Hyatt expands SLH partnership

Today Hyatt announced that it added an additional 56 Small Luxury Hotels of the World to the list of properties that are part of World of Hyatt. This means that you can now use points to book stays at these properties and earn points and elite credit on paid stays when booking directly through Hyatt.

The pics are above are from my first SLH stay earlier this year, which was at the Schlosshotel Kronberg. While I was initially skeptical about the addition of SLH properties, I had a terrific stay and it made me much more open-minded towards the SLH properties joining the fold.

Keep in mind that when booking SLH properties through Hyatt, whether for paid or award stays, you’ll get the following benefits regardless of your elite status:

• Complimentary Wi-Fi
• Daily Complimentary Continental Breakfast
• Room Upgrade (one category at check-in if available)
• Early check-in (noon, based upon availability at check-in)
• Late check-out (2:00pm, based upon availability at check-in)

As you can see, the benefits are significantly better than those at Hyatt hotels for all but Globalist members. However, Gary Leff at View from the Wing points out that paid stays are sometimes cheaper at SLH.com, so you’ll have to weigh whether to book through Hyatt for elite credit and the above benefits or to book direct and forgo those benefits. Depending on the savings, it may be worth not booking through Hyatt.

That said, if you find that paid rates are equal (or at least close), you’ll be happy to know that Hyatt is offering a bonus of 3,000 points per eligible paid stay at SLH properties through March 2, 2020. While many SLH properties are quite upmarket and wouldn’t fit in with what I’d be comfortable with for a nightly cash rate, others can be quite reasonable. I’ll keep my eye out for opportunities here. It looks like registration is required for this promo and you can register here.

That range from mid-tier to high-end is also reflected in where the latest 56 properties fall on the award chart, from a Category 3 (12K points per night) in Beirut through Category 8 (40K points per night) properties in North America, Europe, and New Zealand. I have not yet looked at cash rates, but my interest is piqued by properties in Saint-Emilion (France), Como (Italy), Mauritius, and La Casa Que Canta in Mexico as I’ve previously read great things about that property specifically. Particularly in Europe, I see a number of properties in places I’ve been or would like to go where Hyatt has previously had no presence. I don’t yet have any major trips on the docket for 2020, but Europe is become a greater probability with some of these additions.

Keep in mind that Hyatt recently announced off-peak, standard, and peak pricing would take effect starting in March 2020. For the time being, standard award pricing applies. See this chart for the current (standard) award pricing and the ranges in each category beginning in March 2020.

Again, the central “standard” column is the one that applies to award pricing at the moment.

Here is the full list of properties newly joining the program today.

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