You say this somewhat sarcastically, but unfortunately, there is more truth in your statement than you may realize. Most on FT complain endlessly, few take any actually personal agency for their situation. And thus, the system will likely continue on its current trajectory. Large corporations take notice when people vote with their wallets, not merely when they complain endlessly and anonymously on FT...

Regards

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.

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.

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. Hyatt does great on upgrades and has some amazing redemption values. Bonvoy has the most honest BRG in the industry, which continues to deliver shockingly good deals. Did I love my Park Executive Suite upgrade on a Cat 1-7 free night redemption at PH Paris? Absolutely, but I'd never pay €800 or 30k points for that hotel, considering that I was able to BRG the nearby Renaissance Vendome for €125 or use a 40k IHG free night at the brand new Kimpton.

Strasbourg and Lille are major cities? They are nice places but certainly not Shanghai. I wouldn’t expect to find a Hyatt in any of those cities you mentioned except for Brussels.

You’re right though that the footprint of Marriott is so much better, basically everywhere around the world. I stay with them for that very reason.

Recent Italian SLH experience - early check in, late check out, full huge hot breakfast, upgrade to a junior suite, Hyatt night status credit. Daily housekeeping and impeccable service to boot.

Not bad for “no benefits”.

Serious question: Do you plan vacations around cities where there are Hyatts? Lord knows I did that with SPG. I’d find an aspirational property I wanted to go to and plan my vacation around it.

Marriott has been a huge let down but they have properties everywhere, and don’t get me started on their IT. Cost is a big factor for me. Combine BRGs with all those gift cards that were purchased at 20% off (thanks Amex!) and the price is excellent (not to mention all the cash back sites that Hyatt doesn’t participate in).

I achieved Hyatt Globalist this year thanks to the reduced threshold but I haven’t stayed there since other than to use up my free night cert. Prices are too high!

I’m going to hold my nose and continue staying at Marriott with a focus on legacy SPG properties.

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.

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.

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.

Legacy SPG properties (esp. some of the great LCs and StRs in Europe/Asia/OUS generally) are definitely worth the special effort.

YMMV on Hyatt pricing - have a couple work trips where I'm utilizing the Prive 3rd night free benefit, makes both an Andaz and Unbound fairly affordable.

IF I wasn't LTT I may have more incentive to stay at Marriotts...but when Marriott is semi-ignoring or not honoring elite benefits across the board, Hyatt meets my travel needs (US/Globally), and the benefits are second to none...easy choice IMO.

As a Titanium, I have been upgraded at every Marriott, Courtyard, Ritz, Renaissance, Sheraton, Westin hotels I stayed in China.

Many of upgrades were suites.

Titanium is so much better than Platinum.

I am within $600 away from Ambassador. with 300 nights this year.

Will see and report back how much better Ambassador is than Titanium.

This is not correct.

If you are a world of hyatt member (and even if you are at the LOWEST entry tier with zero status) you get all these benefits at all SLH hotels, as long as you book through the hyatt portal:


-earn hyatt points (5 Base Points per eligible $1 USD spent)
-Elite members receive their standard tier Bonus Points on eligible room rates (10% Discoverist, 20% Explorist, 30% Globalist)
-Nights count toward elite tier status
-Complimentary continental breakfast for two
-complimentary Wi-Fi
-early check-in (based on availability at check-in)
-late check out (based on availability at check-in)
-a one category room upgrade (based on availability at check-in)


Sources:
https://www.hyatt.com/brands/small-luxury-hotels-of-the-world

https://slh.com/hyatt

...

As a Marriott Gold (courtesy of Amex Platinum) I made my first ever Marriott stay recently and got upgraded from a Standard King to a Junior Suite. They also chucked in free breakfast which was a fairly good spread.
Quite a nice upgrade given it was a three night stay and the suite retails at circa US$100 more a night than the Standard King..

This was the Santa Marta Marriott Resort Playa Dormida, Colombia.

This isn’t an indictment of SLH through WoH but perks offered “based on availability” are really not perks at all. My friend checked into the Abu Dhabi EDITION with no status during EID and got a suite upgrade (and a late check-out). If something is only offered when it is convenient for the hotel, it’s not an elite perk. It’s a hotel providing good service for its customers.

If the hotel has capacity for an early check-in, late check-out, and an upgrade, status may put you higher up on the totem pole to receive it automatically. At the same time, I am confident someone with no status could get those perks in that situation. Hotels operators (not chains) are in the business of pleasing their guests. A decent hotel will do so when it is convenient for them to do so (aka available).

The huge variance in suite upgrade data points on this forum demonstrates that the individual is just as important as the status he/she holds. Repeatedly I have been told time and time again to not expect a suite upgrade at certain properties. Almost always (STR Houston, STR Miami, and WA Beverly Hills are exceptions) I still received a suite upgrade nonetheless. I have many theories as to why that is the case and none of them have to do with elite status.

WRT SLH specifically, many direct SLH rates include breakfast at a cheaper cash price when booked directly. I would never pay a premium for “upon availability perks”. There’s also cheaper ways to get EQNs and Hyatt points.

Have you checked how much cheaper those SLH hotels are booking direct rather then on Hyatt? It’s a bit like Design hotels in Marriott where you get perks booking direct rather than on Marriott. Titanium doesn’t get you much at Design hotels so I tend to avoid them as much as SLH in Hyatt (never tried) unless there’s a BRG.

I am interested in hearing your many theories. Please DM me if you don’t want to clog up the thread :)

I sent you a DM of my thoughts that are probably best left private. I learned to take online upgrade data points with a grain of salt very early on (after people told me I would not get an upgrade at the St. Regis Bangkok) for reasons outlined in my message.

Contrary to what others say online, I have stopped asking for free suite upgrades and, unlike many of the experienced travelers here, I have never challenged a GM to get a suite. These hotel conflicts definitely hurt guests in the long run, even if they are not aware of it. Hotels are run by people that have their own emotions and opinions. Getting pissy with FDAs over how one is entitled to a suite due to the (in their mind arbitrary) terms of status is supremely unproductive and DEFINITELY leads to comments being made on their profile. They win the battle but lose the war. I have read every post on the "secret" Marriott guest profile thread and have talked to FDAs and GMs about it on the Hyatt, Marriott, and IHG sides. For upgrades at the desk, I doubt it matters. For hotels that go through guest lists and pre-confirm upgrades, I am reasonably confident this has an impact somewhere. This was the only time I have ever had an experience that was even somewhat negative with the staff at a hotel: https://old.reddit.com/r/TalesFromTh...tain_customer/.

I will probably make a larger post about it documenting my data points and observations later on. It will obviously go on Reddit.

The biggest win in terms of upgrades was a 1-month upgrade to the Central Park View Suite at the Le Meridien Central Park during my apartment renovation. I ended up not needing the suite for even half the stay but kept it for the full reservation just because the upgrade was so generous.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ba2e0021e.jpeg

Where did you have such a great experience?
Thanks for sharing and greetings from Italy 🇮🇹💗