I love Hyatt hotels (see a 6 part review of the Park Hyatt Maldives starting here). I’ve been a top-tier Globalist for about 5 years now, and I can’t imagine no being one. Thus, I am always looking for new ways to engage with the program.
In April of 2023, Hyatt acquired Mr. & Mrs. Smith. This has led to a long string of moves, including Small Luxury Hotels of the world (I’ll post a review of Palm Suites Rome soon) changing partnerships from Hyatt to Hilton.
On April 24th, Hyatt integrated hotels associated with Mr. & Mrs. Smith into its own website, as well as began offering World of Hyatt points redemption.
While more redemption options are always good, the big news was that Mr. & Mrs. Smith hotels are not being categorized into the traditional redemption bands. Rather, Hyatt opted to offer these hotels with dynamic pricing, offering between 1.2 and 1.4 cents per point.
I won’t bemoan the fact that Hyatt has made the first steps of moving from set redemption prices to dynamic pricing. One of the main reasons I seek out Hyatt’s over other options is because of their set award charts!
I don’t think that we’ll find dynamic award prices at all Hyatt hotels for a couple of years. Regardless, that’s how Mr. & Mrs. Smith has been integrated, so we have to accept that.
I personally will not be spending my Hyatt points at Mr. & Mrs. Smith hotels. However, I still see value out of the integration of Mr. & Mrs. Smith into the Hyatt portfolio. I just believe that one needs to view looking through these hotels on Hyatt’s site differently than traditional Hyatt hotels.
How Should One View the Mr. & Mrs. Smith Integration?
I’ve taken a look through the Mr. & Mrs. Smith hotels. There are some absolutely gorgeous properties. My wife sent me one that she wanted to try. However, at over $1,000 a night, that would be difficult to pay with points and not completely deplete every point I own. (She hadn’t realized that Hyatt wasn’t doing award charts for those hotels, which is fair for anyone!)
In my mind, I view the Mr. & Mrs. Smith integration as simply a way to find cool hotels that you never would have found. In my mind, if accommodation is cheap, use cash. Save points for when rates are high and points are low so you can get outsized value.
Let’s put this into perspective. Southeast Asia is particularly inexpensive for nice hotels. However, I often have a hard time finding hotels outside of the major chains that I know I can trust.
Using a random week in September (the 9th-13th), I found a neat looking hotel in Laos (The Apsara Rive Droite) for $109 per night. Kumu Beach in Sri Lanka is $167 per night. Do they look like the nicest hotels in the world? No, not at all. However, they do look like fascinating experiences that I never would have found outside of having access to these hotels on Hyatt’s website.
Do these hotels being on Hyatt’s website guarantee that they are good? No, not at all. However, I would generally assume that they actually are good hotels. Additionally, they would definitely be a unique experience for anyone looking for something off the beaten path.
Conclusion
Hyatt has integrated Mr. & Mrs. Smith onto its website. While they represent a poor value of Hyatt points, I think it is useful for the average consumer to find unique experiences.
What do you think about the Mr. & Mrs. Smith integration into Hyatt? Do you see yourself staying at any of these hotels?
Featured image courtesy of Hyatt
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