Which Hyatt brands do not upgrade Globalist members?

On Saturday we ran a review of the Hyatt House London Stratford hotel, image below.

In the first version – the version which was emailed, not the version most of you read online – I grumbled about not receiving a suite upgrade as a World of Hyatt Globalist member. This is meant to be guaranteed if a ‘standard’ suite is available at check-in.

It turns out that I had made a mistake.

I’ve read many hundreds of articles about World of Hyatt in my time, and obviously written a few myself. I never remember reading anywhere that some Hyatt brands do not participate in the ‘best available room upgrade for Globalists’ benefit.

Tucked away in the terms and conditions of World of Hyatt, however, is the following clause:

(c) Best Room Available: Globalists will receive the best room available at the time of check-in at Hyatt hotels and resorts, including Standard Suites and rooms with Club lounge-access. The best room available will be determined by the applicable hotel or resort in its sole discretion and may vary from stay-to-stay. The “best room” may, but will not necessarily be, of a room type/category higher than that booked by the Member. Best-room-available benefit includes only Standard Suites (where available), which are defined as rooms within each participating hotel’s or resort’s introductory suite category. Premium, Specialty, Premier, Presidential, Diplomatic, and other suites other than Standard Suites are not included in this benefit. Not valid at Caption by Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Destination by Hyatt Residences, or Hyatt Vacation Club hotels and resorts.

So, as you can see, you won’t get a ‘best available room’ upgrade at:

• Caption by Hyatt (a new brand, very few hotels yet)

• Hyatt Place (this is Hyatt’s Holiday Inn Express-style brand, so most will not have much in the way of ‘better’ rooms)

• Hyattt House (which DOES have lots of suites, because it is a ‘long stay’ brand)

• Destination by Hyatt Residences (note this is ‘residences’ only, not standard hotels which sit under ‘Destination by Hyatt’)

• Hyatt Vacation Club (these are the timeshare resorts where owners rent out their units)

What about ‘Suite Upgrade Awards’?

This is where it gets even more confusing.

World of Hyatt has a series of ‘milestone awards’ which are triggered from 20 qualifying nights in a calendar year.

From 50 nights, you can choose ‘Suite Upgrade Awards’. These are hugely powerful, allowing you to guarantee your suite upgrade at the time of booking. One Suite Upgrade Award certificate is good for a stay of up to seven nights!

Here are the terms and conditions for Suite Upgrade Awards:

Complimentary Suite Upgrade Awards can be tracked through the “My Awards” section of the Member’s account. A Member must redeem a Complimentary Suite Upgrade Award when making the underlying reservation. (For reservations at participating Secrets, Impression by Secrets, Dreams, Zoëtry, Alua, and Hyatt Vivid resorts in Europe, it may take up to seventy-two (72) hours for the Complimentary Suite Upgrade Award to be processed and confirmed.)

Complimentary Suite Upgrade Awards are not valid at any of the Suite Award Ineligible Properties or Hyatt Vacation Club resorts.

Complimentary Suite Upgrade Awards are redeemable only at participating Hyatt hotels and resorts that offer suite accommodations (subject to the exclusions set forth below). For purposes of this award, a suite provides for one-bedroom accommodations. Complimentary Suite Upgrade Awards are only valid for Standard Suites, defined as each participating hotel’s or resort’s introductory suite category, and are subject to availability.

The only exceptions here are:

• ‘Suite Award Ineligible Properties’

• Hyatt Vacation Club resorts

Here’s the list of ‘Suite Award Ineligible Properties’:

• Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
• Park Hyatt Sydney
• Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa
• Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills
• Hyatt Regency Kyoto
• Hyatt Regency Wichita
• Hyatt Paris Madeleine
• Hyatt Herald Square New York
• Hyatt Key West Resort and Spa
• Hyatt City of Dreams Manila
• Hyatt Centric Brickell Miami
• Spirit Ridge at NK’MIP Resort
• Hyatt Rosemont
• Hyatt Regency Suites Atlanta Northwest
• Hyatt Regency Lisle near Naperville
• Hyatt Regency John Wayne Airport Newport Beach
• Hyatt Regency London Albert Embankment
• Numu Boutique Hotel San Miguel de Allende
• Thompson Seattle
• Thompson Hollywood
• Chicago Athletic Association
• Hotel Revival Baltimore
• Hotel Avatar
• Waterfront Hotel
• Park South
• The Laurel Inn
• Hotel Kabuki
• Alila Manggis
• Studios at Alila Sminyak
• Alila Villas Uluwatu
• Alila Taihu Suzhou
• Episode Hsinchu
• Hôtel du Louvre
• Ventana Campground
• Sunscape Sabor Cozumel
• Dreams Aventuras
• Dreams Royal Beach
• Now Emerald Cancun
• AluaSoul Alcudia Bay
• AluaSoul Menorca
• Alua Leo
• AluaSun Far Menorca
• AluaSun Mediterráneo
• AluaSun Cala Antena
• Alua Boccaccio
• AluaSun Lago Park
• AluaSun Doblemar
• me and all hotel dusseldorf
• me and all hotel dusseldorf oberkassel
• me and all hotel mainz
• me and all hotel hanover
• me and all hotel kiel
• me and all hotel ulm
• Lindner Hotel Cottbus
• Lindner Hotel Frankfurt Hochst
• Lindner Hotel Dusseldorf Seestern 
• Lindner Hotel Frankfurt Sportpark
• Lindner Hotel City Plaza Cologne 
• Lindner Hotel Nurburgring Ferienpark 
• Lindner Hotel Nurburgring Motorsport 
• Lindner Hotel Nurburgring Congress
• Lindner Hotel Bratislava 
• Caption by Hyatt
• Hyatt Place hotels or resorts, or
• Any Destination by Hyatt Residences property

As you can see, Hyatt House is not on the excluded list and this Flyertalk thread confirms that you can (via the call centre) apply a Suite Upgrade Award at a Hyatt House.

As I said, it’s confusing!

Conclusion

World of Hyatt Globalist status is generally regarded as the best in the industry if your target is suite upgrades.

What you might not know is that a fairly large percentage of the Hyatt estate – admittedly concentrated on the mid-market brands – doesn’t need to upgrade you all.

PS. Did you know that Hilton Honors has a similar exclusion list for upgrades? This HfP article looks at which Hilton brands are not required to upgrade Gold or Diamond members – it is surprisingly long and includes Hampton and Hilton Garden Inn.

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