World of Hyatt Announces Award Category Changes For 2019

a cell phone and a magazine

It’s that time of year.  The groundhog didn’t see his shadow, so there’s hope that winter is coming to a close in the cold portions of the US.  In DC, people will begin forecasting when the cherry blossoms will bloom.  And, in the hotel industry, it means that hotel chains are announcing their award room category changes for 2019.  Radisson was the first one I reported on, just over a week ago.  Those changes didn’t seem to be too painful.  Marriott was up next.  That one was a bit of a tale of two cities. On the one hand, only about 5% of the hotels were affected.  On the other, virtually all hotels affected got pricier when it came to redeeming your points.  Now, Hyatt is out with their changes.

Hyatt Award Category Changes

Hyatt’s list is much more balanced between properties getting more expensive and properties getting cheaper.  Personal kudos to Hyatt for continuing to release a list separated by increases and decreases so I don’t have to make a nerdy spreadsheet that tallies such things.  First, let’s look at the properties getting more expensive.

Hotel Previous Category New Category
Hyatt House Atlanta Cobb Galleria 1 2
Hyatt House Dallas/Las Colinas 1 2
Hyatt House Fishkill/Poughkeepsie 1 2
Hyatt Place Atlanta/Cobb Galleria 1 2
Hyatt Place Boise/Downtown 1 2
Hyatt Place Cleveland/Lyndhurst/Legacy Village 1 2
Hyatt Place Cleveland/Westlake/Crocker Park 1 2
Hyatt Place Detroit/Royal Oak 1 2
Hyatt Place Fort Myers/At the Forum 1 2
Hyatt Place Lansing Eastwood Towne Center 1 2
Hyatt Place Novi 1 2
Hyatt Place Phoenix Chandler-Fashion Center 1 2
Hyatt Place Phoenix-Mesa 1 2
Hyatt Place Phoenix-North 1 2
Hyatt Place Phoenix/Gilbert 1 2
Hyatt Place Tempe/Phoenix Airport 1 2
Hyatt Regency Bali 1 2
Hyatt Regency Green Bay 1 2
Hyatt House Anchorage 2 3
Hyatt House Boston/Burlington 2 3
Hyatt House Chicago/Evanston 2 3
Hyatt House Fort Lauderdale Airport & Cruise Port 2 3
Hyatt House Morristown 2 3
Hyatt House Orlando Universal 2 3
Hyatt House Pleasant Hill 2 3
Hyatt House San Ramon 2 3
Hyatt House Scottsdale/Old Town 2 3
Hyatt House Seattle/Bellevue 2 3
Hyatt Place Ann Arbor 2 3
Hyatt Place Athens Downtown 2 3
Hyatt Place Biloxi 2 3
Hyatt Place Bloomington Indiana 2 3
Hyatt Place Boston/Medford 2 3
Hyatt Place Boulder/Pearl Street 2 3
Hyatt Place Champaign/Urbana 2 3
Hyatt Place Coconut Point 2 3
Hyatt Place Columbia/Downtown/The Vista 2 3
Hyatt Place Dublin/Pleasanton 2 3
Hyatt Place Fremont/Silicon Valley 2 3
Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale 17th Street Convention Center 2 3
Hyatt Place Fort Lauderdale Airport & Cruise Port 2 3
Hyatt Place Madison Downtown 2 3
Hyatt Place Manati 2 3
Hyatt Place Minneapolis Downtown 2 3
Hyatt Place Orlando/Universal 2 3
Hyatt Place San Jose/Downtown 2 3
Hyatt Place Saratoga/Malta 2 3
Hyatt Place Scottsdale/Old Town 2 3
Hyatt Place UC Davis 2 3
Hyatt Regency Cartagena 2 3
Hyatt Regency Cleveland at the Arcade 2 3
Hyatt Regency Fukuoka 2 3
Hyatt Regency Morristown at HQP 2 3
Hyatt Regency Moscow Petrovsky Park 2 3
Hyatt Regency Saipan 2 3
Hyatt Regency Tashkent 2 3
Park Hyatt Mendoza 2 3
Grand Hyatt Fukuoka 3 4
Hyatt House at Anaheim Resort/Convention Center 3 4
Hyatt House Augusta Downtown 3 4
Hyatt House Belmont/Redwood Shores 3 4
Hyatt House Charleston/Historic District 3 4
Hyatt House Emeryville/San Francisco Bay Area 3 4
Hyatt House Naples/5th Avenue 3 4
Hyatt House Pleasanton 3 4
Hyatt House San Jose/Silicon Valley 3 4
Hyatt House Santa Clara 3 4
Hyatt House Seattle Downtown 3 4
Hyatt Place Augusta 3 4
Hyatt Place Charleston/Historic District 3 4
Hyatt Place Chicago – South/University Medical Center 3 4
Hyatt Place Chicago/Downtown-The Loop 3 4
Hyatt Place Delray Beach 3 4
Hyatt Place Emeryville/San Francisco Bay Area 3 4
Hyatt Place Long Island/East End 3 4
Hyatt Place Pittsburgh-North Shore 3 4
Hyatt Place Portland – Old Port 3 4
Hyatt Place Seattle/Downtown 3 4
Hyatt Place South Bend/Mishawaka 3 4
Hyatt Place State College 3 4
Hyatt Place Washington DC/White House 3 4
Hyatt Regency Bellevue 3 4
Hyatt Regency Changbaishan 3 4
Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa 3 4
Hyatt Regency Dusseldorf 3 4
Hyatt Regency Louisville 3 4
Hyatt Regency Naha, Okinawa 3 4
Hyatt Regency Santa Clara 3 4
Hyatt Regency Sarasota 3 4
Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country 3 4
Hyatt Regency Tysons Corner Center 3 4
Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo 4 5
Grand Hyatt DFW 4 5
Grand Hyatt Seattle 4 5
Hyatt at Olive 8 4 5
Hyatt Centric Fishermans Wharf SF 4 5
Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami 4 5
Hyatt House Virginia Beach/Oceanfront 4 5
Hyatt Place Dewey Beach 4 5
Hyatt Place Nashville Downtown 4 5
Hyatt Regency Amsterdam 4 5
Hyatt Regency Boston 4 5
Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa 4 5
Hyatt Regency Cologne 4 5
Hyatt Regency Guam 4 5
Hyatt Regency Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsui 4 5
Hyatt Regency Sochi 4 5
Park Hyatt Busan 4 5
Park Hyatt Hamburg 4 5
Andaz Mayakoba Resort Riviera Maya 5 6
Andaz Napa 5 6
Carmelo Resort & Spa, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt 5 6
Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen Resort 5 6
Hotel du Louvre 5 6
Hyatt Centric Ginza Tokyo 5 6
Hyatt Centric Park City 5 6
Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort and Spa 5 6
Hyatt Regency Kyoto 5 6
Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe 5 6
Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa 5 6
Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi 5 6
Palacio Duhau – Park Hyatt Buenos Aires 5 6
Park Hyatt Jeddah Marina, Club and Spa 5 6
Park Hyatt Mallorca 5 6
Park Hyatt Sanya Sunny Bay Resort 5 6
Park Hyatt Seoul 5 6
Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort 6 7
Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills 6 7
Hotel Martinez 6 7
Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa 6 7

There are a handful of properties that I’m a bit bummed to see on the increase list.  Hyatt House Anaheim Resort is a perfect place to stage a Disneyland vacation using points.  The Hyatt Regency Tysons Corner Center is one of my favorite Hyatts.  I’m actually kind of shocked it was still a category 3.

a bathroom with a tub and a shower
Fabulous Suite Bathroom At Tysons Corner

Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country and Hyatt Regency Bellevue were great values at category 3 (though I’d choose Hyatt Regency Lake Washington if the geography worked in Seattle).  Grand Hyatt DFW consistently has high room rates, so seeing it move to a category 5 isn’t a huge shocker.  Bit of a bummer that you can’t use Cat 1-4 free night certificates there any longer.  Grand Hyatt Seattle and Olive 8 are two of my faves in Seattle.  Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe is a great location for ski bums.  And, places like Park Hyatt Mallorca are very high on my list for future visits.

Hyatt Hotels Getting Cheaper (On Points)

Hotel Previous Category New Category
Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty 2 1
Hyatt House Hartford North/Windsor 2 1
Hyatt House Houston/Galleria 2 1
Hyatt House Mexico City Santa Fe 2 1
Hyatt House Philadelphia/Plymouth Meeting 2 1
Hyatt House Pleasant Grove 2 1
Hyatt House Shanghai Hongqioa CBD 2 1
Hyatt House Shanghai New Hongqiao 2 1
Hyatt House Shelton 2 1
Hyatt Place Austin Airport 2 1
Hyatt Place Baltimore/BWI Airport 2 1
Hyatt Place Baltimore/Owings Mills 2 1
Hyatt Place Bangkok Sukhumvit 2 1
Hyatt Place Chesapeake/Greenbrier 2 1
Hyatt Place Cincinnati/Sharonville Convention Center 2 1
Hyatt Place Dubai/Al Rigga 2 1
Hyatt Place Dubai/Baniyas Square 2 1
Hyatt Place Fair Lawn/Paramus 2 1
Hyatt Centric Goa Candolim 2 1
Hyatt Place Houston Galleria 2 1
Hyatt Place Houston-Northwest/CY-Fair 2 1
Hyatt Place Houston/Sugar Land 2 1
Hyatt Place Lexington 2 1
Hyatt Place Milford/New Haven 2 1
Hyatt Place Nashville/Hendersonville 2 1
Hyatt Place North Charleston 2 1
Hyatt Place Phuket Patong 2 1
Hyatt Place Provo 2 1
Hyatt Place Salt Lake City/Lehi 2 1
Hyatt Place San Jose Pinares 2 1
Hyatt Place Sao Jose do Rio Preto 2 1
Hyatt Place Shanghai Hongqioa CBD 2 1
Hyatt Place Shanghai New Hongqiao 2 1
Hyatt Place Shanghai Tianshan Plaza 2 1
Hyatt Place Shenzhen Dongmen 2 1
Hyatt Place St George/Convention Center 2 1
Hyatt Place Yerevan 2 1
Hyatt Place Zhuhai Jinshi 2 1
Hyatt Regency Belgrade 2 1
Hyatt Regency Deerfield 2 1
Hyatt Regency Delhi 2 1
Hyatt Regency Dushanbe 2 1
Hyatt Regency Ekaterinburg 2 1
Hyatt Regency Fuzhou Cangshan 2 1
Hyatt Regency Jinan 2 1
Hyatt Regency Mumbai 2 1
Hyatt Regency Houston Intercontinental Airport 2 1
Hyatt Regency Shanghai Jiading 2 1
Hyatt Regency Sharm El Sheikh 2 1
Hyatt Regency Shenzhen Airport 2 1
Hyatt Regency Wuhan Optics Valley 2 1
Hyatt Regency Wuxi 2 1
Grand Hyatt Amman 3 2
Grand Hyatt Bali 3 2
Grand Hyatt Changsha 3 2
Grand Hyatt Chengdu 3 2
Grand Hyatt Mumbai 3 2
Grand Hyatt Xi’an 3 2
Andaz Capital Gate, Abu Dhabi 3 2
Hyatt Centric Guatemala City 3 2
Hyatt Centric Levent Istanbul 3 2
Hyatt Centric Montevideo 3 2
Hyatt House San Diego/Carlsbad 3 2
Hyatt Place Amsterdam Airport 3 2
Hyatt Place Baltimore Inner Harbor 3 2
Hyatt Place College Station 3 2
Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport 3 2
Hyatt Place Houston/The Woodlands 3 2
Hyatt Place London Heathrow Airport 3 2
Hyatt Place Marlborough Apex Center 3 2
Hyatt Place Melbourne, Essendon Fields 3 2
Hyatt Place West London Hayes 3 2
Hyatt Regency Atlanta 3 2
Hyatt Regency Baku 3 2
Hyatt Regency Beijing Wangjing 3 2
Hyatt Regency Bishkek 3 2
Hyatt Regency Bloomington-Minneapolis 3 2
Hyatt Regency Dubai 3 2
Hyatt Regency Greenwich 3 2
Hyatt Regency Houston 3 2
Hyatt Regency Houston/Galleria 3 2
Hyatt Regency Istanbul Atakoy 3 2
Hyatt Regency John Wayne Airport Newport Beach 3 2
Hyatt Regency Paris Charles de Gaulle 3 2
Hyatt Regency Perth 3 2
Hyatt Regency Shanghai Global Harbor 3 2
Hyatt Regency Valencia 3 2
Jinmao Hotel Lijiang 3 2
Andaz Delhi 4 3
Grand Hyatt Beijing 4 3
Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok 4 3
Grand Hyatt Istanbul 4 3
Grand Hyatt Manila 4 3
Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro 4 3
Grand Hyatt Sao Paulo 4 3
Hyatt Centric San Isidro Lima 4 3
Hyatt Hotel Canberra – Park Hyatt 4 3
Hyatt on the Bund, Shanghai 4 3
Hyatt Place Page Lake Powell 4 3
Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor 4 3
Hyatt Regency Chicago 4 3
Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress 4 3
Hyatt Regency Hua Hin 4 3
Hyatt Regency La Jolla 4 3
Hyatt Regency Mission Bay 4 3
Hyatt Regency New Orleans 4 3
Hyatt Regency Orlando 4 3
Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort 4 3
Hyatt Regency Trinidad 4 3
Park Hyatt Siem Reap 4 3
Spirit Ridge 4 3
Andaz San Diego 5 4
Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile 5 4
Hyatt Centric The Loop Chicago 5 4
Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach 5 4
Hyatt House Jersey City 5 4
Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay 5 4
Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson 5 4
Hyatt Regency Kiev 5 4
Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego 5 4
Park Hyatt Hangzhou 5 4
Park Hyatt Istanbul – Macka Palas 5 4
Park Hyatt Zanzibar 5 4
Andaz Liverpool Street London 6 5
Andaz Singapore 6 5
Andaz Wall Street 6 5
Grand Hyatt New York 6 5
Hyatt Centric La Rosiere 6 5
Hyatt Herald Square New York 6 5

Interesting to see Hyatt Regency Chicago, New Orleans and Orlando dropping to category 3.  I’m really surprised to see Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort as a category 3.  That property is an absolute gem, and a steal as a category 3.

a group of people riding a carriage
“Horsing Around” At Hyatt Regency Tamaya

Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach dropping a category is notable.  Same with the Hyatt Regency Jersey City.  That property sees some pretty high room rates based on its location.  I had a reservation booked at Park Hyatt Istanbul-Macka Palas a few years ago.  Alas, I had to cancel.  Still eager to get back there.

It’s been a number of years since I stayed at Grand Hyatt New York.  And, there’s news that it will be torn down in the near future.  A category drop here seems to make sense given the quality of the property balanced against the demand in NYC.  Hyatt Herald Square is a neat little property that gets cheaper.

The Final Two Pennies

The list of properties moving around is very well-balanced, with 130 getting pricier and 129 getting cheaper, from a points perspective.  That’s a much higher percentage of properties being adjusted (about 22%) versus the 5% at Marriott.  But, it’s obviously more balanced.  And, it seems to match up well with where the market is now.  Plenty of hotels are seeing occupancy and rate go up, but not all of them.

Hyatt has given us until 11:59pm EST on March 18th to make bookings at the old rates for properties going up in category.  They also plan to automatically refund guests the difference in points if they have a stay at a hotel that’s going down in category.  That’s absolutely the right way to do things.

Overall, I don’t really have any major issues with these changes.  There are a few I’m a little sad about, and some I’m happy about.

How do you feel about these Hyatt category changes?

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8 Comments

  1. Well, it is a total loss for me.
    All the ones going down a level I have never been to and don’t expect to.
    Of the ones going up 13 are ones I have been to and most I return to often.
    But even more annoying is that 5 of those 13 are level 4 going to level 5, meaning I would have a hard time finding a way to use my Cat 1-4 free nights!

    End of Hyatt as my preferred hotel chain in sight for me now.
    What a pity.

    Thanks for the heads-up.

  2. Only until March 18th? Hyatt is run by jacknuts.

    I see Hyatt dropped all 5 of those Phoenix HPs to Cat 1 at the same time a couple of years ago, and now they are moving all 5 of them back to Cat 2 at the same time, and moving up both of those Cat 2 Scottsdale properties to 3 at the same time.

    Gee, couldn’t the Hyatt braintrust see this coming when they dropped those properties? I did. Hyatt, you need smarter employees.

  3. I currently have six Hyatt reservations. Three are going up, so glad I’ve booked them already and avoid the points bump. None are ones I expect to return to, so no long term harm. One is going down, from a 5 to a 4, which will save me a few points, which is nice and possibly a place to use a Free Night Certificate. So, overall their changes seem balanced and personally I’m faring ok.

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