.
The representative did find a premium award for 32,000 points per night. This was going to be the same room type but with an ocean view. Pass. I did not want to spend 12,000 extra points for a better view, so I moved on to Plan B…
Saving on Cash Rates at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos
Paid rates at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos can be pretty hefty – we’re talking $1,000+ per night. However, the resort was running a 50% off promotion, which brought the cost down significantly. Depending on paid rates, it might make sense to pay with Arrival Milesrather than redeeming Hyatt points.
I didn’t want to pay $1,000+ per night for two rooms and redeeming points was pretty much out of the question. Remembering how much I saved with the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal, I decided to check it out and found an incredible deal…
Booking the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos Through the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal
When I couldn’t find award availability and cash rates were too high for a reasonable Arrival redemption ($540 per night before taxes), I turned to the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal. I used the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal last summer to book cheap activities and a room at the Conrad Bali Nusa Dua. You can find some really great deals and point rates through the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal, where points are worth 1.25 cents each.
Sure enough, I not only found reasonable point rates but over 50% off paid rates! The same room selling for $540 on the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos website was going for $284.08 with taxes included. There was also an option to use 22,726 Ultimate Rewards points per night.
This was slightly higher than the 20,000 points required by Hyatt, but it was still preferable to redeeming 32,000 points for a “room with a view” or paying the $540 cash rate displayed on the Hyatt website. I ended up using my Ultimate Rewards points to cover most of the cost for two rooms I booked.
It’s important to note these rates through the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal will not earn Hyatt points or stay credit. That’s worth the 50% savings, in my opinion. There are also lots of different room types to choose from through the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal, many of which were cheaper than a “premium” Hyatt award.
Also, while you won’t earn points or stay credit on a stay booked through the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal, you can still add the reservation to your Gold Passport account, but only one day before arrival.
Saving on Swim Up Rooms at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos Through HotelsCombined
I found another great hotel gem recently and thought it was worth adding to this list: HotelsCombined. Full disclosure: If you use my link and end up clicking through to book, I’ll get a $0.50 commission. I know, I’m rolling with the big boys now.
Anyway, HotelsCombined searches over 50 travel sites for the best deals and I’ve found some very competitive rates at some sample properties, including the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos. I searched rates on April 18 -22, 2016. Swim Up rooms were selling for 40% less than on the Hyatt website.
After I clicked through to the actual travel website listing these rates, I found the rates displayed on HotelsCombined were pretty much inclusive of taxes.
The same Swim Up Rooms selling for $456 per night on HotelsCombined were going for $768 per night on the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos website.
A couple things are off about the initial search. First, the results page lists the Hyatt Place Los Cabos but the photos and room types displayed are for the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos.
While the cheapest rate highlighted is $1,824 for four nights (for a Ziva Swim Up Master Double), when you look at the list of rooms, there’s another option: $1,794 for four nights in a Ziva Ocean View Master Double.
After clicking through to Booking.com, you’ll find the rate changes to $2,136. There is a lower rate of $1,708.80 for four nights, but it’s for one guest rather than two.
Redeeming Two Free Nights from the Chase Hyatt Visa at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos
If you plan ahead, you could redeem the sign-up bonus from the Chase Hyatt Visa at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos. The two free nights can be used at any Hyatt hotel worldwide. While most people prefer to redeem them at top category hotels, you can get great value applying them to all-inclusive stays.
Not everyone has time to fly to the Maldives or scrounge up enough points to stay more than two nights at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome. For some, an all-inclusive vacation in Mexico, where additional nights can be easily covered with points is perfectly sufficient.
Upgrading a Room at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos
All of the rooms at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos are considered suites. But you can book a premium room for 32,000 points per night. Booking a premium award or redeeming a Hyatt Diamond Suite Upgrade Award on a paid stay only gets you an ocean view room – which many Diamond members get upgraded to anyway. Probably not worth shelling out the extra points for, in my opinion.
When I called the front desk to inquire about the type of room I could confirm with a Hyatt Diamond Suite Upgrade Award, I was told they couldn’t tell me that until check-in time. Another front desk agent quoted me $300 per night to upgrade to a swim-up suite.
The front desk wasn’t particularly helpful, so I called up Hyatt Gold Passport. A representative informed me that one of my rooms had already been upgraded to a Hyatt Ziva Suite. Tacking on a Suite Upgrade Award along with a $75 nightly fee would get me a swim-up room.
When I called back to confirm this upgrade, the representative didn’t know what I was referring to and transferred me to the hotel’s front desk. Once again, I was told they couldn’t confirm anything in advance.
Final Thoughts
That being said, I don’t think it’s necessary to book anything above a standard room. This isn’t the type of resort where you’ll spend a lot of time in the room. You’ll be out, enjoying the great restaurants, the beach, and lots of on-site and off-site activities.
Our suites were spacious, but we didn’t spend much time in them and would have been fine in standard rooms. As I pointed out in my initial post about this resort, I do think that while the swim-up suites are a novelty, they’re pointless here since they’re located five feet from the main pool, around the corner from the adults-only pool and lack any privacy.
Unless you’re traveling with kids and want to relax by the pool without worrying about leaving them completely unattended, the swim-up suites aren’t necessary. Or worth shelling out an extra $300 per night for.
Do you have any tips or tricks for saving big at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos? Please share them in the comment section.
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