I read with some amusement the recent back-and-forth between View from the Wing, One Mile at a Time, and Frequent Miler over Marriott versus Hilton. My solution is simple: I’ll just stick to Hyatt.
It started when Gary argued that those wanting to leave Marriott would not find greener pastures with Hilton.
Both Ben and Nick wrote friendly rebuttals, disagreeing rather strongly with Gary.
Gary pointed out that both seemed to actually make his point.
And reading this back-and-forth, honestly it makes me happy just to stick to Hyatt.
Look, I know Hyatt has a far more limited global footprint than Marriott or Hilton. There’s no question about it. But I will continue to go out of my way to stay in Hyatts, even if means I am sometimes miss out on a more ideal location.
As I look back on the previous year, I note that two of my confirmed four suite upgrades will expire unredeemed. That’s not because they failed to clear, but because I was almost always upgraded to suites without even asking. I haven’t run the numbers, but looking back over my stays this year almost every one of them involved a complimentary upgrade to a suite.
That makes me fiercely loyal to Hyatt. So does the breakfast benefit, which may not be much at most properties in the USA, but is a welcome start to my day at so many properties around the world.
With a valuable loyalty program and a great new partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), I feel well-taken care of at almost any Hyatt property. That’s a lot more than I can say at my Marriott/Starwood and Hilton properties this year.
That’s not a knock on Hilton or Marriott as much as special recognition of Hyatt. Hyatt properties always thank me for my business. Hyatt should be doing much more to recruit guests from Marriott/Starwood…
CONCLUSION
Next year, I’ll again focus my hotel stays on Hyatt. When Hyatt simply won’t work, I will simply be a free agent: Air BnB, Hilton, Marriott, or even Hotwire. And yes, I do have status at Hilton (Gold) by virtue of my American Express Platinum card and Marriott (Platinum) by virtue of my United MileagePlus elite status. I just don’t really care about it…
100% correct.. Im lucky enough to be able to get Marriott and Hyatt top tiers and they don’t really compare at the high end. SPG used to but Hyatt is the last of the old school programs for luxury status. I will keep going out of my way to “burn” my business as long as they treat me as well as they do when I really want to be spoiled. Your article nailed it and I hope the big boys all stay away and it lasts as long as it can.
I’ll grudgingly accept that Hyatt provides the best benefits for their top tier elites. I think the problem for elites with other programs that may be disgruntled is that a) Hyatt makes it difficult to reach that top tier because of its limited footprint, b) its mid-tier benefits aren’t competitive (though the recent milestone bonuses help), and c) Hyatt charges a premium price, sometimes obnoxiously so, for its product. I’ve argued with you and Kyle about this before, but I’ll say it again – where the budget is a fixed resource, the average person can’t justify an extra $1,000+ per year to switch to Hyatt “because suite upgrades”.
Anyway, if Hyatt wants to recruit Marriott/SPG elites, then I think they should focus on offering better elite benefits than the competition at the lower levels. You know how I feel about hotel breakfast, but something as simple as adding a consistent breakfast benefit for Explorist arguably provides equivalent benefits to HH/MR top tiers, seeing as how strongly most folks seem to feel about it.
@ MeanMeosh — I agree 100% with the following statement — “I’ll grudgingly accept that Hyatt provides the best benefits for their top tier elites.”
I gave up on Hyatt after 15 years or longer as Diamond/Globalist. YTD I have 2 stays, 2 nights ( Jan 1 and 2), both free. Not going back and cashed in the points. I’ll miss Vienna, Milan and London but not really too much. Hyatt made ZERO real effort to hang on to many of their loyal members ( and only got a bit serious after the horses had bolted). They put more into fast-tracking corporates, many of whom would end up being one year wonders.
While the Marriott merger was a monumental CF from day one, and has limped along as a more generalised SNAFU in recent times, the in-hotel experience and value is hard to beat.
I agree with the free agent strategy: exactly what I’m doing for non Marriott/SPG stays.
Hyatt is wonderful if you achieve Globalist status. And after 3 years at the top, I will miss that goal in March 2019. And I actually don’t care as I prefer using my American Express Platinum concierge and have had better success scoring upgrades and other benefits through AMEX. At first I was upset with not reaching Globalist but I found that there are better options than chasing loyalty to hotel chains that constantly move the goal post.
I’ve been a Hyatt Diamond/Globalist for a few years now and was a SPG Platinum for around five years as well. Both were top notch programs that earned my fervent loyalty. With Marriott having trashed many of the better aspects of SPG Platinum, I’m wishing them a hearty Bonvoy. I’m fine with staying at the occasional Hilton, largely due to my gold status from my Amex card, but I just don’t find them all that compelling. In short, Hyatt does a better job, and with the recent change to give elite credits for credit card spending, makes a much better value and loyalty proposition for me.
Yup. We are at a Hyatt in NYC this week. This is the first stay we haven’t been upgraded to a suite and it’s clear they are full. We still have a lovely upgraded room and got a nice welcome gift. I go out of my way to keep Globalist. It’s worth it.