Each year, hotels make changes to their award categories for their member hotels. For Hyatt, it is almost always in March and that is no different this year. What is different this year is that the sky-high Category 8 slot – which has never had an actual Hyatt hotel in it – will see 9 Hyatt properties enter it this year.
Hyatt Award Changes
Link: Hyatt Award Changes
These changes will go into effect as of March 22 at 8:00AM CDT. There will be 70 hotels moving to a higher category and 76 hotels moving to a lower category.
The big news here is that there are 9 Hyatt hotels entering Category 8 for the first time – a category which requires a standard point redemption of 40,000 points per night (an increase of 10,000 points per night over Category 7).
Here are those 9 Hyatt hotels:
- Park Hyatt New York – Category 7 to Category 8
- Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort – Category 7 to Category 8
- Alila Ventana Big Sur – Category 7 to Category 8
- Alila Napa Valley – Category 7 to Category 8
- Park Hyatt Sydney – Category 7 to Category 8
- Park Hyatt Milan – Category 7 to Category 8
- Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome – Category 7 to Category 8
- Hotel Lou Pinet – Category 7 to Category 8
- Park Hyatt Kyoto – Category 7 to Category 8
- Park Hyatt Niseko – Category 7 to Category 8
As you can see, some of the most popular and luxurious Park Hyatt properties are going to the Category 8 ranking, requiring a standard night increase of 33% over the old Category 7.
There are many hotels coming down as well but those new Category 8 properties will hurt the points of many travelers. But, you do have until the March 22 date (8AM CDT) to make reservations as far in advance as you are able.
I will have another post analyzing some of the other changes but I wanted to get this out ASAP to make sure you can start booking the dates you may want for those hotels above.
