Family-Friendly Europe Hotel Options: Why We Chose Hyatt

Why did we choose to stay in Hyatt hotels throughout our Europe stay? To start, we’ve been long-time Hyatt customers, using their hotel brand for many long road trips - including our cross-country move. Second, we are loyal users of the Hyatt credit card, which has helped us stay for free in many hotels across the country for various trips - including our Disney World and Disneyland trips! If you use my Hyatt card referral link and spend $4,000 in your first six months of membership, you can earn bonus points. As of the publish date of this blog post, the bonus is a whopping 90,000 points, which if you’re like us and don’t need anything fancy, can be six free nights in one of Hyatt’s hotels (many free nights are 15,000 per night at the lower rated hotels that we have found to be very comfortable for families). 

I knew my kiddos would be in enough culture shock - navigating hotels with funky bathrooms, no elevators, and locks that are impossible to figure out (more on our one non-Hyatt hotel later) might push them over the edge. I knew that having some of the familiar comforts of home that each Hyatt would provide would be the respite we all needed after long days of traveling and touring. Spoiler alert - 20,000+ step days with little legs is not just hard - it's impossible! I'm so thankful his big sister was willing to carry him in some of the places where strollers just couldn't make it (Rome has SO MANY STEPS!)

As I said, we got the Hyatt credit card a few years ago and started putting all of our purchases on it. We also charge all Hyatt-related purchases (like hotel parking, room service, etc) when we stay in Hyatt hotels. This has helped us gain enough points to stay multiple times for free in hotels across the country and around the world. Though I know many travel cards can sometimes get more points, I feel like we’re treated better when I check in and they see my status and the card. It’s this little “factor” that seems to have helped us get room upgrades and fun surprises along the way. 

The Hyatt credit card usually offers really great sign-up incentives and if you’re getting ready to make a big purchase (we got ours when we were getting ready to do a kitchen remodel), you can get a ton of points and free nights quickly. Plus, you get a free night each year and can earn more along the way. We usually use the free night in conjunction with a vacation or as an excuse to take a vacation or get a simple night away from the kiddos in the mountains, just the two of us. I have two free nights sitting on my account right now and that, to me, screams “long weekend!”

You may not think about Hyatt having hotels in Europe, but as of this writing, they have 385 hotels across Europe. Many are cute boutique hotels that were recently acquired and added to the Hyatt system. It can be harder to redeem points and free nights at these hotels so book super early - like a year in advance. We booked mostly in Hyatt brands - like Hyatt Place, Andaz, Hyatt House, etc. This gave us even more consistency and reliability in what we were getting since we are familiar with those brands and they are set up to be consistent like Starbucks - some variation, but mostly the same.

Image of Hyatt hotel locations from Hyatt.com as of February 2024

I appreciated the consistency of the Hyatt hotels - particularly that all but one had the crib we’d requested in the room, ready and waiting when we arrived. All had simple amenities like shampoo, body soap, and conditioner in the showers. They all had USB outlets throughout the room, requiring us to use fewer of our adapters, able to charge more items easily. They all were clean, well cared for, had friendly staff, and mostly modern amenities. All of the hotels had excellent onsite food options that were priced mostly in line with the local rates for food, but we only ate at a few of them (more on that in each review).

The stark contrast of the Hyatt experience with our stay in a non-Hyatt in southern Germany highlighted to us that choosing Hyatt for our journey was the absolute right thing to do and we will definitely go this way for any future trips to Europe. I do hope they expand and offer even more options for even greater flexibility.

Stay tuned as I post each individual hotel review:

London - Discover the Best London Hotel for a Comfortable Family Stay

Paris - Sleep Cheap, Spend Your Money at Disneyland Paris Instead!

Family Luxury in Munich, Germany

The Authentic Bavarian Living Experience - Not a Hyatt

The Best Place to Sleep on a Family Trip to Venice

Rome on a Budget for a Family Trip

Family London Airport Overnight