What are World of Hyatt’s Find experiences — and are they worth it?
Editor's Note
I recently had a chance to attend a five-course dinner at the Thompson Denver hotel, part of the Hyatt brand's A Taste of Thompson: Chef Series. This is one of many activities available through Find, Hyatt's experience platform, where World of Hyatt members can earn and burn points.
Here's everything you need to know about Find, what my experience was like and why I think Find is worth considering when planning your next trip.
Related: Best hotel rewards programs in the world: Which one is right for you?
What is the Find experience platform?
According to Hyatt's website, "FIND is a marketplace that offers access to carefully curated wellbeing experiences to help inspire people to be their best selves." There are currently over 500 experiences in over 75 destinations available on the Find website.
If you're planning a trip (or looking for something fun to do at home), you can search by country or state to see what's on offer in your destination. You can also search by category (arts, culture & community, exploration and restoration), or you can enter keywords to narrow your search.
Unlike some hotel experience platforms, which focus on shows or sporting events, Find's selection runs the gamut. Of course, your options will depend on where you're headed — and big cities seem to have the best selection. Prices vary greatly, too.
Some examples include a beer tasting in Prague ($33 or 2,377 World of Hyatt points), a snorkeling excursion in Honolulu ($184 or 13,148 points) and a half-day tour of Marrakech ($349 or 24,960 points).
You can also find tickets to shows and museums, letting you earn and burn Hyatt points on something you may have already been planning. For instance, an entry ticket to the Nashville Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum costs $31 or 2,225 points, or you could see "Aladdin" on Broadway for $110 or 7,849 points.
Some experiences are "curated" by a Hyatt hotel, but you generally don't have to stay at the hotel to book the experience. The exception is for experiences that explicitly include a hotel stay, like a "Wicked"-themed night at the Andaz Munich Schwabinger Tor ($475 or 33,955 points).
Anyone can view Find experiences, but you must be a World of Hyatt member to purchase them. If you log into your account while searching, you can favorite specific experiences to save them for later.
Related: The ultimate guide to redeeming your World of Hyatt points
My World of Hyatt Find experience
A Taste of Thompson: Chef Series is part of an ongoing Chef Series event that is available on Find as part of a larger package, which includes tickets for two to the dinner, a meet-and-greet with the chef, a predinner cocktail hour and a one night stay at the hotel — in my case, it was the Thompson Denver. We enjoyed dinner from award-winning French restaurateur and chef Ludo Lefebvre, who has helmed restaurants including Trois Mec (one Michelin star) and Petit Trois — both in Los Angeles — as well as Chez Maggy at Thompson Denver. Lefebvre has also appeared on many cooking TV shows, from "Iron Chef America" and "Top Chef Masters" to "Selena + Chef."
My experience also included several goodies waiting for me in my room: a signed copy of the chef's recipe book, a box of three of his favorite spice blends, a Thompson water bottle, sparkling wine and mineral water on ice, and house-made ganache bites (made specially vegan for me).
The ganache bites were as delicious as they looked.
The five-course meal was equally delicious. Although the Find website states "no substitutes provided" for guests with dietary restrictions or food allergies, the chef happily accommodated my vegan diet — and it was one of the best meals I've eaten. It was not only flavorful but also protein-packed and filling (a hard combination to find in vegan restaurant offerings). My favorites included a lentil-stuffed zucchini, roasted three-bean soup and coconut rice pudding with toasted almonds for dessert.
My omnivorous companions seemed to enjoy their standard menu just as much. Everyone — from my husband, who will eat anything, to seasoned culinary writers — seemed impressed with the food. The ginger-marinated tuna noodles were a big hit, as were the white chocolate brie cheesecake dessert and the unique-looking (but apparently addictive) parmesan tapioca cube canape.
This dinner at the Thompson Denver was a one-time offering, but the Chef Series will continue with two similar events: Dinner with Chef Quentin Garcia at California's Thompson Palm Springs in January and Dinner with Chef Enrique Olvera at The Cape, a Thompson Hotel in Mexico in February. If you're interested in attending and you have special dietary needs, I would recommend contacting the hotel to see if they can accommodate you before booking your ticket since this Find experience was nonrefundable.
The Thompson Denver Find package cost $832 or 59,428 World of Hyatt points. However, you could also buy tickets to the dinner only through Thompson's website for $135 per person or $195 with wine pairings. This included the welcome cocktail hour and one of the chef's signature spice blends but not the other items included with the Find package.
As much as I enjoyed my Find experience, I wish the tickets alone were available via Find. The same applies to Thompson Denver's other events, including a chocolate-making workshop, a holiday drag show and a New Year's Day pajama brunch — none of which are currently available through Find.
The more options Hyatt adds to the Find platform, the better because Find is a useful tool for Hyatt loyalists like me. Here's why.
Related: The best Hyatt hotels in the world
Are World of Hyatt Find experiences worth it?
If you redeem World of Hyatt points for a Find experience, in most cases, you'll get a value around 1.4 cents per point. This is lower than TPG's December 2024 valuation of 1.7 cents each for World of Hyatt points, but it's not terrible for an experience redemption.
I hold the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees), which lets me redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for activities through the Chase Travel℠ portal at a rate of up to 1.75 cents each, depending on the specific redemption (see your rewards program agreement for full details). Or, I could book activities with my Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card; if they code as travel, I could use Capital One miles to reimburse myself at a rate of 1 cent each. The Find platform offers better value than either of these options.
If you have your eye on a Find experience that would be prohibitively expensive, or you're determined to plan an entire vacation on points and miles, this is a solid option. However, you can probably get more value out of your Hyatt points by redeeming them for Hyatt hotel stays, especially at luxurious properties or during peak dates.
Related: 22 best Hyatt hotels in the world
If you'd rather save your points for a more aspirational redemption, you have the option to book Find activities with cash and earn Hyatt points. In fact, World of Hyatt members earn 10 points per eligible dollar spent on Find — double what you'd earn on Hyatt stays as a basic member. You'll earn even more points if you hold Hyatt elite status or pay with a Hyatt credit card, up to a maximum of 17 points per dollar. Plus, points earned through Find count toward Hyatt elite status.
Find works differently than other hotel platforms, like Hilton Honors Experiences and Marriott Bonvoy Moments. These require you to bid points on experiences, so you never know exactly how many points you'll need to spend — or if you'll even get the experience. And with most hotel platforms, you don't have the option to pay cash and earn bonus points.
Hyatt's flat rates make it easier to plan your vacation, and I appreciate that you can choose between earning or burning points here. If a cheap activity catches my eye, I'll probably purchase it with my World of Hyatt Credit Card (see rates and fees) to boost my Hyatt account balance. If I find something more expensive, like the Thompson Denver Chef Series and combined hotel package, I'd consider redeeming points for it instead.
You can also gift Find experiences to family and friends, a nice option to have if you're looking for a unique gift idea for a hard-to-shop-for loved one. And, in 2023, Hyatt introduced a new feature: A select few Find experiences are now sold with points at auction, more in line with other hotel platforms.
Related: World of Hyatt members can now earn points using Peloton at hotels around the world
Bottom line
As a Hyatt loyalist, I think the Find platform is an exciting and potentially valuable tool. Activities are always a big part of my vacation plans, and I'm thrilled to have a way to either redeem points for them or earn at least 10 points per dollar on them. If other Find experiences are as high-quality as the one I recently attended, they stand to offer great value.
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