The Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki is one of the nicer hotels in the city of Thessaloniki in Northern Greece. Having stayed there several times, I can tell you that it is definitely a hotel worth staying at. Not only is it a lovely place, but it also offers some nice extras.
Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki
Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki – taken from their website
Location
The Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki is perfectly situated a short two miles from the Thessaloniki Airport (SKG) and is set a few miles outside of the city itself. Even though it is not right in the thick of things, its location is still optimal for the traveler who wants a little of everything. There are cafes near the Ikea plaza just a couple of miles down the road as well as a small village another two miles on the other side that has some wonderful little restaurants and cafes.
Not only does it have some quaint areas nearby, it is also just off the road to Halkidiki, the famous Greek beach area. If you are just arriving in the area, flying out, or just want a nice place to be able to relax to at the end of the day, the Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki is in a great position.
Getting There
The valet parking and entrance to the hotel
The hotel offers both a shuttle to the airport and to the city, so you are well covered with your transportation while here. Also, the nearby Ikea plaza is also the main bus station for the area and you can pick up a bus there to just about anyplace in the area. The cost is about $1.25 per segment.
There is plenty of free parking, in case you will have a car. They offer both valet parking and self-parking. The self-parking option is free. If you are flying in to the airport, just arrange with the hotel for their shuttle to pick you and expect a very short drive to the hotel.
If you classify a hotel by the cars parked, this Bentley says some nice things about this hotel!
Hotel Entrance/Check-In
The lobby is a beautifully decorated area with a lounge area to sit for some food and drinks. The check-in counter is just to the left and I have never found lines to be that bad. They have a small sign for Hyatt Platinum/Diamond members, but there is otherwise no special lane for them (or a dedicated agent).
To your right is the restaurant and to the left is the walkway to the elevators to the rooms. Their are some small shops and beauty areas along the walk in case you need to pick up any type of keepsake to take home. 🙂
It is worth noting that I have stayed at this hotel as both a Platinum and Diamond member. With both statuses, I was warmly welcomed and informed that I was given an upgrade to a suite. For the most part, the suites that I have had in this hotel have been almost identical with the only difference in the recent suite being that we had a door between the bedroom and living room.
One more thing to take note of is that, even as a Platinum, I was offered breakfast for two people. I found that to be very generous considering that complimentary breakfast is only a perk for Diamond members. Given how special they seemed to think it was to have me there, I imagine that they do not get a lot of Hyatt elite members.
Even though I chose to receive points as my amenity, I found a drink and fruit amenity waiting for me in my room when I got there. I have found this to be the case at a few different foreign Hyatt hotels. I am not sure if they are just assuming that is what I will have so they put it in my room ahead of time or if that is just their basic welcome and then they offer something else.
The Rooom
As I mentioned, each time we have stayed here, we have received a suite. So, these photos and descriptions are only of the suites and not the normal room. However, if the normal rooms are anything like the bedroom portion of the suite, I am sure they are just as nice and comfortable as this one was.
They have three general classes of rooms and then they have suites. The rooms are broken down as Standard, View, and Deluxe. For the suites, they have that category broken down even further into four various suites. We were upgraded to the basic suite, the Regency Suite King.
The Regency Suite King is a 860 sq. ft. space separated into two separate rooms. Some of the suites have a door that divides the living room and bedroom while others are a more open design. Truthfully, both were great, but the one with the door is nice if you are traveling with kids. The ones with the door actually have two TVs – one in each area.
The sitting room of the suite
The king bed is somewhat firm (which I like) while the pillows they have are very soft. I am not a big fan of that, but I know everyone is different. Fortunately, they have several pillows so doubling up seems to work just fine.
The room has a work desk, a coffee table, and a large couch as well. The couch works perfectly for one of our children to sleep on while the back and side cushions make a perfect bed on the floor for another child. 🙂 A complimentary crib rounds out the sleeping arrangements for the youngest child.
The small hallway leading to the bathroom
While the room and bed themselves are comfortable, the big winners in these rooms are the balconies and bathrooms. To start, the bathroom is down a small hall that has an area to set your suitcase on as well as the closets. Once you are in the bathroom, you will be surprised by the sheer size of it. It definitely does not remind you of your typical smallish-European bathroom! It is probably about the size of a small hotel bedroom.
The bathroom has a large sink and mirror with a nice tub behind that on the other end of the bathroom. Near a somewhat natural divider in the bathroom floor plan, you have the spacious walk-in shower. It is really big! The glass walls/doors add to the big appearance as well.
The balcony is another great touch. It has some chairs and lounge chairs as well as little tables. Our balconies overlooked the garden areas and it was a joy to have so much greenery to look at (we do not get a lot of that here). It was a very relaxing place with enough breeze in the area to cool us down even on the warmest of days (which we were there for).
The balcony
The other side of the long balcony
Restaurant
As a Hyatt Diamond member, I am able to have breakfast for up to 4 guests (registered, but that has not always been the case for me). I had expected to pay the child’s rate for our 5th person in the family but we have always been taken to our seats and never even presented with a bill when they heard our name and room number. Very nice and helpful! Because we have not seen a bill, I cannot speak to what the breakfast costs but I would imagine it would be around $20 a person.
The restaurant
We had access both to the buffet line and the ordering of other breakfast items like pancakes, French toast, eggs of any sort, waffles, and some other specialty items. The buffet itself would be completely filling with a great variety of local breads and many Greek breakfast foods – yogurt and bougatsa for two of them. They also had many cereals to choose from and a long table of fruits, vegetables, and cheeses.
Part of the sitting area
One of the great things about their food is that many of the vegetables are grown right in their own gardens on the premises! I don’t think I have ever had fresher food at a hotel before!
Our kids absolutely loved the food there (as did we) and the waitresses were very accommodating to our children and kept coming around to see if there was anything else they could get them. The kids loved the variety of juices and the waitresses kept making sure their glasses were full.
The seating is plentiful and you can eat inside or outside on a covered porch which overlooks their pool area.
Pool and Fitness
Normally, a pool would not really warrant much of a mention from me, but this pool(s) is entirely different.
The whole pool area is more like an expansive courtyard with an outdoor cafe and two separate pools. The large pool could actually be three separate pools but is instead routed around the whole outside area. The other pool is actually a huge kiddy pool that is not deeper than about 2 feet. Our kids loved playing this pool. It was slightly graded throughout which gave the kids the impression it was more of an adult pool. 🙂
Part of the large pool
Outside of the kiddy pool was a grassy area with lifesize chess and an equally sized Connect Four game. These were just a little away from a playground and a kiddy house. It was definitely a hotel that has gone out of their way to be welcoming to young families and we greatly appreciated it!
The kiddie pool
Near the pool was an abundance of lounge chairs and umbrellas. The staff comes around periodically to take orders or bring complimentary glasses of ice water.
The fitness center just inside is very well-appointed. I do not have any photos at this time because it was very busy when I was there and I did not want to be rude – I will update this with photos after my next trip. They had many pieces of workout equipment – strength-building machines, bikes, treadmills, and elliptical machines. They also have many free weights and an indoor pool. This fitness center is so nice that they actually offer memberships to people in the area. A monthly membership starts at about $180 a month – not cheap but easily the nicest fitness center in the area.
Staying There
The Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki is a Category 3 hotel which means it would take 12,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points for a free night. If you chose to go the Points + Cash rate (which is elite qualifying), it is 6,000 points per night + $75. Being that it is within the Category 1 – 4 range, it is also qualifying for the free anniversary night that comes with the Hyatt Chase card.
One thing – apparently the hotel’s computer system does not process Points + Cash stays correctly. This means you may need to call the Hyatt line for help to get it properly assigned so it will count for an elite night. It is no problem as they can see what happened. Just wait 48 hours after you check-out before you call.
To pay to stay, rates are more like $200+ per night so this is a great hotel to get some serious value from your points. If you are a Diamond and have suite upgrades, I would actually roll the dice and not apply them to your stay here unless you really need it. We have stayed here several times and been upgraded each time into the suite that a Suite Upgrade would have given us anyway.
Summary
This is an excellent hotel and a Hyatt that is probably deserving to be a higher category than it really is (please, don’t change it, Hyatt!). Not only is the property a first-rate place and the rooms very well-kept, but the staff is very helpful and charming. I cannot say enough things about all the employees that we have dealt with here.
For the Runner
Thessaloniki is home to the Alexander the Great Marathon in April and the Thessaloniki Night Half Marathon in October. If you were going to travel for a foreign half marathon, then this would be the one I would pick. The crowd is incredibly supportive and being able to run the streets of Thessaloniki at night is really great. Not only that, but the start and finish are near the iconic White Tower which adds to the uniqueness of this race. If you choose to run either of these events, the Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki would make a great base!
