Hyatt, which has been on an acquisitions tear, is in talks to acquire Playa Hotels, which owns 24 all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. Hyatt already has a 9.99% stake in the company which operates under the Hyatt Zilara, Hyatt Ziva, Hilton All-Inclusive, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, Wyndham Alltra, Jewel Resorts and The Luxury Collection brands. Talks are exclusive through February 3.
“Strategic alternatives under consideration could have compelling strategic merit to add new incremental durable fee streams,” Chicago, Illinois-based Hyatt said, although it added it was committed to its asset-light business model.
A deal here would be on top of recent acquisitions:
- Two Roads Hospitality (2018) adding brands including Joie de Vivre, Destination, Alila, and Thompson Hotels
Thompson Savannah - Apple Leisure Group (2021) significantly boosting its presence in premium all-inclusives in Europe and the Americas.
- Dream Hotel Group (2022): adding Dream Hotels, The Chatwal, and Unscripted Hotels.
- Mr & Mrs Smith (2023): the UK-based booking platform for boutique and luxury independent and small-chain properties worldwide.
- Me and All Hotels (2024): from Lindner Hotels.
- Standard International (2024): including The Standard and Bunkhouse Hotels brands, and even management of a coffee chain and iconic Austin Motel.
Two years ago Hyatt introduced a separate award chart for all-inclusive hotels (though not all all-inclusives are part of this chart). Since the pandemic they’ve pivoted to premium leisure, of which all-inclusives are a large part. Their premium focus has its roots pre-pandemic, however, and even pre-Two Roads Hospitality acquisition. They saw the opportunity with Miraval to learn and lean into lifestyle to generate outsized revenue for their product.
Moreover, through World of Hyatt’s focus on elite benefits and member experience, they’ve hit far above their weight both with customer loyalty and co-brand credit card performance. That’s actually why their lackluster integration of Mr and Mrs Smith is so concerning – a huge step-down from their previous partnership with SLH Hotels – redemptions through this platform are low value and that follows the shift to low value redemptions for Destination Residences.
This is all well and good for vacationing, but what I really wish they would do is add a midscale business hotel chain. E.g. Regency level, but obviously smaller since few locations can actually support hotels of that size. I stay at a lot of Hyatts, but still find many US mid sized cities where there is nothing in the chain that is conveniently located.
Great, more all inclusives in Mexico. Well, in fairness, people who want to vacation at an all inclusive in Mexico are probably the same people that want to stay at a Hyatt Place in Atlanta, so at least Hyatt knows their target market. This is the first year in a few that I won’t be requalifying for Globalist, and I don’t think I’ll really miss it.
– There are no regular full service business hotel chains available to buy (with the exception of something like Omni), and those hotels are not really being built. So these represent good opportunities for Hyatt growth
– If you don’t want to stay in all inclusive resorts, or at Hyatt Place hotels in Atlanta, just don’t stay at those locations. Keep staying at your Park Hyatts, Andaz, Hyatt regency, etc and just ignore the rest.
More power to them. Hyatt is one of the best loyalty programs around, and they do still have the greatest value for point redemptions anywhere. They knocked it out of the park with Alila, so hopefully they keep it up with these other acquisitions.
Also, I heard we’re going to war with Mexico soon, so not sure how that’ll affect things, but anyway… you know, the America First, isolationist, anti-war, anti-interventionist, who now wants to try imperialism and expansionism, outta spite, and for fun, I presume. Greenland, Panama, and Canada, too!
Other than bringing in a few other properties I don’t see how this changes anything. The Ziva and Zilara properties are already Hyatt brands…
Would prefer a replacement for loss of SLH.
Those Pritzker “kids” are rapidly spending their parents’ hard earned fortune.