A year ago Hyatt took a stake in Oasis and then in March launched points earn and burn, elite stay credit, and very limited benefits when members stayed at any of the Oasis homesharing options (which were in 20 cities).
- This was great for allowing members to earn points and elite stay credit as at any other Hyatt property while choosing accommodations different from a standard hotel.
- Elite recognition was late checkout based on tier status (2pm for mid-tier and 4pm for top tier, subject to availability similar to resorts) as well as a check-in amenity which ironically was something Hyatt took away from members at their hotels when launching World of Hyatt.
- Weak redemption of 15,000 points per $200 credit voucher.
This filled a gap for Hyatt in certain cities and was a great experiment as the chain works to address its single biggest challenge which is scale — they’re only 1/10th the size of Marriott and don’t have properties everywhere their members need to go.
However Oasis has been sold and is no longer associated with Hyatt. Hyatt shared this statement,
Vacasa, the largest vacation rental management company in North America, has purchased the Oasis Collections business. As a result, effective immediately, Oasis Collections is no longer affiliated with The Unbound Collection by Hyatt or the World of Hyatt loyalty program.
We recognize that customer demand for the alternative accommodations offering remains strong for occasions when travelers seek more space or a longer stay, and we will continue to evolve our approach as to how we might best serve that need, which may include discussions with Vacasa.
Hyatt is in the process of reaching out to World of Hyatt members to assure them that Vacasa plans to honor World of Hyatt member reservations confirmed before October 2, and World of Hyatt will award World of Hyatt points and tier night credits that members expected to earn for those reservations.
Real kudos though for honoring existing redemptions and awarding points on existing future reservations. That seems like the bare minimum a chain might do but it’s often not the case, so Hyatt deserves some credit here.
Hyatt has announced that they will be introducing an alliance with Small Luxury Hotels of the World but we don’t yet have many answers about it other than that they’ve said booking through Hyatt channels will be required, participation may not include all properties, and it’s unclear whether that will entail the best rates.
Hyatt, particularly the Pritzker family, should have just sucked it up and done whatever it took to buy SPG. Simple as that. The Pritzker ego centric greed and lust for power via a special class of stock is now hurting the business as a whole.
Gary, you’ve been in the biz long enough to know these things don’t happen so suddenly. Vacasa would have no reason to cut off the income from Hyatt guests without a transition period.
Combine the suddenness of the announcement with the fact that Hyatt was a minority owner in Oasis, and it smells like Hyatt wanted out. Why? My guess would be that we just went through the peak summer travel period and very, very few Hyatt members booked Oasis.
If so, it is the fault of the know-it-all suits at Hyatt who didn’t market Oasis enough.
I have to say that my limited experiences with Oasis made them seem like a completely incompetent company to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hyatt became alarmed to see how they were running — or not running — the business, and cut their losses.