A decade ago Hyatt’s growth was almost entirely in select service. Sure, Hyatt Gold Passport was a great program but how many hotels had suites to upgrade into? And how many had club lounges? Their footprint was small and they were adding Hyatt Places where benefits are sparse to non-existent.
Hyatt has faced the challenge of a small footprint making it difficult to be loyal, but there are really two ways it differentiates itself:
- A better loyalty program. Their points have become increasingly devalued (though they remain the only large chain with an award chart) but where they shine is elite benefits – breakfast that isn’t just continental and where the specifics are spelled out explicitly in the terms; confirmed suite upgrades at time of booking (when Hilton does not guarantee even available suites at check-in, and Marriott is moving away from nomenclature around suites for its upgrades); 4 p.m. late check-out (which neither Hilton nor IHG guarantee) to mention just a few.
Smaller hotel chains have to be more rewarding to keep guests loyal. You can stumble down the street and fall into a Hilton, IHG or Marriott property but staying loyal to Hyatt takes effort since they don’t have the same presence.
- More upscale focus. Marriott of course has many upscale properties, and Hilton has increasingly added premium. While IHG will always be heavy at the low-end, they too have more premium. But Hyatt has really shifted from growing primarily in select service to acquiring full service options.
Park Hyatt St. Kitts
There were a number of failed attempts at growing in full service.
- Hyatt almost bought Kimpton, but were outbid significantly by IHG.
- They almost bought Starwood, but in an all-stock deal the different classes of shares (Pritzker family has outsized voting rights) was a complication that ultimately left room for Marriott.
- They tried to buy NH Hotels after a deal for that chain was basically already done.
I broke the news about Hyatt’s acquisition of Two Roads Hospitality which brought them the Alila, Thompson, Destination Hotels and Joie de Vivre brands. The acquired all-inclusives through Apple Leisure Group. They bought booking platform Mr and Mrs Smith, though the integration with World of Hyatt so far leaves much to be desired.
Thompson Savannah
Alila Marea
There’s no question that Hyatt skews more high end than Marriott, Hilton and IHG overall. 70% of its rooms are in the luxury and upper upscale segment and has higher average daily room rates than Marriott and Hilton overall.
Higher average room rates also fund more loyalty investment. Hotels generating higher rates can do more for customers (and must do more to continue to attract those rates, oddly unless it’s Ritz-Carlton).
Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi
The Wall Street Journal has a new video on Hyatt’s high-end strategy, “Why Hyatt Wants to Be Your Most Expensive Hotel Option” although that’s obviously not true. They don’t want to be the most expensive in a given comp set (so that they’re charging more on a given night for the Park Hyatt than St. Regis and chase you away) but rather they want to provide options at higher price points that customers value.
It’s been clear for many years that Hyatt pivoted to premium, but I’ve never seen explicit discussion of this. They talk about their premium focus, but not as much about how that’s actually a shift away from a focus on limited service growth. To be sure, they do want to serve that segment and Hyatt Place and have many times sought to incentivize loyalty program members to stay there (usually with points, as benefits are modest).
Hyatt Place
In 2005, Hyatt acquired AmeriSuites and it became the basis for Hyatt Place. The new builds were a real play at the premium end of limited-service, while many former AmeriSuites were… not very good. That same year they also acquired Summerfield Suites which undergirds Hyatt House. From there those were a core focus.
But around the same time they acquired Two Roads Hospitality they also purchased Miraval – not because they wanted a standalone wellness resort, but because they wanted to extend the brand and create an association with wellness across their hotels. That’s why they also purchased and later sold Exhale spas as well.
The trick is offering more than a play to sleep, eat and shower – it’s offering guests an overall experience, helping them tell stories not just about their stays but about themselves, and making their lives fuller when they’re away. That’s also why cutbacks on things like housekeeping make no sense at the premium end, while some guests say ‘I re-use towels at home’ or ‘I don’t make my bed every day’ that misses the point. This is all part of the experience that is more than the sum of each feature, that guests will pay more for and why they choose a premium property over a short-term rental.
In contrast, Marriott doesn’t seem to care what they add to the portfolio? Their CEO said, “When I die, they’ll put the net-rooms growth number on my tombstone.” Marriott will seemingly take a fee from any hotel, diluting their brands in the process. But when you do not own the hotel, all you have of any value is the brand. They’re just trading long-term revenue from a strong brand for short-term revenue boosts that diminish their ability to earn a return in the future.
At long last, he provided a link! I am glad to see that WoH emulated HH in offering “premium” awards when they redid their chart…
Well, elaborate and make me laugh with you, as I provide the WoH T&C on Globalist breakfast:
@DCS
1) the idea that hilton and hyatt have equivalent premium room awards is downright silly, hyatt offers fixed price redemptions that can yield outsize value, hilton just lets you spend points at around 1/3rd of a cent apiece towards whatever the prevailing rate of a premium room happens to be
2) the hilton upgrade benefit is weak, from the terms upgrades are only “may” and “subject to the discretion of the hotel.”
“Diamond Hilton Honors Members may receive upgrades to preferred rooms, based on availability at the time of arrival.”
“Upgrades exclude executive suites”
“The following brands do not offer complimentary upgrades: Embassy Suites™, Hilton Garden Inn®, Hampton by Hilton™, Tru by Hilton™, Spark by Hilton™, Homewood Suites by Hilton®, Home2 Suites by Hilton®, Hilton Grand Vacations®, and Motto by Hilton®.
3) as for Hilton “you get breakfast and F&B credits” that is not what Hilton says “If a hotel offers complimentary breakfast in their Executive Lounge, Gold and Diamond members will not receive a Daily Food & Beverage Credit” and “At hotels that have an Executive Lounge that offers complimentary breakfast, Diamond members and Gold members upgraded to Executive Lounge access will not receive the Daily F&B Credit. These hotels will provide the Daily F&B Credit to Gold members not upgraded to Executive Lounge access.”
4) IHG excludes ‘specialty’ entrees at breakfast. Each hotel decides what a specialty entree is. Diamond status does not come with club lounge access. It is a choice benefit members can pick upon a qualifying number of nights.
@Gene — at least there is agreement, including from the “thought leader”, on some points. Here are corrections/clarifications
— IHG Diamonds, and not just IC Royal Ambassadors, also invariably get free full restaurant breakfast.
— You again drank the kool-aid! No, 4th award night free is not better than 5th award night free, if only because one free is one free night, but getting 25% on 4 nights is exactly the same as getting 20% on 5 nights. Simple logic and simple math.
— guaranteed 4 PM check-out (Hilton’s biggest weakness): Despite the claim, this is really also YMMV. IMHO, Hilton’s policy of not “guaranteeing” late checkout is infinitely more sensible if you know how take advantage of it. It accommodates both people checking in and those checking out., which makes the hotel happy. Here’s what I mean. I have never been denied a late checkout request because I always request late checkout at check-in. It gives the hotel the time to work on accommodating the request. Try it. At the same time,. I have gotten checkout requests for as late as 6pm approved where I would have been denied if I had the 4pm “guarantee” (“Sorry, late checkout is good only to 4pm”). By contrast, I memorably had my check-in at Hyatt Regency Tokyo delayed, at the great embarrassment of the hotel staff, because some a fat Globalist had been given late checkout to 4pm in the room that I was supposed to be checked into! With profuse apologies, the hotel’s solution was to allow me to wait for the room to be ready in the lobby bar/snack shop with anything I ordered on the house!
G’day!
So, Hyatt copied the concept of “premium” awards from Hilton and fixed the prices. What is so silly about that? HH introduced them a way to ensure equivalence between cash and point and allow members to book using points any room that is available for sale. And it is a misconception that all Hilton “premium” awards are unaffordable. They are unaffordable when the cash rates are very high like in the Maldives, but they can be quite affordable elsewhere. I have outright booked suites at some properties, e.g., Hilton Pattaya, with HH points.
Above, I lost track of my “block quotes”. The below should be more legible.
So, Hyatt copied the concept of “premium” awards from Hilton and fixed the prices. What is so silly about that? HH introduced them a way to ensure equivalence between cash and point and allow members to book using points any room that is available for sale. And it is a misconception that all Hilton “premium” awards are unaffordable. They are unaffordable when the cash rates are very high like in the Maldives, but they can be quite affordable elsewhere. I have outright booked suites at some properties, e.g., Hilton Pattaya, with HH points.
That is what you have been claiming for years, except that (a) every program’s room (including suite) upgrades are at the sole discretion of individual hotels. From the Hyatt T&C, which you should read:
SPG’s T&C said exactly the same, and I can provide the exact text if you wish. That Hilton states what room would constitute an upgrade is the same as in every program, as in above in the Hyatt T&C. You have been lying all these years because simply you reinterpreted the HH T&C to suit your own bias. Moreover, while you still refer to the old T&C, you have ignored Hilton’s new global automated upgrades that you, among others, got directly informed about. Why is that?
I described to you the Hilton policy. I will explain AGAIN. The vouchers are for real and many hate them because folks like you have made a big deal about it. In the real world F&Bs are offered at just 29% of Hilton hotels in the US.Fully 71% of Hilton hotels in the US or 5x more than all Hyatt hotels in the US, offer free breakfast to all guests. Overseas, the default venue for HH Golds and Diamonds breakfast is the hotel restaurant, because if it were the exec lounge, Golds not upgraded to the exec floor would be denied the benefit. Ergo, Diamonds have the option to have full restaurant breakfast or exec lounge breakfast. For WoH Globalists, it’s either the lounge or the restaurant. It is a weaker offering than Hilton’s or IHG’s.
Got it now, as opposed to what you have been preaching all these years?
Nitpicking. IHG Diamonds, which I just enjoyed for 4 weeks in Asia, as well as at ICs in Chicago and Toronto, get full restaurant breakfast. Period. I agree that IHG Diamonds not being guaranteed lounge access is a major weakness of the status.
Is it all clear now?
@DCS enough nonsense. you’re well-treated in asia. that’s pretty much true regardless of chain, and doesn’t make your experiences there what’s required of hotels worldwide by hilton honors.
the ability of IHG hotels to exclude breakfast items is not nitpicking. still, IHG has a better breakfast policy than hilton does for U.S. stays.
@Gary, I have the sense that you do not quite grasp the full meaning of the fact that
It means that, if free breakfast is your thing, your chances of getting it in most the locations or cities in the US is 5x higher if you book a hotel as HH Diamond or Gold than if you book a hotel as WoH Globalist. The link provides a powerful illustration. It shows locations of Hilton and Hyatt hotels across the country on a US map. Check it out and then understand why free breakfast is more advantageous as HH member even in the US. Go ahead, take a look:
https://imgur.com/Vmv9NW2
See? If you want free breakfast in the US you are better off being a HH Gold or Diamond than a WoH Globalist.
With that, the prosecution rests, you honor (I guess, you could say, “Case dismissed”, but it would be unconvincing 🙂 ).
Bye bye
Anybody who might be persuaded by @DCS word salad sophistry need only read this that he wrote, “4th award night free is not better than 5th award night free, if only because one free is one free night, but getting 25% on 4 nights is exactly the same as getting 20% on 5 nights. Simple logic and simple math.”
If you’re staying 4 nights, you get 1 night free with IHG.
If you’re staying 4 nights, you get 0 nights free with Hilton.
You do not need to stay 5 nights to get a night free with a 4th night free benefit, and that is why it is better than 5th night free.
And @DCS claims that Hilton NOT GUARANTEEING 4pm late checkout is better for elite members than actually guaranteeing it. Ok boomer.
@DCS Hilton is a larger chain than Hyatt, absolutely. That’s also why it doesn’t need to offer as valuable a loyalty program. You go enjoy your free breakfast at Hilton Garden Inn. I’ll take my free room service breakfast at Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi, Park Hyatt Chicago and Park Hyatt New York and my free breakfast at VAGA at Alila Marea thanks much. By the way the Hilton f&b credit I guess would cover the delivery charge at those U.S. Park Hyatts.
The nonsense are the bogus claims that you have been regurgitating for years without being challenged. No more. How about the Hyatt point as “the single most valuable hotel points currency.” See? That was also “nonsense” for years.
I am treated just fine in the US. I have asked just how well other programs’ elites, including Globalists, are treated in the US, and the consensus seems to be that everyone gets better treatment in Asia. But for breakfast, HH Diamonds have it better than WoH Globalists in Asia. Now, release my post that is in moderation to show that the situation on breakfast is not better for Diamonds even in the US either…
G’day!
This is the day of the greatest hits in nonsense! If is true that “If you’re staying 5 nights, you get 0 nights free with Hilton”, then what exactly is Hilton’s 5th award night free policy?
Gary: getting 25% (1/4) on 4 nights is exactly the same as getting 20% (1/5) on 5 nights. Remember also that 5 nights are more than 4 nights.
Truly puzzling that so many fail to grasp such a mathematically simple concept, like they failed to understand that 1.5cents/Hyatt point not being worth more than 0.5 cent/Hilton point
Nonsense, indeed…
@DCS again as I have said many times, not talking about the earn and burn proposition of Hyatt which has always been rather weak for in-hotel spend. i am talking only about the elite hotel benefits, so why are you talking about the value of the points currency?
@DCS,
If you’re staying 4 nights, you get 1 night free with IHG from 4th night free
If you’re staying 4 nights, you get 0 nights free with Hilton from 5th night free
How is Hilton’s free night benefit better?
Edited and fixed.
You are still in denial. You do not have Park Hyatt Chicago all over the US ! In fact, you have very few PH’s in the US. Here is the reality that you wish to deny: A benefit does one little good if it cannot be had at locations that one’d like to travel to with one’s family and that is what is wrong with Hyatt breakfast in the US. Look at the maps again.
Also, continental breakfast you get at most Hyatt hotels in the US is not too different than breakfast that is served to all guests at say, Embassy Suites. It’s nothing like the royal feasts that one gets in Asia.
No more free pass. Your made-up claims will be challenge, and not only those about Hilton Honors, which abound…
Duh, show me where I said Hilton’s free night was better? Double “duh”, like I said, remember that 5 nights are more than 4 !!! When I stay 5 nights, I have one more night to enjoy and it is free ! Why limit at 4 vs 5. Isn’t that selective? Regress things to one night: I will get one night free and the IHG member gets none !!!
I really cannot help you if you do not understand the simple concept.
Bottom line: one saves enough points or money worth a free night. Do you get it? There is no advantage to either !!!
One thing is certain, though: the “best” hotel loyalty program is the only one that does not offer, this, the single most valuable benefit in hotel loyalty.
I must go now. Genug ist genug. See you ’round campus!
“Better”? Gaslighting galore!!! What @DCS actually said:
@ DCS — 4th night free is obviously better than 5th night free, no matter how many times you attempt to gaslight people into believing otherwise. Sadly, you know this is true.
Sure, IHG Diamonds get full breakfast, but they don’t get all of those benefits I listed. Big deal on your 6 or 7 PM checkout. Royal Ambassador get those, too, sometimes. Obviously you have to ask.
<blockquote.@ DCS — 4th night free is obviously better than 5th night free, no matter how many times you attempt to gaslight people into believing otherwise. Sadly, you know this is true.
@Gene — Sadly, you know this is true, indeed. You can believe whatever you wish but pity your math is too bad for you to disprove the obvious to yourself for the math is on the my side.
More to the point is that I will get outsized redemption values thanks to my 5th award night free. No WoH loyalist can say the same.
@Gene — Sadly, you know this is true, indeed. You can believe whatever you wish but pity your math is too bad for you to disprove the obvious to yourself for the math is on the my side.
More to the point is that I will get outsized redemption values thanks to my 5th award night free. No WoH loyalist can say the same.
@ DCS — Standard DCS — spew lies, insult others, change the subject when you are wrong (which is much of the time…).
@ DCS — Do you not realize that most IHG Diamonds select a lounge membership as a choice benefit (you know, those things that Hilton doesn’t have)? Therefore, if you are IHG Diamond you very likely have club access AND free restaurant breakfast (without the chintzy Hilton $ caps). IHG Diamond with the IHG Premier credit card for that amazing 4th night free on award stays is vastly superuor to Hilton Diamond. IC Royal Ambassador, which includes IHG Diamond status, is EVEN BETTER!!
@Gene, Just go away. How can you know a lie when you are too clueless to understand something as simple as “one free night equals one free night” or that getting 25% on 4 nights is the same as getting 20% on 5 nights?
Now, pay attention (@Gary too). It is kindergarten-level math:
A room costs $125/night. You book it for 4 nights and get one night free (a 25% discount) or I book it for 5 nights and get one free (a 20% discount), who is ahead.?
($125/night * 4 night) * 0.25 = $125
(total for 4 nights is $500. You pay $375 and pocket $125)
($125/night * 5 night) * 0.20 = $125
(total for 5 nights is $625. I pay $500 but get one extra night and pocket $125)
No one is ahead. We both get exactly the same discount $125
Let’s say you book 10 nights and get one night free (1/10 = 10%)
($125/night * 10 night) * 0.10 =$125
See? You get exactly the same discount, which is $125 or the cost of exactly one free night.
One free night is one free night.
That is why you should not call anyone a liar, when the problem is your own cluelessness.
About your other comment…
As a HH Diamond/LT Diamond. I do not need to select lounge access or breakfast as a milestone bonus. I just get them. I was an IHG Diamond Ambassador in Asia for a month and it was very limiting even there.
Give it a rest.
These are all interesting, colorful, commentaries, lol. From the perspective of us mere mortals with lesser budgets and lesser business travel opportunities, Hyatt Globalist and IHG Diamond/Ambassador are too hard to attain and the benefit/effort simply wouldn’t be worth it, so I very much appreciate HH Diamond just for having a CC. And I can’t recall ever being denied an upgrade, late checkout, early check-in, etc at their properties, unlike Bonvoy. And also appreciate the free night certificate that has no point limit and that can be readily used at a Conrad or a Waldorf, with plenty of availability. No other program offers this kind of value. In fact, on my last redemption at a Waldorf, a great breakfast for two cost just a few dollars over the $50 credit. HH Diamond – promises less but delivers more, in my opinion.
DCS failing to deliver on what DCS says:
“The soapbox is yours; knock yourself out because I am outta here”.
It’s amusing to see the investment in trying to spread the Hilton propaganda from “the soapbox” even after saying they are “outta here”.
The Hilton program isn’t bad, but it’s a worse program for at-hotel elite status benefits than Hyatt Globalist in locations where there are both a nearby Hilton and Hyatt sort of similarly priced. That said, I did get walked sort of twice by Hyatt as a Globalist last year but haven’t been walked by a Hilton even once as a Hilton Diamond in the last 20 years.
@Jake-1: Absolutely. You describe real-life experiences of someone who takes full advantage of the HH Diamond status. That is in stark contrast to the host of this site, who has not stayed at a Hilton hotel in 20 years, and yet keeps making demonstrably bogus claims about the Honors program that he has been recycling for years, including nonsense like “the hilton upgrade benefit is weak, from the terms upgrades are only “may” and “subject to the discretion of the hotel.”… when, as documented above, both SPG and HGP/WoH T&C stated exactly the same thing !!!
At the same time, WoH, the purportedly “best” hotel program, has been adding expensive hotels, while making it increasing;y harder for members to earn significant numbers of points to afford decent awards. Almost no good global promos, no 4th/5th award night free, and meager bonuses on purchased points, now make WoH the least rewarding program in the business. In what I consider pure heresy, WoH members are now having to transfer highly coveted transferable UR points to WoH points to afford decent awards, instead using UR points to book premium cabin tickets to fly long-haul on some of the world’s best carriers.
No wonder the site host is latching onto anything he can, like Hyatt’s purported pivot to “luxury” hotels to “eclipse” Marriott and Hilton, or the recycling of old, debunked and demonstrably bogus claims about other hotel programs, to avoid facing the obviously precipitous race to the bottom of their beloved program.
G’day!
@GUWonder — You mean unlike the propaganda that the site host and his kool-aid drinkers and sycophants, like you, spread about WoH, one of he least rewarding hotel loyalty programs. It is the long weekend. I can come and go as I please, so forgive me if I wish to present the other viewpoints. Thank you!
That does not leave too make “locations”, considering Hyatt’s “size problem”, but who gets to decide that Globalist is “better” than any other status, which is precisely the myth I just took apart piece by piece and debunked above? I suggest you catch up on the comments up-thread before recycling the same old, stale and bogus claims.
G’day.
@ DCS — Sorry to see that you cannot perform kindergarten-level math.
30 seconds of Googling shows that Gary has stayed in many Hilton properties over the last 20 years.
I believe he mentioned having HH Gold in other posts, which affords a somewhat lesser likelihood of upgrades, late checkout, etc. I’m sure he’ll correct me if that’s not true.
DCS, you were the one who said you were “outta here”. Either you didn’t mean it or you don’t have the wherewithal to deliver on your own words — either way not a good look for you.
I am an equal opportunity critic and have no love for any loyalty program. I am proudly mercenary in this game and aim to get the most bang for my buck whether I am dealing with Accor, Best Western, Choice, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, Wyndham and the other hotel programs which I play with the aim to be the least profitable loyalty program elite member. I a sycophant? ROTFLOL, you’ve got to be kidding or your brain really has gone on holiday and ye old memory needs a boost.
Have you signed up to be a Hilton forum moderator on Flyertalk? They love status-quo-loving corporate apologists in that role, so you would fit right in there. If you want a recommendation, just tell them you don’t like me. 😉
@GUWonder — See? You are totally wrong about me. I was at FT and did not fit there at all for the same reason I do not fit here and have not posted there in over a decade: I bashed everyone who peddled bogus claims, including in the Hilton forum, but especially the rabid SPG apologists who had drunk the kool-aid and were at the time convinced that a small and mediocre program with the most expensive high-end awards was the best thing since sliced bread. After Starwood/SPG, predictably, went belly-up, in part because it squandered the opportunity to benefit from its “cash cow” by turning the starpoint into an airline mile instead of being a hotel point, the adulation of the masses was steered to WoH, another small and mediocre program that is racing to the bottom before our very eyes.
Every year since 2010-2011 during my annual Year-end Asian Escapade(TM), I’ve redeemed points to stay at Hyatt and Marriott (well, mostly in BKK and before they became Bonvoy) hotels. So, I have redeemed points for award stays at PH BKK, PH Saigon, PH Siem Reap, GH Singapore, HR Tokyo, HR Manila, and so on. So, do not presume that you know me even a little bit to call me “status-quo-loving corporate apologists”. I bash everybody, including Hilton. Just go over to Loyalty Lobby, where all programs are presented dispassionately and fairly, and you will see that I bash Hilton quite often. Here, the site host is such a Hilton basher (without knowing much about the program at all!) that I spend most of my time debunking his bogus and setting things straight. But I debunk much more because his claims on a whole host of issues related to miles and points are just plainly wrong or ignorant, but he struts around as if he knows it all.
Γνῶθι σαυτόν (Gnothi seauton) — “Know thyself” before you can presume to know and judge me…
G’day!
@ DCS — Know that you can’t do basic math.
@Gene — You keep repeating that stupid line, which means that taking you back to a kindergarten-level math class finally sank in and showed you that the benefit of getting one free night in 4, 5, 10 or N nights is absolutely the same: everyone gets just one night, which actually requires no math at all to understand, unless one drank the “thought leader’s” kool-aid and got all stupid.
DCS fits in here just fine from what I read. Hilton-rival topics have DCS and Delta-rival topics have Tim Dunn.
I enjoy the comments even when I don’t agree with them — or maybe I enjoy them even more whenI don’t agree with them.
As a mercenary in the space, I hope Hyatt management appreciates DCS’ arguments about the weaknesses of the Hyatt program. If only because Hyatt is on the Delta path of devaluing the loyalty program currency points while trying to keep customers hooked with the elite status benefits for the trip.
The warning sign for me came years ago when Hyatt management Jeff Z lauded Delta SkyMiles’ Jeff R at the time.
DCS, I’m a Hilton Diamond, I have the Surpass card, but I don’t know what you’re trying to prove here, you look like the Tim Dunn of Hilton. I’m not reading all those walls of text. The only fixed-price redemptions at Hiltons are for standard rooms, with the hope for maybe an upgrade if there’s space available and the front-desk staff is in the right mood and Mercury is in retrograde. Beyond that it’s all dynamic pricing. I’ve gotten a lot of value out of Honors, I took my wife to the Conrad Maldives for our honeymoon. But don’t drink the Kool-Aid too much, appreciate it for what it is and is not.
@Luke — You might actually learn something if you read “all those walls of text” than continuing to imbibe the kool-aid this site serves up. For instance, the only awards that Hilton Honors prices dynamically are its so-called premium awards. It’s standard awards are capped at each property and vary very slight below that cap. So, no, I do not drink the kool-aid and I am trying to keep others from continuing to drinking.