Originally Posted by
jpdx
I'm sure someone will chime in soon about the lovely SLH properties Hyatt "has" all over Europe. Indeed, there are some great hotels, but this "partnership" is useful mostly to Americans who can generate Hyatt points cheaply.
Fully agree. More often than not, European SLH have this weird boutique style (sometimes a bit English in style) that does not appeal to me. Neither does their price point, at least not through Hyatt's channels. Mostly neither worth the cash nor the points.
Obviously, coverage in Europe has gotten better compared to 10 years ago, mostly thanks to acquisitions of sometimes doubtful value. For instance, I am planning a trip to Mallorca, where Hyatt now has a whopping 22 hotels, but I'm struggling to find ONE I actually WANT to stay at. Similarly, Germany now has decent coverage, but many of those newly-added Lindner hotels aren't exactly places I'm excited about.
Heck, with the new acquisitions, Europe is now awash in €50 Aluas and Cat 1 Lindners -- the one in Berlin isn't on par with the GH, but costs 3500 points for much of the summer season. Time that with a good promo, and you're just paying for breakfast.
I think I am going for Globalist this year but it is mostly due to two me and all hotels I really like and one Lindner (the one in Berlin) I somewhat like. Fortunately, they're in locations I visit frequently. We've had this discussion in other threads. Personally, I'd summarize it in the way that it will be years until Hyatt has brought the AMR's and Lindner's up to speed. Yeah, some positive outliers, but overall I am more excited about the pipeline of the classical Hyatt brands. The Lindners and All Inclusives are not for me--at least, not yet. Instead, new builds like the HP and HR in ZRH are most welcome and certainly useful properties to me.
Originally Posted by
antonius66
I know European based Hyatt people here often lament how hard it is to stay Hyatt loyal in Europe.
The other thing is that--while not at the level of Asia--European chain hotels provide better elite recognition than those located in the US. In the US, in practice more so than on paper, there is this recognition gap between Hyatt and the other big chains. Outside the US, not so much.
I do think Hyatt has some wonderful, aspirational properties, and a decent earn-and-burn proposition. But with me having few stays in the US and many in Europe, I'd have no problem making Hyatt my secondary or tertiary brand. It's just that there happen to be decent Hyatt-affiliated hotels at the places I will stay the most at in 2024. Therefore, I'm probably going to make Globalist.