Hyatt Expands SLH Partnership to 56 New Hotels and Resorts

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the World of Hyatt program as an award traveler is the limited footprint of its participating brands. This feeling is evidently shared by Hyatt loyalty executives. We learned in the last several months that the program will be acquiring Two Roads Hospitality (expected to close sometime this year) and that it inked a new agreement with Small Luxury Hotels of the World. The latter of these two began to take effect in December, when members gained the ability to earn and redeem points at roughly 50 SLH properties. Those properties were largely located in Greece, Italy and the United Kingdom, in addition to other countries in Europe, plus one hotel in China and four in Malaysia.

That relationship is now expanding. As of today, World of Hyatt members can earn and redeem points at another 56 SLH properties, boosting the total number to 110 locations in almost 30 countries. This includes a number of spots where Hyatt currently has limited or no participating properties:

• Denmark: Nimb Hotel (Copenhagen)
• Finland: Hotel Haven and Hotel Lilla Roberts (both in Helsinki)
• Portugal: Palácio Estoril Hotel, Golf & Spa (Estoril), Carmo's Boutique Hotel (Ponte de Lima) and Alentejo Marmoris Hotel & Spa (Vila Vicosa)
• Latvia: Hotel Bergs (Riga)
• Dominican Republic: Sublime Samana Hotel & Residences (Samana) and Cases del XVI (Santo Domingo)
• Turks & Caicos: Sailrock Resort (South Caicos), which will become the first points hotel in the country

You can find a full list of the new properties at this link, and we've also listed them in a table below, including the respective award rates for each one.

All 56 of these properties will follow the same earning and redemption scheme as those that launched in December. Members will earn 5 points per dollar spent on paid stays, and Hyatt elite members will enjoy their standard bonuses on top of this. Noteworthy is that all World of Hyatt members will enjoy complimentary continental breakfast for two daily, a space-available, one-category upgrade at check-in and early check-in/late check-out (subject to availability).

All of these properties have also been assigned to the World of Hyatt award chart, and it appears that six do fall into the relatively new Category 8, requiring 40,000 points per night. However, this still can represent a fantastic redemption. An an example, the Nimb Hotel offers standard rooms that range from 33 to 47 square feet and overlook Tivoli Gardens. We see many summer dates with paid rates of over $900 per night:

By redeeming 40,000 points, you'll get a redemption value of 2.25 cents per point, a nice step above TPG's most recent valuation of Hyatt points (1.7 cents apiece).

Many of these resorts also offer "standard" rooms for award purposes that are anything but standard. As an example, you can now score a 150-square-meter suite (over 1,600 square feet) with a private plunge pool at the Viceroy Bali for just 30,000 points per night:

Or 30,000 points will get you a 126-square-meter cottage at Keemala on Phuket, Thailand, complete with a private pool, outdoor shower and soaking tub.

Paid rates at this location are coming in at $930.31, giving you a fantastic redemption value of 3.1 cents per Hyatt point.

Thankfully, these properties aren't all at the deep end of Hyatt's award chart. Six of these new additions to the World of Hyatt line-up are classified at Category 3 properties, like the Cameron Highlands Resort in Malaysia, and another eight fall into Category 4, like the Alentejo Marmoris Hotel & Spa in Portugal. This should allow you to book with the free night certificates you can earn on the World of Hyatt Credit Card.

However, it appears that inventory is still being loaded at this time, as we're still seeing several properties that aren't showing any rooms (paid or award) across a variety of dates. If nothing comes up for you, also try testing a longer stay, since we have run across what seem to be minimum-stay requirements at places like the Sailrock Resort in Turks & Caicos.

In addition to launching this expansion of the SLH partnership, World of Hyatt has also released a list of the most popular locales for member bookings thus far, and not surprisingly, they're all in major cities:

1. London, England
2. Rome, Italy
3. Shanghai, China
4. Florence, Italy
5. Edinburgh, Scotland

With an additional two properties added in Rome, I wouldn't be surprised to see the order of this list change in the weeks and months to come.

Bottom Line

The World of Hyatt program is taking significant steps to boost not only its global footprint, but also the valuable redemptions it offers to members. The now-expanded partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World now includes 110 properties, meaning that SLH locations make up over 10% of the entire Hyatt portfolio. Of course, there are still another ~400 properties under the SLH portfolio that aren't yet a part of this partnership, so I certainly hope that Hyatt will continue to expand over the rest of 2019.

Full list of new SLH properties: