Originally Posted by
cfabar1
I also think there is a great point about footprint vs. super luxurious hotels. For example, in Miami, the Hyatt Centric and Confidante are perfectly fine hotels. There is a nice footprint of hotels on the beach and in the city.
However, the Confidante is not the St. Regis or the W South Beach. The Centric isn’t the JW, etc. I personally am just fine with staying at the Confidante. I understand why others wouldn’t be, but it isn’t really a “footprint” issue to me, unless the issue is that Park Hyatt’s footprint is too limited.
I’m glad you are a fan of the Hyatt Centric and Confidante in Miami. They look like fine hotels. But, ultimately, you do not really have much of a choice. IMO, this strictly makes Hyatt’s footprint more limiting. I really love that all chains have affordable options in most major markets for leisure. However, I really think the biggest point of differentiation is with slightly higher end hotels.
I do think Park Hyatt’s footprint is too limited and Hyatt does not really have a soft collection of luxury hotels comparable to Luxury Collection or even LXR. Even Hyatt admits many UCs are upscale and free market pricing seems to peg most UCs (ie Confidante) at this range.
Examples of major leisure markets without a developed luxury portfolio for Hyatt:
Boston, Miami, San Francisco, Seattle (though Marriott is weak here too), Houston, etc.
Internationally, I would argue the difference between elite status programs is much smaller (at least Asia and the Middle East). However, I still find Hyatt to fall behind Marriott for luxury hotels in key markets like Shanghai (where the Park Hyatt is fine but….. in PuJersey).
In Europe, I think most of the chains are not amazing. I am currently planning a last minute Switzerland/Italy trip with some friends. In areas like Lake Como (where the cheapest acceptable hotel is pricing at $2k/night and I would love points options), there is really not a strong showing from any hotel. I am thankful there is a Park Hyatt in Zurich but I ultimately did not even book it.