Review: Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort

Destinations

Aug 21

One of our Travel Reward University students took a trip to Orlando with her husband and two daughters, ages 8 and 10, and used Hyatt points and a Free Night Certificate to stay at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort.

Here is her review of their trip:

Getting There

My husband earned a promotional companion pass from Southwest, so we wanted to take our girls to Orlando for a long weekend! We flew non-stop from Raleigh-Durham Airport to Orlando on a Saturday morning then went to the airport lounge called The Club at MCO to grab an early lunch before heading to the resort. We weren’t sure if we could get lounge access on arrival into Orlando, but we showed our Priority Pass codes on our phones and they scanned our boarding passes we used to get from RDU to Orlando, and in we went! We each have Priority Pass access at over 1,400 lounges worldwide from our Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Cards and it allows us to bring ourselves PLUS two guests! It’s not the fanciest of lounges, but it was great to get a free meal and our girls love getting the gummy bears there :)

Location and Booking

We took an Uber to the resort which was about 25 minutes away from the airport. This resort is a Category 4 hotel, meaning you need 12,000-18,000 Hyatt points per night to stay here. We booked two nights on points and used a Free Night Certificate for the 3rd night. We earned this Free Night Certificate by staying at 5 different Hyatt brands, which is a perk of the Hyatt Brand Explorer award.

There are several ways to earn points to book Hyatt hotels, and we were able to book this from opening one card - the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. You can actually book 4 nights a this resort just from opening this card and earning the welcome offer!

A great perk of using points to book Hyatt resorts is that the Resort Fee is waived. This fee would otherwise be $49 per night at this resort for access to all of their amenities.

The hotel lobby is inviting and has a tropical feel to it. Here you will find Merlot the parrot, the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Lobby Ambassador!

Amenities

There is SO much to do at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort! Our trip to Orlando included one day at SeaWorld, but the rest of our time was spent enjoying this resort. You could stay here for several days and not run out of activities to do. We utilized the bike rentals to ride around the lake, played both Miniature Golf and Pitch n Putt, the Basketball Court, and our girls loved the Rock Climbing Wall.

Miniature Golf, Basketball, Rock Climbing Wall and Bike Rentals are all included with your stay at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress!

There are also Pickleball Courts, a Ping Pong Table under the Grotto, nightly movies by the pool, and so many water activities. We got to enjoy the paddle boats and kayaks, and there were also paddle boards!

The pool was such a fun spot with a water slide and grotto. Even being there on a weekend, there were still plenty of chairs and room to move around in the pool without feeling too crowded.

We didn’t get a chance to take advantage of the transportation, but the resort offers four round-trip transportation to Disney every day as well as round-trip transportation to Universal Studios and a scheduled daily transportation to Disney Springs.

Rooms

We used our points and Free Night Certificate to book a Double Queen room. We were Hyatt Explorist members at the time and were given an upgrade to a high-floor room with a view overlooking the lake. The rooms were standard but spacious enough and clean for us for the weekend.

Dining

There are several different dining options to enjoy when you stay at this resort. There is a quick grab-and-go Market near the lobby, Lakehouse Sushi Bar, Lakehouse Restaurant and Bar, On the Rocks Poolside Restaurant, Four Flamingos, A Richard Blais Florida Kitchen, and the Lobby Bar.

We enjoyed lunch two days at the pool from On the Rocks Poolside Restaurant. The prices are what you would expect for a resort, but we found the portions to be bigger than we thought. My oldest and I went to Happy Hour at the Lakehouse Restaurant and Bar one night to grab dinner and it was a beautiful spot with reasonably priced food and drinks. If you have earned Hyatt Globalist Status, you can choose from the buffet or a-la-carte at the Lakehouse Restaurant for breakfast. Unfortunately we didn’t get to eat anything else throughout our stay, but there were lots of options if you don’t want to leave the property!

Sunset view from the elevator - you can actually see the Disney fireworks from here!

Overall Thoughts

We thought this was a GREAT place to stay for a weekend in Orlando, whether you are planning on spending time at the theme parks or not. There are so many activities you can do at the resort on your “off days” from the parks, or you can head to Orlando simply to enjoy this resort and a few days in the sun. As of April 2024, this hotel is still a Category 4 which means it is still a great option of a hotel that you can book with a Free Night Certificate. We will definitely be back!

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