Overall: Great value in a neat city
Pros: Large hotel, convenient location near “the bats,” fun outdoor area
Cons: Slow elevators, doesn’t feel very updated despite recent renovation
Paid: 2 free nights and 15,000 Hyatt points for 3 nights
Value: $1,234 including taxes and fees.
How to stay here without paying full price:
- Get the Hyatt credit card and link it to your account. You can also get a card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and set it up to link to your Hyatt account.
- Hit the minimum spend required for whatever card you chose:
- $3K spend on the Hyatt credit card in the first 3 months gives you 25,000 Hyatt points; AND
- $6K total spend in 6 months (so an additional $3K) gives you another 25,000 Hyatt points;
- $4K for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card gives you 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
- Wait for your bonus points to land in your Hyatt account. (AND/OR, wait for your free anniversary night and any other promotional award nights.) Transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards to your Hyatt account as necessary.
- Once your bonus points/nights hit your Hyatt account, search the app or website for award availability. Standard rooms at the Hyatt Regency Austin are 15,000 points per night.
- Book online through the Hyatt app or website.
- For a full set of step-by-step instructions, see my guide to booking Hyatt hotels for free.
Full Review: Hyatt Regency Austin:
This hotel represents an incredible value for Hyatt/Chase points, and it’s easy to book. Austin, TX is a really trendy city where the hotels tend to cost a lot. I’m pleasantly surprised that Hyatt doesn’t play games with award availability.
This hotel costs 15,000 points per night, and since it’s a Category 4 hotel, you can actually use your annual free night certificates and other promotional award nights. I’m really glad I booked this hotel for a 3-day weekend.
This is a BIG hotel with over 500 rooms. It feels like it was built in the 1980s, but I couldn’t verify that independently. It’s been recently renovated, and while it definitely looks clean and has plenty of outlets in the rooms, it didn’t feel particularly updated to me.
Our check-in process was normal, which was great, because I had done a complicated booking. I made 3 separate reservations using various award nights and points, so I’m impressed they were able to string all 3 reservations together for us. (Trust me, LOTS of hotels make this mistake, but not the Hyatt Regency Austin.)
Our room was just a normal, non-updated King room without an impressive view, but that’s perfectly ok with me. The hotel was booked solid and we visited for free on a popular holiday weekend.
The bed was comfortable and there were plenty of outlets everywhere.
Review: Hyatt Regency Austin Outdoor Areas
I think the best thing about this hotel is the outdoor areas. The hotel is right by Austin’s “bats,” which you can easily view by walking a very short distance along the Hyatt Regency Austin’s trail.
We didn’t actually see the bats because we were too busy enjoying Austin’s restaurants and nightlife, but we loved the beautiful trail by Austin’s Lady Bird Lake. And the bats are supposed to be a real spectacle to see, one we’ll have to go back to Austin for.
The pool itself is small, but the deck area wraps around the property and is well-staffed with servers taking drink orders.
My partner and I ordered a couple of drinks, then a basket of chicken fingers and fries. The food took quite a while to come out, but when it did, the server proactively offered us another round of drinks due to the long wait. I thought that was really classy.
This was a great base from which to explore the rest of the city. Austin is more spread out than I anticipated, so you still need to take Ubers to a bunch of locations. However, the Hyatt Regency Austin is pretty central.
Review: Hyatt Regency Austin – Value per Hyatt point
Value is where this hotel, and the Hyatt brand in general, really stands out. My partner and I stayed for 3 nights over Memorial Day Weekend and were very impressed with Hyatt. The hotel was full, but we were still able to find award availability. My spouse had 2 “free nights” in her Hyatt account, one for the cardmember anniversary and one for staying at 5 Hyatt brands. Free nights are limited to Category 1-4 hotels in the Hyatt brand, which means you can book hotels up to 15,000 points per night. The great thing about Hyatt is, lots of their hotels fall into Category 1-4, and they tend to be really nice too!
Hyatt Regency Austin is a Category 4, and Austin’s popularity often makes it a great value for 15,000 points per night.
In this case, Memorial Day Weekend was particularly busy. The hotel required a three-night minimum stay to book using points. That seemed reasonable, but when I tried to combine my partner’s 2 free night certificates with an extra 15,000 points, this didn’t work automatically. I knew there was award availability, though, so I called Hyatt.
Hyatt’s customer service staff have always been helpful and knowledgeable in my experience. This was no exception, as the agent I spoke to was able to book my desired stay using the combination of 15,000 points and two award nights. It was actually 3 separate reservations. Regardless, it all worked out and linked together properly.
The stay would’ve cost $1,234 including taxes and fees for 3 nights, which would’ve represented 2.74 cents per Hyatt point if we had paid entirely with points. This far exceeds The Points Guy’s valuation of Hyatt points at 1.7 cents apiece.
The free night certificates were each worth $411, which is an incredible value for paying the $95 annual fee on the Hyatt credit card and receiving the annual free night.
Bottom Line
I wish I had longer to explore the city of Austin, as this was our first time visiting and there’s so much to do. However, I had a good experience at the Hyatt Regency Austin and found it to be a great value. It’s not high-end luxury like I’ve seen at the Conrad Osaka or the Park Hyatt Tokyo, but I’d absolutely stay here the next time I’m in Austin.
Check out my guide for a step-by-step booking process for Hyatt hotels!
