Hyatt is adding 100 new hotels with the purchase of Apple Leisure Group from private equity investors KKR and KSL Capital in a $2.7 billion transaction. Apple Leisure owns AMResorts and provides charter flights to Mexico and the Caribbean along with vacation packages through Apple Vacations and CheapCaribbean.com.
This gives Hyatt a presence in New European markets – they highlight Spain, Canary Islands, Balearic Islands and Greece – and more all-inclusive luxury properties thian anyone else “such as Secrets Resorts & Spa, Dreams Resorts & Spas, Breathless Resorts & Spas, Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts and Alua Hotels & Resorts.”
Secrets Mallorca, Credit: Hyatt
According to Amy Weinberg, Hyatt’s senior vice president for Loyalty, Brand Marketing and Consumer Insights,
At Hyatt we are always listening to our guests and members, and understand they are craving even more leisure offerings. The acquisition of Apple Leisure Group will expand our luxury getaway options with 100 new luxury resorts to choose from across Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. It is too soon to know exactly how or when World of Hyatt will come to life within these resorts, however, please know that we are working fast and that we will share more as soon as we have it. In the meantime, we hope our guests and members will enjoy browsing the AMR collection to discover a new destination that’s just right for them.
Hyatt has been talking up the potential for acquisition. I was the first to break the news of their buying Two Roads Hospitality which included the Alila, Destination, and Thompson brands. They tried unsuccessfully to acquire Starwood and Kimpton. And they were actively involved in trying to buy NH Hotels.
There simply aren’t that many chains with enough properties to move the needle that Hyatt could buy, and this one wasn’t on my radar at all. It gives them a foothold in adjacent businesses outside of current core activities, and will eventually give more options for World of Hyatt members as well.
It will be interesting what this does to the Apple Vacations consolidator packages in terms of earning points/elite benefits. Could be a nice new twist.
They should’ve bought Starwood, no matter the cost it would’ve given them a leg up that is simply not possible now
@Abey – they had what in ny view was a better offer than Marriott did for Starwood but it was a complicated deal because of the structure of their stock with Pritzker shares exerting greater control – they were willing to restructure this somewhat, with long-held shares having outsized voting rights. But this proved too big a challenge.
For my travel style and preferences, I give this a big “meh.” Too bad.
I wish Hyatt bought Kimpton or Regent but at least their other acquisitions in recent years have been great.
shame on hyatt. they are racing to the bottom to compete with marriott, who nobody likes. What in the world is going on in hyatt’s management? Its becoming horrible company. Used to be quality over quantity.
Would love to see Hyatt acquire Montage/Pendry and/or Auberge Resorts Collection. Great footprint of properties for those of us who don’t want the bottomless mimosa crowd ruining a relaxing getaway.
Echo – maybe owners of Montage and Auberge hotels don’t want the points redeeming, “where is my free breakfast and suite upgrade” crowd ruining the ambiance at their hotels 🙂
As an AMR Vacation Club member, I have concerns about the need for big corporations to put their own stamp on an acquisition. , I hope in this case, Hyatt doesn’t change anything about our resort brands. AMR resorts have a great resort model which Hyatt would be wise to leave intact
SPG would have been much better merged with Hyatt than this Bonvoy mess.