hyatt

Tag Archives for hyatt.

One Hyatt Now Charges Extra For Use of an In-Room Desk

by Gary Leff on November 16, 2019

Nov 16 2019

First we had deceptive resort fees – part of the room rate is hidden, called a fee, and you don’t see it included in the total cost of a room when you’re comparing hotel rates on a website. Resort fees spread to hotels that aren’t resorts. In cities they started to call resort fees urban destination fees.

I thought we had reached peak absurdity with the spread in Las Vegas of ‘venue fees’.

When I covered this new type of fee back in September I asked, ‘Karl Marx said history repeats itself first as tragedy then as farce. If venue fees is hotels repeating the resort fee as tragedy, can the farce be far behind?” Apparently we’ve already reached farce.

Elite Status: Where I’ll End 2019

by Gary Leff on November 14, 2019

Nov 14 2019

I just booked what I hope will be my last flights of 2019, and my last hotel stays as well. Looking back on the year I realize I traveled less – fewer days than I’ve spent on the road in recent times since the birth of my daughter last fall.

Less time in the air and in chain hotels for me will still seem like a lot of time away to many readers. In 2016 I was gone half the year. That hasn’t been close to true this year. Still, I’m on track to renew several of my status levels.

Disgusting: Hyatt Moving to Wall Mounted Shared Toiletries

by Gary Leff on November 12, 2019

Nov 12 2019

Hyatt has announced that they are copying IHG and Marriott in eliminating single use plastic toiletries as soon as possible but company-wide by June 2021. They’re doing this instead of recycling the plastics and instead of using biodegradable single use packaging.

My Credit Card Spending Priorities for 2020

by Gary Leff on November 12, 2019

Nov 12 2019

The biggest return on credit card spending is earning a card’s initial bonus. After that it’s either benefits that may be earned at specific thresholds on a card, or earning more than one mile per dollar on specific categories of spending. For me it’s about earning the elite benefits I care about, and some special perks on top that let me travel with my family more than I otherwise would.

Hyatt In Advanced Talks To Buy Several Kimpton Hotels

by Gary Leff on November 11, 2019

Nov 11 2019

They’ve tried to grow through strategic partnerships with MGM and SLH hotels, and through acquisitions such as Two Roads Hospitality which has given them Alila, Destination Hotels, Joie de Vivre and Thompson Hotels (as well as the nascent tommie brand).

Hyatt has actually tried and failed at other acquisitions. They were in the running for Starwood, probably even offering more money than Marriott, but their complicated stock structure (the Pritzker family retains outsized control) got in the way. Hyatt tried at the last minute to acquire NH Hotels but that door was already shut. They were also a bidder for Kimpton, but IHG beat them out by $100 million. (Hyatt was right not to overpay the way IHG did.)

How Much Hyatt Pays Hotels When You Redeem Points for Free Nights

by Gary Leff on November 5, 2019

Nov 05 2019

A hotel program books your room on points. They take the liability on their books for your point balance, and use it to pay the hotel.

Since hotels are mostly independently owned, they need to get real cash from the chain for your stay. Hotels actually benefit by filling unsold rooms with reward night guests, getting revenue from the loyalty program for a room that would have sat empty.

That Didn’t Last Long: Hyatt Adding New Category 8 Hotels, and Many Limited-Participation Properties

by Gary Leff on November 5, 2019

Nov 05 2019

I don’t have an issue with limited-participation hotels, and it makes sense for timeshare hotels not to offer complimentary breakfast as an elite benefit. However it’s not really fair to say that Hyatt is growing and delivering more value to members by adding hotels where redemption is not possible.

And I think we can assume that moving five Destination Hotels into category 8 is just the beginning. We’ll eventually see more at the inflated 40,000 points per night level.

Double Elite Nights at Hyatt’s Soft Brand Through End of Year

by Gary Leff on November 1, 2019

Nov 01 2019

Hyatt’s ‘soft brand’ – the umbrella for independent hotels to join Hyatt without matching specific brand standards – is called “Unbound Collection.” The chain is offering double elite qualifying nights for stays at Unbound Collection hotels through end of year. (Registration required.)

There are 20 Unbound Collection properties.

Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach Plays Games With Award Availability, and Hyatt is Powerless to Stop It

by Gary Leff on October 10, 2019

Oct 10 2019

The Hyatt Centric Waikiki says they have ‘fewer than 20’ standard rooms, which means that less than 9% of their rooms are standard rooms and eligible for World of Hyatt redemption. However I couldn’t find a single date where they were making rooms available at all.

I reached out to Hyatt to see whether the property was in compliance with program rules for making standard rooms available on points whenever they were offered on cash. I also asked whether Hyatt has rules for any minimum percentage of rooms that must be considered standard?

Hyatt Adds 49 More Small Luxury Hotels for Redemption

by Gary Leff on October 9, 2019

Oct 09 2019

Hyatt launched their earning and redemption partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World a year ago. Initially they only brought about 10% of SLH’s 500+ properties into their portfolio.

Now they’re up to 250 of the roughly 500 SLH Hotels participating in World of Hyatt, including some amazing places to spend your Hyatt (or Chase) points.