Hyatt Announces Category Changes 130 Up & 129 Down
Only 4 days remain before the changes kicks in so be sure to lock in any hotels you may stay at if their price is going up.
Hyatt announced their upcoming category changes today. These go into effect March 18th at 11:01 pm CST. The numbers look even but I think the negative side comes out ahead, shocker I know. Some of our favorite category 4 hotels in the program are getting bumped up, I am looking at you Costa Rica :(.
The Changes
The Positive
I will start out with the good. Here are some locations where people will be happy to see the category drop.
Category 2 to 1
- Hyatt House Mexico City Santa Fe
- Hyatt Regency Delhi
Category 3 to 2
- Grand Hyatt Bali
- Hyatt Place Baltimore Inner Harbor
- Hyatt Regency Atlanta
- Hyatt Regency Dubai
Category 4 to 3
- Andaz Delhi
- Grand Hyatt Bejing
- Grand Hyatt Rio de Janiero
- Hyatt Regency Baltimore Harbor
- Hyatt Regency Chicago
- Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress – a favorite of our family when in Orlando
- Hyatt Regency New Orleans
Category 5 to 4 (Most important for those free night certs)
- Andaz San Diego
- Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile
- Hyatt Centric The Loop Chicago
- Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach
Category 6 to 5
- Andaz Wall Street
- Andaz Liverpool Street London
- Andaz Singapore
- Grand Hyatt New York (which is being demolished soon)
- Hyatt Herald Square New York
The Bad
Five locations that I frequent often are going up 1 category. Three are in Michigan (Novi, Royal Oak, and Lansing) and two are in Cleveland (Hyatt Regency Arcade, Westlake) which I visit 2-3 times per year. Those probably don’t matter to most people but they were some of the better deals in my life. Here is the list I found relative to everyone though.
Category 1 to 2
- Hyatt Regency Bali – Shawn had called this the best cat 1 in the world
- Hyatt Regency Green Bay – Perfect for Packer fans.
- Most Phoenix area Hyatt Places
Category 2 to 3
- Most Hyatt House/Place in Orlando – Grand Cypress is the choice now!
- Hyatt House Seattle/Bellevue
Category 3 to 4
- Hyatt House Seattle Downtown
- Hyatt Place Chicago Downtown/The Loop
- Hyatt Place Portland/Old Port – prices are usually in the $4-500 range in the summer
- Hyatt Place Seattle/Downtown
- Hyatt Place Washington DC/White House
- Hyatt Regency Bellevue
Category 4 to 5 (big one since they are no longer eligible for free night redemptions)
- Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo – this one may hit people the hardest.
- Grand Hyatt Seattle
- Olive 8 Seattle
- Hyatt Centric South Beach
- Hyatt Place Dewey Beach – gets crazy expensive in the summer
- Hyatt Regency Amsterdam
- Hyatt Regency Boston
- Hyatt Regency Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsui
Category 5 to 6
- Andaz Mayakoba Resort Riviera Maya
- Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen Resort
- Hyatt Centric Park City
- Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort and Spa
- Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe
- Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa
- Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi
- Park Hyatt Seoul
Category 6 to 7
- Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort
- Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
You can view the full list here.
Conclusion
Personally I am devastated overall since I got hit on some category 1 and 2 hotels that were mainstays in my travels. Overall, it looks like New York City and Chicago came out of this smelling pretty good. Seattle was downright destroyed and Orlando was somewhat a mixed bag. I am very excited about the airport Hyatt and Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress dropping to 12K per night. With the surrounding Hyatt Places getting increased in Orlando there is no longer a reason to pass on the Grand Cypress. I just wish they would heat their large pool, brrrrr.
I know many will be devastated by the category 4 to 5 changes that include the Andaz Costa Rica, Olive 8 Seattle, and Hyatt Regency Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsui. These were locations many used their free night certificates at. I am glad I have my room booked for Amsterdam already before the increase kicks in on the Hyatt Regency there as well.
Let me know which changes you are most and least excited about in the comments. I am sure Shawn will do a follow up in the next few days sharing his choices.
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Well, the good news is I will be arriving at Hyatt Coconut Point tomorrow. We just found this gem last year and figured for our annual pilgrimage to Florida it will be perfect for years to come. Oh well, at least we had an opportunity. Bon Voyage!
I have heard great things about that property but haven’t had a chance to check it out yet
don’t understand you BA bloggers making such a big deal about Hyatt’s very fair and even handed category reshuffle whilst blowing off Marriott scum devaluing their award chart 4 YES FOUR times in 14 months with virtually all movement not just up, but also with new cat 8 as high as 100,000. that, and the jump from one cat to the next before was 5k points, now it’s 10k-25k!!
meanwhile, Hyatt has the same # going up as down, all of which are reasonable moves (none of the ones i’m unhappy about surprise me- or anyone else, for that matter. no new award level except super high end SLH, no changing of points required at each level- nothing. Hyatt has won back my business and Marriott has lost it (ambassador and lifetime titanium). to any objective observer, there is nothing wrong with any of these moves. if you’re going to whine about everything even when it’s fair, you’re just whiners. wanna whine about somethinig real… whine about the dumpster fire that is literally everything Marriott is doing.
Haha us BA bloggers. I don’t understand commenters who read a headline and then comment when it is clear they didn’t read the full post. Mark talked about how the changes affected him, talked about whic properties to book and even highlighted some of the positive changes. No one condemned Hyatt or vilified them in any way. No one whined either.
the HR TST HK is a big deal. That was always one of the best uses of the Cat 4 cert.
A favorite among many
I’m from Orlando and Grand Cypress has been a frequent staycation spot for us ever since I was a kid! We head out there a couple times a year. It’s a wonderful property, and I kind of like the non-heated large pool. 🙂 I could be wrong but I may have heard they are going to heat that, though…
So that’s a win for us, but overall a bummer for me as some of the properties on my radar for the next couple years (Papagayo, Maui again, etc.) going up.
But still, it’s not so bad. I’m glad we took our big family trip to the HR Lake Tahoe last year!
I am sure the cold pool is great in the summer for those hot staycations but it makes it unbearable most of the year (for me at least). I hope they do heat it up but I am sure it would be costly :). Do you ever head to the other Hyatt Regency at all?
Yeah mainly it’s nice during the very hot months, which here is like half the year.
I am interested to see how the parking lot renovation turns out, as I was told they are (or maybe already have—it’s been four months since I was last there) they are making the pitch and putt course smaller to accommodate more parking. The pitch and putt is a favorite of ours.
And you know, no, we haven’t ever stayed at the Hyatt Regency Orlando. I’ve often almost tried it. Used to visit there as a kid when it was the Peabody and they had the duck marches. But I think my parents stayed there since it became a Hyatt and said Grand Cypress is much better.
We didn’t have a chance to do the pitch and putt course when we were there even though it was the one thing I really wanted to do 🙁
Hyatt Centric Waikiki @ cat 4 now is a joke. But marginally better than its previous cat 5, which was an utter joke. (full disclosure: i live on Oahu)
I think it having a Hawaii address bumps it up a cat or two automatically 🙂
Quite true. Hawaii “premium” applies to locals and tourists (expensive!). Having said that.. there is exactly ZERO other places in the world i’d rather live. Aloha brah.
I’m in Hawaii every few months and have stayed at the Centric twice and really like it. They treat Globalist well. I’m happy about this category change.
Good news on Chicago. For those Centrics to be cat 5 was nuts. They regularly are available below $100. They ought to be 3s.
Hyatt Regency on Wacker at cat 3 now is nice. Has tons of suites for Globalist upgrades. Now will be my #1 recommendation. During conventions/sporting events, it can be well over $300.
Chicago is probably the most affordable big city out there for hotel rates imo…too bad the points prices never seem to be in line with that.
Hyatt flips off the Valley of the Sun. The Hyatt Places were great bargains as Cat 1’s, honestly still a decent value as Cat 2. If ever there was a place that called for seasonal pricing it’s Phoenix. Hotels run promos in the summer to get locals to staycation, funny no one wants to visit when it’s 114 degrees…
Good point. I was surprised they increased the entire city pretty much.
Suprised to see Grand Hyatt Playa moving up. When I’ve gone the cash rates have not been particularly high, and often discounted on 3rd party sites. Will definitely stick to cash bookings with that one now.
No question that overall this is bad, but it’s not Marriott bad.
No one can be Marriott bad haha
Also totally bummed out by the category 4 to 5 changes. The Hyatt in HK was the main reason I kept the Hyatt card for the free night redemption. Without this option there is no reason for me to keep the Hyatt card.
I still think you can find value at $100 for a hotel night but I can’t blame you if you close it.
I agree. The Hyatt in TST Hong Kong changing categories is a bit painful.
Say it isn’t so Coconut Point Resort:-(
Looks like that is a favorite of many 🙁
Hyatt Regency Orlando also went from 4 to 3. Similar to the Grand Cypress, it’s now a good value on points.
That is true. I think Grand Cypress is a better property overall (personal preference) but it is another great choice as a Cat 3.
Hyatt Place Mishawaka (IN) is now a Cat 4 at 15,000 points a night? Did they pick up and move Mishawaka to one of the Hawaiian islands? I am looking at a stay next week at this property. I am being quoted $67 a night on Priceline. That is not a typo. (Hyatt.com is offering it at $102. No thanks, Hyatt and your fictional “price guarantee”.)
I usually don’t care about getting points on stays because I don’t feel like paying a 25-100% cash premium to book through the hotel’s website (see a typical example above). But it’s stuff like this that makes me realize how ridiculous it is to chase miles and points instead of saving cold, hard cash for vacation stays. A number of my favorites went from Cat 1 to 2, a 60% increase, which makes point award stays painful since they are almost always <$100 a night properties.
I think you have to balance between the two to make it work. There are times that I get a cat 1 that are priced in the $150 range and points offer good value. There are other times that they are rock bottom and cash makes more sense. It is a balancing act for sure. I find points easier to accrue vs cash or cashback so they get the nod for that reason.
I’m just worried that HYATT will announce in the near future that you need more points for each night. I’m guessing 8,000 to 40,000.
I think a Cat 8 will be coming next year but I doubt they bump up the points on the lower tier. They may move more and more to a Cat 2 over time though.
So grateful Hyatt Hill Country Resort stays a 4!
Glad one of your favorites held on Pam 🙂
Andaz CR was the best value IMO in the entire Hyatt system. This property actually started as a cat 5, dropped to 4. Now back to 5. Assuming they show availability 20k points is still a good deal in Jan feb or March. But the loss of cat 4 free nite is disappointing.
Yeah the free night is the biggest thing. I think it is still decent value at 20K but at 15K it was amazing value.
I’m DEVASTATED! The Hyatt Place Nashville Downtown…The Hyatt Regency Coconut Point….The Hyatt Centric Fisherman’s Wharf…these are 3 of the best Free Night redemptions our there!…..all moving up! UGH! The Andaz Napa was also great for 20,000 points a night. This is a huge blow to our family….oh, almost forgot, Hyatt Place Saratoga/Malta moving from 8000 to 12,000….we head to the races every year. Paid rates during the season are 350.00 or above. I’m afraid to revisit the list!
I know what you mean…the further I got through it the more pain I felt 🙁
The Seattle changes are awful. We used both of our annual certs for stays up in Seattle a couple of times a year.
Yeah they hit Seattle hard. Maybe the Olive 8 will stop playing games with award availability with the change.
The new Hyatt Regency in Seattle will be a Cat 4, if that helps
Bummer. I stay at the Hyatts in downtown Seattle all the time. Also been wanting to do the andaz papagayo. Will need to get that figured out before this change.
Yeah those were two big ones.