Hyatt 2015 Hotel Category Updates: Some Bad, A Lot of Good!

Every major hotel chain adjusts hotel categories on an annual basis to reflect actual demand and hotel prices. If the average daily rate of a hotel increases enough, it may warrant an increase in the award category for that hotel. Luckily for us, the opposite is also true – some hotels experience lower occupancy rates and prices and thus the award category is lowered.

Hyatt is the first major hotel chain to announce hotel category changes for 2015, and in my opinion the changes might end up being positive. There were definitely some significant increases, but also a few that decreased that are worth looking at.

As a reminder, here’s the Hyatt Award chart. If you want more information about how to earn and use Hyatt points effectively, I recommend my Guide to Hyatt Gold Passport.

And here are the changes I feel are significant. First the bad:

• Grand Hyatt Taipei – From Category 3 to 4.
• Park Hyatt Seoul – From Category 4 to 5.
• Grand Hyatt at Baha Mar – From Category 4 to 5.
• Andaz Amsterdam, Prinsengracht – From Category 5 to 6.
• Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée – From Category 5 to 6.
• Park Hyatt Maldives – From Category 6 to 7.

And here are a few hotels that went down a category:

• Park Hyatt Chennai – From Category 3 to 2.
• Hyatt Capital Gate, Abu Dhabi – From Category 4 to 3.
• MGM Grand Las Vegas – From Category 5 to 4.
• Grand Hyatt Washington – From Category 5 to 4.
• Mandalay Bay Las Vegas – From Category 6 to 5.
• Park Hyatt Washington – From Category 6 to 5.

There were definitely some significant losses for premium properties, specifically in the Maldives, Amsterdam, and Seoul. These hurt but really aren’t unexpected, as I was surprised the Park Hyatt Maldives wasn’t already a Category 7 property when the devaluation was announced. The Park Hyatt Seoul was under-priced in terms of the award category so I think this is a fair change as well. And for all properties that increased, the number of points required for the next level is still reasonable.

There were also some great properties that decreased in value, including a couple of Park Hyatts. The one that grabs my attention is the Park Hyatt Chennai – a Park Hyatt in Category 2 is a steal, regardless of where the property is located. The Hyatt Capital Gate in Abu Dhabi is a great property and can be had for a good price now as well. Both of Hyatt’s top-end properties in Washington DC went down a category as well. I included the Vegas properties because there’s always interest in those, but I don’t recommend redeeming your points for those hotels unless absolutely necessary (it’s often easier to get Vegas hotels for cheap on cash rates).

I’m also excited about the significant number of new Category 1 hotels (see the full list below). These can be very useful for mattress running if needed. Remember, Points + Cash stays count towards elite status!

The negatives were reasonable, and the positives are always good…so I consider this a win as far as category changes go. Let’s hope Hilton and Starwood follow up with similar changes!

Full List of Changes per Hyatt’s Announcement: