Tag: hyatt

  • Hotel review: Andaz Bali (Sanur, Bali, Indonesia)

    Stay: July 2024 Paid: 18,000 Hyatt points per night per room (transferred from Chase Ultimate Rewards); Andaz Bali was a Category 4 when we booked but was moved into Category 5 in March 2024 Status: Discoverist with a Guest of Honor award Rooms: 2 rooms (standard king + standard two-twin) Would I stay again: I would live here if they…

  • Hotel review: Park Hyatt Milano (Milan, Italy)

    Stay: July 2024 Paid: 40,000 Hyatt points per room per night (2 rooms total) Status: Discoverist with a Guest of Honor award Rooms: Standard king rooms (no upgraded rooms) Would I stay again: Any time I wanted to go to Milan and feel like the poshest version of myself, yes, no question about it Would I recommend to friends: Yes, absolutely…

  • Disappointing news from World of Hyatt

    There’s a huge change in how luxury partner hotel properties are going to be bookable using World of Hyatt points going forward, so here’s a brief discussion comparing what the program used to allow and what it’s allowing going forward. Spoiler: It’s not good news. Hyatt’s former luxury-boutique-hotel-partner program: Small Luxury Hotels of the World…

  • How the Hyatt Privé program can get you extra hotel benefits

    If you ever do the points vs. cash calculations and figure out that the stay you want to book makes more sense to book with cash rather than with points, remember the Hyatt Privé program! (It’s like “Remember the Alamo,” but with free breakfast instead of a bloody battle and lots of death. . .…

  • Hotel review: Il Tornabuoni (Florence, Italy)

    Stay: February 2024 Paid: 36,000 Hyatt points per night (two-queen room when this property was in Category 6) Status: Discoverist with a Guest of Honor award Rooms: Two-bedroom king suite (upgraded from two-queen room) Would I stay again: Yes, definitely. Would I recommend to friends: Yes, definitely. Il Tornabuoni, part of the Hyatt Unbound Collection, is a perfect choice for a…

  • How to figure out if a Hyatt award stay is a good redemption

    Most of the time, booking a hotel stay with points instead of paying out of pocket is going to be the best option. For Hyatts, I usually just have a sense for whether a stay is a solid redemption or not, but if you want more guidance than “Traci’s intuition just knows,” a solid redemption…

  • Two Hyatt promotional offers for Spring 2024

    Actually, there are three promotional offers from Hyatt this spring, but only two that you need to register for—the third is automatic. (That’s easy!) Offer #1: If you stay at any Thompson or Dreams hotel location between March 22, 2024 and June 10, 2024, you’ll earn double elite qualifying nights. If you have Globalist status…

  • How to find affordable lodging for families of 4+ in Europe and beyond

    In this post, I’ll lay out all the options that a family of four or more might want to try when booking a trip outside of North America, including a detailed discussion of the Hyatt Family Plan rate. And if you’re already wondering why this topic merits an explanation, here’s something that comes as a…

  • The Hyatt Family Plan discount: how to book it and save

    I grew up in a family of five, and on road trips (which were most of the kinds of trips we took), we all just stayed in one hotel or motel room. Three kids = two kids in a bed and one on a rollaway, most times. If your experience is similar, you might be…

  • When you need to book award trips: some guidelines

    It’s January and I’m seeing lots of posts online in award-travel groups about people wanting to book trips on points for spring break to Hawaii and Europe in July … this year.  I mean … I guess it’s possible? But that’s not likely to happen unless you get extremely, extremely lucky. For popular destinations or popular times…