I dropped from Glob to Explorist some time after COVID, and only became Glob again a few months ago. So I know both sides.

I think in the US, Explorist does not mean much at all. 2 PM late checkout, a few bottles of water, and not the room facing the garbage cans. In Europe and Asia, I got some semi-decent recognition as Explorist. Bigger room more often than not in hotels that have multiple categories below suites. Usually, no suite, though. In perhaps of 50% of stays, there was also something like a welcome card and a chocolate or similar, or some small treat provided at check-in like a free drink voucher or something.

I'm not sure if the 2 PM late CO is still guaranteed at non-resort Hyatts. Personally, I value late CO's fairly highly. Actually, they are more important to me than suite upgrades (unless non-suites do not have a proper desk).

Presumably, 95% or more of guests will make status through nights. So basically, Milestone Awards are kind of like gamification and a marketing device (and a slight differentiator in-between tiers). I roughly count these as status benefits and they are also valuable at the 30-night level.

Like most status mid tier is hit or miss.

Totally disagree. I'd say most mid tier status conveys much more consistent delivery of the level's status benefits.
It is top tier which leaves you guessing, which leads to many of the endless discussions on FT: Which kind of upgrade to expect? Extent of the included top-tier breakfast? Is there some kind of welcome present? Does the hotel play games wrt resort fee waivers?

Exporist plus $4 will get you a Starbucks coffee.

I find the frequent hating on Explorist on FT to be illogical and poorly argued.

The relevant question is: What do I get if I throw 30-ish nights to hotel loyalty program X?

And Hyatt's not bad in that regard. For 30 nights, you get 4 CAA's, a free 1-4 cert, guaranteed 2 PM late checkout, usually some kind of room upgrade if staying outside North America, and 20% bonus points (that's two-thirds of what Globalists receive). And an elite member line which, for most practical purposes, is equivalent to the Globalist line.

For some, this may be more attractive than the comparable mid tier with Hilton or Marriott.

Truth is, throwing 60+ nights to WoH can be sort of crazy unless you either stay something like 150+ nights in hotels per annum or happen to stay in locations with above-average Hyatt coverage.

If you’re doing 30+ nights organically I’d honestly throw an extra $800 in and go for 60. You can get 25ish nights at Rio Las Vegas for around $800 (if you factor natural earning and quarterly bonuses).

I’d value the extra Milestone bonuses alone close to $800 (if not more than $800).

I’ve had Titanium with Marriott and Diamond with Hilton, both are just garbage compared to Globalist from my experiences. We stayed at a Hilton where a Junior Suite was available, we requested it, they said okay, went to check in they didn’t give it to us and gave us the room we booked. Went back to FD to ask if the Junior Suite was available during our 3 night stay. They said yes, it’s available all 3 nights. I said great, can I get the upgrade the guy said he would literally get fired if he upgraded a Diamond Member to a Junior Suite. Have had many similar experiences between them, never with Hyatt because it’s a codified benefit. So I left them and stayed with Hyatt ever since.

30 nights is a ton of nights. Unless you travel a lot for business or are retired and have a significant travel budget, you probably don’t spend 30 nights a year in hotels, and if you do, chances are there aren’t Hyatts at your destinations. So for me the amount of effort involved in reaching Explorist is too much when looking at benefits I would receive, so I just don’t even see it as an aspirational goal.

If I was a road warrior, it would be Globalist or nothing… or perhaps some other brand such as Hilton if I was based in the US and could get meaningful status via a credit card.

Half as many as 60 so by definition, it is considerably easier to attain.

Personally, I am staying 150-200 nights a year. And Globalist still isn't easy. In fact, there have been years where I decided not to go for it; too inconvenient or too costly.

Honestly, on the bulk of my stays, I won't benefit much from a suite. Not from lounge access, either. In fact, the majority of non-airport hotels I stay at during business trips do not even have a lounge.
For private travel during the weekends or on vacation, I consider things such as club access, waived destination fees, suite upgrades and so on valuable. But, truth be told, I earn more suite upgrades with the various chains than I have decent use for. Note to self: I should stop just going for suite upgrade awards in auto-pilot mode.

What am I hitting at? If I am being honest, for the times I value WoH bennies the most, I would probably be okay with what you get after hitting the 40 might milestone. Use the GoH and the SUA on the two most important leisure stays of the year, done.

Due to better coverage, I care more about having things like free breakfast or a confirmable suite upgrade with IHG and Marriott.

If I was US-based and not traveling much internationally, I might assign slightly more value to globalist but would still emphasize the benefits you get from diversifying. E.g., Diamond incl. the annual lounge access award and a confirmable suite upgrade or two is doable with 40 IHG nights/year. Having the option to go for IHG (and, of course, Marriott where Plat also isn't that hard if strategically using the annual double-elite nights promo) is valuable to me. Honestly, I would rather stay in a new hotel of another chain with okay-ish elite recognition than in an aging Hyatt chain hotel with excellent elite recognition.

tl;dr For my travel patterns, Explorist or Explorist with the 40 nights milestone comes close to Globalist. I find the opportunity cost of going for Globalist to be high, so sometimes, I don't go for it. The new structure of the milestones has shifted the balance away from the globalist sweet spot for me.

Can you please elaborate on the differences in benefits for globalists earned through 60 nights versus a challenge?

Having a concierge may make a difference. Also you’ll have confirmed suite upgrades.

Does that mean Globalist status earned through a challenge does not come with a concierge?

Regarding suite upgrades, that is available to all Globalists based on availability at check-in, right? For confirmed suite upgrade, anybody can apply a SUA in advance, so why would it make a difference if one is a "regular" vs "light" Globalist?

If you earn status through challenge, you don’t get a concierge. You only get one after 60 nights.

Sure suite upgrade available at check in for all globalists. But in the last two years, I’ve probably only had two suite upgrades.

While anyone get use SUA, you don’t get them with 20 nights.

Some benefits are no longer achieved due to status. They are now earned by reaching Milestones, by staying a certain number of nights, such as MHC, GoH awards, and the Cat 1-7 Free Night Award. Someone "earning" Glob via a 20 night challenge would not have any of these.

People who were Globalist in 2023, and did a challenge to keep status in 2024 will continue to be able to use the Legacy GOH benefit through February 2026.

Aside from that basically most things are through Milestones.

I wanted to update this thread now that I have some stays under my belt as an Explorist. Frankly, I'm not sure if this is bad luck or just what to expect going forward. In all cases I booked a base room and no upgrade was given, even to a room with a view or other minor upgrade.

Hotel Toranoman Hills: No upgrade (also used a GOH but that didn't help)
Grand Hyatt Tokyo: No upgrade (also used a GOH but that didn't help)
Hyatt Centric Ginza: No upgrade (also used a GOH but that didn't help)
Hyatt Centric Portland: No upgrade
Andaz Mexico City Condesa: No upgrade

The 2pm checkout is nice and the increased points earning as well, but otherwise I'm not sure there's any value beyond the milestone rewards for gaining Explorist status. I'll keep this post updated and welcome other Explorists to contribute as well.