Originally Posted by
jpdx
I'm just going to quote this Hyatt fan as a representative of half a dozen+ others in the first few pages of this thread.
You guys must have a rather limited travel horizon if Hyatt works for you.
I just spent two months in Europe, where Hyatt's footprint is ludicrously small. Sure, they've managed to somwehat obscure this fact by adding tons of Small Luxury properties -- where you don't get benefits. You might as well stay some random place where you have no status. Sure, these are often nice hotels, and you can redeem Hyatt points, but let's not lose track of the fact that there are no Hyatts in major cities like
Strasbourg,
Lille,
Brussels, not to mention secondary cities like
Stuttgart or Nuremberg -- all places, coincidentally, where we had decent to great Bonvoy stays this summer.
100% agree. Hyatt’s portfolio is objectively weak and SLH is a laughable program for everything other than redeeming points. Given that SLH usually offers virtually the same perks (often free breakfast so people here can consume carb infested complimentary hotel breakfasts daily) for people booking direct (and it’s own loyalty program) for a cheaper rate, people booking cash stays for SLH through WoH are paying Hyatt a margin for… nothing really. Couple this with very inconsistent room availability and Hyatt has become the worst type of OTA for these SLH bookings.
Originally Posted by
jpdx
Yes, my typical Hyatt upgrades are far better than my typical Bonvoy upgrades -- in fact, I'm inclined to say that my typical Hyatt upgrades surpass my exceptional Bonvoy upgrades -- but none of that can distract from the fact that in all of Europe, there are 8 PHs, 3 GHs, 4 Andaz, 6 Centric, 25 HR, and 8 Unbound properties. It's quite similar in Asia -- count the number of Hyatt resorts, and you'll find that they have fewer in all of SE Asia than Bonvoy has in Bali alone.
Same situation in the US, particularly for people that like nicer properties. It baffles me how Hyatt lacks a credible “nice” option in major markets like San Francisco, Miami (frankly, south Florida as a whole), LA, Boston, Houston, etc. Per FT’s consensus opinion, Hyatt doesn’t even have a credible nice option in NYC because the service at the PH NYC is so bad.
There are Hyatts that I legitimately look forward to visiting (and taking advantage of the chain’s strong perks) but that is far from a common occurrence. Given this, I can only consider Hyatt a secondary program. It’s undeniable that Globalist is a strong status, especially for people that care about suite upgrades. BUT, excellent perks don’t matter if there are so few decent hotels to use these perks at.
I think a small hotel portfolio is innately connected to strong loyalty program. As Hyatt’s portfolio meaningfully grows, so too will World of Hyatt weaken.
Also, I think people vastly overstate Hyatt benefit delivery here. The Hyatt forums are filled with people complaining about elite benefits for various properties. Take the current Hyatt SF threads where the consensus best Hyatt in the city for elite benefits is the Grand Hyatt… airport hotel… Or New York where people will attack you personally for praising the PH NY (with its lack of suite upgrades) whereas the STR NY just upgraded my first-time-visitor friend on points to the Fifth Avenue Suite.
Originally Posted by
jpdx
I think the bottom line for any frequent traveler is, and has always been, that you need to work different chains to get an optimal outcome.
Completely agree. Loyalty is for suckers and each program has its pros and cons. Chain hopping allows people to benefit from a program’s upsides while minimizing their exposure to the downsides. Conversely, sticking with 1 chain pretty much forces someone to embrace the program’s downsides.
Even IHG brings something to the table these days with Six Senses, arguably the only top tier points hotel brand.
But, if people want to keep overpaying Hyatt by only sticking with WoH and going through their ridiculous SLH OTA, I’m fine with that. Hyatt needs to make a profit somewhere lol.