With flights reaching record prices and travel just generally costing a pretty penny these days, the idea of an all inclusive has become very charming.
No, not the crappy watered down drinks, sad looking food buffets and surprise charges. Those are done. Hyatt is onto something different, and whether you want to use points, or pay cash and earn some points, there’s a whole lot of excitement around Hyatt’s acquisition of Apple Leisure Group.
To capture the growing travel trend, Hyatt will now offer more than 100 all-inclusive properties, with 6 already live for points earning and redemption. It’s the start of a new and exciting adventure for World Of Hyatt, and some seriously reinvented all-inclusive concepts.
Hyatt Dives Into All Inclusive Hotels
The acquisition of Apple Leisure Group was one of seismic proportions for Hyatt. Instantly, the brand goes from having less than a handful of all inclusive options, to more than 100 across North America alone.
Six initial all-inclusive properties are now available for points redemption, and 50 more will follow by May 9th. Here’s the Hyatt landing page for the new hotel brands, with a good explainer on how it all works.
The initial launch group includes six Cancun area properties: Zoëtry Paraiso de la Bonita Riviera Maya, Secrets Playa Mujeres Golf & Spa Resort, Secrets The Vine Cancun, Dreams Natura Resort & Spa, Dreams Playa Mujeres Golf & Spa Resort and Dreams Sapphire Resort & Spa.
Apple Leisure Group’s approach to all inclusive has been an admirable one. A new era of all inclusive with a premium twist has been the focus, and the group has three core principles for its AMR Collection Hotels, with “Endless Privileges” as the top in luxury.
Here’s how each break down. I’ll take endless privileges, please!
- Endless Privileges: no checkin/checkout times, gourmet food + unlimited top shelf spirits.
- Unlimited-Luxury: Secrets and Dreams offer top shelf cocktails, gourmet cuisine, 24 hour room service, and minibars are refreshed daily.
- Unlimited-Fun: Sunscape Resorts offer gourmet restaurants, unique checkin locations for kids, and a focus on experience not just price.
Basically, these places may “be” all inclusive, but they shouldn’t feel like those empty or soulless experiences of old.
Particularly at brands such as Zoetry, you should be talking top level food, beverage and wellness programs with unique guest amenities. Sounds pretty good right now, right?
So, How Many Hyatt Points?
World Of Hyatt already has an award chart for non all-inclusive hotels, and so adding new numbers to that chart, or another chart with numbers would complicate things. To avoid that pitfall they’ve gone with letters, from A to F.
The highest end all inclusive on a peak date would cost 59,000 points per night and the lowest on an off-peak night would run 12,000 points. Most are around 20,000 – 30,000.
A chart with full details and points rates for every type of Hyatt property can be found here. Further details regarding elite benefits and earning rates can also be found.
Exciting New Ways To Use Hyatt Points
The World Of Hyatt Credit Card and the unique 1:1 transfer partnership from Chase Ultimate Rewards into World Of Hyatt have long been among the best in the game, but others have been catching up.
With the addition of 100 new all-inclusive options in the places people want to go, the World Of Hyatt currency just got an exciting jolt of life. Or major buzz, depending on the resort.
A great trip might be as simple as flights to Mexico and a bunch of Hyatt points, or using cash to earn a bunch more Hyatt Points. In a world where complicated and travel don’t mix very well, these simple and enjoyable options may prove incredibly popular. I’m excited.
