Which Hyatt brands do not upgrade Globalists or Explorists or allow suite redemptions?

I’ve read many 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 and Explorists’ benefit. I learnt this the hard way a couple of years ago when I stayed at a Hyatt House as a Globalist and checked-in expecting an automatic upgrade to one of the many empty suites.

Similarly, whilst we often write on HfP about the amazing value to be had when redeeming World of Hyatt points for suite upgrades – or indeed redeeming points directly for a suite – some hotels opt out of this.

I recently came a cropper here when hoping to book a suite at The Standard East Village in New York, which has just joined Hyatt.

Which Hyatt hotels do not upgrade Globalist and Explorist members?

Tucked away in the terms and conditions of World of Hyatt, is the following clause for Globalist members:

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. Where a Member is upgraded to a Standard Suite pursuant to this benefit – and Standard Suite accommodations at the applicable hotel or resort include additional services provided to guests booking that Standard Suite at the Standard Rate – the Member receiving the upgrade will also receive access to those additional services. Not valid at Caption by Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Me and All Hotels, Hyatt Studios, Destination by Hyatt Residences, or Hyatt Vacation Club hotels and resorts or at Residences at Grand Hyatt Deer Valley.

The clause for Explorists is similar except that Standard Suites and Club rooms are excluded from potential upgrades.

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)

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

• Me and All Hotels (a primarily German brand, originally part of Lindner but now owned directly by Hyatt)

• Hyatt Studios (only one open so far, I think)

• 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.

There are three ways of getting into a suite at a Hyatt property without paying the full cash rate.

Using a Suite Upgrade Award for a suite

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 is part of the terms and conditions for Suite Upgrade Awards:

Suite Upgrade Awards are not valid at any of the Suite Award Ineligible Properties, Hyatt Vacation Club properties, or Hyatt Vivid, Impression by Secrets, Secrets, Dreams, Breathless, Zoëtry, Alua, Sunscape, or other Legacy AMR Collection hotels or resorts.

In addition, Suite Upgrade Awards for Premium Suites are not valid at Hyatt Ziva or Hyatt Zilara hotels and resorts, at the Chatwal Lodge, Residences at Grand Hyatt Deer Valley, or at any hotel and resort that does not have Premium Suites (even if such hotel or resort has Specialty, Premier, Presidential or Diplomatic Suite or similar suite categories).

The brands which do not allow Suite Upgrade Awards are primarily the newer ‘all inclusive’ brands which Hyatt acquired.

Here’s the list of ‘Suite Award Ineligible Properties’ which are part of Hyatt’s standard brand portfolio:

• Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
• Park Hyatt Sydney
• Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa
• Park Hyatt Johannesburg
• Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills
• Andaz Lisbon
• Hyatt Regency Kyoto
• Hyatt Paris Madeleine
• Hyatt Herald Square New York
• Hyatt Key West Resort and Spa
• Hyatt City of Dreams Manila
• Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami
• Hyatt Centric Midtown 5th Ave New York
• Hyatt Centric Old Town Alexandria
• Spirit Ridge at NK’MIP Resort
• Cheyenne Mountain Resort
• Hyatt Rosemont
• Hyatt Regency Suites Atlanta Northwest
• Hyatt Regency Lisle near Naperville
• Hyatt Regency Newport Beach West
• Hyatt Regency London Albert Embankment
• Hyatt Regency Madrid Residences
• Hyatt Regency Morristown
• Hyatt Regency Manchester
• Grand Hyatt Kuwait Residences
• Hyatt Centric Brickell Miami
• Hyatt Centric The Pike Long Beach
• Hyatt Centric MG Road Bangalore
• Hyatt Centric Old Town Alexandria
• 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
• Alila Ubud
• Episode Hsinchu
• EPISODE Daan Taipei
• Ronil Goa
• Hyatt Raipur
• Hôtel du Louvre
• Ventana Campground

• The Standard, Hua Hin
• The Standard, London (image above)
• The Standard, High Line
• The Standard, East Village
• The Standard, Maldives
• The StandardX, Melbourne
• StandardX Bangkok Riverfront (The StandardX, Bangkok Phra Arthit)
• The Standard, Singapore
• Sunscape Sabor Cozumel
• Dreams Aventuras
• Dreams Royal Beach
• AluaSoul Alcudia Bay
• AluaSoul Menorca
• Alua Leo
• AluaSun Far Menorca
• AluaSun Mediterráneo
• AluaSun Cala Antena
• Alua Boccaccio
• AluaSun Lago Park
• AluaSun Doblemar
• 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
• Brunfels Hotel
• Caption by Hyatt hotels or resorts
• Hyatt Place hotels or resorts
• Hyatt Studios hotels
• Me and All Hotels properties or
• Any Destination by Hyatt Residences property

Using Hyatt points to book a suite or upgrade a cash room to a suite

If you are not a Globalist member of World of Hyatt, you are more likely to be interested in:

• using World of Hyatt points to redeem directly for a suite

• using 6,000 or 9,000 points per night, depending on suite category, to upgrade a cash booking to a suite

The same list of hotels above do not take part of suite award redemptions.

Conclusion

The list of Hyatt properties which do not allow World of Hyatt members to access suites, either as a Globalist upgrade or via a points redemption or points upgrade, is getting increasingly longer.

It is especially disappointing that The Standard brand, which only joined Hyatt a few weeks, has seen most (all?) of its hotels added to the ‘no suites for you unless you pay’ list.

To be clear, Hyatt remains the best hotel loyalty programme if you want a suite. Being able to buy 6,000 World of Hyatt points cheaply and then upgrade a one night cash stay to a suite at the time of booking remains a great deal. Getting a ‘premium suite’ upgrade for 9,000 points can be even better value. It’s just a shame that some top hotels, including recent acquisitions, are not taking part.

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.