I have an upcoming stay at a Hyatt property and am completely confused by their “deposit” policy. I understand some hotels require a deposit upon booking, even if you make a refundable reservation.
I’ll present the information about a Hyatt stay in New York and see if you can make any sense of it.
If it helps (but it won’t), I booked with an AAA rate to pay at the hotel. I didn’t notice any deposit information when I booked. I only started to investigate when I received a charge on my credit card.
The first thing I checked was the cancellation policy, which was reasonable. Cancel 48 hours prior to stay or pay a 1-night fee. 
So where did I miss a deposit? I checked my confirmation email and couldn’t find it. I eventually found it on the World of Hyatt app.
Supposedly, I was supposed to pay a 2-night deposit on February 23rd and today is March 16th. OK. So they’re running behind.
We’re staying for 2 nights and here’s the breakdown of the costs for our stay:
FWIW, with hotel rates what they are I’m fine paying $250 a night for a room in Manhattan. But if I’m supposed to pay a 2-night deposit, shouldn’t I have paid the entire $495?
My credit card was charged $213. That doesn’t even cover one night’s rate for the room. The closest I can get is that it’s a combination of the room rate and the “destination fee” for one night.
I’m the type of person who likes to keep things organized. If you want to charge me a 2-night deposit in February, then charge me. If I don’t see the charge, I’m figuring something is wrong and my reservation isn’t on the books.
The only reason I didn’t freak out about this was I didn’t see the deposit required when I booked the room. But now we’re 2 weeks past when you said you would take a deposit and the amount doesn’t make sense with our reservation, so I don’t know what to think.
I don’t have the brain power at the moment to worry about it and I’m thinking that’s a good thing. I’ll show up at my hotel for my reservation and pay wherever remainder they ask. But I’ll keep handy the credit card file showing that I’ve already paid part of the bill, just in case.
Am I the only one who is driven crazy by places that don’t follow their own policies, only to make up new ones with no notice? If I was low on cash and was planning expenses in advance, this might have been a big problem. I guess this Hyatt hotel doesn’t care.
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3 comments
Be prepared though to pay the entire amount in addition to that deposit. This has happened to me with Best Western in 2 California coastal spots, & 1 in Oregon within the last year or so. Book for 2 nights, 1 night is charged but considered as a deposit only, NOT paying your bill. I don’t find this out until getting there, despite my invoice clearly showing I have paid for at least 1 night (nary a word about deposits). So still on the hook for 2 nights & then waiting 1 – 2 weeks for that deposit to be refunded. Good luck! 🤦♀️🤷♀️
Years ago I booked a Hyatt room completely on points. No money involved. Until they insisted on a credit card deposit of one night at their regular rate. So the room booked in Jan for a Dec stay incurred a charge on my card. On checkin I asked how long would it take to be refunded. I was told almost immediately after my stay assuming they didn’t eat up the amount from incidentals like hotel parking charges etc.
Looks like the $213 is one night rate plus the taxes on that one not but without the destination fee. I’ve had the opposite experience with Hyatt. Often, the website states there will be a deposit but they never charge my credit card until I check in.