Which is best, Park Hyatt Vs. St. Regis? While the choice between these two hotel brands varies between individual hotels, Park Hyatt hotels are generally more modern and feel more boutique than St. Regis hotels. St. Regis hotels are often more ornate in design.
St. Regis tends to be more leisure-orientated, whereas Park Hyatt tends to lean toward business travelers largely because of its city locations. That said, each brand has exceptional properties, so let’s break these brands down to make a fair comparison.
1. Loyalty
St. Regis is a high-end brand under the Marriott umbrella. It shares this elite spot with Ritz-Carlton, BVLGARI, EDITION, and The Luxury Collection. These brands occupy a 5-star luxury category, with room quality and size, service, restaurants, and the hotel as a whole offering an ultra-luxurious setting. This means that St. Regis is part of the Marriott brand loyalty program.
Park Hyatt also has the advantage of having their World of Hyatt loyalty program, so you can collect points during your stay. For Elite benefits such as free breakfast, hotel credit, room upgrades (subject to availability), and more at Park Hyatt or St. Regis hotels, book with our friendly luxury travel concierge team. You will also get Marriott Bonvoy or World of Hyatt loyalty points with any booking made by us.
2. Style
Park Hyatt hotels blend elegant design, local flavor, sophistication, and gracious service. They are in a class apart. The Park Hyatt Zurich is a cathedral to modernity with swathes of black marble in the foyer, modern art, and brilliant contemporary open-plan rooms.
The Park Hyatt Vienna is converted from the headquarters of an Austrian Hungarian Monarchy Bank, right in the heart of The Golden Quarter. The conversion retains many features of the 100-year-old Neo-classical building, including marble staircases polished by the leather of countless bank clerks’ scurrying brogues. The layout of the offices determined the shape and size of the guest rooms and suites, and here, there were some very important customers, so the proportions are generous.
On the other hand, the St. Regis offers a more ornate and fussy style. You can take a look at the photos we took when we stayed at the historic St. Regis Florence. St. Regis Florence is set in the very center of the tourist district. As one of the best St. Regis hotels in the world, it is hugely ornate, with enormous formal staircases, stained glass ceilings, and chandeliers. It offers a historic, airy double-height lobby with archways and pillars and lots of ornate detailing, but the look is almost overwhelmingly busy.
By contrast, the St. Regis in Venice offers a plainer, more modern design with much less detailing. Here, it’s all about the garden and the waterfront views.
While we love St. Regis hotels, overall, we prefer Park Hyatt hotels, which tend to offer more contemporary furnishings and style, often set in a sympathetically restored historic setting.
3. Location
The hotel with the better location is dependent on the individual hotel. The location will often dictate which brand to choose. As an example, the location of the St. Regis Florence quite literally couldn’t be better. The hotel is centrally located at the very heart of the historic city and lies on the River Arno itself. It is situated on the beautiful square, Piazza Ognissanti, which is a peaceful space that lies just steps from the buzz of the city. The St. Regis is further from the main tourist areas and square in Venice. As there is no Park Hyatt Florence, St. Regis is your only choice.
There are currently 61 St. Regis hotels. There are 11 in North America, 2 in Africa, 24 in Asia, 6 in Central America and the Caribbean, 6 in Europe, and 10 in the Middle East. There are approximately 50 Park Hyatt hotels around the world, and in most locations, you can choose either the Park Hyatt or the St. Regis. Very few locations have both brands in the same location.
Park Hyatt hotels tend to be centrally located in cities. The Park Hyatt Zurich is a couple of minutes walk from the main shopping street and the lake. The Park Hyatt Vienna is also super convenient, right in the center of the old town. Everything from The Vienna Opera to The Spanish Riding School, museums, cafés, and the best designer label shops (including Vuitton, Burberry, Hermes) is within easy strolling range. That said, the new riverside Park Hyatt London is not located in the very center of London’s shopping and theatre districts, so its location is not ideal. Park Hyatt hotels have brilliant locations and are probably overall better located.
4. Beach, Pool & Spa
There are very few Park Hyatt beach hotels. Park Hyatt has just one Caribbean property on St Kitts. Park Hyatt Los Cabos will be opening soon, adding to Park Hyatt’s portfolio of beach hotels. St. Regis has many beach hotels, including St. Regis Bali Resort, St. Regis Bora Bora, which we’ve compared to Four Seasons, St. Regis Langkawi, St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, St. Regis Maldives, and St. Regis Punta Mita, Mexico, so St. Regis is the brand to pick for an amazing beach hotel.
5. Rooms
Both hotels offer luxurious rooms. As a general rule, I find the rooms at the Park Hyatt to be more consistent in the quality of decor and contemporary furnishings. Their rooms also tend to be larger in size, but again, this is very property-specific.
6. Ski
The St. Regis Deer Valley and Aspen are the two main St. Regis Ski hotels. They are both excellent properties. Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort And Spa in America and Park Niseko Hanazono in Japan are the two excellent Park Hyatt ski hotels. All four hotels are excellent. The main differentiator between these hotels is their location. For skiing in the United States, St. Regis offers more choice.
7. Family Facilities
Both brands are family-friendly. St. Regis has numerous beach hotels that are brilliant for family beach holidays. Park Hyatt, being mainly city-based, does not tend to focus on family-friendly features, although the Park Hyatt Vienna has a fantastic pool, and the Park Hyatt St Kitts is a great Caribbean beach resort.
8. Conclusion
Both of these hotel brands offer magnificent hotels. we prefer the contemporary finish and decor in Park Hyatt hotels. Their large and stylish rooms are always excellent. I would go out of my way to stay at a Park Hyatt hotel. St. Regis hotels tend to offer more ornate room decor in city locations, which we are not so keen on.
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