Last Thanksgiving, we planned to spend a few days vacationing in Jamaica, and at the time I published a Jamaica trip-planning post. Sorry it took me so long to finally share my stay experience at these two all-inclusive Hyatt resorts.

Redemption

We stayed in Jamaica for a total of 5 nights in pure vacation mode and never left the resort. We spent the first two nights at Hyatt Ziva, redeemed with 50,000 points total. The last three nights were at Hyatt Zilara, booked with cash using the $500 back on $2500 offer on my and my LD’s Chase Hyatt credit cards. The final cost was $1,185.84-$500=$685.84. Combined with the double points on the second stay at the time and points earned from the credit card, we got back a total of 14,000 points.

Although it was a prepaid booking, we were later able to split the payment again at the hotel front desk across two cards without much trouble. The $500 back on $2500 offer we used expired at the end of March that year, so if you had registered for it back then, you could still take another spring break trip.

Airport Transportation

Hyatt has a lounge at the airport and offers paid round-trip shuttle service between the airport and the resort for $39 per person. In fact, many travel agencies inside the airport can also arrange taxis and shuttles, so if you have a larger group, it may be worth booking outside instead.

Resort Exterior

Ziva pool
There are cabanas like this by both the pool and the beach, priced from $69-$149
Ziva’s beachfront activity area is somewhat limited. The waves are fairly strong, so the water is relatively murky, you can barely see any fish, and there is quite a bit of debris as well. To make up for the limited ocean activities, Hyatt clearly put effort into the pools, which I’ll cover below.

Lobby

After entering the main gate, Hyatt Zilara is on the left and is adults-only, while Hyatt Ziva is on the right and allows children. In practice, the two resorts are connected, and all facilities and restaurants are shared.

Ziva lobby

Hyatt Ziva Room

We stayed in a standard room at Ziva with no real view. Zilara was also a standard room, but it did overlook the pool. The room layouts were exactly the same, and overall the hardware was just average.

The bathroom was fairly spacious.

The room itself was pretty ordinary.

Mini bar

There wasn’t much of a view outside the Ziva room window.

Hyatt Zilara Room Type

Zilara’s room type was exactly the same.

From the window, you could see the Zilara pool.

Activities

The resort puts out a daily activity schedule, along with restaurant and bar hours. The most fun event was the pool party on the day we checked into Zilara—it was a blast.

The Ziva pool has basketball, volleyball, and more, making it a great fit for a group of friends. Ziva also has various areas designed for kids.
The area in the back is for kids, while the pool in front is a hot tub

There are free activities on the beach on the Zilara side.

Zilara pool.

The biggest pleasant surprise was probably the gym. After eating so much, we definitely needed some exercise.

You can also book various tours in the hotel lobby, including things similar to the many parks around Cancun, plus deep-sea fishing, ATV riding, horseback riding, and more.

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