The Complete List of Hyatt Properties Changing Award Categories in 2020 (217 Hotels)

This is the time of year for hotel award “adjustments” as loyalty programs figure out which hotels should move up or down in award categories. Today, it is Hyatt’s turn and we have the complete list of Hyatt brands and SLH hotels that will be changing categories next month.

All the Hyatt Hotels Changing Award Categories in 2020

The Short Version

Here are the bullet points you should know before heading down to the list:

• No Hyatt branded hotels are moving to Category 8 (that will stay as just SLH properties)
• 117 properties are going up an award category
• 100 properties are going down an award category
• No Category 8 property is going down
• These changes will apply for bookings made before 8:00 am CDT on Sunday, March 22
• Any property that drops after that will trigger an automatic refund of points making up the difference in the change
• Any changes made after March 22 will follow the new award chart

That was kind of the short version, right? 🙂

The Good News

We are actually getting 14 properties that will now be bookable with the Hyatt free night certificates! This is certainly good news! We are also seeing the Park Hyatt Mallorca (Review) coming down to a Category 5, which is a nice thing. The Park Hyatt Seoul (Review) is coming back down slowly as well to a Category 5 (it used to be a Category 4).

It is also nice to see the Hyatt Regency Sydney dropping into a Category 4 which will give us a nice property in Sydney eligible for the Hyatt free night certificates. The Park Hyatt Melbourne is also changing to a Category 4.

I am a bit surprised to see the Grand Hyatt Athens (Review) drop to a Category 3 – but at the same time not completely surprised. This property is nice but rates are consistently low in the off-season and it is definitely not one of the best located hotels in Athens.

On a personal note, I’m glad to see that my hometown Hyatt Regency Rochester is dropping to a Category 1. I am actually quite surprised about that since this is a hotel that normally costs between $130 and $180 per night so it will be a great award value.

Plus, there are some great airport options that are now in the Category 1 listing – Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport, Hyatt Place London Heathrow Airport, and the Hyatt Regency Paris Charles de Gaulle. These are three cities where prices can be high so it will be great to book an airport property in these cities for just 5,000 points (plus or minus with the off-peak/peak pricing coming soon).

The Bad News

What goes up must come down is what we learn in school and we are certainly getting some gravity working here with the hotels that are departing the Hyatt free night range (Category 1 – 4).

So, here are the lists of properties that will be changing award categories for 2020, starting with the hotels that are dropping down an award category. There are 21 properties that will be lifted up to a Category 5 listing and many of those are in the US. So, that is pretty disappointing.

It is also unfortunate to see the excellent Andaz 5th Avenue in Manhattan going up to the big Category 7 listing. This was a great hotel we enjoyed staying at and a nice way to use points. Unfortunately, it will now cost the same as the Park Hyatt in terms of awards but quite a bit less in cash.

We are also seeing 13 SLH properties ascending to the peak Category 8 listing. This includes some excellent hotel types in Greece and Italy so if you want to plan a trip there, make sure you start booking soon. In many cases, if you value Hyatt points at 2 cents per point, it can often be better to pay with cash at Category 8 properties than pay the 40,000 points per night (see this post about why you may not want to book SLH properties through Hyatt).

Hyatt Hotels Going Down an Award Category

Hyatt Hotels Going Up an Award Category