One popular points property in Seattle will be transitioning from Hilton to Hyatt, and I can’t help but find this to be a curious move, and perhaps indicative of bigger issues with one of Hilton’s open-ended luxury brands.
In this post:
Hotel 1000 Seattle rebranding on short notice
Hotel 1000 currently belongs to Hilton LXR, which is Hilton’s independent luxury hotel portfolio. However, the hotel will be leaving the Hilton brand as of January 22, 2026. Per a notice on the hotel’s website:
Please note that as of midnight January 22, 2026, the hotel will cease to operate as a Hilton hotel. As a result, stays booked past this date will not accrue Honors points. Please contact the hotel directly in case of any questions.
How will the hotel be rebranding? Well, if you look at the Hyatt development webpage, you’ll see that Hotel 1000 is listed as being in the pipeline for Hyatt, as part of Unbound Collection, which is Hyatt’s independent luxury hotel group.
For context on Hotel 1000, the 120-room property opened back in 2006, as an independent hotel. A decade later, in 2016, Loews took over management of the hotel. Then as of 2021, the property joined Hilton LXR, which was the first time it operated under one of the major global hotel loyalty programs.
Why I find this rebranding to be a bit surprising
As I see it, there are two things here that are interesting — this specific hotel rebranding, and the overall issues that the Hilton LXR brand seems to have (though maybe my perception is off?).
First of all, if you ask me, it’s really odd to see this hotel rebrand from Hilton to Hyatt, purely from the perspective of the existing competitive dynamics. Hyatt has a disproportionate footprint in Seattle already among full service properties. I’d argue Hyatt is the strongest hotel group in the city, despite World of Hyatt being a way smaller loyalty program than Hilton Honors or Marriott Bonvoy.
Logically, you’d think that would be a reason for this not to become a Hyatt, since a large goal of joining a major hotel group with a loyalty program is to automatically get a good amount of business just on account of participating in a program. So Hotel 1000 will join one of several high quality Hyatts in Seattle, while Hilton now won’t have a single luxury(ish) property in the city.
Second of all, am I the only one who feels like the Hilton LXR brand overall is sort of proving to be a flop? It’s entirely possible that this is just my incorrect perception, but let me explain:
- Hilton LXR only launched in 2019, and we’ve already seen a couple of properties join and then leave the brand; this includes Al Habtoor Palace Dubai (LXR’s first property ever), and The Biltmore Mayfair (you’d think London would be a good market for Hilton)
- While I appreciate the concept of a “soft” luxury brand that gives hotel owners some flexibility in terms of design and vibe, it seems to me like Hilton LXR really lacks standards, and is more of a lifestyle brand than a luxury brand (to be clear, individual properties may be luxury, but the brand overall isn’t, in my opinion)
Anyone want to speculate as to what’s going on here? Does Hilton have inexplicably high fees for hotel owners with the LXR brand? Is the LXR brand just not resonating with Hilton Honors members in terms of generating bookings? Or what could the explanation be?
Bottom line
Hotel 1000 will be leaving Hilton LXR on short notice, and will be joining Hyatt Unbound Collection. What makes this so noteworthy is that Hyatt already has an impressive full service hotel portfolio in Seattle, while Hilton doesn’t.
So I’m curious what’s driving this change. Are hotel owners just not finding much success with Hilton LXR, is this a Seattle specific issue, or what?
What do you make of Hotel 1000 Seattle rebranding?
I don't think this is all that illogical. Amazon and Microsoft (and Nike) have some of the biggest and best corporate contracts with Hyatt. I think it's very much a preferred brand. Additionally, it seems to me that Hyatt is disproportionately popular with East Asian (and East Asian diaspora) travelers, especially Koreans.
Seattle's proximity, both culturally and geographically with East Asia, paired with the fact that most visitors to Seattle are likely more affluent than...
I don't think this is all that illogical. Amazon and Microsoft (and Nike) have some of the biggest and best corporate contracts with Hyatt. I think it's very much a preferred brand. Additionally, it seems to me that Hyatt is disproportionately popular with East Asian (and East Asian diaspora) travelers, especially Koreans.
Seattle's proximity, both culturally and geographically with East Asia, paired with the fact that most visitors to Seattle are likely more affluent than those in almost any other city explains why Hyatt should be on top.
First, this hotel is fine. I've stayed in one of their bigger suites and the design is just so damn plain that it makes airport lounges look like exercises in interior creativity. Staff is nice tho.
Second, there is no point in staying at a luxury property in Seattle. The Seattle hospitality culture more or less is populated with creative people who would rather be doing anything other than making your stay better, and it...
First, this hotel is fine. I've stayed in one of their bigger suites and the design is just so damn plain that it makes airport lounges look like exercises in interior creativity. Staff is nice tho.
Second, there is no point in staying at a luxury property in Seattle. The Seattle hospitality culture more or less is populated with creative people who would rather be doing anything other than making your stay better, and it shows.
There are rare exceptions, but when you book luxury in Seattle you pay significantly more for a marginally better hard product and the same soft product as a mid tier establishment. If anyone wants to prove me wrong, I'd be delighted - cause I just loathe booking a hotel in Seattle for that reason.
Glad you noted Hyatt's strength in SEA -- yes, it's crazy, as the Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Olive 8, and Thompson are all nice properties, plus the Hyatt Regency Bellevue on the East side (although that hotel has substantially declined in service, etc. post-pandemic).
One of my weirdest hotel experiences happened at the Hotel 1000 when it was a Loews. They locked the lobby at night and the front desk agent could not find the...
Glad you noted Hyatt's strength in SEA -- yes, it's crazy, as the Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Olive 8, and Thompson are all nice properties, plus the Hyatt Regency Bellevue on the East side (although that hotel has substantially declined in service, etc. post-pandemic).
One of my weirdest hotel experiences happened at the Hotel 1000 when it was a Loews. They locked the lobby at night and the front desk agent could not find the key to open the door at 5a when the valet needed to retrieve my car. It got sorted but it was odd.
My impression of the 1000 at that time (admittedly, like a decade ago) was that it was nice but not worth the room rate they were trying to pull off, especially when Seattle is full of nice properties.
Feels like the brand definition of LXR is too nebulous. Zemi Beach in Anguilla does a LOT of heavy lifting keeping the halo on the brand. That guy could easily be flagged an Alila or Park in Hyatt brand terms and not miss a beat, but this Seattle hotel is being re-flagged as an Unbound, giving the LXR brand near-zero consistency. You don’t really know what you’re getting when you book an LXR unfortunately.
While LXR is questionable, I also have concerns about how many times this property has moved around in less than 10 years. I feel the owner's likely overestimated the level of interest for this property.
Where does this rank among Hyatts in Seattle? Below or above Thompson as the nicest property?
I wasn't impressed when I stayed at this property last year. Pretty standard hotel, and was like pulling teeth to get a late check out as a Diamond member. It was my first LXR stay, and hoping future stays at other properties will be better.
I think the challenge is LXR should have been the soft collection of Waldorf Astoria in the luxury and ultra luxury range for Hilton and it falls short. There is a mixture of different levels of properties within the brand including Sax Paris which just don't fit with where Hilton intended to try and position the brand.
Hyatt has a similar problem with Unbound but they're actively working on fixing it. The idea is...
I think the challenge is LXR should have been the soft collection of Waldorf Astoria in the luxury and ultra luxury range for Hilton and it falls short. There is a mixture of different levels of properties within the brand including Sax Paris which just don't fit with where Hilton intended to try and position the brand.
Hyatt has a similar problem with Unbound but they're actively working on fixing it. The idea is that Unbound will be their true luxury soft collection brand with recent additions such as Maison Metier in New Orleans, Hotel 1000 in Seattle and the soon to be added Georgian in Santa Monica. But there are properties that don't fit that luxury standard like Eliza Janes in New Orleans and Hyatt is working on this to position some of those that don't fit into other collection brands such as Bunkhouse, JDV, Destination and Unscripted.
I think the LXR brand is quite unique, though it depends on your expectations. LXR is more about the vibes, atmosphere and "aesthetics".
I’ve stayed at several LXR properties and each one had like a unique feature, that I have not really experienced at other hotels. Morning yoga on the rooftop at Oceana Santa Monica after a long flight was cool. Arizona Biltmore with its waterslides in the middle of the desert. Katara Hills...
I think the LXR brand is quite unique, though it depends on your expectations. LXR is more about the vibes, atmosphere and "aesthetics".
I’ve stayed at several LXR properties and each one had like a unique feature, that I have not really experienced at other hotels. Morning yoga on the rooftop at Oceana Santa Monica after a long flight was cool. Arizona Biltmore with its waterslides in the middle of the desert. Katara Hills Doha was a lot of fun with your own private pool (Katara is also a really nice area in Doha at night). Don't know how to say, but these experiences kinda felt like a GTA free roam server with infinite money glitches.
Oddly, I found the Oceana Santa Monica to be among the most generic upscale hotels I’ve stayed at. The property was tired and in need of a refresh, the rooms lacked decent soundproofing, and the hospitality was lacking. Many of the amenities included in the resort fee were, at the time of my stay, not on offer and they did not reduce or omit the resort fee. Very “mid” property, as the youth would say.