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Hyatt will be revamping its Hyatt Place brand and changing its focus, as well as changing some of the benefits on offer at Hyatt Place hotels. Like most changes, some are good, and some are not so good — although in this case one of the changes is simply bizarre.
Key Changes
According to the Hyatt press release, the brand will be focusing on 3 key areas:
- Design: including rooms, bathrooms, as well as enhancing the lobby and culinary experiences at the hotel
- World of Hyatt Explorist and Globalist can take advantage of early check-in, and mobile entry
- Improvements to the Exhale spa experience at Hyatt properties including in-room video content, and enhanced spa facilities
- World of Hyatt members will receive complimentary free breakfast
The Hyatt press release mentions an important point about the free breakfast:
“Reimagined Breakfast: World of Hyatt members will be able to enjoy the newly reimagined breakfast for free at Hyatt Place hotels.”
According to View From The Wing, Hyatt has left a nugget of information out of the above sentence. In fact, regardless of status, members will only receive a free breakfast when they book with Hyatt direct, and not via a third-party booking site. Non-members who sign up for World of Hyatt on the spot at check-in will receive the free breakfast regardless of how they booked their stay.
Breakfast Chaos
Hyatt’s new breakfast policy is going to lead to some bizarre scenarios. A non-member who booked via a third-party but signs up for World of Hyatt when checking in will be entitled to free breakfast. A top-tier Globalist who booked through a third-party site will not receive free breakfast, and since they are already a member, they cannot sign up to benefit from the offer. So, at Hyatt Place, new members get better benefits than top-tier Elite members, which is strange.
Remember that a top-tier Elite could be loyal by booking through a third-party site since the hotel might be sold-out on the Hyatt website. So ultimately Hyatt is punishing Elites for showing loyalty to the brand.
On another hand, how on earth will Hyatt enforce this policy? Imagine the line at the entrance to get breakfast, as the staff has to check whether a person is a Hyatt member, and cross-reference that with whether they have booked direct or via a third-party site. For a hotel brand that aims to cater to business travelers, large lines at breakfast will not go down well at all.
Our Take
The improvements to the Hyatt Place brand are welcome, however, the new breakfast policy is just a bad idea all around. Hyatt needs to go back to the drawing board and come up with something workable that does not penalize its Elite members.
Source: View from the Wing
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agreed,
some changes are truly bizarre
Hyatt needs to bring back Gold Passport.
What alternate reality are you living in that could actually see that happen?
I can understand why at check in for people who booked through 3rd party but still odd and I’d be really annoyed if I was denied and the person next to me wasn’t just because I didn’t book it right. If I an elite I would be even more upset. I wonder what they’ll do for comp when an elite complains.
I like Hyatt but it doesn’t seem like it’s an easy frequent stay program. You mainly get points through stays and their credit card, for one. Other hotels have more options it seems.
Ah, very good news indeed.
Even though usually more expensive, having a free breakfast, a good service and points could be a right choice.
good news? Have you ever stayed at a Hyatt Place?
Let’s see how it plays out! Not sure the staff will have the energy and desire to check everyone’s status that could lead to unhappy customers and bad reviews.
Exactly.
Hyatt Place’s (at least near us) dining is a bit strange anyway with semi detached kitchen, so one more strangeness is not surprising.
Hyatt complicating the breakfast issue will certainly leave a bad taste in the mouth of a portion of their clientele. It may also lead to embarrassing situations at check in or at breakfast times.
I agree with above, the hotel industry is very competitive so free breakfast as a perk form customers goes a long way.
hotels really should just honor elite benefits when people book 3rd party. It’s their fault letting 3rd party have cheaper prices anyways
I like hotel brands who offer incentives for staying loyal and booking through them. But status should still confer the breakfast offering.
There should just be free b’fast for everyone! 😉
I’m not sure I like Hyatt’s use of a breakfast perk as a bargaining chip for my business.
I never find it worthwhile to book at the higher end chains. One usually have free breakfast for the whole family at the lower end chains and a suite for a lower rate.
Actually, I would like to see hotel chains give more incentives to book directly with them instead of through 3rd party websites. It could increase the competition.
That, however, puts their (lucrative) relationships with 3rd party agencies at risk. It is a fine line they walk.
I agree, this looks very confusing. Hyatt needs to clarify what it is they are attempting to do with Hyatt Place.
Hotel chains need to understand that a certain % of their client base is NEVER going to book direct. Priceline and Expedia spend billions on advertising to be sure of that.
All these changes do is annoy customers.