convert

In the pacific northwest, other than the Seattle area, Hyatt branded hotel are few and far between. One each in the state of Oregon and Idaho.

Given the fact that most Hyatts are run with service contracts, why are there so few? Does Hyatt have a better or stricter enrollment standard compare to other brands? Is its service contract more expensive? Is the company to small compared to say Hilton to effectively run more hotels? I understand there can be only so many Grand or Park Hyatt, but why not more Hyatt House and Hyatt Places?

Just curious

LASUA1K

Hyatt was a private company for so long. Things have changed.

I agree, I would average 50 more nights a year with Hyatt, if they had more Hyatt's. Small town USA, is where Hyatt needs to grow. Only one Hyatt in the Portland area, is not enough. Several towns missing a Hyatt. My main one Detroit. (suburbs don't count)

Recently though, Hyatt has done a great job with expanding in small town Midwest. We finally got Omaha, Des Moines, Champaign, Madison, Bloomington. Now we need a few more.

dw

Starwood's CEO just got ousted, and many think that part of it was due to the company's slow execution of expansion. Now that Hyatt is a public company, there may be more pressure going forward for it to grow its footprint.

craigthemif

Hyatt House used to be Summerfield Suites. Hyatt Place used to be AmeriSuites. Both were bought in the mid-2000s. It inevitably took a few years to digest those acquisitions, get brand standards up, etc.

Enter any Hyatt Place and you'll see that they're basically the same. Not easy to reflag any old hotel to... Building from scratch takes awhile.

It's also my impression that Hyatt has higher standards than some other chains, so end up losing properties that aren't willing to invest. Warsaw comes to mind.

Of course, any Hyatt fan outside of the US couldn't care less whether there's a HP in Des Moines. We'd rather see more breadth worldwide - not just the PHs in Zurich, Vienna, Sydney, but also more reasonably priced HRs, GHs, some more airport HPs etc.

AKCuisine

I agree that there's a "Hyatt Vacuum" in the Pacific NW and Alaska. One in Oregon, none in Anchorage, a handful in Seattle and the Bellevue area.

Plans apparently are in the works for a full service Hyatt Regency to be built near the convention center. Metro, Hyatt Agree on Convention Center Hotel for Portland

That would be a nice addition, IMO. But if it does happen it won't be until ~ 2017.

Ocn Vw 1K

My question is a slight twist on the OP's: why are there so few Hyatt Regencys? A trip search last fall to book Kansas City yielded many Hyatt Places, some Hyatt Houses, but not a single HR. As I'm not a fan of the HP and HH properties, I'd gladly stay at Hyatt more if there were more HRs.

dw

For better or worse, much of the new property development we're seeing in the US is now select service rather than full service. There was an interview with the Marriott CEO the other day where he said a lot of that is because it's been easier for property owners to get bank loans for select service properties as of late over full service properties, so most of their domestic pipeline is in that area.

In many urban markets, I can also see why a HP would be more attractive for a property owner than a HR. I see many cases where a chain's select service property in a city center prices at close to, and sometimes even more, than the full service property... this in spite of the fact that the operating costs are undoubtedly lower for the former.

davie355

To a leisure consumer, full service and select service are misnomers. The truth is the opposite:

Full service: pay for internet/breakfast
Select service: free internet/breakfast

iflyjetz

True. They're looking at overall cost, but they don't get the freebies at FS properties that elites get.

ContinentalFan

I hope so. I'd like to see both Hyatt and Starwood grow.

iflyjetz

They're both growing.

I'd hate to see their service levels drop down to that of Marriott or Hilton.

Miesque

I am of the exact same mindset, there are some jurisdictions where there are a few HPs and/or an HH but not FS Hyatts whereas there is a FS Hilton in addition to Embassy Suites and Hilton Garden Inns. In those situations I will definitely head to the Hilton or Doubletree as I am just not enamoured with Hyatt Place/Hyatt House.

BobR

^ agreed. About 80% of my overnight trips are to downtown areas, I rarely rent a car. This makes the majority of HP/HH locations useless to me. A few more central HRs (or Centrics) would significantly increse my Hyatt night count. Places like Kansas City, Detroit, Charleston, Raleigh, Oklahoma City and Portland come to mind.

Chicago is also an interesting case, I know there are a half dozen Hyatt properties close to the loop, but availability can be a problem in all of them during Spring and Summer.