Hyatt Regency Rome Central

We’ve had Hyatt Globalist status for years and stayed at Hyatts around the world, generally finding the brand reliable, thoughtful, and hospitable. That’s why our experience with the Hyatt Regency Rome Central has been so astonishing. Eight months before our European holiday, we booked three rooms for seven family members: a suite with an adjoining room, plus a separate room for two grandparents. We planned part of the trip around the stay, assuming a hotel taking reservations intended to open. While we were already in Europe, an email told us the bookings had been cancelled because it wouldn’t be opening after all. It’s quite a feat to disrupt a family vacation from a building that has never made a bed. The alternatives were no better. Hyatt couldn’t move us to comparable family accommodation in Rome. The closest option we could find was about $6,000 for two nights and still a downgrade. They also couldn’t place us at another family-friendly Hyatt. Instead, we were invited to spend even more of our recently devalued Hyatt points at a Mr. & Mrs. Smith property, which seemed designed for childless couples who want aperitifs and uninterrupted quiet, or to pay cash for rooms elsewhere. The confidence is remarkable: cancel the vacation, then offer to help us spend more money fixing the problem. Another suggestion was to come back in September. That would mean taking three children out of school, asking two aging grandparents to make another transatlantic trip, rearranging seven schedules, buying more airfare, and recreating a holiday planned nearly a year earlier. Apparently, that would be at our expense. The hotel has had so many opening dates that it feels less like a hotel and more like a royal baby, always expected and never arriving. If this keeps happening, when do reservations for a property that may or may not open become speculative fiction? The apparent remedy was simply, “Here’s your refund. Best of luck.” A refund works for a returned sweater. This was a planned family holiday for seven, with international flights, elderly parents, three young children, and months of preparation. I understand construction delays happen. Rome wasn’t built in a day. But after multiple delays, you’d think a company as large and sophisticated as Hyatt would stop selling rooms in a place that isn’t meaningfully a hotel yet. I hope the Hyatt Regency Rome Central eventually opens and is beautiful, with an excellent breakfast. When it welcomes its first guests, someone should put up a small plaque: “Dedicated to all the families who booked this property during its imaginary phase.”