Hyatt-bottom line, do owners like/love/dislike Hyatt system?

[heathpack]

My perspective is that it's set up to trade fairly. Snapping up a week, holding it and canceling without penalty takes that week away from someone else who has no intention of canceling.

That's what the fees are for -- to dissuade people from hogging inventory. You see a bug. I see a feature.

Once the reservation is cancelled, it’s immediately available to be rebooked by someone else. It doesn’t cause anyone to miss out. If it’s cancelled after a few months, it goes to someone who can’t always plan 12-18 months out. So I’d argue that it works better for a wider range of people if you can book and cancel without fees.

Bug? Feature? It’s in the eye of the beholder I guess. But Hyatt’s methods admittedly work better for *you* and your freewheeling never-has-a-conflict travel style, I’ll give you that. I just don’t agree that the *only* people a timeshare company should meet the needs of are folks like you. After all, the need to book at such a long time frame is a huge part of why timeshares don’t work for the younger generation. So the response of Hyatt is not to fix that. It’s to come up with the ridiculous HPP system. Which also won’t appeal widely, I predict.

But again- the status quo works for you, so I get why you’d want to dismiss the points of view of others at being proof that “Hyatt isn’t for you”. If we convinced Hyatt to make improve,ents, that would be to *your* disadvantage. So it makes perfect sense that you’d argue against it. Most of us do the same, we see bugs vs features based on what would work best for us individually. Even if what works for us individually is contrary to what would work best for the largest number of owners.

 

[ScoopKona]

Once the reservation is cancelled, it’s immediately available to be rebooked by someone else. It doesn’t cause anyone to miss out.

It causes someone to miss out while the reservation is being parked for free. That's what the fees are for. They could increase them even more as far as I'm concerned.

I don't want people "parking" inventory. It's unfair to the people who don't park.

EDIT -- And the difference here is that I did my homework, found a system which works for me, and then bought it. I'm not trying to change something I purchased retroactively.

This reminds me of the families in Key West who bought houses near the airport and then sued the county to reduce airport noise.

 

[Mongoose]

Interesting, how much is a split week fee?

We purchased Hilton Grand Vacation Club in December, a 1 week package, that we can squeeze 2-3 weeknight getaway per year ($59 fee per reservation). We've already booked Myrtle Beach and Waikiki, and are so far happy with the program.

The only thing missing was access to Sedona, utilizing timeshare on road trips within our state. Specifically there are a couple festivals we would like to start attending, for film and wine, without the expensive hotel rates. I eyeballed this thread, and glanced at an overview of Hyatt. We ended up buying Club Wyndham for the larger portfolio of resorts, and 5 night weekday rate. No doubt the Hyatt resort is nicer, and a program I assume with a better reputation (at least from the presentations). Being able to stay 10 nights a year, split between two trips, for $1,070, was too good to pass up.

I am curious what pros and cons we avoided with this decision, given that it was the closest contender.

The split week fee is $39. Pinion Pointe is one of the most flexible with FSS checkin for full weeks. For short stays you can book as few as 2; one with HPP, but I prefer HRC.

 

[90_Min_Sales_Pitch]

The split week fee is $39. Pinion Pointe is one of the most flexible with FSS checkin for full weeks. For short stays you can book as few as 2; one with HPP, but I prefer HRC.

I guess one way to sample Pinion Pointe occasionally, is to get the World of Hyatt Credit Card. Looks like rates are 12,000 points per night, at least for September.

 

[heathpack]

It causes someone to miss out while the reservation is being parked for free. That's what the fees are for. They could increase them even more as far as I'm concerned.

I don't want people "parking" inventory. It's unfair to the people who don't park.

EDIT -- And the difference here is that I did my homework, found a system which works for me, and then bought it. I'm not trying to change something I purchased retroactively.

This reminds me of the families in Key West who bought houses near the airport and then sued the county to reduce airport noise.

Well Scoop, I guess you’re doing it all right, then!

Me, I did zero research, bought on a whim and now I’m in a system that’s “not for me”.

 

[ScoopKona]

Me, I did zero research, bought on a whim and now I’m in a system that’s “not for me”.

Your proposed chances would create a system where it's a mad scramble for inventory, and hammering the HRC website hoping someone releases their parked week/days.

The system works well as is. I see no reason to add more chaos to a system where we already don't get 100% of what we want, 100% of the time.

 

[Mongoose]

Just for fun I reached out to Arroyo Roble. You can buy a 2BR resale direct from them for $3K and MFs are only $890. You can also divide your week into 3 separate stays of a minimum of two days.

 

[Tucsonadventurer]

I guess one way to sample Pinion Pointe occasionally, is to get the World of Hyatt Credit Card. Looks like rates are 12,000 points per night, at least for September.

These are studios though,one of the smallest in the Hyatt system. As we have a high status this yr we have been able to be upgraded to 1 bedrooms when using Hyatt poi ts but otherwise there is no stove and a small refrigerator.

 

[Tucsonadventurer]

Your proposed chances would create a system where it's a mad scramble for inventory, and hammering the HRC website hoping someone releases their parked week/days.

The system works well as is. I see no reason to add more chaos to a system where we already don't get 100% of what we want, 100% of the time.

So true. We book our Westins in Maui knowing that if something else comes up we can cancel within 60 days. With Hyatt we are less apt to cancel

 

[tahoeJoe]

To answer the question WITHOUT context I simply LIKE (not love or hate) Hyatt (more on that later).

To answer WITH context, I currently own Hyatt, Marriott, Vistana (multiple weeks) and Hilton (multiple weeks) so I have firsthand experience with all the major hotel timeshare systems. Easily, Hyatt is my least favorite of all the systems. In fact, when I pair down my "holdings" Hyatt will be first to go. Why?

1) Hyatt has the fewest resorts of all the systems. This is very limiting.
In Interval International, Hyatt bans trades in other Hyatt resorts, provides ZERO preference to other Hyatt resorts or any other resort (except Welk). I find Hyatt trading power in Interval very low compared to Marriott, Vistana, and Hilton.

2) Hyatt doesn't invest in building new properties (they never have, unlike Marriott or Hilton, they were just a branding company for private developers). Their newest resort is Maui (which is lovely) but that is already a decade old. Just look at what Marriott, Hilton, Disney, or Vistana has built in the past decade,

3) Because Hyatt is a branding company, not a developer, many properties leave the system (Aspen, Miami, Utah) or never come to fruition (NYC)

4) Hyatt manipulates point values of the resorts AFTER purchase. Look at Highlands Inn, Bonita Springs, or Key West (I think). Although for owners gaining points this is good, most owners lose out due to less trading power in those resorts. There are far more owners that lose than gain.

5) Expensive maintenance fees compared to quality. Older resorts are nice, but not spectacular. They are not up to today's standards, especially for the high MF. I'm thinking of Sedona and Carmel.

6) Hyatt's attitude. Issue number 1 is so few resorts. So, what does Hyatt do? They buy Welk Resorts (a step down, but okay) and then want to charge owners for access to those lesser resorts instead of including them in the portfolio. Thanks for nothing Hyatt!!!

 

[Cbadwulf]

We love our week 6 3BR unit at Hyatt Kaanapali. We gave up our week 6 during Covid and suffered through a learning experience by falling into LCUP status after we "borrowed" from the following year for a 2BR unit. We entered LCUP and used the points to stay at Sedona (OK), Carmel (boring), Breckinridge (Quite good), Bonita Springs (Ok). None of these could compare to our Kaanapali property. We will never give it up again. We also listened to the Priority Points pitch and came away with the fact that the properties within the points system are inferior to what we have in Maui. I live near the Welk property in Escondido CA. Its inland where its hot in the spring, summer and fall but does have a crappy golf course. The only Welk property worth it is (in my opinion) in the Lake Tahoe area close to great winter sports. But if I wanted to ski I would go the Breckinridge. The MFs are a bit stiff for the 3BR. We bought our Kaanapali unit for yearly family get togethers. Bought it from the developers. Market value is about 30% below what we paid. It is superb and we are happy with it.

 

[Tucsonadventurer]

To answer the question WITHOUT context I simply LIKE (not love or hate) Hyatt (more on that later).

To answer WITH context, I currently own Hyatt, Marriott, Vistana (multiple weeks) and Hilton (multiple weeks) so I have firsthand experience with all the major hotel timeshare systems. Easily, Hyatt is my least favorite of all the systems. In fact, when I pair down my "holdings" Hyatt will be first to go. Why?

1) Hyatt has the fewest resorts of all the systems. This is very limiting.
In Interval International, Hyatt bans trades in other Hyatt resorts, provides ZERO preference to other Hyatt resorts or any other resort (except Welk). I find Hyatt trading power in Interval very low compared to Marriott, Vistana, and Hilton.

2) Hyatt doesn't invest in building new properties (they never have, unlike Marriott or Hilton, they were just a branding company for private developers). Their newest resort is Maui (which is lovely) but that is already a decade old. Just look at what Marriott, Hilton, Disney, or Vistana has built in the past decade,

3) Because Hyatt is a branding company, not a developer, many properties leave the system (Aspen, Miami, Utah) or never come to fruition (NYC)

4) Hyatt manipulates point values of the resorts AFTER purchase. Look at Highlands Inn, Bonita Springs, or Key West (I think). Although for owners gaining points this is good, most owners lose out due to less trading power in those resorts. There are far more owners that lose than gain.

5) Expensive maintenance fees compared to quality. Older resorts are nice, but not spectacular. They are not up to today's standards, especially for the high MF. I'm thinking of Sedona and Carmel.

6) Hyatt's attitude. Issue number 1 is so few resorts. So, what does Hyatt do? They buy Welk Resorts (a step down, but okay) and then want to charge owners for access to those lesser resorts instead of including them in the portfolio. Thanks for nothing Hyatt!!!

Interesting. I actually love Hyatt Ka'anapali more than Westins in Ka'anapali, including Nanea and the Marriotts in Maui. I feel we are treated with more personal service and the views and lanai's are much nicer than oceanfront in North or south. That said we bought Vistana in Scottsdale so we could more easily gain access to Maui. All this will change with the integration with Marriott. I'm ok with Hyatt as is , as my 3 weeks get me 7 to 9 weeks. It's interesting to hear different perspectives though. We own 3 weeks with Hyatt and 1 with Vistana and are typically borrowing points from the yr ahead, especially as we have stayed within US specifically Hawaii during COVID years.

 

[TravelTime]

And that's fine -- but there isn't a single place in the Disney portfolio which interests me. Hyatt, at least, has a few locations I can use as "blow my leftover points" locations. And then the ability to trade like a madman with II.

My wife and I don't give each other gifts for birthdays/anniversary/etc. We gift each other travel. At least a dozen times, each, we have called our spouse's employer, "Look, you can't say a word. Not a word. I'm taking my wife to Paris and Venice for her birthday. I need you to give her two weeks off without anyone knowing about it. She'll sign whatever paperwork you put in front of her after the fact. I've already packed her bags."

1) No employer ever said "no." We found this to be a reliable way to get vacation time.
2) There is nothing on Earth like thinking you're going to work and instead hopping on a plane to Iceland/Beijing/Berlin/etc.
3) We both have two go-bags packed at all time -- warm weather destinations, cool/cold weather destinations. I just grab the bag as needed. It's already packed.

This is typically how I use my Hyatt week.

How do you use a Hyatt week to go to places not in the system?

 

[ScoopKona]

How do you use a Hyatt week to go to places not in the system?

Same way as everyone else -- hotels, AirBnb, renting condos, even hostels. (The Reykjavik hostel is lovely.) I don't expect timeshares to cover 100% of my vacation needs. That's why I only have the one week. A typical vacation for us is a week somewhere using CUP/EEE points. And then padding that week in both directions using other solutions.

Iceland, for instance, was part of a vacation which started with a Interval week in Paris. Icelandic Air's stopover program is particularly welcome to break up trips to Europe. (Six hours to Seattle. Spend a couple days eating fish and craft beer. Seven hours to Iceland. Spend a couple days eating fish and soaking. Three hours to Paris.)

Even when I lived on the mainland, I preferred flying through Iceland rather than 11 hours on Virgin Atlantic or Condor.

 

[rdc]

I own 2 weeks in HRC (Key West and Bonita Springs). The system has worked well for me and satisfied. It is nice to choose points as split weeks as well as size of unit to get most out of your specific vacation needs. I normally do some intermediate outward planning and it has always seemed to fit the needs fine. Positives are easy booking process, resorts are well maintained, nice locations and grounds and very competent friendly staff. I have read others find II low trading power compared to Mariott and others, but I have always been very successful in trades in II to the areas and resorts of my choosing when going outside of the Hyatt system. Being considered a boutique timeshare, the short comings are limited locations. Personally, I would have always hoped they had a couple of places in popular Caribbean destinations. Some fees, although minor, is a bit of annoyance, i.e., double dipping on certain fees for multiple week owners as well as guest certificate fees (no exemptions if you don't check in, even if immediate family is using).
Overall, been very happy with HVC (legacy) and todays HRC.

 

[ScoopKona]

as well as guest certificate fees (no exemptions if you don't check in, even if immediate family is using).

Put immediate family on the deed. Sorted.

 

[skimeup]

Interesting. I actually love Hyatt Ka'anapali more than Westins in Ka'anapali, including Nanea and the Marriotts in Maui. I feel we are treated with more personal service and the views and lanai's are much nicer than oceanfront in North or south. That said we bought Vistana in Scottsdale so we could more easily gain access to Maui. All this will change with the integration with Marriott. I'm ok with Hyatt as is , as my 3 weeks get me 7 to 9 weeks. It's interesting to hear different perspectives though. We own 3 weeks with Hyatt and 1 with Vistana and are typically borrowing points from the yr ahead, especially as we have stayed within US specifically Hawaii during COVID years.

I thought you could not borrow points from the next year with Hyatt. I tried to do that once and was told no - although I was ready to pay my MF in order to get the points.

I find that I can get three weeks vacation out of my 1880 points by trading through II. But I weirdly just lost 105 EEE points - disappeared from II and I don't know why. Perhaps they expired due to nonuse during covid? I will call about that.

 

[Tucsonadventurer]

I thought you could not borrow points from the next year with Hyatt. I tried to do that once and was told no - although I was ready to pay my MF in order to get the points.

I find that I can get three weeks vacation out of my 1880 points by trading through II. But I weirdly just lost 105 EEE points - disappeared from II and I don't know why. Perhaps they expired due to nonuse during covid? I will call about that.

You can borrow but it is restricted to 60 days out. We typically book a week or 2 with our Hyatt or ultimate reward points and then cancel as a week opens up in the timeshare. It works for us but won't for everyone. My Vistana week allows us to borrow without restrictions.

 

[ScoopKona]

The borrowing points restriction is another "most see a bug, I see a feature" thing. If people could easily double-up their points every other year, there would be no Diamond inventory to trade into. Copper owners would try to grab a ski-week in Aspen or Christmas in the Keys every other year. It would lead to more mad-scramble for inventory every year.

The people who put the rules in place thought up every possible way to game the system, and put checks and balances in to keep people from doing it.

The other one I've heard constantly is, "Why doesn't Hyatt have a credit card that generates HRC points?" Then people who spend a million dollars a year on their business card would have all the HRC points. All of these rules and fees are there for a reason -- and not just to enrich Hyatt.

 

[Tucsonadventurer]

The borrowing points restriction is another "most see a bug, I see a feature" thing. If people could easily double-up their points every other year, there would be no Diamond inventory to trade into. Copper owners would try to grab a ski-week in Aspen or Christmas in the Keys every other year. It would lead to more mad-scramble for inventory every year.

The people who put the rules in place thought up every possible way to game the system, and put checks and balances in to keep people from doing it.

The other one I've heard constantly is, "Why doesn't Hyatt have a credit card that generates HRC points?" Then people who spend a million dollars a year on their business card would have all the HRC points. All of these rules and fees are there for a reason -- and not just to enrich Hyatt.

good point! With many Hyatt's being smler resorts that makes sense. With Vistana there are so many large resorts inventory is not impacted

 

[dioxide45]

The other one I've heard constantly is, "Why doesn't Hyatt have a credit card that generates HRC points?" Then people who spend a million dollars a year on their business card would have all the HRC points. All of these rules and fees are there for a reason -- and not just to enrich Hyatt.

I am not aware of any timeshare brand that has an associated credit card where you can earn vacation club type points.

 

[ScoopKona]

I am not aware of any timeshare brand that has an associated credit card where you can earn vacation club type points.

Neither am I. But it's something I heard CONSTANTLY when I worked there.

The sad fact is that small (but statistically significant) percentage of the owners want to do everything they can to break the system. Minting points from nothing is a prime example. That would be great for the person who has a mythical Hyatt Residence Club platinum card and charges all the purchases of their medium-size company on it. It would ruin everyone else's experience. But it would be great for the person who charges a few million a year in office supplies.

And it's the same with split week fees, borrowing points, cancellation policy and the rest. People can have a system that works. Or they can have a system that works for the select few.

 

[Mongoose]

To answer the question WITHOUT context I simply LIKE (not love or hate) Hyatt (more on that later).

To answer WITH context, I currently own Hyatt, Marriott, Vistana (multiple weeks) and Hilton (multiple weeks) so I have firsthand experience with all the major hotel timeshare systems. Easily, Hyatt is my least favorite of all the systems. In fact, when I pair down my "holdings" Hyatt will be first to go. Why?

1) Hyatt has the fewest resorts of all the systems. This is very limiting.
In Interval International, Hyatt bans trades in other Hyatt resorts, provides ZERO preference to other Hyatt resorts or any other resort (except Welk). I find Hyatt trading power in Interval very low compared to Marriott, Vistana, and Hilton.

2) Hyatt doesn't invest in building new properties (they never have, unlike Marriott or Hilton, they were just a branding company for private developers). Their newest resort is Maui (which is lovely) but that is already a decade old. Just look at what Marriott, Hilton, Disney, or Vistana has built in the past decade,

3) Because Hyatt is a branding company, not a developer, many properties leave the system (Aspen, Miami, Utah) or never come to fruition (NYC)

4) Hyatt manipulates point values of the resorts AFTER purchase. Look at Highlands Inn, Bonita Springs, or Key West (I think). Although for owners gaining points this is good, most owners lose out due to less trading power in those resorts. There are far more owners that lose than gain.

5) Expensive maintenance fees compared to quality. Older resorts are nice, but not spectacular. They are not up to today's standards, especially for the high MF. I'm thinking of Sedona and Carmel.

6) Hyatt's attitude. Issue number 1 is so few resorts. So, what does Hyatt do? They buy Welk Resorts (a step down, but okay) and then want to charge owners for access to those lesser resorts instead of including them in the portfolio. Thanks for nothing Hyatt!!!

You have to buy Hyatt, knowing what it is. I bought for Sedona, which has the lowest MF in the system and am very happy. I dumped my Marriott for Hilton.