Hyatt House Improvements: Better Breakfast And Recognition For Frequent Guests

Even though I’m a self-avowed  Hyatt Homer ^TM, I think I’m on fairly solid ground the Hyatt House brand represents some of the best quality in extended stay properties for the US market.  Virtually all of these properties have either been built or renovated in the last 3 years.  That means clean, consistent products across the chain of Hyatt House properties.  You won’t find a Hyatt House in every market (though they have over 50 properties open and growing) but when you do you’ll be in good hands.  And, Hyatt is making that experience a bit better for both regular and more frequent guests.

For longer stays, guest booking 30+ day reservations will receive the following extra benefits as part of their new Very Important Resident (VIR) Program:

A $10 food and beverage credit to use in the hotel bar or the market.

Free laundry service.

A welcome amenity (in addition to any Diamond amenity)

Grocery shopping service:  they’ll stock your fridge prior to arrival.

Hyatt House will be tracking profiles to customize stays for these frequent travelers.

While there’s nothing I would call game changing here, these benefits are nice enhancements for frequent patrons of the brand.  And, the only reason they’re not really game changing is because Hyatt already offers a solid extended stay product.

And, a Diamond guest who also has a 30 night stay at Hyatt House will actually receive 2 amenities (so, you could choose points and get a welcome amenity).  That strikes me as a nice plus.

Hyatt House is also upping its game for all customers.  They’re in the process of rolling out made-to-order omelets as part of breakfast service at all properties.  You can see a full list of Hyatt House properties here, which includes a current list of who has deployed the new breakfast.  Looks like they’re about halfway done.

Here’s the bottom line for me.  Extended stay brands generally aren’t in the business of innovating.  But, this is one of the pluses of Hyatt’s commitment to brand research.  These tweaks should help make the product more rewarding for guests and should engender more loyalty.  One of the things I’ve heard Jeff Zidell, the VP of Hyatt Gold Passport, say often is that their loyalty program is not a revenue center.  It’s purpose is to foster loyalty, and Hyatt seems to be moving in the right direction again with these changes.

ETA:  I made a few changes above to reflect that the VIR (Very Important Resident) benefit is for a 30-day stay, not for those that stay a total of 30 nights throughout the year at Hyatt House cumulatively.