This past summer I stayed at the Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach. This hotel does not honor elite breakfast benefits. They used to at least compensate eligible guests with points as an apology. It seems they’ve stopped even doing that.
Hyatt calls it a resort but I’m not sure that it really is. There’s almost no service of any kind. There is a restaurant associated with the hotel only sort of. It’s not on the beach. And there’s just a small wading pool. It’s an urban building with no resort grounds. Still, it fit the bill for an affordable stay on dates where prices elsewhere were astronomical.
Hyatt Centric Waikiki
Hyatt Centric Waikiki
For years this hotel has done its best to avoid allowing points redemptions, with a limited number of rooms on offer only for specific lengths of stay. They also stopped honoring Globalist breakfast benefit.
- They claim that their restaurant is closed. It never re-opened after Covid.
- But there is a restaurant that they advertise in the elevator. You can charge things back to your room. It’s not inside the hotel proper.
Hyatt Centric Waikiki
They’ve been providing 1,000 World of Hyatt bonus points per night in lieu of honoring breakfast. That’s worth about $14. I had to chase down these points down after the stay. They did not post automatically.
Over the summer I reached out to Hyatt and asked,
- Whether an on-site restaurant is a brand standard for Hyatt Centric?
- Whether hotels were expected to have re-opened their restaurants post Covid?
- If Hyatt Centric Waikiki has a restaurant with charging back to the room, how do they not honor Globalist breakfast?
- And how is breakfast for a family of four worth only 1,000 points?
Hyatt Centric Waikiki
Hyatt did not respond to this inquiry. And I guess breakfast there is not actually worth 1,000 points for four people staying in one room – it is worth zero points. Reportedly, the hotel has stopped awarding even the points in lieu of breakfast for Globalists.
Previously, they offered points in lieu of the breakfast. They discontinued that in December. It is not on their website nor the app and they didn’t even tell me a check in. I’ve stayed here before knowing that I would get points and move breakfast. When I asked about it this morning, they told me they no longer participate it.
The guest reporting this is frustrated, “Hyatt is overall a great program, but the way they allow hotels to pick and choose what benefits to offer is very frustrating.”
I agree. Hyatt’s consistency in enforcing benefits seems to have fallen. A couple of months ago, I learned that the Hyatt Centric Old Town Alexandria was telling guests that there are no standard suites offered at the property – so suite upgrades do not apply, whether trying to confirm in advance with a certificate or at check-in.
Of course they are not listed as a non-participating property in the program terms and conditions. I reached out to Hyatt and was told that it would be added to the list of suite-ineligible properties.
Hyatt Centric Old Town Alexandria is a Suite Award Ineligible Property. This update will likely be reflected in our next update of the terms and conditions but we always encourage guests contact the Hyatt Global Care Center or visit a hotel or resort’s property page on hyatt.com for details on whether suite award accommodations are available at that hotel or resort.
Two months later, it has not been added, which means that the hotel continues to violate World of Hyatt terms and conditions – with the program’s permission. Meanwhile, I’ve asked whether there are other properties that do not participate in suite upgrade awards but that are not listed as ineligible in the program terms. Despite follow up, I have received no response.
The hotel only has a couple of suites, but there are other hotels that limit suite upgrades by playing games with the pool of inventory such that it’s as though they have this few. They also play games with the breakfast benefit,
While they have a restaurant with a full menu, it isn’t offered to Globalists. Instead, they have a “Globalist Breakfast” that gives you an option of two plain eggs and toast, cereal or a parfait. Probably the worst breakfast benefit I’ve seen at a Hyatt.
The Hyatt Centric brand can be expected to deliver inferior stays. It’s for hotels that don’t want to conform to brand standards, so there aren’t many standards. That’s the sine qua non of cheap owners.
Still, it seems to me that there’s an increasing sense in which Hyatt hotels are not abiding by program terms, or rather Hyatt’s rules seem to have changed for some hotels and customers just aren’t being informed.
Update: Hyatt Centric Waikiki is no longer violating World of Hyatt terms because they have ended the ability to charge restaurant meals to the room, and obtained an exemption from offering breakfast in the Hyatt terms. I would have hoped that Hyatt made them follow program rules, instead Hyatt changed the program’s rules to accommodate this property.
Hyatt thinks that makes my take wrong – the hotel is now compliant with program terms (nevermind that it wasn’t when I stayed there). Meanwhile, I think it underscores the point that hotels are getting away with running roughshod. And a Hyatt Centric not even needing to have a restaurant and honor elite breakfast certainly says something to me about the Centric brand.
Gary to the rescue!! Preach!!
@Gary – please follow up with Hyatt and elevate if necessary . They should be getting back to you on your queries . Never ok to not answer a customer.
Couldn’t agree more! This is why, after many years as a Globalist, I do not care to requalify this year. Hyatt customer service has gone downhill so badly. I reported the GH Bali for playing games with suite inventory (suite not available to a Globalist, but suddenly available for $25/nt paid upgrade for example). Hyatt doesn’t realize that by allowing this type of behavior, their most loyal guests turn away from the program. Even other property owners should be concerned since this devalues the entire program for those that do follow the rules. I also reported the Hyatt Place Chicago for being filthy in the elevators and the breakfast room, for never crediting stays, etc. Nobody reached out to me as a Globalist and no points or apologies were offered. Hyatt still has some great properties to be sure, but has lost its consistently excellent service. It’s not worth qualifying in a program that is so inconsistent. I need to know what my benefits are and that they will be provided consistently. Otherwise, there is no reason to be loyal.
Hyatt is trying to be Marriott.
Globalist should mean more than Thank you for being Globalist.
Are they going to way of Southwest?
All this talk about ‘globalists’… blipped on my ‘right wing extremist’ radar. Like, *wee woo wee woo* (All clear! All clear! They’re not vilifying Soros, again.. they’re just discussing Hyatt status.. do not engage!) Bah! You gotta mock the fascists. It’s practically all we got left.
Hyatt totally sucks anyway. I lost 117,000 Gold Passport points in the program changeover. Adios Hyatt.
Just left HR Etoile. Property and experience has degraded over past stays. VIP Guest mgr claimed no suite available for globalist upgrade and then came up with bs excuses after I showed suites available. Club Lounge had no guests when we arrived but every table had dirty dishes. At shift change CL staff still didn’t clear the dirty tables. CL no longer has champagne, beer or juices in cooler…CL staff and FDa said it was a cut back because guests were taking to the room. After my discussion with my MHC I received an email from the F&B mgr saying that they still have the beer, juice and sodas. The food offering on the evening was also cut back quite a bit bit. Seems like a race to the bottom with just a Marriottsplanation as to why.
I told them them that my last art was ten nights and we did t take any beer to the room…we won’t be back…the cost-cutting worked in reverse and is making me reconsider the overall value of spending 60 nights to retain globalist.
Why don’t guests give the hotel a one star rating in reviews and also do a truthful TripAdvisor review. High odds that this two-prong approach will cause changes.
I’m starting the believe the benefits at Hyatt (and for sure Marriott) aren’t worth it.
It’s more pleasant to select a hotel that is closer and nicer than trying to chase points and benefits that properties can selectively apply (or not).
Thanks for using your platform to shame hotels that deserve it — not cool, Hyatt. Not cool. Hope they get back to you with a proper response.
Denied 4 pm checkout for Globalist at Hyatt Huntington Beach. Interestingly, never got the usual email asking how my experience was. I suspect that wasn’t a coincidence.
I don’t think this article is totally fair. Centric Waikiki is now explicitly listed in Ts and Cs as breakfast ineligible, a la a Hyatt Vacation Club. So that’s why they’ve stopped compensating. The Hyatt lawyers and bureaucrats did do this the “right” way. As for whether they should have caved on terms versus deflagging versus forcing a solution (give every guest a donut?), that’s a different question. But Hyatt is following its published terms with regard to Centric Waikiki. You should publish a follow up with this point.
This is very sad. If they keep doing this, we can go to any hotel we want, save money, often in a better location. I pick Hyatt to be a Globalist, if there is no benefit, goodbye.
Make them respond to you. Outrageous lack of customer service.
@L737 — Listen here, bucko. You be ‘nice’ to those multinational mega-corps! They’re ‘persons,’ too, according to the US Supreme Court, Citizens United v. FEC (2010). Sure, Hyatt is not a ‘natural’ person, like you or me, but when it comes to political power, the big corporations are like Superman, sorry, I mean Homelander. (Again, hope you enjoy the references, dear friend.)
Thanks for trying to keep us from getting Bonvoyed by Hyatt.
Unfortunately, I expect this kind of Globalist-hostile approach will be something we soon see happening at some Hyatt property/properties in NYC too.
@1990 Bah! References galore today. I need to catch up on my TV show and movie lists lest I start missing them
I’m guessing someone out there has compiled a running list of which properties are and aren’t honoring elite perks — if not, might be a reference useful tool
@L737 — You betcha. I’d imagine we all have our own spreadsheets, docs, or equivalents, but not everyone has a website to publish them, like Gary, Ben, or Chuck and William at DoC (there are others out there, too, and, no, I’ve given up on the shills over at TPG, though, ‘some, I assume, are good people.’) I do enjoy when the various blogs credit each other. Some of the various Reddit communities do a decent job as well.
I’ve been a Lifetime Globalist now for about three plus years. When I booked this Hyatt last year on my trip to Oahu, as soon as I arrived and found out the true situation, moved immediately to the Hyatt Regency down the street. Cancelled reservations and rebooked a few minutes after I tried to check in. Thankfully it all worked out. Voted with my feet. Mostly my overall experiences with Hyatt’s program has been great. Travel frequently to Sacramento for work and I’m (almost) always upgraded to a suite, whether it’s at the Hyatt Regency, Centric or House in town. And I’m usually booked at a lower rate, because most trips are done weeks in advance.
For every story I read extolling the virtues of Hyatt as THE BEST loyalty program with THE BEST redemptions, I see a story like this where Hyatt is seriously shafting their loyal customers. Hard to know what to think.
@Earl B. — Well, ‘the times they are a changin,’ sir. Each program has gone through its own respective devaluation–some worse than others. Other than the prior transition from Gold Passport, which @Craig Jones (above) will happily remind us of nearly every time Hyatt comes up, Hyatt was a hold-out among its competitors until recently. We’ve been Bonvoy’d plenty (most recently with what felt like a halving of point values this year, the constant ‘testing’ of removing elite breakfast benefits, the failure to upgrade elites, and the Starwood debacle before it). For now, it’s a race to bottom–the entire industry is practically ‘colluding’ to offer us worse and less as time goes forth.
@1990 – The Homelander reference is priceless.
I believe the definition of Hyatt Centric Hotels is a resort without any of the bothersome resort amenities.
Which Hyatt Centrics get it right? On other words, if checking off another brand from the brand explorer list was important to get a Cat4 cert then what Hyatt Centrics are worth it?
I am a Globalists and when I stay at the Hyatt Centric they never upgrade my room. Many times I have to argue that I’m supposed to get breakfast. I have gotten to the point I stay somewhere else as a matter of principle. Ironically I tried multiple ti.es to book a room on points at Hyatt Centric Waikiki with zero luck. Seems to be happening mostly at Centric. Good reason to avoid them all together.
Hyatt Centric Sacramento
On a hyatt related topic, the hyatt place in Jacksonville decided that Hyatt Place no longer includes breakfast but it was available for purchase at 11.99 a person. It’s not ovee the $24, it’s changing a policy on a brand that is assumed to include breky.
After 4 years of being globalist, I am going to let my status lapse at the end of this year. The list of hotel exceptions for suite upgrade awards seems to grow annually, 4PM checkout is now based on availability and I was denied it at the last three hyatt hotels that I stayed at, points redemptions are ridiculous for all inclusive hotels, category 1-4 certificates are worthless for me given the annual category changes, breakfast in club lounges in the US are mediocre at best, suite upgrades are fifty fifty at best even though suites are available for sale. Hyatt is not quite as bad as Marriott, but is certainly trending that way.
There is so much to dissect here. Every brand is going to have outliers who try to game you back. Just as we try to game them. Of all the brands I find Hyatt to have the least shenanigans. I spent 140 night at Hyatt last year and around 80 with Marriott. The rest at a hodgepodge. Hyatt still was the best and most proactive with upgrades and I luckily know the varying properties well. I often forget to even use all my suite upgrades, but as a Lifetime Globalist it seems I never need to. The upgrade just comes anyway. Even Four Seasons, where I am an elite, and where suites were always given in the past, have moved towards an upgrade being a “room with a premium view.” With that, while I could care less about going out of my way for loyalty, Hyatt is the best I have seen.
Are there occasional properties with Hyatt that are not proactive or give you any sort of recognition? Sure. So what. I don’t care. I book though not only for loyalty. I book for convenience, rates, and experiences in the past. If it happens to be a Hyatt property, great. Yet I am just as happy booking with Marriott, FS, IPrefer, or LHW as well should the hotel be one I like, offer a decent rate, and is better positioned for meetings.
When I try a property with a brand, like Hyatt, that is dismal, I just do what everyone should, move on. Never stay there again. Or, in some cases, I have even just left the hotel on the spot and told them as such.
When you book the best for you, despite the brand, a property best suited for the place you are going, you will be less demanding to expectations. Why? You are happier with everything else and the why of your choice. If you are focused on loyalty with these brands and going out of your way to stay with them (even when it’s awful) you are setting yourself up for failure and disappointment.
Book the hotel. Not the brand.
In a few more years there won’t be any loyalty programs worth chasing…. But on the plus side, well all be free agents!
@Matt F – The Hyatt Centric Portland is pretty nice and has gobs of stuff withing easy walking distance. I’d cheerfully return.
@Christian — Well, ‘(he) is the upgrade,’ after all. These companies really have been acting like Vought lately. No greater irony than that The Boys is an *Amazon* Prime series.
Somewhat relatedly, these recent Southwest stories involving Elliott Management reminds me of E-Corp from the series Mr. Robot. The further irony is that the protagonist’s name is actually Elliot, played by Remi Malik. Of course, he refers to it as Evil Corp, which is fitting because Elliott Management seems to be acting that way as well. In fact, I cannot think of too many companies that are being decent these days. Kind ‘dark’ out there at the moment.
SW, Huntington Beach is a resort and does not have to offer late check out. That being said they don’t offer upgrades when they should either. They are a big part of why I didn’t re-qualify For Globalist this year. I’m not going to play their games anymore with Hyatt not backing me up when hotels don’t follow the rules.
Haven’t cared about Hyatt status in a few years and even closed all credit cards. Now that SLH isn’t even with them, I maybe stay at a Hyatt property 1-2 times a year.
Gary…here’s another mind blowing fact about Hyatt: you still cannot book a Mr and Mrs Smith property on their website. I have emailed corporate, spoken to my Globalist concierge and no one can figure out how to book one of their properties…that they acquired over a year ago! Hyatt is getting to be as bad as Marriott.
I’m trying Hyatt as a globalist after defecting from Marriott. I would say there is less points deflation. But the SUA’s are overrated, and in three stays as globalist I have yet to receive an upgrade. So not much different from Marriott and also maybe not worth the squeeze?
@Matt F: Back in 2019, I stayed at the Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile (category 4), which was a great experience, even if I was only there for one night. Proactively upgraded to an executive king suite as a Globalist; very good breakfast; 4 pm checkout not a problem. Also one of the only Hyatt properties in the area to have a pool and hot tub (indoor), which are still advertised on the website so it seems they still have them. They appear to have just completed a room renovation, too.
@SW, @mauiguy: Interestingly, that Hyatt (Huntington Beach) – despite having “Resort” in its name – isn’t actually listed as a “Resort Property” on Hyatt’s site (e.g. using the search function’s “Resort Property” filter, or just looking under “Amenities” on the property page). The closest Hyatt-designated resorts are 47 miles away: the Mission Pacific Beach Resort (JDV) and Seabird Ocean Resort & Spa (Destination). But, the HR Huntington Beach does look like a legitimate resort, so that’s probably an error (don’t know Hyatt’s exact definition of “resort” on the back-end though).
Gary. Thank you. I know people grumble and grown about you from time-to-time but this is exactly why I read ViewFromTheWing. I know who the hell to avoid.
Hyatt has been an excellent rewards program and this is pretty sad for them. It is Marriottesque.
Ive overall have had the opposite on two recent stays:
I stayed this week at the Ambassador Hotel in Chicago which is leaving World of Hyatt on Monday May 17th and was treated very well as a Globalist: got a proactive suite upgrade (furniture in the living room felt really tired, and I only booked at 8:00pm that evening), 4:00pm checkout, and breakfast in the resturant was anything on the menu (no cheap only drip coffee or hot tea is free, we will charge you for espresso based drinks which feels common to me), destination fee waived without a fuss.
A few days earlier stayed at the Hyatt Centric Loop in Chicago and same experience – an upgrade to a really nice corner room suite with 4pm checkout. I was told I only got $31.50 for breakfast and that my globalist benefits didn’t cover tip because it was an independent resturant but when I spent close to $40 there were no extra changes on my bill from breakfast.
Gary. I know you love Hyatt and this kind of stuff is heartbreaking but the hyatt you love has died. It is time to begin the mourning process.
As an explorer last year received a nice suite upgrade at check-in at the Centric Chicago Loop. Used a suite upgrade cert at the Centric Portland that was honored. Site specific indeed and thanks for the reporting.
Meh. Just following the lead of “our”, er, I mean our billionaire overlords “laws for me? I don’t think so!” playbook. Rule of law is dead. Enjoy your anarchy folks!
The worst part? The Hyatt Centric Waikiki is OPERATED by Hyatt, not a rogue franchisee. So, Hyatt’s hotel management division is literally screwing Hyatt’s loyalty division.
@FNT Delta Diamond — So, what you’re saying is… they’re screwing themselves. I mean, isn’t this what some folks say on here sometimes: ‘GFYS.’ But, like, to say that to yourself… kinky.
Wow. I thought I was the only non blogger to never get a suite upgrade in the US.
I’ll add the baffling mess that is breakfast at Hyatt Place Harrisonburg (Explorist, not Globalist).
First, the desk said it was $8 per person. Given I was traveling with my children, and had booked a Hyatt Place (directly, not via a 3rd party) because they would want breakfast, I was clear that I would pay, but was not happy about it. Then they didn’t charge me, “because of my status.” So not only do they charge some people, they don’t seem to be able to communicate exactly who.
These properties will not be encouraged to change if status members continue to stay.
If properties do not care to be within the Hyatt umbrella, they should leave and stop causing service issues.
HR Irvine claims no suite is available when it clearly is on the app. They would not budge saying it’s available.
As a leisure traveler, I choose a hotel based on how well the location and amenities suit my travel plans and budget. I’m not brand loyal, and from what I read on this site, it sounds as though brands aren’t very loyal to their customers, either. I like breakfast included, so I book a rate that includes breakfast. I don’t need a suite, but if you do, then book a suite. Pay for the experience you want.
If you are redeeming points, just consider it for what it is, a free room, and be happy with what you get.
And stop going to uber-touristy places like Waikiki.