This time I went to Changsha and stayed at the Changsha Grand Hyatt Hotel again, and I managed to get breakfast by emailing ahead and asking for a favor. Here’s an update on this stay.

This article was contributed by reader Lulu. If you have good content, feel free to contact us at [email protected]

Latest 2024 experience

The email and check-in

For this stay, I wanted to try emailing ahead and see whether I could get free breakfast. I had ChatGPT help me draft the email, found the Changsha Grand Hyatt Hotel email address, and sent it over. To improve my chances, I mentioned that I would be writing a review on USCC101.

  • After a few hours, I got a reply. They said that if I showed a social media or website link at check-in, they would provide breakfast and an upgrade, and that they had already made a note in my reservation

Usually, if you say you’re writing a review when you ask ahead, the hotel will just agree right away and rarely asks to see the website. Since they did ask, I just showed them my site, which should be fine! Haha. If you don’t want to call and ask in person, I’d recommend using ChatGPT + email directly.

At check-in, I specifically mentioned that the hotel had already made a note, and I asked for breakfast and an upgrade. The front desk asked me to open the website and show it to her. I specifically pointed to the articles on the site about The St. Regis Changsha and InterContinental Changsha Beichen, and she gave us two days of free breakfast.

The room

This time we stayed in a king room, and the front desk upgraded us to a river-view room. The ceiling height was nice. The room itself was just average.

The sofa area was very comfortable.

The room also had a tea set, which was pretty special.

The view outside the window was nice.

The sunset was beautiful.

A thunderstorm came in the afternoon, and after the rain it had a kind of end-of-the-world feel.

The Little Prince family room

On our floor, there was also a Little Prince-themed family room.

It was being cleaned at the time, so we went in to take a look.

Breakfast

The breakfast selection wasn’t particularly extensive, and there weren’t many dishes worth coming back for again and again. But they did have rice noodles, so that made the day feel complete.

One thing worth mentioning is that this hotel has a lot of dining spaces, and the environment is very nice.

聚味瞿记

We walked through Hisense Plaza to Pozi Street and ate at 聚味瞿记. It wasn’t cheap, but the quality was definitely good.

About the Changsha Grand Hyatt Hotel

I had previously stayed in Changsha at InterContinental Changsha Beichen and The St. Regis Changsha, and both stays were pretty good. The downside, though, is that both hotels are a bit far from the busiest part of downtown, so you still have to take a taxi or the subway if you go there. That’s why this time I specifically chose the closest option, the Changsha Grand Hyatt Hotel. The location is excellent: across the river is Orange Isle, and on a clear day you can see it in full. Right next door is Hisense Plaza, which has Wenheyou, a fun place to walk around and take photos. Pozi Street is also very convenient and just a short walk away.

This hotel is a Hyatt Category 3 property. Standard award nights cost 12,000 points, 15,000 points in peak season, and 9,000 points in off-peak season. From a value standpoint, 15,000 points for $152 + tax is just okay. If you can book the off-peak 9,000-point rate, the value is excellent!

Booking

Because the free night certificates from our two Hyatt credit cards were about to expire, my spouse and I each booked two nights under our own accounts. If you want to stay two nights in a row without switching rooms, remember to call the hotel to leave a note, or contact customer service through Hyatt’s WeChat account (凯悦 Hyatt); it’s very convenient.

Since I only had the Discovery membership from the Hyatt credit card, there weren’t many perks, so I wasn’t very interested in trying to negotiate an upgrade. In the end, though, I was still upgraded to a river-view room, which was pretty nice.

Check-in in 2023

When I went, the COVID restrictions had just been fully lifted, so there was no need for a health code, travel code, or negative test result, and check-in was completed in just a few minutes. Interestingly, hotels in China will point out that this is a points-booked room (they seem to treat free night certificates as points too), so you don’t get upgrade benefits and the like. It always feels like award bookings are treated as second-class, which doesn’t feel great. Along the way, I even hinted that I hold Marriott Bonvoy Platinum and Hilton Honors Diamond status, hoping for a room upgrade or status match. The front desk agent wasn’t budging and said they couldn’t upgrade the room or provide breakfast. But since it was only two nights and the area was very convenient, I just treated it as a place to sleep and didn’t care much about the room type or breakfast.

The hotel is beautiful both during the day and at night

Lobby

The lobby is very grand. In China, good hotels are basically far superior to the bar-like lobbies common in the U.S.

With Christmas approaching, the decorations were already creating a festive atmosphere.

A signature feature of the hotel is the many sculptures and decorative pieces.

Stay Experience

This is what a standard room looks like. Since the hotel is relatively old, there isn’t anything especially impressive about it.

Outside the window is Orange Isle, but the weather was bad on the first day and the haze was heavy, so it was hard to see clearly.

The walk-in closet is quite large.

Double sinks plus a bathtub — standard setup.

The only thing worth complaining about was that the light strip in the vanity area seemed impossible to turn off. On top of that, the blinds didn’t block light very well, so light leaked in at night and I slept terribly. The next day I complained at the front desk. They said they could switch rooms, but I was too lazy to move, so in the end they unplugged the light strip and pulled the cable outside.

Still, the view outside the window was pretty nice, especially at night.

The next day the mist cleared, and the view was still pretty good.

Because COVID restrictions had just been lifted, many staff members and guests had been infected with COVID-19. The hotel even sent a notice saying room cleaning would be temporarily suspended to reduce cross-infection.

Nearby Food, Drinks, and Things to Do

A few more recommendations if you’re coming to Changsha. Next to the hotel, Hisense Plaza has Super Wenheyou, and riding the cable car inside is also pretty fun.

On the fourth floor of Hisense Plaza, which is connected to the hotel, there’s a Cha Yan Yue Se. There’s also one inside Super Wenheyou, and that location is even more crowded.

Beierlou Barbecue near the hotel is very good and offers excellent value.

If you’re not staying at the hotel and want breakfast, I recommend Bus New Village Rice Noodle Shop nearby. It’s much more satisfying than the hotel’s standard breakfast, and it’s only a seven- to eight-minute walk away.