Required commitment for optimal use of World of Hyatt:
Budget per night: min. 150€ (better 200€)
Nights per year: min. 60
World of Hyatt is a luxury hotel points collection programme. It is definitely a programme for high-frequency travellers with a larger budget than is required for hotel groups such as Marriott, Hilton or IHG. Additionally, it only comes into question as a primary loyalty programme if you are more likely to be travelling in larger cities, otherwise coverage is very thin (especially in Germany). At World of Hyatt, there was actually no brand with accommodation prices below 100€ on a regular basis. Due to the cooperation with Lindner Hotels (which bring the hip brand "me and all hotels"), which was decided at the end of 2022, there may now be new opportunities and, considering the regular standard, more mid-scale brands will be brought on board. However, this offers the chance to collect nights, points and status even with a lower budget, which can then be used in the luxury brands (every Hyatt brand participates in the collection of nights per year).
There are a total of 4 status levels. Each registered "World of Hyatt" member is initially a "Member", the table shows the other 3 status levels Discoverist, Explorist and Globalist. For every $1 spent (other currencies are automatically converted to dollars via the World of Hyatt internal conversion rate), the guest is awarded 5 points and one night in the World of Hyatt account. With each status level, which is dependent on the number of nights spent in the year, the number of points to be received increases. For Discoverist by 10% - so it increases to 5.5 points per dollar. The other point increases can be seen in Table 1. It is clear to note here that Hyatt is not only bringing higher nightly rates, but unfortunately also cutting corners on reward point bonuses. The large hotel groups Hilton, IHG, Marriott bonus with 10 points per dollar in the basic status level. This should be taken into account when calculating the number of points required for reward nights. These are then, colloquially speaking, about twice as expensive at Hyatt.
A very convenient highlight is the guaranteed late check-out (Discoverist and Explorist 14 h, and Globalist 16 h), as well as the free breakfast for the status holder + 1 guest in the same room (Globalist). In addition, there are room upgrades from the Explorist onwards, but only in the standard categories. The Globalist can also receive upgrades to suites, for example, but it is important to know that Hyatt hotels are obliged to give the Globalist the best room available for sale (up to the 1st category of suites). As a rule, globalists always receive a suite, provided the hotel is not fully booked.
At World of Hyatt, you receive an automatic status match with MGM Rewards if you are a Discoverist (Pearl)or Explorist (Gold). The MGM Rewards programme primarily operates hotels and casinos in the USA and Asia in casino cities such as Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Macao - but also Dubai. The two status levels Pearl and Gold bring room upgrades as well as access to free parking or VIP entry to certain nightclubs in Las Vegas. For more information, visit the following link. MGM. However, from my perspective it is rather an insignificant chain, as it is very much geared towards casino rather than business travellers, and will therefore not be examined in detail here.
From Globalist, alounge access is also included, here you usually get access from 6:30am to approx. midnight and can expect a continental breakfast in the morning and a dinner in the evening. There is also usually a multi-hour happy hour in the evening hours, where beer, wine and sparkling wine are available. At Hyatt, as in the other hotel chains, lounges are not available in all brands and also not in all hotels of the brands. They are mostly found at Hyatt Regency,Grand Hyatt and Park Hyatt.
Another great - and also rather unique - advantage is that as a Globalist you can park free of charge on Reward nights. This is sometimes underestimated on holiday road trips as a very high cost factor!
As a further feature, World of Hyatt also has a cooperation with an airline, similar to Marriott. At World of Hyatt, you can earn an additional 1 bonus point on American Airlines for every dollar spent.
Important: If possible, always book directly through Hyatt, otherwise the status levels will not be recognised and you will not receive any points or nights. Use the company codes of your companies to get the correct price and not to pay too much.
World of Hyatt awards the status level Globalist as a status for lifetime. Interestingly, unlike Hilton or Marriott, this is not awarded after a certain number of nights and constant membership at a high status level. You "only" need 1 million base points. Base points are awarded - regardless of the status level - 5 per US$ 1 spent. The e.g. 1.5 points extra as a globalist are bonus points, which do not count for this. So you currently have to invest about $200,000 over an indefinite period of time.
Like other reward programmes such as IHG One Rewards, World of Hyatt offers a milestone bonus. After 20 and 30 nights you get 2 vouchers each for the Club Lounge in Hyatt hotels (if one is available). For 70 to 100 nights, there is a choice of 10,000 points or a Suite Night Upgrade voucher every 10 nights. For 50 and 60 nights, you will receive 2 Suite Night Upgrade Vouchers. This entitles the holder to a free upgrade to a Standard Suite when booking via a standard rate / company rate / or similar (no reward night certificate). The special feature of the voucher is that at Hyatt you are guaranteed a suite directly at the time of booking, whereas atMarriott and IHG you only receive the official confirmation 5 days or at the earliest 14 days before arrival. Since suite upgrades are granted much more frequently at Hyatt hotels, I would, however, rather recommend the 10,000 points for optional choices of 70 nights or more.
Last but not least, the bonus of 1 Reward Night Certificate for category 1-4 hotels (from 30 nights) and 1 Reward Night Certificate for category 1-7 hotels (from 60 nights) should be mentioned.
World of Hyatt is still one of the last programmes that divides the hotels into categories for the redemption of reward nights. At Hyatt, this means that the hotels (see Table 3) cost a point value depending on the assigned category. There are also slight fluctuations, but as a rule you can book the Andaz Hotel in Munich for about 20,000 - 23,000 points - even during the Oktoberfest, where the standard price of 210-300€ can be significantly higher than 600-700€.
Table 4 shows which brands are included in the World of Hyatt programme. Each brand has received a comment from the author for characterisation. The classification into the 5 categories Luxury, Up-Scale, Mid-Scale, Lifestyle & Hip and Apartment Style & All-Inclusive is also a subjective assessment by the author.
Luxury: Absolutely high-end hotels with high prices but fantastic designs, excellent service as well as high quality and extensive facilities. My favourite: Is really difficult with Hyatt, as many brands are really luxurious and very high-end. However, at the top of elegance for me is Park Hyatt.
Up-Scale: Hotels with a very high standard, often in big cities with corporate rates/contracts booked by business people (corporate consultants, auditors, sales, et al). My favourite: Hyatt Regency. As you get an upper-up-scale standard in combination with nice wellness area and executive lounge.
Mid-scale: Cheaper alternatives, which bring a good "value for money" with them, but not always very luxurious standard. My favourite: Hyatt Place (high quality for mid-scale and also pretty cool, the relatively boring Lindner brand, which is a new cooperation partner, doesn't really come close).
Lifestyle & Hip: A category that has emerged more strongly in the last 5-7 years, where every hotel group has developed several brands and opened hotels. It focuses on Generation Y and Z and wants to give a hip cool experience that is clearly differentiated from the classic approaches. At Hyatt, you can expect modern rooms, less big, bulky furniture, more integration of storage and hanging places into the room as a whole. Instead, there is lots of life, space and opportunities for gathering in which the common areas such as the lobby are often converted into a breakfast room in the morning or at least have a smooth transition to it. My favourite: Andaz (very cool design that meets luxury) - for travellers with a smaller budget I can highly recommend the "me and all hotels" (very hip, cool rooms and usually also a cool bar).
Apartment-Style & All-Inclusive: 2 categories that are not very common in Europe and rather strongly influenced by the USA. The flat style is created for long-term stays, here you will find rooms with a well-equipped kitchen, sleeping area and living room-like elements, which should enable a self-sufficient life like in your own flat. The whole thing is also extended by facilities such as sauna and gym, as well as restaurant and room service offers. In my view, this is a good case for management consultants, auditors or other business people who spend a long time in one place and don't want to have hotel breakfasts or every evening restaurant. I won't go into detail about Hyatt's all-inclusive brands here and only mention them for the sake of completeness, as I haven't had any experience with them yet and they are not in my travel focus. My favourite: Hyatt House (it is also the only real brand for long-term stays by Hyatt, but in Europe still with few locations).
Table 5 lists personal references and subjective assessments of the author. The category "Best Hotels" is based exclusively on personal experience and is certainly not exhaustive. The following categories are described:
Brand: Hyatt has only a fraction of the worldwide coverage with approx. 1150 hotels in 70 countries vs. more than 8000 hotels of Marriott in over 130 countries. Hyatt hotels are more likely to be found in the USA or in Europe / Asia in large metropolises. In Germany, the coverage will be significantly improved by the cooperation within the framework of Joie de Vivre with Lindner hotels and me and all hotels (otherwise Hyatt would not even have a hotel in Hamburg at present!) The quality level of the brand is very high in all categories and I have hardly ever had an unsatisfactory stay.
The app offers solid functionalities. Again, a chat functionality with the hotel of the upcoming stay is offered for the users. There is also the partial option of a digital room key, otherwise there are the standard functionalities such as booking/cancellation of rooms as well as the display of the electronic bill (unfortunately, this often does not work).
Upgrades: At Hyatt, there have been very good upgrades for me so far (e.g. rooms on the club level with lounge access), even at times when I was only a "member". According to the definitions of the World of Hyatt programme, such upgrades may not even be granted at the status level of Explorist. As a Globalist, you are always guaranteed the best available room at Hyatt. In principle, this is up to each hotel, but rooms up to the category Standard Suite are permitted. As soon as a standard suite is available for sale, it must be allocated to the holder of the Globalist status level. Access is always for oneself plus a guest (who must be officially registered to the room). Unfortunately, in my past Hyatt hotels have actually checked more frequently who is in the lounge (especially when dinner is being set up). Then staff usually go from table to table and ask for the room number. The lounges to which the status level Globalist always has access are very individually designed per hotel. As a rule, there is a free continental breakfast with 2-4 hot options (depending on the hotel) and a quite lavish selection of cold dishes (fruits, bread variations, spreads, cold cuts of sausage and cheese, etc.). Evenings usually from 17:30/18h until 20:30/21:00 there is a small dinner with cold starters, salad and dessert buffet of very different size and quality. In addition, there are always 3-5 warm options (soups, but also very good dishes such as fish, game, etc.). This is usually accompanied by beer and a selection of various wines / sparkling wine. Lounges can be found above all in the Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Regency brands.
During the day, soft drinks are usually available, as well as bread / pastries and usually a few bowls of sweets or salty snacks.
Important to know:If you are upgraded to a Club Room without Globalist status level, you are entitled to lounge access.
Wellness: The quality of the wellness areas in most Hyatt brands is significantly higher than the average of the other large hotel groups Hilton, Marriott and IHG (with the exception of the Luxury segment of the respective hotel groups). Fitness studios can be found in virtually all brands. Wellness areas can be found in almost all Up-Scale and Luxury Brands, as well as in the Lifestyle Brands Andaz, Alila, me and all hotels (joie de vivre). In the mid-scale segment, only Lindner Hotels (joie de vivre).
Best Hotels: Basically, I have to say that Hyatt hotels rarely disappoint, the standard is always very high (exception is possibly the new cooperation with Lindner Hotels). Here you can find an overview of my personal favourite hotels. I generally like the cool, hip "me and all hotels". The Grand Hyatt in Berlin is a highlight for me with its beautifully designed wellness area on the top floor with pool, Jacuzzi, sauna + steam bath. It sets the scene for a very relaxing stay. However, the rooms and club lounge are not super standout compared to the rest of the Hyatt portfolio.
The Hyatt Regency in Düsseldorf is certainly from the outside as well as from the inside the most beautiful and coolest designed Hyatt Regency I have experienced so far. The rooms, lounge and wellness area are really beautiful and luxurious. My absolute favourite in Germany, however, is the Andaz in Munich (I will also write a report with pictures). The high windows in the rooms with the direct (reclining) seating against the glass and the design details are really high-class. The absolute highlight, however, is the two-storey spa. With a large pool including jacuzzi on the 6th floor, 2 saunas and a steam bath and a really huge range of super comfortable lounging areas + a cafe with excellent food and beverage offerings and very attentive staff.
Reward-Nights:
World-of-Hyatt is one of the few programmes that still divides its hotels into categories. That is, each hotel is assigned to one of 8 price categories. The cheapest starts at 3,500 pointsper night and the most expensive at 35,000 points (see Table 3). In a good hotel in the middle category for 12,000 points, one can therefore receive the first free night with a realistic average room price of 170 euros in Globalist status after 11 nights. As a point collector, however, you should always keep an eye out for promotions such as double points per night (you usually have to actively register for this). Or the 500 points awarded by Hyatt for newly opened hotels. Hyatt also offers the possibility of individual hotels offering rates with double points. Within the categories, there are only a few fluctuations around the respective point price. That means the required points are approximatelyalways at the price of the category with slight deviations (+- 3-5%), however, completely independent of the current daily rate. Very good sweet spots are therefore possible here, especially at times when there is high demand due to trade fairs or events such as the Oktoberfest.
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