Looking for more info. about Hyatt

I'm a Hilton owner and interested in finding out more about the Hyatt system since there are two resorts in CA within driving distance.

For starters, it looks similar to Hilton since it is points based. Does Hyatt have last minute rentals like the Hilton open season? With Hilton, you can reserve remaining availability less than 30 days out with cash or points, and I find it a great benefit.

I thought Highlands Inn was RTU; however, I see resales listed as deed. Does anyone know if that is a false claim?

Thanks,
Eric

Don't Buy Hyatt!!!

Eric - As a Hyatt and Hilton owner I would AVOID Hyatt at all costs. As a California TS owner I would avoid Hyatt at all costs. They recently made changes to their points system that is in Hyatt's best interest but works against owners, severely limits what owners can do. I can give more details if you want. Here are the answers to your questions:

Does Hyatt have last minute rentals like the Hilton open season? - NO


I thought Highlands Inn was RTU; however, I see resales listed as deed. Does anyone know if that is a false claim? - Highlands Inn, like Hyatt Tahoe and most Hyatt properties is RTU.

-TJ

Hyatt is somewhat different than HGVC.

At HGVC, you buy a week in a resort, season, and unit size. You may then reserve a week in that resort, season, unit size at 12 months out, or else use the points at 9 months out for a reservation at any resort, season, unit size, number of days, choice of check-in date, etc. (minimum 3 days).

At Hyatt, you buy a specific unit/week in a resort. That week in that unit is yours to use if you wish, or you may use the points instead. If you choose to use your points for something else, you are limited to reservations of 7 days, 4 days, 3 days, or 2 days, with check-in date dependant on the resort. eg, you can't book a 7 day stay beginning on a Tuesday, or a 4 day stay or a 2-day stay beginning on a Saturday. All reservations are subject to the owner of that week choosing to not use the unit/week they own.

As mentioned, there is no 'open season' as HGVC. You can, however, get an owner discount on cash reservations. I believe it is 25% off rack rate. It may or may not be available. It might not even be available when rack rate reservations are available.

TJ,

There have been a lot of changes lately, Starwood reservation policy changes, speculation about an upcoming change at Marriott. Please do comment on the recent Hyatt changes. I did see another post regarding point changes for some Hyatt resorts. Hilton has been increasing point values at the new resorts, but they have respected the current owners and left existing resorts as is.

dvc_john, Thanks for the comparison.

tahoeJoe said:

They recently made changes to their points system that is in Hyatt's best interest but works against owners, severely limits what owners can do.

Highlands Inn, like Hyatt Tahoe and most Hyatt properties is RTU.

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Some true and some false info here:

HVC did change the point value on the Highlands Inn property by increasing the value of all HI weeks. A positive for all HI owners - a negative for other HVC owners trading into HI - irrelevant for other HVC owners trading into the other 14 HVC properties.

Highlands Inn, High Sierra, Hacienda del Mar and Windward Pointe are RTU's - the other 11 HVC properties are deeded.

dvc_john said:

At Hyatt, you buy a specific unit/week in a resort. That week in that unit is yours to use if you wish, or you may use the points instead. All reservations are subject to the owner of that week choosing to not use the unit/week they own.

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To add to this:

With HVC you are guaranteed your specific deeded week (this is called HRPP period) - that guarantee expires 6 months prior to the date of your deeded week. If you do not reserve your deeded week by the end of HRPP, your week is automatically converted to points for use at any HVC or II property. Note that when the HRPP of your deeded week/unit expires, your week/unit is then available to all other HVC owners. Also note that you can elect to convert your deeded week/unit to points as soon as your week is issued to you (so you can trade to other HVC properties or II 12 months prior to the date of your deeded week).

You can find more HVC info at http://www.bywindkal.com/HVC.htm

bdh said:

Also note that you can elect to convert your deeded week/unit to points as soon as your week is issued to you (so you can trade to other HVC properties or II 12 months prior to the date of your deeded week).

You can find more HVC info at http://www.bywindkal.com/HVC.htm

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With all due respect to the poster, I would like to add a bit of further clarification (i.e. split a few hairs).

Every year an HVC owner will be issued the point value of their owned unit. This occurs 12 months prior to the first day of the owned week. Immediately upon receipt of those points, the owner has many options available to use those points. Moreover, the receipt of the points triggers a 6-month period where the owner has EXCLUSIVE right to the owned unit/week (or portion thereof). This means Hyatt cannot allow any other HVC member to reserve that unit. If the owner does not notify Hyatt before expiration of the 6-month period the unit is released for use by other HVC members.

The "hair splitting" issue here is that the unit is not provided to the member, but rather the point value. The entire system is points based, however ownership is based upon a deed for a very specific unit.

AlmTravel said:

Please do comment on the recent Hyatt changes. I did see another post regarding point changes for some Hyatt resorts.

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Hi AlmTravel,

The story with the Hyatt changes is that effecive 2010, Hyatt doubled the number of points required to stay at Highlands Inn. If you were an owner at Highlands Inn, your owned week was now worth twice as many points. If you want to trade in to Highlands Inn, you must use twice as many points. If you want a 1BR unit at Highlands Inn, you now have to spend points that would be equivalent to a 2BR elsewhere in the Hyatt system and if you want a 2BR you have to spend points equivalant to a 3BR elsewhere.

The big picture problem that I (and many other Hyatt owners) have with this change is that it demonstrates that HVC feels free to change point values assigned to units at will. This means that if you buy in to the Hyatt system, you cannot predict over time what you will be able to book with your points. All you can really count on is the continued ability to reserve your own unit at your own resort for your own week. For me, this negates a lot of the reason that I would ever consider buying a timeshare: I was willing to put up a chunk of change now to partially fix the cost of future vacations throughout the Hyatt system. But the cost is not partially fixed if HVC can increase points requirements whenever they like.

On the more practical side, what size unit do you need? Tahoe only has 2BR units. Carmel has 1 and 2BR units but no studios.

Hyatt has nice resorts in nice locations but a rather small system. Most future development is on hold. The Manhattan HVC property was fully built and ready to open last year when it was instead transferred to the hotel division (now an Andaz, I understand). Hyatt was until 6 months ago a privately owned company but they have now gone public. What effect this will have on the HVC system is anyone's guess. But future direction of HVC is unclear.

I would only really consider buying a Hyatt right now if you bought a unit at a property a week you wanted to use every year- that way any use you get out of the points system will be icing on the cake. If you are interested in using multiple properties in the Hyatt system, I would personally wait and see what the future holds. I'm not completely dissatisified with HVC, but I do feel that in buying in, I have limited my future travel options for relatively little gain.

Hopefully this will help you to come to a decision that works for you.

H

tahoeJoe said:

Eric - As a Hyatt and Hilton owner I would AVOID Hyatt at all costs. As a California TS owner I would avoid Hyatt at all costs. They recently made changes to their points system that is in Hyatt's best interest but works against owners, severely limits what owners can do. I can give more details if you want. Here are the answers to your questions:

Does Hyatt have last minute rentals like the Hilton open season? - NO


I thought Highlands Inn was RTU; however, I see resales listed as deed. Does anyone know if that is a false claim? - Highlands Inn, like Hyatt Tahoe and most Hyatt properties is RTU.

-TJ

Click to expand...

Its funny how two different people with similar ownership feel the exact opposite. I also own in both the Hyatt system and the HGVC system. Hands down, not even close, is how much I love the Hyatt system. Way, way more than HGVC. Yes, there are less properties. But nothing compares to the quality of the recent Hyatt properties. Beaver Creek, Aspen, Northstar are all amazing. And in two weeks, I'll be at the new Siesta Key Beach. Which is also supposed to be stunning.

Just wanted to share an oposing view.

Take care,
Dewey

While Hyatt is relatively small in comparison, I'll just throw my two cents in that we've loved our Hyatt purchase. Been to Key West, Naples, Tahoe, Carmel and Sedona -- working around kids schedules have had easy trades every time -- and each resort has been fabulous. I like having three resorts within driving distance of California.

Yes -- the change in point system at Carmel is disappointing and a concern going forward -- but most of the units are 1 bedroom with very very few 2 bedroom units which are hard to trade into.

I also like being able to break up the weeks with points -- going mid week one place and a weekend elsewhere.

We bought in Sedona to get a deed since that was important to my wife. Lower comparative maintenance fees -- and a guaranteed great view unit if we go on our owned week which is important there.

Paul

We are Hyatt and Marriott owners.

Can't comment on Hilton as a owner but did extensive research before investing in any TS system. Although every system has it issues, we believe the Hyatt system is the best of the Hotel Based systems. It was the last to enter the game and learned a lot from the mistakes of their competitors

One measure of the level of owner satisfaction is the number of posts here on tug that complain about a each particular system.

Simple math says your will see fewer posts by Hyatt owners in general, just because there are fewer of them. But when you look at the number of complaining posts relative to any given system and compare that to the total posts for that system, you will see that a lower percentage of Hyatt posts appear to be complaints than any other Hotel based system.

Every now and then someone will post a thread asking why there are so few Hyatt posts on tug. The typical response is: "because most Hyatt owners are happy with their ownership."

We own both Hyatt and HGVC, and we've been quite happy with both systems. However, I'd agree with Heathpack - it always helps to own something you wouldn't mind returning to regularly, as you're never sure how the companies are going to change the system and make it more difficult to trade into places you were expecting easy access to as part of your purchase.