Hyatt’s luxury and lifestyle hotels poised for further growth (and a little defense) throughout 2024
Brands like Park Hyatt, Alila, Miraval and Thompson Hotels generate plenty of lifestyle and luxury hotel interest for Hyatt.
The Chicago-based hotel giant made significant inroads in recent years beefing up its luxury and lifestyle division: In the last five years, the company doubled its luxury room count, tripled its resort room count and quadrupled its lifestyle hotel room count. This was fueled by acquisitions of companies and brands like Mr & Mrs Smith, Two Roads Hospitality (the former owner of brands like Thompson and Alila) and all-inclusive giant Apple Leisure Group.
But Hyatt also faces stiff competition these days. IHG Hotels & Resorts is making its own luxury and lifestyle push with brands like Six Senses and Regent. Marriott is a luxury hotel behemoth with brands like St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton and Edition. Hilton plans to launch an Edition competitor in the luxury lifestyle space to sit alongside its other top tier brands like Waldorf Astoria, Conrad and LXR Hotels & Resorts.
Hyatt leaders are watching all of this, of course. But don’t expect much lost sleep at Chicago corporate headquarters, either.
“The worst thing I can do as a leader is react to what other people do and say,” Crystal Vinisse Thomas, the vice president and global brand leader of Hyatt’s luxury and lifestyle brands, said in an interview with TPG at last month’s International Luxury Travel Market conference in Cannes, France. “Being reactive can be very short-sighted because, if I'm sticking to what I believe we’ve built as a strong foundation and a strong brand with a strong personality, we can continue to build equity and authentic connections with these guests that I don't need to look at another brand to know what’s coming and try to tweak and react.”
“That’s not to say that, competitively, I’m not paying attention,” she added.
Long story short: Don’t expect Thompson Hotels to start throwing a property-specific blanket over the corner of a guest room or suite bed just because Edition does that. The mantra behind the scenes at Hyatt’s luxury and lifestyle brands is "NBDB," never been done before, Thomas said.
“I'd say we try to be proactive in doing things differently and making sure that everything is in service to the guests and the service to our brands,” she added. “When competitors join the party, it's more to go around.”
What’s next for luxury and lifestyle at Hyatt?
Hyatt plans to open an additional 25 luxury and lifestyle hotels and resorts through 2025 across the Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Miraval, Alila, Andaz, Thompson Hotels and The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brands as well as luxury all-inclusive brands like Zoetry Wellness & Spa Resorts and Dreams Resorts & Spas.
Some of those upcoming openings include the long-awaited Park Hyatt Marrakech in Morocco, Park Hyatt London River Thames, Park Hyatt Cancun and Park Hyatt Phu Quoc — just down the street from IHG’s luxe Regent Phu Quoc, a TPG favorite.
Hyatt is also expanding the Miraval wellness brand to Saudi Arabia, while openings for Alila include locations in Shanghai, Malaysia and China’s Dong’ao Island.
Upcoming Andaz openings include hotels in Doha, Amsterdam, Miami Beach, Turks and Caicos, Lisbon and Bangkok. The expansion trajectory for Thompson Hotels includes hotels in Houston; Palm Springs, California; South Beach, Florida; Monterrey, California; Vienna, Austria; Rome and Shanghai.
“It's a very crowded space right now in luxury and lifestyle,” Thomas said. “We have a job as hoteliers to educate our consumers on the difference between them and what the value propositions are.”
For Thompson Hotels, that means programming meant to showcase creatives and a surrounding community within a hotel. Thompson Nashville hosts whiskey tastings and vinyl record listening sessions in the penthouse. Georgia’s Thompson Savannah offers chef-curated dinner parties to allow guests to indulge in Southern cooking that goes far beyond “just” shrimp and grits.
Andaz is meant to be the “playful” luxury brand compelling guests to do things they might not normally do. Andaz West Hollywood offers Guitar Hero in the lobby for those looking to practice some tunes before hopefully one day taking to the stage down Sunset Boulevard at the Viper Room.
Alila is meant to offer more immersive experiences with each hotel’s surrounding community, like perennial TPG points redemption favorite Alila Ventana Big Sur. While Alila has locations around the world, its U.S. presence is currently limited to three locations, all in California.
That will hopefully change one day.
“In the U.S. there are so many untapped places that we could bring that to life,” Thomas said of the future growth of Alila in the U.S. “It's just more about finding the right one and certainly leaning into our intention of being a good neighbor and making sure wherever we are we're giving back and not taking away.”
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- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
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| 4X | Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year. |
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There’s a lot to love about the Amex Gold. It’s a fan favorite thanks to its fantastic bonus-earning rates at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets. If you’re hitting the skies soon, you’ll also earn bonus Membership Rewards points on travel. Paired with up to $120 in Uber Cash annually (for U.S. Uber rides or Uber Eats orders, card must be added to Uber app and you can redeem with any Amex card), up to $120 in annual dining statement credits to be used with eligible partners, an up to $84 Dunkin’ credit each year at U.S. Dunkin Donuts and an up to $100 Resy credit annually, there’s no reason that foodies shouldn’t add the Amex Gold to their wallet. These benefits alone are worth more than $400, which offsets the $325 annual fee on the Amex Gold card. Enrollment is required for select benefits. (Partner offer)Pros
- 4 points per dollar spent on dining at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets (on the first $50,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter and $25,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter, respectively)
- 3 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline or with amextravel.com
- Packed with credits foodies will enjoy
- Solid welcome bonus
Cons
- Not as useful for those living outside the U.S.
- Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
- You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
- $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an American Express Card for your transaction. That’s up to $120 Uber Cash annually. Plus, after using your Uber Cash, use your Card to earn 4X Membership Rewards® points for Uber Eats purchases made with restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. Point caps and terms apply.
- $84 Dunkin' Credit: With the $84 Dunkin' Credit, you can earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you enroll and pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations. Enrollment is required to receive this benefit.
- $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
- $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
- Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- Annual Fee is $325.
- Terms Apply.