With Hyatt having acquired Mr. & Mrs. Smith, it’s no surprise that the IHG partnership with Mr. & Mrs. Smith has been terminated.
In this post:
Mr. & Mrs. Smith cuts ties with IHG One Rewards
The partnership between InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Mr. & Mrs. Smith has been discontinued effective immediately:
- It’s no longer possible to make new bookings, whether paying cash or redeeming points
- All existing bookings will be honored, and will be eligible to earn points
For some background, in 2020, IHG launched a loyalty collaboration with Mr. & Mrs. Smith, intended to give IHG members access to more luxury properties. Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a luxury hotel booking platform, which describes itself as a “travel club and boutique hotel specialist,” affiliated with over 1,500 hotels. The way I view it, Mr. & Mrs. Smith is essentially a luxury travel agency and marketing agency of sorts.
With the partnership between IHG One Rewards and Mr. & Mrs. Smith:
- IHG One Rewards members could earn points when booking Mr. & Mrs. Smith hotels through IHG booking channels, including earning elite bonuses
- IHG One Rewards members could redeem points for Mr. & Mrs. Smith hotels, with dynamic award pricing; generally the value wasn’t great, but it was a nice option to have
- IHG One Rewards didn’t offer true elite perks at Mr. & Mrs. Smith, though did offer a welcome gift, which varied based on your status
Mr. & Mrs. Smith’s future with Hyatt
Hyatt has now acquired Mr. & Mrs. Smith, so it was a given that the IHG relationship would end. Now we have to wait and see exactly how Hyatt will integrate Mr. & Mrs. Smith into its booking channels. Don’t get too excited, in the sense that Mr. & Mrs. Smith doesn’t manage or operate any hotels, but rather is just a marketing channel.
My expectation is that Hyatt’s loyalty collaboration with Mr. & Mrs. Smith will look similar to IHG’s, and perhaps similar to Hyatt’s existing partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH).
When booking through Hyatt channels, I expect you’ll be able to earn points and elite nights for Mr. & Mrs. Smith properties. Redemptions might just be revenue based, given the caliber of hotels that Mr. & Mrs. Smith partners with. I also wouldn’t expect much in the way of elite benefits.
So while we’ll have to wait and see, World of Hyatt members will soon likely have a similar arrangement to what IHG One Rewards members had up until now.
Bottom line
Mr. & Mrs. Smith is now owned by Hyatt, so has cut all ties with IHG effective immediately. IHG One Rewards members can no longer earn or redeem points for Mr. & Mrs. Smith properties. Now we just have to be patient, and see what’s in store for World of Hyatt members.
Did you ever take advantage of IHG’s partnership with Mr. & Mrs. Smith?
Good. A booking platform with a homophobic brand doesn’t deserve to have such a partnership anyways. Ben, as a gay person, I’m surprised you aren’t taking issue with its existence.
What about it is homophobic?
Wow are we really gonna try and set the bar as low as "It has Mr & Mrs in the title so it's homophobic"?! Just wow. That's a, imho, pretty pathetic stretch to try & take.
I mean have you got evidence of the staff at their locations acting in an aggressive or demeaning way when they are either told or, wrongly if so, assuming your sexuality in check-in or at breakfast? If so...
Wow are we really gonna try and set the bar as low as "It has Mr & Mrs in the title so it's homophobic"?! Just wow. That's a, imho, pretty pathetic stretch to try & take.
I mean have you got evidence of the staff at their locations acting in an aggressive or demeaning way when they are either told or, wrongly if so, assuming your sexuality in check-in or at breakfast? If so then I'd hope the police were contacted for the actual crimes that would've taken place. HO were advised and sackings occurred along with arrests. I'm sure Ben would be happy to highlight said bigotry if you wanna send him the details with police reports, formal apologies from the head office etc.
Also whilst it's not my place to speak for the chap ( Ben). I see you're happy to assume that simply by definition of his sexuality he 'must/ should' hold the exact same position as you. Is there a weekly email blast instructing us all what our feelings and thoughts should be for every gay, lesbian or other sexuality. Not gonna lie but personally I find your calling Ben out for not holding the 'correct/ your' POV on the brand highly offensive and arrogant.
If anything I'm now of the mind to seek their properties out as I can reasonably assume I'll be safe from your own brand of bigotry and not have to worry that when I sit down for dinner I'm gonna hear a scream go out that the desert course cutlery was placed 4.2 degrees to one side and that a homophobic attack is endangering you.
People are people. Billions of us around the world of all colors, creed and those we do or don't call God. Every single one of those billions is an INDIVIDUAL. No one gets to proscribe what they deem to be correct think for an entire global collective of people based on who they chose to love. And sure as hell not you.
I politely invite you to check your own bigotry at the door before you go lecturing the rest of us
Ok, maybe I exaggerated a bit when I said "homophobic". My point is that I don't feel like the name is gender inclusive enough. It's the same reason why JAL replaced "ladies and gentleman" greetings with more gender-neutral greetings like "everyone" on their flights a few years ago.
This type of thinking is what’s wrong with America.
Yawn
How can we be sure that Mr and Mrs Smith are a cis-hetero couple? Maybe there’s more than meets the eye… LMAO
(Also a gay man here…)
Found the troll
I've stayed at six different SLH properties (both paid and points) through Hyatt, and each time was very well received and all the published benefits were honored. Almost every stay went above and beyond with a multi-category upgrade (even a premium suite at Ca di Dio), while the stated benefit is a single category upgrade.
Having a published award chart for them is a big benefit. It's a long shot, but if Hyatt can/chooses to...
I've stayed at six different SLH properties (both paid and points) through Hyatt, and each time was very well received and all the published benefits were honored. Almost every stay went above and beyond with a multi-category upgrade (even a premium suite at Ca di Dio), while the stated benefit is a single category upgrade.
Having a published award chart for them is a big benefit. It's a long shot, but if Hyatt can/chooses to do the same for Mr&Mrs, that will be pretty incredible.
"I also wouldn’t expect much in the way of elite benefits."
Agreed with this. Hyatt is no longer able to do anything about hotel operators that go rogue and deny elite benefits. Hyatt Centric Waikiki gives a few paltry points in exchange for the fact their restaurant will never open again (apparently the owners made this decision), and there's not a thing Hyatt can or will do about it.
I see this as a...
"I also wouldn’t expect much in the way of elite benefits."
Agreed with this. Hyatt is no longer able to do anything about hotel operators that go rogue and deny elite benefits. Hyatt Centric Waikiki gives a few paltry points in exchange for the fact their restaurant will never open again (apparently the owners made this decision), and there's not a thing Hyatt can or will do about it.
I see this as a sign of things to come with the program. If there's no punishment and financial gains abound, why don't more hotels do this?
The thing with the Hyatt Centric Waikiki is that the restaurant is closed for everyone. It's not like it is open, but they are choosing to deny free breakfast to Globalists.
Other hotels can surely follow suit by closing their restaurants too, but it makes you wonder how much revenue they would lose by doing so.
I recently stayed at the Hyatt Centric Waikiki, and I agree with 9volt. It would've been great to get breakfast, but the restaurant was closed for everyone, so there's consistency.
I still got a really good complimentary upgrade, didn't have to pay for parking or the destination fee, and got late checkout.
I was expecting the worst from the property given all the comments online, but was very pleasantly surprised. The only real negative thing...
I recently stayed at the Hyatt Centric Waikiki, and I agree with 9volt. It would've been great to get breakfast, but the restaurant was closed for everyone, so there's consistency.
I still got a really good complimentary upgrade, didn't have to pay for parking or the destination fee, and got late checkout.
I was expecting the worst from the property given all the comments online, but was very pleasantly surprised. The only real negative thing is that they don't have a pool, only a "splash zone," though it really looks like a pool in the pictures.
I was told by the front desk manager of the Hyatt Centric Waikiki that the restaurant always lost money because it had no street traffic. The lobby & restaurant are another level above the street so they are not really seen by passersby. And the corner Starbucks draws a big, big breakfast crowd. I really enjoyed getting Starbucks for breakfast and getting points in lieu of breakfast. There’s even a back door into Starbucks right...
I was told by the front desk manager of the Hyatt Centric Waikiki that the restaurant always lost money because it had no street traffic. The lobby & restaurant are another level above the street so they are not really seen by passersby. And the corner Starbucks draws a big, big breakfast crowd. I really enjoyed getting Starbucks for breakfast and getting points in lieu of breakfast. There’s even a back door into Starbucks right from the hotel. Granted if they had full breakfasts in a restaurant for us Globalists that would have been even better.
I also got a lovely free suite upgrade for the last 2 nights of our stay. And I enjoyed the small size of the hotel instead of the masses that check into the skyscraper Waikiki hotels. It felt like staying in a boutique hotel.
Not a big loss.
These properties are overpriced
@BB The amenity depended on the hotel. Some were breakfast, others cocktails, afternoon tea, bottle of wine etc. Have a few reservations already made for later this year at Mr&Mrs S and stayed previously. Always treated v well as IHG member. What was noticeable though is that often IHG charged a higher rates than booking thru Mr&Mrs S directly, so will be interesting to see if that persists with Hyatt
Didn't IHG offer breakfast for these bookings? I used a bunch of points on Santorini and somehow, we got breakfast every morning. Then, I recently used points for a Mr and Mrs Smith booking in southern France: no breakfast. Santorini was 2022 and France was April of 2023.
@Billy Bob
Most higher end hotels in Santorini include breakfast in their room rates. They will bring the tray to your terrace every morning.