A few weeks ago, Hyatt announced plans to launch a vacation rental platform. This new booking platform is now live, so we have all the details of how this works.
In this post:
Basics of Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt
Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt is the name of Hyatt’s new short-term vacation rental platform, which features private homes and remote hideaways in the United States.
The platform has just launched, and gives World of Hyatt members the ability to earn and redeem points for stays at these properties, and also to earn elite nights. Specifically:
- World of Hyatt members earn one elite night per night stayed, and also earn 5x World of Hyatt points for the cost of a stay; elite bonuses also apply, so elite members can earn 10-30% bonus points
- For the purposes of credit card spending, these aren’t considered Hyatt properties, so you wouldn’t earn 4x World of Hyatt points when paying with the World of Hyatt Credit Card (review) or World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (review)
- There are no elite perks that apply for these properties (other than bonus points), so don’t expect anything extra as a World of Hyatt Globalist, Explorist, or Discoverist member
- You can redeem World of Hyatt points toward stays, and it looks like you can get 1.2 cents of value per point toward the cost of a stay; you can’t redeem Hyatt free night awards for these properties, and can’t book with Points + Cash
Hyatt states that this reinforces the company’s goal of offering more flexible stay experiences to suit the needs of every guest. The focus is on premium vacation rentals, and you can expect options in key destinations like Hawaii, Colorado, and more, with plans to grow the platform globally in the future.
Hyatt describes the homes as including beachfront escapes, mountainside ski chalets, expansive villas, country chateaus, cozy cottages, modern townhouses, apartments, flats, penthouses and much more.
Here’s how Amy Weinberg, Hyatt’s SVP of Brand, Loyalty, and Data, describes this development:
“We are committed to evolving access to the type of accommodations World of Hyatt members are seeking that go beyond our hotels – from a large family who travels together or guests looking to work from anywhere for an extended period of time. Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt brings a unique collection of curated homes which increases Hyatt’s home offerings and expands new ways and new places where we can extend care to members.”
This is cool to see, though in fairness, Hyatt isn’t the first hotel group to do something like this, as Marriott has its Homes & Villas by Marriott platform. The business model here is that Hyatt gets a commission when you book a vacation rental through the company, and you’re offered some perks in exchange for that.
Don’t expect that you’ll find any incredible deals here or any properties that are truly out of the ordinary and not bookable elsewhere. However, many may appreciate the ability to earn and redeem points, and more, for an alternative kind of vacation.
Hyatt sells stake in Destination Residences
In 2018, Hyatt acquired Two Roads Hospitality, and as part of that, Destination Hotels joined the World of Hyatt program. These aren’t traditional hotels, but rather are typically vacation rentals that you can book by the night, so it’s a nice alternative to the traditional hotel room, especially for those who value space.
In Hyatt’s press release about its new vacation rental platform, the company throws in this tidbit:
Leading up to the launch of Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt, Hyatt has identified a highly qualified company, Lowe, that, through an affiliate, will purchase and operate the existing vacation rental management business that is currently branded Destination Residences Management.
Nothing more is mentioned in Hyatt’s press release about that. However, a separate press release talks about Lowe acquiring a vacation rental business from Hyatt:
Lowe, a leading national real estate investor, developer and manager, has acquired Hyatt’s vacation rental management business. The business consists of management agreements for individually-owned resort residences across 36 properties in Colorado and Hawaii, as well as many of the properties’ homeowners associations (HOAs). Lowe’s hospitality management subsidiary, CoralTree Hospitality Group, will assume management of the rental units, HOAs and resort properties included in the transaction. The management business, currently known as Destination Residential Management, will be rebranded by Lowe and CoralTree.
As part of the transaction, Lowe and CoralTree will soon be a key part of Hyatt’s forthcoming new vacation rental offering, Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt. The booking platform will provide the ability for the rental residences included in the transaction to be available for booking (standard and award booking) to the 40 million World of Hyatt members. This exciting new offering will augment the robust marketing capabilities and distribution channels already in place at CoralTree to ensure the widest possible exposure for the rental residences.
If I’m understanding this correctly, Hyatt has sold its stake in Destination Hotels properties, but these will now instead be part of Hyatt’s new vacation rental platform, as part of an ongoing agreement? If that’s the case, it sounds like Hyatt will be less involved with these properties, rather than more involved.
Bottom line
Hyatt has launched a vacation rental platform, named Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt. With this, World of Hyatt members are able to book vacation rentals while earning and redeeming points. In the process, Hyatt is selling its stake in Destination Residences Management, though continues to have access to these properties through the new vacation rental platform.
This is potentially a good opportunity to earn World of Hyatt points for vacation rentals. Meanwhile when it comes to redeeming points, it’s an opportunity to cash out points for 1.2 cents toward a vacation rental.
What do you make of Hyatt launching a vacation rental platform and selling its stake in Destination Residences Management?
I'm tentatively excited about this. However I have to say, their URL is horrible. There is no way anyone is going to remember that from memory. In fairness, Marriott H&V has the same issue.
A map view of properties would save a lot of time searching.
Yes, they have a lot to learn from AirBnB's UI/UX. As it works now, this is fairly useless. FWIW, I have found that typing in the first two letters of a state is the best way to see all the cities available within that state. But then it's a crap shoot as far as available dates or properties.
Really just incredibly poor execution for a company of this size.
Does this new home rental thing has its own Hyatt brand/badge? (For the purpose of checking off a new brand/badge on the Brand Explorer)
I’m most intrigued that you get 5x per dollar when renting these properties. I don’t think Marriott is quite as generous.
Seeing redemptions for ~1.25 cpp. Not good, not awful either. Only in 6 US states as far as I can tell, so pretty limited utility.