Tag Archives for hyatt.
I tested it at my most frequent stay property. The rate was taking 15% off of the ‘Standard’ rate. In this case the AAA rates and Member rates were the same – and this ‘corporate rate for anyone’ beat them both. In fact it was $13 better than the Member (and AAA) advance purchase rate – without advance purchase required.
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.”
I had to go to Washington DC for work recently and my wife and I decided that she and our daughter would come along for the weekend leading up to my time there. I cringe at the industry term ‘bleisure’ but that’s what this was.
Since I was with family I confirmed a suite, and I was able to take advantage of elite breakfast from room service too.
Several Destination Residences are now bookable with Hyatt points. Some of these are amazing properties, and even good value. However there’s a dangerous pricing precedent at some locations where there aren’t “standard rooms” and everything costs more than the standard award chart as a result.
It turns out though that anyone can register for free Hyatt status and a fast track, and the broader offer is even better because instead of free 90 days of status, the free Explorist mid-tier status lasts through end of 2021 whether you stay enough with Hyatt to keep status or not.
What’s more, instead of having just 90 days to stay enough to keep status you’ve got until the end of the year so it’s far more generous.
Hyatt’s dedicated concierge program is much easier to qualify for than Marriott’s. Yet there will likely be far fewer members qualifying for a concierge in 2022. That’s the perfect time to amp up the service in ways it was originally envisioned, and the current Hyatt leadership is well-positioned to drive this.
At Hyatt’s Motif hotel your room rate does not include the coffeemaker, TV, alarm clock, iron, mirror, of bath products.
For $20 per night you get unlimited local calls if you’ve somehow forgotten your cell phone; access to an electric vehicle charging station (Hertz gives me those all the time!); and an in-room Alexa that will let Jeff Bezos listen in while you’re doing you-know-what.
Hyatt has a partnership with SLH Hotels that lets you earn points and status at those properties (when booking paid rates through Hyatt) and redeem points at these same properties, though not all of the hotels are part of this arrangement.
Today Hyatt announced another 20 joining the partnership although for one of these no points redemptions are permitted. But then it’s not a hotel it’s a ‘sustainable sea expedition of Ecuador.’ Ok…
Hyatt and American Airlines have new offers to fast track towards elite status for current elite members of the other program. Hyatt even gives free temporary status while you work on your challenge. They aren’t super easy, or with American necessarily the best way to achieve status we’ve seen in the market, however.
Your travel reservations are never guaranteed, if the travel provider can sell your trip to someone else for (enough) more money. I wrote recently about Hilton cancelling all summer reservations at a Hawaiian hotel property, leaving guests with few options when the hotel had a chance to sell out to a single group booking. Now a similar situation has happened with Hyatt, though unsurprisingly Hyatt did more for the guests that were bumped.
A customer booked at Alila Ventana Big Sur in September on points for their 25th anniversary found that their reservation was being cancelled by the hotel because the property got a better deal from a group booking.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
