A couple of months ago, we learned how World of Hyatt would be ending a partnership that many members found to be valuable. Well, that’s happening as of today, so in this post I wanted to recap all the details, and talk about what this means for members.
Hyatt & SLH formally end their collaboration
Since 2018, World of Hyatt and Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) have had a loyalty collaboration. With this, World of Hyatt members have been able to earn and redeem points at SLH properties when booking through Hyatt channels.
This is an opportunity that many members have appreciated. SLH has hundreds of affiliated luxury properties, so this was a way to leverage a big hotel loyalty program for stays at some special properties not otherwise participating in such a program.
Unfortunately as of May 15, 2024, Hyatt and SLH have terminated their relationship, in what they describe as a mutual decision. As far as the winding down of this partnership goes:
- Previously booked stays with check-in dates after May 15, 2024, will still be honored, but World of Hyatt benefits won’t apply, so you won’t be able to earn points or elite nights, and won’t receive any additional perks
- Through August 31, 2024, those with the World of Hyatt Credit Card (review) and World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (review) continued to earn 4x points or every eligible dollar spent at SLH properties
With this partnership ending, we know that Hilton Honors and SLH plan to launch an exclusive partnership soon. We should learn more details about that in the coming weeks, as there’s not much information out there yet.
Hyatt is instead focusing on Mr & Mrs Smith
Unfortunately this is the third major World of Hyatt partnership to end in the past several months, as we also saw Hyatt cut ties with MGM Rewards and Lindblad Expeditions. In this case, I suspect the partnership ending is a bit more deliberate on Hyatt’s part.
In 2023, Hyatt acquired Mr & Mrs Smith, which is a luxury hotel booking platform, affiliated with 1,500+ hotels. Mr & Mrs Smith is almost like a specially branded version of Virtuoso, offering extra perks (like free breakfast, room upgrades, etc.) for stays at select luxury hotels.
Mr & Mrs Smith doesn’t manage any properties, but rather just gets a commission on bookings, and is really good at marketing itself. Clearly Hyatt wanted in on the action.
The process of integrating Mr & Mrs Smith into World of Hyatt has now started. You can earn World of Hyatt points for Mr & Mrs Smith stays, but only if booking through Hyatt channels (and you’ll often find better rates elsewhere). Meanwhile points redemptions at Mr & Mrs Smith properties are revenue based.
Ultimately many World of Hyatt members are disappointed by the execution of this. I’m not quite as disappointed, but that’s because I was managing my expectations going in, and wasn’t expecting that these redemptions would be a great value, given the economics involved.
I will say that from the perspective of World of Hyatt members, losing SLH and gaining Mr & Mrs Smith wasn’t a very good trade, in my opinion. But I suspect there’s more upside for Hyatt with Mr & Mrs Smith.
Bottom line
World of Hyatt and Small Luxury Hotels of the World have now ended their partnership. That’s only part of what’s happening, though — Hilton will be launching a partnership with SLH, while Hyatt is integrating Mr & Mrs Smith into its own booking platform.
What do you make of Hyatt & SLH cutting ties?
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