I wrote a complete review of Park Hyatt St. Kitts last year, so I won’t do so again. Those who read the review might be surprised that I returned, but I asked my six year old daughter the places she wanted to go. The first one was St. Kitts because she loved the kids club so much. And the kids club there is great. This hotel is very family-friendly, lots of kids to play with, and the kids club has activities and a playground. When the hotel opened they charged for it, now it’s free for guests. And she wanted to go back.
For the summer she suggested Venice to ride boats in the canals and Egypt to see the pyramids. I told
her that summer might not be the best time for Egypt, but that we could stop into Venice.
The Park Hyatt St. Kitts beach is not good, though the pool is nice and the view of Nevis gorgeous. Rooms are nice, but that service is not good would be a genuine understatement even for the Caribbean and even ignoring expectations for a Park Hyatt.
Rooms could use a bit of maintenance, at least my room could have. It had creaky floors and a broken lamp beside the bed. TVs came on randomly throughout the stay on their own.
I had a deluxe pool suite again, which is magnificent, but the pool is not heated and gets quite cold. With a suite, beautiful view, and your own pool you want to stay around the room a bit and order room service but orders consistently come wrong.
Still, service was better at Fisherman’s Village than when we there last year. Room service was actually better than it was the prior year. And while not a beautiful, pristine beach it was an option, along with the pool, and we had a great time.
The Park Hyatt St. Kitts is an award category 7. Base rooms in season can go for over $1,300 per night, An ocean view suite you can confirm into for $1,700 and rooftop plunge pool suite for $2,242, deluxe which is a bit larger even more. You’d think service and attention to detail would be better at the price point, but everyone was certainly friendly and running a high end hotel in this spot is darned tough.
If I were running the property I’d have more staff doing more service checks and running interference when there are problems, expediting solutions. I’d restructure the beach area a bit if I were permitted to do so, bring in white sand, and replenish it. I’d vary the menu more to make it more attractive for guests to remain on property. I’d do in-room check-in and check-out, and utilize the front desk are differently since it’s not a spot you really return to for any other reason.
I enjoyed my stay, even a bit more this time. This property has so much potential. Though I imagine that while rates are high, there are too many periods of low occupancy and this isn’t helped by how limited air service is to St. Kitts. If the hotel were easier to get to – if I didn’t need to take a pre-6 a.m. flight or overnight on the way, and if return flights didn’t get me home at midnight – I’d visit more often.
Park Hyatt St. Kitts Check-In
Deluxe Plunge Pool Suite
Main Pool
Adult Pool
Beach
Breakfast
Park Hyatt St. Kitts Grounds
Kids Club
Are people really enduring all the inconvenience of traveling to this remote island to spend $2,000 a night for a poor experience? What’s the point? Just to say “Look at me, I vacationed at St. Kitts…” (Ooo la la! Very fancy!) We certainly are in a period of decadence.
Oh my god, look at those breakfast prices!!!
This hotel is in an isolated part of the island.
Once you’re here, they got you.
There is nothing to do around there, you may as well be anywhere else in the world, you wont even know what island you’re on
I agree with your review.
I am also a Globalist member.
Only one restaurant was open when we went.
Service was the worst of any awesome hotels I have stayed in Caribbean.
We did a day trip to Four Seasons, that was nice.
Pools are very nice at Park Hyatt.
Also hotel is in middle of no where.
I would stay at the Marriott in town, if I go back.
Great photos and comments, Gary! I presume you’re dealing with flights to/from Austin, so you really do have to take at least one-stop to get there. When I lived in FL, the nonstop from MIA with American was ideal, reasonable times, relatively reliable, etc. But, if I had a domestic connect through there, yeah, that’s not fun. Super stressful if there’s a delay, even with Global Entry, CLEAR, catching another flight within 2 hours it cutting it close, then yes, ending up at home super late. Eek.
Honestly, the best thing about this place is points redemptions and the views of Nevis Peak in the distance. While the higher-end guests may prefer the Four Seasons at Nevis, I kind of liked that you did not have to take a boat transfer after arriving at SKB airport. We opted to rent a car from a local company, which is not always ‘great’ on Caribbean islands, but it worked out for us, and we got to explore more of the island, instead of just staying at the resort the entire time. The drive from the airport to the resort is actually really cool. That Timothy Hill Overlook is epic.
Used points, got an upgrade to third floor with private pool–that was epic. During our stay, though, there was so much Sargassum (seaweed) that we really did not even try to snorkel or swim in the ocean–the team there do try their best to ‘clean it up,’ but you really cannot win against Mother Nature sometimes. The food was decent–we like fish, so we mostly had seafood at each meal (other than breakfast–like, we’re not Japanese).
Stayed there in May 2022, still sort-of pandemic-era, fully-vaccinated and boosted, still had to do tests before arrival, and in order to return home (to the USA), which was a little frustrating, because they lifted the requirements to return soon after (June 2022). It was so ridiculous to pay hundreds of dollars to have a cotton swab rammed up your nose, then have the intimidation of possibly having the expense and inconvenience of an indefinite quarantine.
It could be worse, Gary, you could have been at the de-flagged Renaissance Carambola on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In all seriousness, I find the service in the English-speaking islands Caribbean to be awful. Mexico, the Dominican Republic and even Puerto Rico are better. Aruba too. And don’t forget: Saint Kitts and Nevis is a COMMUNIST country. While they still have the British king, the regime is fully in bed with Cuba and Beijing.
What I don’t understand is why this is a Park Hyatt. Why is there a Park Hyatt on Saint Kitts? And yet there isn’t a Park Hyatt in Denver, Dallas, Houston, Orlando, Miami, Naples, etc.
Nick Thomas: Your comment is probably one of the most stupid I have read in ages. St Kitts is one of the dozen or so countries that does not recognize (supposedly) Communist China but rather Capitalist Republic of China. Your government in either the US or UK is however in bed with Beijing. So stop lecturing the World about who they should be acquainted with, and educate yourself.
Gary, what instrument did you use to upgrade? Just status?
@Nick Thomas — I’m with @Minos in saying your comment was ‘beyond the pale.’ If countries could sue for defamation, you likely just libeled Saint Kitts and Nevis, though I hope you meant it in-jest, like as an ‘insult,’ not a serious or literal charge. Nevertheless, such a statement can be harmful, especially against individuals, since we (in the USA, at least) still have laws on the books (from the 1950s) outlawing communists and affiliated parties in our country. Just be careful with such a (often false) accusation against anyone or anything, is all I’m saying.
Some facts for you and others: Since its independence in 1983, Saint Kitts and Nevis is a sovereign, democratic, and federal state. It is a Commonwealth realm, a constitutional monarchy with the King of Saint Christopher and Nevis, Charles III, as its head of state. The King is represented in the country by a Governor-General, who acts on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. The Prime Minister is the leader of the majority party of the House, and the cabinet conducts affairs of state.
Having visited the country, I found nothing ‘communist’ about it, other than the occasional example of poverty, which is more a ‘human’ problem (wealth inequality) than a ‘communist’ thing. Comparatively, I have visited three of the five official ‘communist’ countries in the world: China, Vietnam, and Laos. Based on my experiences, I found that even they are ‘communist’ in-name only as there is ample private ownership, wealth, and greed in all those places, too. So, rest assured, thanks to globalization, capitalism thrives everywhere, even there. Yup. We did it. We defeated ‘communism’! The real issue was not economics, it was that we opposed totalitarian authoritarian dictatorships, which unfortunately, many ‘communist’ countries became. Lest we forget the lessons of history, that could happen anywhere, even here (in the US). Take care!
I misspoke. Saint Kitts is fully in bed with communist Cuba. I was thinking of Grenada. Their prime minister is a communist who went recently to the CCP “museum” in Beijing and actually bragged about visiting that “museum.” But China is buying up all the Caribbean islands. It’s only a matter of time before Saint Kitts flips its recognition of Taiwan to Beijing.
And for what it’s worth, the Saint Kitts prime minister is from the socialist Labour Party.
Thanks for the report and pictures Gary. This is why I started reading your blog. The hotel looks very nice to me, much better than the La Quinta I’m staying in tonight in Denton. But I do get a free breakfast tomorrow and so does my dog.