Recently, I got to stay at the Four Seasons for free and not the way that you might think. No, it wasn’t a press trip or an influencer partnership. This happened totally by accident but you should definitely read on just in case this ever happens to you too. Essentially, what happened was, I got “walked” to a different hotel and that hotel happened to the Four Seasons Marrakech!

• Related Article: A Perfect Day Trip to Chefchaouen from Tangier: The Ultimate Guide 

 

What Does it Mean When You Get “Walked?”

Long story short, it’s when your original hotel that you booked can’t accommodate you anymore for some reason so they will “walk” you to another hotel.

 

The Back Story

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you probably have seen that I’ve been on this huge Morocco trip. I started in Casablanca, then Rabat, Tangier, Chefchaouen, Fez, the Sahara, and then ended up in Marrakech. I planned it this way because I knew that the new Park Hyatt Marrakech that was opening in the beginning of June and I wanted to stay there to end my trip on a high note.

I was traveling with a friend so we decided to pool our Hyatt points together and stay there for two nights. I made the reservation on March 30th for two nights for the middle of June. The hotel was a Category 6 at the time and was during their off-peak season so we only had to spend 21,000 points each. Unfortunately, I just checked the website today and it’s now a Category 7 property. Not sure how you can justify having a hotel jump categories without even being open a year, but hey, maybe it just that impressive then.

 

When Did They Cancel My Reservation?

This is where it gets interesting. They didn’t. Well, not at first. So, about 2-3 weeks before my reservation, I wanted to do some research on the Park Hyatt Marrakech so I went back on their website. I was trying to book a reservation for my same dates (to get screenshots for the blog) and noticed that all the rooms were now unavailable. I thought that was weird since when I first made the booking, there were plenty of award redemptions available and on multiple dates. Now there were no award availability on any of my dates. The hotel couldn’t have been sold out, could it?

I researched the website a little more until I finally came to a page where it said something along the lines of “We will be accepting reservations starting July 1st, 2024.” I was like… wait a minute! I have a confirmed reservation that I made months ago for the middle of June. I go into my email box and frantically search if I missed an email saying that they had to cancel my reservation. There was no email. So, now I’m in a slight panic because I’m leaving for Casablanca in a few days and I don’t have time to be dealing with finding another hotel that I can book on points.

 

 

Calling Hyatt Customer Service 

I did what any normal person would do and I call Hyatt Customer Service. I believe I even called the Globalist line. The first person I spoke to had no idea that the Park Hyatt Marrakech was delayed in opening. All she offered was that she could refund my points for me. I asked her is there anything that Hyatt could do in terms of providing another place to stay since this was very last minute and I didn’t get any notification about the delayed opening. She then said that she could change my reservation to the Hyatt Regency Casablanca. I was DUMBFOUNDED. If anyone took the time to look at a map, you would see that these hotels are not even close together. It’s a 3-hour drive between these cities. At this point, I decided to hang up and call again.

The second customer service agent that I spoke to seemed to be a bit more knowledgeable but still was in the dark about the Park Hyatt Marrakech not being opened in June anymore. I know there are no other Hyatts in Marrakech so I asked if she could at least put me up at a Mr. and Mrs. Smith hotel for the same amount of points since they just became World of Hyatt partners. She said unfortunately she couldn’t do that and I would have to pay the full point redemption price which was almost twice as much. I felt completely defeated. In the end, she said that she’ll reach out to the manager of the Park Hyatt and have them email me back with some sort of response within the next 48 hours.

 

Talking to the Hotel Directly

I believe within 24 hours, I got a response from the Director of Sales of the Park Hyatt Marrakech. This is the moment I learned that I shouldn’t have wasted my time calling the general Hyatt customer service line. With one email from the Director, he had all my questions and concerns answered along with a solid resolution. 

They were going to put up my friend and I at the Four Seasons Marrakech for two nights, with breakfast! I’ve never stayed at a Four Seasons before so I was actually ecstatic that I would get to try the hotel and it would be completely free. On top of it all, I get to have all my points back! This was more than what I was hoping for. I really thought they were just going to put my friend and I up at a random Mr. and Mrs. Smith hotel and be done with it. But no, they went far beyond the call of duty and it made me happy that the Park Hyatt made sure to take care of their guests.

 

Why Did I Get to Stay at the Four Seasons?

For people that are wondering, I think we only got the Four Seasons Marrakech because first, it’s a comparable hotel to the Park Hyatt and second, there are no other Hyatts in Marrakech. Let say if I was in a different city with more Hyatts or I initially booked a lower tier Hyatt property, I wouldn’t expect them to put me up at the Four Seasons.

For the free breakfast, I think that was because I am a Globalist which is Hyatt’s highest loyalty status and I would have been given free breakfast at the Park Hyatt Marrakech if they were open. So, this is another thing I would assume I would maybe not get if I weren’t entitled to that to begin with. In the end, I was super satisfied with the resolution and couldn’t have been happier!

 

What Should You Learn From This

If you are ever in the same situation that I was, I would definitely not bother with Hyatt customer service. They made the process of finding a solution painful and even more frustrating. I would reach out to the hotel directly. If you can’t find their contact information, then I would reach out to Hyatt customer service and ask them for a point of contact for the hotel. I know my situation is not common but if this ever happens to you, then at least you know what you can possibly get as compensation. 

 

Conclusion

Although I was sad to not have been able to stay at the Park Hyatt Marrakech, I did appreciate that they corrected the situation and that we were able to get to try the Four Seasons (which I could have never afforded on my own). One day I would like to go back and finally try the Park Hyatt Marrakech but I’m in no rush now. Especially, since they decided to make it a Category 7 hotel with the standard point redemption being at 30,000 points (vs. the 21,000 points that I previously booked on).