US: Global hospitality company Hyatt Hotels Corporation has announced plans to introduce a new short-term vacation rental platform – Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt – “in the coming weeks”.
When the platform launches, World of Hyatt [Hyatt’s loyalty scheme] members will be able to book a diverse range of private short-term rental accommodation in the United States, from beachfront escapes to mountainside ski chalets, and earn and redeem points if they decide to move away from a traditional hotel stay.
Hyatt said that it is committed to providing more flexible stay experiences to suit the travel needs of every guest, and unlocking access to popular destination markets such Hawaii and Colorado. The company plans to grow Homes & Hideaways on a global scale in the future.
Amy Weinberg, senior vice president, brand, loyalty and data, Hyatt, said: “We are committed to evolving access to the type of accommodations World of Hyatt members are seeking that go beyond our hotels – from a large family who travels together or guests looking to work from anywhere for an extended period of time. Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt brings a unique collection of curated homes which increases Hyatt’s home offerings and expands new ways and new places where we can extend care to members.”
At the same time, Hyatt has announced that it has sold the entirety of its existing vacation rental management business [36 properties in Colorado and Hawaii] to real estate investor, develop and manager, Lowe. Lowe will also rebrand the management business currently known as Destination Residences Management.
Lowe co-CEO Rob Lowe said: “Our hospitality management business was formed in 1973 to provide residential resort management services. This transaction represents a welcome return for Lowe and CoralTree to the roots of our business and to familiar markets where we have been active for decades.
“Lowe and CoralTree are committed to providing the same personalised service, meticulous attention to detail and spirit of hospitality that defined the company’s vacation rental management approach from the beginning,” he added.
Homes & Hideaways will soon feature properties in US leisure destinations that will offer World of Hyatt members direct booking access to a collection of vetted private homes including beachfront properties, mountainside ski chalets, villas, chateaus, cottages, townhouses, apartments , flats and penthouses. Member benefits will include earning points and tier-qualifying night credits on stays, standard tier bonuses, and the ability to redeem points for stays at home rental properties.
As of June, Hyatt Hotels Corporations’ portfolio included more than 1,250 hotels and all-inclusive properties in 76 countries across six continents, and across 30+ brands.
That month, Hyatt Hotels Corporation acquired London-based hotel booking platform Mr & Mrs Smith for £53 million in cash and announced that it would introduce direct booking access to 1,500+ properties within the Mr & Mrs Smith platform at a later date. As well as boutique hotels, Mr & Mrs Smith offers a luxury private villa collection, with properties located across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
Hyatt’s strategy to re-enter the home rental category has been some time in the making. The company rebranded its Hyatt House offering a year ago by unveiling a digital campaign that featured “Home is Where” as its slogan as it sought to take on competing hotel brands diversifying into the short-term rental sector, such as Marriott, Accor and Hilton.
Prior to that, in 2017, Hyatt invested in Oasis Collections, a company which claimed to “pioneer” the ‘Home meets Hotel’ category of accommodations. A year later, Oasis exited the Hyatt partnership and was swiftly acquired by Portland-based vacation rental management platform Vacasa.
And eight years ago, Hyatt also bought a minority stake in luxury private rental brand onefinestay. However, that partnership was also short-lived as onefinestay was purchased by French hotel brand AccorHotels in April 2016 in a $170 million transaction.
