World of Hyatt has overnight announced hotel category adjustments for 2022, which will dictate which hotels are in which categories. These changes impact how many points are required for a free night redemption. Unfortunately, it is not all good news if you like the redemptions at aspirational hotels.

146 Hyatt hotels changing categories on March 22, 2022

World of Hyatt’s hotel category changes for 2022, will reflect for bookings made 8 AM Central Daylight Time, March 22, 2022, onwards.

On that day, 146 hotels will switch categories, with 70 hotels moving up to a higher category and 76 hotels moving down to a lower category. 145 of these movements are for one category, apart from the Hyatt Place Moab, which is going up two categories. You can find a full list of hotel category changes here.

Some things to note here:

• All reservations made before March 22, 2022, will follow the current award chart, even if you stay on a subsequent date
• Members who have stays booked at hotels that go down a category will receive an automatic one-time refund of the points difference; these points will be returned starting March 23, 2022.
• Any adjustments made to bookings after the changes go into effect will follow the new pricing charts.

Not just that, as of March 1, 2022, Hyatt will also initiate the award chart which reflects peak and off-peak pricing, after delaying it for two years.

Many aspirational Hyatt properties move to Category 8

While more properties are going down than up, many aspirational redemptions are going up in price, which is bad news. Back in the day when Hyatt launched Category 8, they said these would be reserved for some Small Luxury Hotels of the World properties only, with Hyatt’s own properties maxing out at Category 7. Now, they are walking back on that statement.

As of March 22, 2022, nine Hyatt properties will move to Category 8:

• Alila Napa Valley
• Alila Ventana Big Sur
• Andaz Maui at Wailea
• Park Hyatt Kyoto
• Park Hyatt Milan
• Park Hyatt New York
• Park Hyatt Niseko
• Park Hyatt Paris
• Park Hyatt Sydney

Ironically, these are some of the most wanted redemption properties in the Hyatt network. There are two changes here. Not only are the hotels moving to Category 8, but peak pricing is also coming up. That means, as of the end of March 2022, these hotels could end up costing you 45,000 points per night as well, which takes the price up by 50%.

These changes clearly reflect the current market situation. Hotels that are seeing most business at the moment are the high-end properties, perhaps because the higher-end segment is travelling a lot, or is willing to open their chequebooks more often now. So, in these cases, even World of Hyatt has to pay more for the hotel room. And they want to perhaps adjust the pricing accordingly.

Two Indian Hotels Going up, One Going down!

In the whole change, three hotels located in India will also see being changed. Here are the changes in India:

• Andaz Delhi, a great city hotel at Delhi Aerocity, is going down one category from 3 to 2. So, the standard points requirement for this hotel will go down from 12000 points to 8000 points.
• Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty, a great hotel for Hyatt in Kochi, is finally moving up from category 1 to 2. So, the standard points requirement for this hotel will go up from 5000 to 8000 points.
• Hyatt Regency Dharamshala Resort, a 100-key resort from Hyatt in Dharmashala, Himanchal Pradesh will go up from category 3 to 4. Just a year ago it moved from category 2 to 3. The standard points requirement for this hotel will go up from 12000 to 15000 points here on.

Eventually, if you want to make a booking at Hyatt properties and don’t have enough points, perhaps just to top up or buy using Hyatt points with a 30% bonus and lock in those stays for later in the year now. 

Bottom line

While annual hotel category adjustments are not new, this year, Hyatt is killing it for those looking for aspirational redemptions. Many of Hyatt’s top properties are moving from Category 7 to Category 8. Combining this with the introduction of peak pricing, it could mean many of these properties are going up by 50% in terms of award pricing.

What do you make of these World of Hyatt changes? 

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