HVC website / portal now mediocre

[boraxo]

What happened to the old reservation search engine on the HVC website?

Yes, it was clunky, but it was relatively easy to search for multiple periods (e.g. 1-7 days) at a single resort and also to limit results to LCUP points as well.

The updated website is truly mediocre. I can't restrict my search to LCUP points and I have to pick a specific # of days and can only search across the entire months. This makes it extremely difficult for me to use my LCUP points, much less to search across dates well into the future.

 

[mauiwowie]

Mediocre? Why such high praise? It's terrible!!

 

[mauiwowie]

sorry for the multiple posts I kept getting a "cannot post, server error, please check back" Cannot figure out how to delete

 

[hcarman]

Our experience has been it isn't just the website that has gotten harder to use. It is everything about Hyatt that is tougher. Seems like they have really gone downhill unfortunately. It took us three days to get an answer on a very simple question. And now the fees have gone up.

 

[wilma]

I agree that it is clunky and restrictive. However, like the new feature that you can select the floor bands on the 2 bedrooms and the 1 bedroom view either ocean or Mountain View at kaanapali.

 

[TBipp]

I agree with Boraxo. The previous site was much easier for searches and using LCUP. The new site is so slow and tedious for finding what is available --just show me everything you got in a month and the number of points and don't make me restrict it.

 

[wendyleighj]

I agree that it is clunky and restrictive. However, like the new feature that you can select the floor bands on the 2 bedrooms and the 1 bedroom view either ocean or Mountain View at kaanapali.

Remains to be seen if the selections will be honored.

 

[wilma]

Remains to be seen if the selections will be honored.

well, my confirmation includes the selection of specific room types. Here is the confirmation of carmel showing a 1 bedroom w/2 bathrooms--townhouse:

Hyatt Vacation Club at Highlands Inn​

Monday, Dec. 01 - Thursday, Dec. 04, 2025

3 Nights

One-Bedroom, Two-Bathroom Villa
120 Highlands Drive, Carmel, CA 93923

 

[GTLINZ]

Mediocre is giving it way too much credit. It stinks.

It is basically unusable for searches. I have to search by months now and it does not even tell me specifics about what it found. I clicked on "book" to see if I would get details, but it just hangs.

I guess they want us to call in now - it is the same price anyway.

 

[wendyleighj]

well, my confirmation includes the selection of specific room types. Here is the confirmation of carmel showing a 1 bedroom w/2 bathrooms--townhouse:

Hyatt Vacation Club at Highlands Inn​

Monday, Dec. 01 - Thursday, Dec. 04, 2025

3 Nights

One-Bedroom, Two-Bathroom Villa
120 Highlands Drive, Carmel, CA 93923

 

[wendyleighj]

I had a conference call with corporate this week regarding all the glitches and they confirmed that there is NO GUARANTEE; it's like the preference comments...first come first served.

CORRECTED: NOW THEY ARE SAYING THAT IT IS GUARANTEED.

 

[flyingsideshow]

Wow ... This new website is horrible. I can't even complete a search for a stay it is so slow.

 

[magicjourney]

First time using the new website to make a reservation, but at 'choose your points' page, it shows 'no data found' under usage type & year so I can't apply any of my points. Anyone has similar experience? It's a terrible 'upgrade'!

 

[andre10056]

With Hyatt, I've almost always found that calling is significantly more rewarding than using the website. With the website, you can't do this, you can't do that. This is expiring, that is expiring. Online, you're dealing with an unemotional robot whose logic circuits only give you whatever it's programmed to give you (or not give you).

The humans, on the other hand, are oftentimes very helpful, even generous in resolving your concerns. And it's not like other ownerships where you can never get through on the phone right away, having to leave a message (or at least acknowledge that they can back to you on your cell phone from which you're calling). I get through right away and can always get answers to my questions right then and there. No reason to post my question on TUG.

I know that "near instant response" might not be very helpful if you're trying to get ideas on where in the world you might want to travel. But, assuming you know generally where and when you want to go, speaking to a human might get you exactly what you're looking for.

Last point: I do recall having waited a bit longer when I first called my resort and then had to go through a telephone menu before ultimately being forwarded to my appropriate Owner Services line. But I now use 800-239-7110 and get right through. Maybe less than a minute wait but that's about it. Or at least that's how it was prior to my leaving this message.

 

[TBipp]

I was surprised to receive this email letter from Hyatt:

Dear Valued Owner, As you may know, we recently completed a major technology transition, replacing 30‑year‑old systems that were no longer supported. This step forward continues to enable capabilities that will help us deliver better Owner and guest experiences. That said, as with any complex technology transition, we encountered unforeseen challenges. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience, confusion, or frustration this may be causing. We recognize these issues may have impacted your ability to fully enjoy your Ownership, and we are committed to resolving them as efficiently as possible. Many issues were remedied quickly, and recently, we’ve resolved the issues with credit card storage functionality, communication preferences not carrying over, and the ability to view waitlist requests in your account. However, some Owners are still experiencing difficulties, particularly with the waitlist request process. Although an earlier issue was addressed, we have since identified a related problem affecting the system. Once we became aware of this, our teams acted swiftly to investigate and work with our technology vendors to develop a solution, which has now been implemented. All waitlist requests have migrated over accurately with functionality restored and the waitlist process running nightly. The process begins at 12 AM Eastern Time and, based on the number of records processed, could take between 2 to 4 hours to complete. We are actively working on solutions for making this process faster. We understand the waitlist is a helpful tool for Owners, as it’s important to be able to plan your vacations at specific times throughout the year. If you previously submitted a waitlist request, you may have questions about whether it will be fulfilled. As you know, waitlist times are usually for periods of high demand, so we are working diligently to audit and validate the requests that have been migrated over from the former system and maintain them as received. We are also actively addressing concerns around data validation. We are aware that some Owners who own multiple contracts and a mix of Weeks and Portfolio Points are seeing inaccurate point values in their accounts. We are currently working through a manual audit to correct this, but if you have any questions, please call 800‑GO‑HYATT. Finally, you may see some usage information displayed on The Lounge that appears different than it did prior to the transition. Differences may include: Transaction History: Transactions made prior to the migration will only display the transaction type, while transactions made after the migration will show the full transaction details. If you have any questions or would like to validate transaction details prior to the migration, please call 800‑GO‑HYATT. Float Allotment: For the Colorado Use Plan, the float yearly allotment is now displayed separately in the following two lines: Points allotted for full-week reservation right of use Points allotted for split-week reservation right of use Villa Types Please note that lock‑off villas and standalone villas now appear as distinct villa types. Reservations will be assigned based on the specific villa type selected during booking. For our Kāʻanapali and Siesta Key resorts, view types are now included in the villa/residence type and will also be assigned during the reservation process. We apologize if our communication throughout this transition did not meet your expectations. However, since the system migration, we’ve been working to prioritize issues as they were raised by Owners. Your trust is incredibly important to us, and we are committed to keeping you informed and supported moving forward. If you have questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to call 800‑GO‑HYATT. We realize this may have inconvenienced you, and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to work diligently to resolve these issues so you can enjoy your vacations.

​

Thank you, Stephanie Sobeck Butera

 

[PeePaw]

We are longtime Hyatt owners, and also (foolishly) bought Welk points about 10 years ago. I always liked the Hyatt website -- quite easy to use once I got the knack of it (which granted, took a while). The Welk Owner's Lounge on the other hand I found to be absolutely abysmal. The designers obviously had no clue how a real end user would want the system to function. I assumed that with the website revision, they would scrap the Welk site, and start over to bring the unified system up to Hyatt level of performance. Wrong! I suspect that they took the Welk website as their starting point, probably because it was newer code, and went from there. Everything that was bad on the Welk Lounge previously is now bad on the new portal. They should have started from scratch. Just dumb.

 

[mauiwowie]

We are longtime Hyatt owners, and also (foolishly) bought Welk points about 10 years ago. I always liked the Hyatt website -- quite easy to use once I got the knack of it (which granted, took a while). The Welk Owner's Lounge on the other hand I found to be absolutely abysmal. The designers obviously had no clue how a real end user would want the system to function. I assumed that with the website revision, they would scrap the Welk site, and start over to bring the unified system up to Hyatt level of performance. Wrong! I suspect that they took the Welk website as their starting point, probably because it was newer code, and went from there. Everything that was bad on the Welk Lounge previously is now bad on the new portal. They should have started from scratch. Just dumb.

I was suspecting that it had something to do with the integration and the "apology" letter kind of confirms this as nothing that was mentioned in it addresses my issues with the new "functionality". I can't even complete a search on my desktop; the program stops running when I hit Book a unit. It's totally worthless at this point for booking online; at least for me it is.

 

[RunCat]

I can’t get in using my phone or iPad. Never had that issue before. “Happy” to see that there was a software update that is likely the problem. I guess I’ll need to reach out to find a remedy.

 

[GTLINZ]

I was actually able to do searches yesterday.

It is clunky filling in the fields which are all required. You have to click somewhere other than the popup once you get info entered for a field. You can search up to four properties, but cannot put multiple options for how many days (I think).

At least it is trending towards being usable.

One actual improvement is that it now differentiates between a true 2br and a lockoff, and tells you the bedding configurations.

 

[ncaahockeyfan]

One of my biggest dislikes is how non-user friendly it is on a mobile browser.

It's much easier to keep readjusting your search criteria in front of a computer with a mouse.

The old interface was definitely more usable on my mobile phone screen.