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Last month, I wrote about how Hyatt and Small Luxury Hotels of the World™ (SLH) were ending the partnership that has been running since 2018. The partnership was seamless and it opened a world of boutique properties in areas where Hyatt had no footprint or limited options. Hilton announced a strategic partnership at the same time that spelled an end to the Hyatt deal. Now we know that this partnership officially ends on May 15th.
Existing reservations (even those after May 15th) will be honored. If your stay is before May 15th, you’ll still receive the complimentary breakfast, elite night credits, points, and the other benefits that have been offered through World of Hyatt. After May 15th, you will not receive any benefits, points, or stay credits. The only remaining benefit will be reservations booked and paid for with the World of Hyatt credit card. These will still receive 4x points until August 31st.
When I think of luxury hotels, Hilton is not the first chain that comes to mind. Yes, it has Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, and LXR Hotels & Resorts, but Marriott and Hyatt have much larger luxury portfolios. SLH will add hundreds of independent, luxury hotels around the world. Hyatt had limited access to the portfolio, while Hilton is touting access to all 560 of the boutique hotels spanning 90 countries.
Hyatt announced that its acquisition of Mr & Mrs Smith had been finalized back in June. The luxury hotel booking platform offers direct bookings at a collection of over 1,500 boutique and luxury properties. The acquisition includes 100% of the asset-light, London-based company with a price tag of around $56 million. At the time, it ended the partnership between Mr & Mrs Smith and Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG).
The loss of SLH is the second shake up that has occurred in recent months. Hyatt also recently cut ties with MGM Resorts and those properties will soon be tied to Marriott (more here). This change upset many World of Hyatt members and I’m sure losing SLH will also sting. We’ll have to see what benefits are offered to Hilton members when this is finalized.
Anthony’s Take: I’ve already mourned the loss of SLH redemptions using World of Hyatt points. I am curious to see how redemptions look once these properties are integrated into Hilton.com.
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