Hyatt Place Modernization & Free Breakfast Changes
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the brand new Hyatt Place in Delano, CA. In many ways this new hotel is much more modern and dare I say comfortable than some of its older counterparts. Now, it seems that Hyatt is looking to refresh the entire brand. According to One Mile at a Time, here is how they are describing the changes.
The Hyatt Place brand is evolving and elevating the in-hotel experience by emphasizing guest customization, control and connection:
- Guestroom Evolution: Guests have come to know and rely on the seamlessness and efficiency of Hyatt Place guestrooms. True to the brand’s commitment to research and constant innovation, the new Hyatt Place guestroom will evolve in a new, thoughtful way:
- Purposeful furniture designed to keep guests organized and productive
- Elements to promote well-being, including a premium mattress, blackout shades and warm-colored lighting to enhance sleep quality
- Distinct zones to sleep, work and relax, including the brand’s signature Cozy Corner.
- Bathroom Transformation: The Hyatt Place brand is responding to guests’ needs by redesigning the Hyatt Place bathroom to include a more generous vanity counter space for personal items, multidirectional lighting at the vanity to reduce shadows, more optimal distance between mirror and vanity for shaving or makeup application, and a walk in shower with footrest and larger shower amenity tray.
- Energized Lobby Experience: The Hyatt Place brand is reimagining the lobby experience to become an energizing intersection for guests looking to get out of their rooms; whether that means connecting, collaborating, socializing, or simply grabbing a coffee or drink on their own.
- Elevated Culinary Experience: The Hyatt Place brand is introducing a new dining experience with elevated culinary offerings that will exceed guests’ expectations by delivering a more compelling breakfast offering, a redesigned coffee bar and coffee program and an evening lounge with a cocktail and dinner menu focused on classic recipes or offerings with contemporary, regional ingredients.
Let’s tackle a few of these things, since my recent visit may show a bit of what you can expect going forward. I’ll also tackle the huge change to how they are handling breakfast going forward.
The Bathroom
The new Hyatt Place in Delano has quite a few of the features described above with the exception of the footrest in the shower. As you can see, the hotel has a double tiered vanity with multi-directional LED lighting. Clean and comfortable.
The Guestroom
While Hyatt’s announcement of changes to the guestrooms are quite vague, let’s take a look at the design in the new Hyatt Place Delano. I believe this room had the warm lighting, blackout shade and distinct areas described. To some extent though all Hyatt Place properties have most of these things so we’ll have to wait and see.
The Lobby
The final area I will talk about is the lobby. Older Hyatt Place properties basically have a bunch of seating designed to mostly be used for breakfast. I was pleasantly surprised how much comfortable lobby seating the Hyatt Place Delano had. There are significantly more social spaces than you see in older properties.
Elimination of Free Breakfast
Finally, the biggest change in these announcements is the elimination of free breakfast for everyone. Beginning on November 1, 2018 World of Hyatt members who book directly through Hyatt will get breakfast, but non-members and guests who don’t book direct will have to pay $$$. While a lot of us tend to book directly, I assume a good chunk of the public books through OTAs.
I do commend Hyatt for upping their breakfast game and I look forward to the enhancements they make to their offerings. With that said, this is a huge change and cut for the brand. We still don’t know what breakfast will cost, but this will change the value proposition for some families no doubt, especially if they don’t have an interest in booking through Hyatt.
This & That
In addition to the above changes, there were a few more small announcements.
- Explorist & Globalist members will get early check-in based on availability
- Mobile check-in will be coming to Hyatt Place properties
I don’t see either of these things as huge. I have never ever ever been denied an early check-in at a Hyatt Place as a Globalist, so this is essentially only a new benefit for Explorist.
Conclusion
I think a lot of these announced changes have already been implemented in newer properties like the Hyatt Place Delano and I really enjoy them. In my opinion the elimination of free breakfast is unfortunate, but it sounds like those who book direct may get an even better product. Time will tell.
What are your thoughts on the announced World of Hyatt changes?
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We are entering a brave new world of travel PR-speak when eliminating free breakfasts can be passed off in a press release as providing “a more compelling breakfast offering.”
lol, to enforce who to get breakfast or get turned away, they’ll likely need 1-2 full-time staff at the entrance area during such time
They could probably do vouchers or something similar like at full service hotels, but given their setup and the fact that they don’t have a standalone space in most properties, I’m sure it will take some time for them to figure out a good system.
My problem with something like this is the cost to the hotel owners. I’m looking at buying a Hilton Garden Inn or developing a comparable hotel, which would be presumably a Hyatt Place. Do the owners get burdened with the renovation costs? I assume most of it comes from the owner with some subsidies from Hyatt corporate. I’m sure the argument is, you’ll make more money by charging people from OTAs for breakfast.