A list of hotel and resort properties which are increasing or decreasing in category was released several months ago for the World of Hyatt frequent guest loyalty program, with no hotel and resort property changing by more than one category…
…So What is the Truth About the Latest Hyatt Category Changes March 2021?
…and the changes were reported here in this article at The Gate back on Wednesday, October 14, 2020; and of the total of 16 hotel and resort properties which are affected by the category changes, only four hotel and resort properties — or 25 percent — will require the redemption of an increased amount of World of Hyatt points per night effective as of sometime during March of 2021.
Furthermore, the hotel category award chart changes for 2021 by World of Hyatt — which typically occur during March of each year — were originally supposed to have been suspended. This means that aside from the aforementioned 16 hotel and resort properties, most hotel and resort properties will remain in their current categories and require the same number of points to be redeemed for an award night in 2021 as they were in 2020…
…but articles from a number of sources recently claimed that the list of hotel and resort properties had since increased; and that the changes would become effective as of Thursday, March 25, 2021.
Categories and World of Hyatt Points Required
Here is a list of categories and the amount of World of Hyatt points which are required to be redeemed for a stay of one night within each category:
| Hotel Category | Standard Room Points Per Night | Regency/Grand Club Points Per Night | Standard Suite Points Per Night |
Premium Suite Points Per Night |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5,000 | 7,000 | 8,000 | 10,000 |
| 2 | 8,000 | 12,000 | 13,000 | 16,000 |
| 3 | 12,000 | 17,000 | 20,000 | 24,000 |
| 4 | 15,000 | 21,000 | 24,000 | 30,000 |
| 5 | 20,000 | 27,000 | 32,000 | 40,000 |
| 6 | 25,000 | 33,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
| 7 | 30,000 | 39,000 | 48,000 | 60,000 |
| 8 | 40,000 | — | — | — |
Hotel and Resort Properties Requiring the Redemption of Fewer World of Hyatt Points
|
The Stonebridge Inn, A Destination Hotel
|
Snowmass Village, Colorado
|
5
|
4
|
20,000
|
15,000
|
|
Wailea Grand Champions Villas, A Destination Residence
|
Wailea, Hawaii
|
6
|
5
|
25,000
|
20,000
|
|
Wailea Ekolu Village, A Destination Residence
|
Wailea, Hawaii
|
6
|
5
|
25,000
|
20,000
|
|
Wailea Ekahi Village, A Destination Residence
|
Wailea, Hawaii
|
6
|
5
|
25,000
|
20,000
|
|
Lichenhearth, A Destination Residence
|
Snowmass Village, Colorado
|
6
|
5
|
25,000
|
20,000
|
|
Parker New York
|
New York, New York
|
6
|
5
|
25,000
|
20,000
|
|
Grand Hyatt Vail
|
Vail, Colorado
|
7
|
6
|
30,000
|
25,000
|
|
Mauna Lani Point, A Destination Residence
|
Waimea, Hawaii
|
7
|
6
|
30,000
|
25,000
|
|
Wailea Elua Village, A Destination Residence
|
Wailea, Hawaii
|
8
|
7
|
40,000
|
30,000
|
|
Kaanapali Alii, A Destination Residence
|
Lahaina, Hawaii
|
8
|
7
|
40,000
|
30,000
|
|
Vail Residences at Cascade Village, A Destination Residence
|
Vail, Colorado
|
8
|
7
|
40,000
|
30,000
|
|
The Lodge at Spruce Peak, A Destination Hotel
|
Stowe, Vermont
|
8
|
7
|
40,000
|
30,000
|
Hotel and Resort Properties Requiring the Redemption of More World of Hyatt Points
|
Hyatt Regency John Wayne Airport
|
Newport Beach, California
|
2
|
3
|
8,000
|
12,000
|
|
Hyatt House Nashville/Downtown-SoBro
|
Nashville, Tennessee
|
4
|
5
|
15,000
|
20,000
|
|
Mar Monte Hotel part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt
|
Santa Barbara, California
|
4
|
5
|
15,000
|
20,000
|
|
Park Hyatt Aviara
|
Carlsbad, California
|
5
|
6
|
20,000
|
25,000
|
⇒ Unconfirmed Additional Hotel and Resort Properties Requiring the Redemption of Fewer World of Hyatt Points
|
Hyatt Place Houston Downtown
|
Houston, Texas
|
3
|
2
|
12,000
|
8,000
|
⇒ Unconfirmed Additional Hotel and Resort Properties Requiring the Redemption of More World of Hyatt Points
|
Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Bungalows
|
Scottsdale, Arizona
|
5
|
6
|
20,000
|
25,000
|
|
Hyatt Place Delano
|
Delano, California
|
1
|
2
|
5,000
|
8,000
|
|
Hyatt Place Fair Lawn/Paramus
|
Fair Lawn, New Jersey
|
1
|
2
|
5,000
|
8,000
|
|
Hyatt Place Palm Bay/Melbourne
|
Palm Bay, Florida
|
1
|
2
|
5,000
|
8,000
|
|
Hyatt Regency Dharamshala
|
Himachal Pradesh, India
|
2
|
3
|
8,000
|
12,000
|
|
Hyatt Regency Grand Reserve Puerto Rico
|
Río Grande, Puerto Rico
|
3
|
4
|
12,000
|
15,000
|
Contacting Hyatt Via Twitter
The official Internet web site at which the changes in categories was first announced back in October of 2020 was never changed. Not one article which I read containing the supposed updated information had a link to an official source; and some commenters asked for a verifiable link to confirm — and none of them received a reply from the authors of the articles at the time this article was written.
Even this discussion on FlyerTalk did not have any official verification of the most recent announcement of changes.
I did not want to announce the category changes in an article here at The Gate without official verification; so I contacted Hyatt via Twitter as many people would do to communicate directly with an official representative to get an official confirmation of the aforementioned hotel category changes. I sent the latest list of hotel and resort properties which were not included on the original list slated for category changes via two messages.
Good Morning! Yes, we are changing the categories to several hotels. Please find the information on the following link, https://t.co/5dHdq8Ji4L. Please feel free to DM us if you need any further assistance. https://t.co/9EWUzSZbfI
— Hyatt Concierge (@HyattConcierge) March 23, 2021
The response I received was: “Good Morning! Yes, we are changing the categories to several hotels. Please find the information on the following link, spr.ly/6014HsCcC. Please feel free to DM us if you need any further assistance.”
I thanked them for the reply; but “the link which you sent to me is outdated. The list of hotel properties is in addition to what is already on the site; and I just wanted to confirm that the additional hotel properties which I listed will also change categories accordingly.”
Please scroll down on the page. The information is further down on the page.
— Hyatt Concierge (@HyattConcierge) March 23, 2021
The response I received was: “Please scroll down on the page. The information is further down on the page.”
I responded with “That is the information to which I am referring. Towards the bottom. The list I sent earlier is not the same as the list on that page.”
This is the most current list we have for Hotel Award Chart Changes. Please refer back to this link for any changes to this in the future.
— Hyatt Concierge (@HyattConcierge) March 23, 2021
The response I received was: “This is the most current list we have for Hotel Award Chart Changes. Please refer back to this link for any changes to this in the future.”
Does that mean that all of the articles with unconfirmed information were incorrect — or was the representative of Hyatt not aware of the updated information?
Summary
I did not want to play “the blog with insider information” in this case, as this information should be easily and readily available to any consumer — and I did not want to report on these hotel category changes unless I had confirmation and officially verified information; so I waited…
…and waited…
…and waited…
…and as Thursday, March 25, 2021 is approaching in only a couple of days and I had yet to report on this topic, I reached out to Hyatt via Twitter — as a typical consumer would likely do — for confirmation and verification of the official information. You read the result.
For years, Hyatt Corporation and the World of Hyatt frequent guest loyalty program have had a good record of alerting customers of important information. That a disconnect seems to exist between the unconfirmed reports and the official representatives of Hyatt is disappointing at best.
So what is the truth about the latest Hyatt category changes March 2021? I honestly do not know at the time this article was written. If I hear from an official representative at Hyatt Corporation pertaining to what is the actual correct information, I will let you know…
…but in the meantime, assume that every hotel and resort property listed in this article — even the unconfirmed ones — will change categories accordingly effective as of Thursday, March 25, 2021.
All photographs ©2018 by Brian Cohen.
