Hyatt is the core brand of the Hyatt Hotels group. While the Hyatt group has a total of 599 hotels worldwide, only 31 properties are Hyatt Hotels, the remainder belonging to a range of other brands. I will focus in today’s post on the Hyatt Hotels, but most of my comments also apply to the very similar Hyatt Regency brand.
So, who are they? Hyatt was founded in 1957 and has grown to include a dizzying number of similar brands, making it difficult to know what to expect from each of them. The core Hyatt (and Hyatt Regency) brands fall into the middle of the range, below the more upscale Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt and Andaz, and above the select service Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels. Worldwide, there are 31 Hyatt Hotels, ⅔ in the Americas, and 172 Hyatt Regency, 60% of them in the Americas. They all are upscale, full-service hotels.
In their own words, at Hyatt Hotels “you’ll find yourself surrounded by enthusiastic insiders who delight in sharing the best of what each of our hotels and cities has to offer. We’ll make sure your needs are met, no matter your reason for visiting. Our restaurants and bars are bustling and invigorating. Our guest rooms are restful and reviving. Our people are inviting and in-the-know. At Hyatt hotels, you’re more than welcome.”
That language doesn’t help a whole lot to manage your expectations and partially explains the brand confusion about Hyatt hotels.
What experience can I expect? Despite that brand confusion, I found most Hyatt hotels to be contemporary in design, a little more modern than your average Marriott or Sheraton hotel, but less stylish than a Westin or Le Meridien. You’ll find a lot of brown tones in color, unlikely to offend you, but probably not going to wow you either.
As a full-service hotel, you can expect all the services and amenities. From bell boys and concierges to full-service restaurants and room service, pool and gym, to business center service and meeting rooms.
Even with the small number of hotels, you’ll find Hyatt Regency hotels in some rather off-the-beaten path destinations, like Kathmandu, Nepal, or Kota Kinabalu, Borneo. And in those destinations, they might just be the most upscale hotel you will find!
I’ve had very nice stays at Hyatt hotels and you can read my reviews about the Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabalu and the Hyatt City of Dreams Manila to get a better idea what to expect from those hotels.
Hyatt and Hyatt Regency hotels are part of the Hyatt Gold Passport rewards program. With only 600 hotels worldwide, they are one of the smaller programs, making it more difficult to earn and redeem points for free stays.