On Monday morning the Chicago-headquartered hotel giant announced a new Spain-based joint venture with Grupo Piñero, owner of the Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts and Cayo Levantado Resort brands. The new Hyatt joint venture will own the Bahia Principe brand and manage Bahia Principe-branded hotels and resorts around the world. It also grows Hyatt’s all-inclusive resort portfolio by 30%. Hyatt touted the “asset-light” nature of the deal, which means Hyatt won’t own any of the real estate.
“The addition of Bahia Principe’s resorts to Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection will enhance Hyatt’s all-inclusive offering and strengthen our leadership position with one of the largest collections of all-inclusive resorts in the world,” Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian said in a statement. “Grupo Piñero’s family business culture, shared values, and expertise in the four- to five-star all-inclusive category coupled with Hyatt’s leadership in luxury all-inclusive creates powerful opportunities across Hyatt’s business — for guests and World of Hyatt members seeking quality all-inclusive experiences across stay occasions, and for hotel owners who can benefit from the network effect of more travelers within the portfolio.”
The deal is expected to close in the coming months and builds upon Hyatt’s 2021 Apple Leisure group acquisition, which brought all-inclusive brands like Secrets and Dreams into the World of Hyatt orbit. The planned Grupo Piñero venture will add 23 resorts with a total of more than 12,000 rooms to Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection. Twenty-two of the resorts are under the Bahia Principe brand and are in Mexico, Jamaica, Spain and the Dominican Republic — including Bahia Principe Grand Punta Cana, which TPG ranks as one of the best all-inclusive resorts in the Dominican Republic.
The deal also includes Cayo Levantado Resort, which opened last year in the Dominican Republic and is also getting rave remarks for its ultraluxury service at a value on nightly rates. Given how Hyatt has expanded the Apple Leisure all-inclusive lineup since taking over, it’s only natural to think Bahia Principe and Cayo Levantado will expand into new markets and brand territory.
While a specific price tag wasn’t provided, a company announcement implies upgrades are slated for the existing resorts: “A majority of the proceeds from this transaction will be leveraged by Grupo Piñero to enhance existing Bahia Principe resorts.”
“For Grupo Piñero, the asset-light long-term strategic joint venture with Hyatt will strengthen Bahia Principe’s legacy and represents a clear path to build on its success and growth strategy for the future,” Encarna Piñero, global CEO of Grupo Piñero, said in a statement. “Bahia Principe has experienced rapid growth since the opening of our first property in the Dominican Republic nearly 30 years ago. Throughout our journey, we have maintained our core beliefs as a family-owned business, always being faithful to our purpose of seeking to generate a positive social and economic impact for the local communities of the destinations in which we operate. We appreciate and recognize these values in Hyatt’s purpose of care and look forward to the next chapter in Bahia Principe’s bright future.”
World of Hyatt fans will have to wait a bit longer to learn specifics on award redemption categories. The only details so far are that the new collection of all-inclusive resorts is “expected to join the World of Hyatt loyalty program at a later date.”
Good things at all-inclusive resorts come to those who wait, we hope!
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