Hyatt Announces Vacation Home Rentals, Points Earning And Redemption On The Horizon
Airbnb (and companies like it) have become a huge threat to traditional hotel brands. Vacation rentals are popular with a growing number of people, including business travelers. This has become a real threat to the current period of sustained occupancy and price increases the hotel industry has enjoyed. Hyatt may be changing that.
No, they’re not acquiring Airbnb, though wouldn’t that be a shake-up? In theory, Airbnb is “worth” more than Hyatt (but still a privately held company). Hyatt has announced a partnership with Oasis, a luxury vacation home rental company. According to Ben at One Mile at a Time:
Discover home rentals with the hospitality services and amenities you deserve.
The Unbound Collection by Hyatt is pleased to now offer home rentals through Oasis, a global leader in serviced home rental accommodations. With thousands of handpicked homes in over 20 destinations worldwide, Oasis combines the comfort and authenticity of home rentals with the service and amenities of a hotel – including in-person check-in and check-out, fresh linens and toiletries, and on-demand concierge services.
Oasis is coming soon to the World of Hyatt program. We are actively working on adding the opportunity for members to earn and redeem points and enjoy benefits for stays at Oasis properties.
Interesting. Hyatt has made a little bit of noise about partnerships in this space. They’ve also talked about trying to find ways to connect with customers. They’re looking to create interactions that don’t fit the typical hotel loyalty program mold. This move definitely qualifies.
For those interested in booking an Oasis property, you can get a $100 discount by using code UnboundxHyatt. You can find out more information on the Hyatt website.
Unbound is Hyatt’s collection of unbranded properties. There are already some pretty interesting properties in that collection.
What To Think?
It’s important to clarify my stance on the vacation rental/Airbnb/VRBO/home-sharing movement. I’m not a fan. Dubious guarantees from homeowners concern me. So does a lack of structure surrounding cancellations and dissatisfaction just make it a bad fit for me. I certainly understand why so many like it. And, I would be a fan of being able to redeem points for vacation rentals.
Some of the properties look beautiful, and they offer amenities that I appreciate.
I’m mostly a fan of this move because I think it’s great to have options. Plenty of loyal Hyatt customers would like the option to redeem their Hyatt points at a luxury rental home. Heck, as a family guy who likes a bit more space when we travel, I might even take the plunge.
I’m going to need to understand more about what sort of company Oasis is before I consider this a big positive.
In the end, I wonder if this ends up being like the Hyatt timeshare properties? Those properties have a bit less structure but are still held to brand standards. Will Oasis homeowners be held to similar standards?
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This intrigues me. We have an annual family beach trip to the FL panhandle in an area that is mostly home rentals so there aren’t a lot of point options. This makes it one of our more expensive trips where we’re using points on hotel and air almost always; this is actually where the Barclays Arrival+ for the travel category cash back option with VRBO comes in handy. Since I’m a big Hyatt point spender (hoarder?) I’ll be checking in on this.
Looks like it’s just a handful of major cities, but it might still come in handy in time. I’ve used AirBNB once in LA but everyone I work with loves it and prefers it to hotels so this is definitely a good move for Hyatt.