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Last month Hilton announced that they were going to be launching a partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH). That inevitably meant that SLH’s partnership with Hyatt was going to be coming to a close and we now have more details about when that will be and how reservations will be treated.
World of Hyatt has provided an update here. Here’s a quick summary of the changes.
When will the Hyatt/SLH partnership end?
The Hyatt/SLH partnership will officially end on May 15, 2024.
How will existing reservations be treated?
Hyatt has stated that all existing reservations – whether they take place before or after May 15 – will be honored (however, more about current issues with that can be found below).
There will be a differentiation though. If you check in for your stay on or before May 15, you’ll still receive the standard Hyatt partnership benefits such as complimentary breakfast, elite night credits, etc. If your stay has a check-in date from May 16, your stay itself will still be honored, but you’ll receive no benefits like breakfast, elite night credits, etc.
One minor exception date-wise is that any spend at an SLH property that’s put on a World of Hyatt credit card will continue earning 4x points through August 31, 2024.
Can you make new reservations at SLH?
Yes, to an extent. You can – in theory – book SLH stays for stays before May 15, 2024 via Hyatt, but stays after that date aren’t bookable via Hyatt. Whether you’ll find much availability is another matter.
Can you cancel or change existing SLH reservations?
Yes, although the procedure will depend on when you’re making that cancellation or change. If you need to cancel or change a reservation on or before May 15, that should be done by calling Hyatt at 1.888.848.9496 according to the page detailing these changes, but Greg has confirmed he’s been able to cancel SLH stays in the app.
For stays from May 16 onwards, you’ll have to contact SLH and they’ll process the cancellation or change. That can be done via phone at 1.212.953.0118 or via email at Hyattreservations@slh.com.
There’s a key distinction with reservation changes though. To modify a reservation after May 15, SLH will have to cancel your booking and set up a new one. That means stays booked with points can’t be changed from May 16 onwards as SLH won’t be able to rebook it with Hyatt points. As for paid stays, any changes will be priced at whatever the cost is when you make the change which means they could end up being more expensive, so you’ll want to verify the pricing before cancelling and rebooking.
My SLH reservation has disappeared from my Hyatt account. What’s up with that?
Good question. If you have any existing SLH reservations booked via Hyatt, you might have noticed that they’ve disappeared from your World of Hyatt account.
Tim noticed this with existing reservations on his account. When reaching out to the Hyatt Concierge team on Twitter, they advised that his reservation no longer exists. Greg has also noticed that his previously booked SLH reservations have disappeared from his account.
At the moment, we’re hoping that the Hyatt Concierge team on Twitter were simply mistaken and that the reservations haven’t been cancelled but rather that a computer glitch has resulted in them not being viewable. We’ve reached out to our Hyatt rep to inquire about this, so we’ll provide an update once we’ve received clarification.
Update: It looks like SLH reservations disappearing was indeed a temporary glitch; they should be showing back on your account now.
Quick Thoughts
It’s good that we now have a firm date for when this partnership will end and how reservations will be treated, but it seems like there could be a lot of hassles on the horizon for people with bookings at SLH properties, particularly when booked with Hyatt points or free night certificates.
One hassle is having to call Hyatt in order to make changes or cancel a stay before May 15, although I imagine that if you have Globalist status that your concierge will still be able to assist via email. What’s not clear is how quickly and/or easily points and certificates will be returned to your account. Hopefully those will be returned automatically and with immediate effect when being processed on or before May 15. However, with reservations disappearing from Hyatt’s system already, it seems like there’s a risk that points and certificates won’t necessarily be returned promptly. Update: Now that SLH reservations are showing back on accounts, Greg has been able to cancel existing reservations and immediately received the points and certificates back on his account.
That could be an even bigger issue when cancelling or modifying stays after May 15. Seeing as you have to contact SLH to make those changes, you’ll be reliant on them notifying Hyatt about the changes and for Hyatt to then credit back the points and/or certificates. I’d like to think that both companies will be competent with that, but we simply have no way of knowing right now how smoothly – or quickly – that’ll be processed.
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I have 3 SLH bookings upcoming- the 1st one unfortunately being May 20 right after the partnership ends. 2 of the 3 I would keep no matter what given they are in remote locations in Scotland. It appears all the hotels I am staying at include breakfast for all guests, so I’m willing to roll the dice on these. I am not chasing status so elite nights are irrelevant for me and all of my bookings are with points so not concerned with points earning. Depending on when the Mr. and Mrs. Smith integration occurs I will change things up perhaps.
Had a SLH reservation in Vienna for July, a city where there are tons of good options. Traded for an upcoming trip where the hotel was soon moving to a cat 5. Worked out for me.
I didn’t even know that the one place we’re staying at the very end of May was SLH. Got a message from Hyatt about it last night. No breakfast.
Has anyone attempted/been successful at bullying them into honoring free breakfast or providing compensation? We only have four nights of stays but will be out $300 on just breakfast. Trying to email Hyatt, SLH, and the hotels directly, hoping someone comes to their senses.
I thought all SLH bookings came with breakfast for two included? Would they really exclude Hyatt reservations from something that everyone else at the hotel is receiving?
SLH bookings made via Hyatt all get complimentary breakfast; I’m not certain that’s the case for non-Hyatt reservations. They might – I’m not sure.
Doesn’t it say after May 15th no free breakfast with Hyatt reservations?
That’s correct – I’d been referring to how it worked historically, but rereading my comment that’s not at all clear with how I worded it.
Small Luxury Hotels never honored Globalist benefits. SLH properties used to offer free breakfast for 2 for all of their guests.
You can join their loyalty program and get this benefit if that’s the issue. I would think the complaints are about not earning g tier nights or eligible spend…
I meant to reply to original poster*
No free continental breakfast unless/until your fourth night at a SLH property under the SLH program. But can you even substitute your SLH “Invited” number into a Hyatt-made booking to get this benefit, assuming you have 4+ nights at SLH properties?
Thank you for the information about their breakfast.
My comment is to John about bullying Hyatt for an item that was never offered due to Globalist benefits.
If you received breakfast at an SLH with a Hyatt booking, it wasn’t because of your status.
Not sure why bullying Hyatt is the solution.
I feel the real issue is night credits and eligible spend (which most won’t have because they booked using points or awards).
I mean…the actual text of the emails said that the free breakfast and other benefits will not be honored, despite them being promised on the Hyatt page at time of booking. Globalist is irrelevant.
There appears to be no way to maintain the existing reservation and convert it over to an SLH booking that *might* get benefits back. My understanding is that Hyatt SLH reservations are essentially being converted to floating independent reservations at these hotels and are entitled to nothing other than the room, unless the hotel itself makes an exception. We can’t even abandon the booking and rebook elsewhere with benefits, as the hotel we would have booked (and was available originally) is now sold out for our travel dates.
So the remaining option is a combination of bullying Hyatt/SLH into honoring the benefits (unlikely) or compensation (more likely per random redditer), and asking the hotel nicely if they’ll honor free breakfast (already worked for one of the two hotels).
Many SLH already include breakfast for all. Your rate details should indicate whether that is the case at a specific hotel.
Really hoping that partnership with Hilton will be similar to Hyatt partnership (or perchance to dream, better for elites). I have 3 nights at the end of July that I would happily switch from a Hyatt points reservation to a Hilton points or cert res
Curious what SLH bookings made with Hyatt will get once they are associated with Hilton. Will you get breakfast if you’re Hilton Diamond?
I’d like to book one of the SLH in September (Portugal) and pay with my Hilton Surpass. Will it be in the Hilton portfolio by then so I can get max points? I’m concerned the hotel will be full if I wait until May. The reservation is refundable. TY
We don’t know yet when SLH will be bookable with Hilton, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that was set up by September. Seeing as it’s refundable, there’s no harm in booking now and cancelling later if you change your mind.
Does this make Hilton a slightly more desirable program than before?
Speaking for myself: yes, if they offer a way to book SLH properties at reasonable point values and with free night certs (big ‘if’, I know)
Not honoring breakfast is such a weird hill to die on.
This one is for Nick – for a place like Grand Hotel Victoria doesn’t everyone get breakfast anyway?
Great Article Stephen, thank you! I hope that the Mr. & Mrs. Smith properties are bookable soon!
Not honoring qualifying nights and points earning is a really poor way to handle this, in my opinion. I’ve had stays booked for months for the busy summer travel season (well before the Hilton announcement). I understand if there would be issues with on site benefits such as breakfast and upgrades, but not figuring out a way to earn points and qualifying nights in the background, especially given the fact that they are honoring credit card spend, leaves a very poor taste in my mouth.
Totally agree! My wife and I are both globalists. I have a VERY expensive 4-night stay booked long ago. When I booked, it was VERY clear that would get breakfast and certain Hyatt benefits (points, stay credit) at a minimum. How was that not a contractual obligation on Hyatt’s part? We are checking in on 5/24…so just because of my dates, I’m screwed? Disgraceful and is it even consistent with the T&Cs?
Agree, but it made it an easy decision to cancel my long anticipated third time’s a charm reservation and get my 90K points back before things became more complicated with the separation between Hyatt and SLH. Disappointing but not surprising, unfortunately. While I still view Hyatt as the best of the loyalty programs, it remains a business first and foremost and I have to remind myself of this on days like today (sigh).
I think it is pretty straightforward why there will be points for credit card but not for stays. Hyatt won’t have any access to SLH records after May 15 but Chase will still have the same information they have now. I expect there may very well be some glitches in getting points for SLH stays as well unless they have a central card processing entity. I don’t expect that Hilton would be very happy if SLH was still sharing booking information with Hyatt after the switch.
Not sure I can agree there. I am paying a crapload of points per night for my stay in late May. If the points are never returned back to my account, that means I almost surely stayed. And if I stayed, I’m likely to have a receipt (with the amount spent) to prove it. Seems like a pretty easy press of a button for Hyatt to give me what they contractually promised to give me when I made the booking—night credits and Hyatt points for spend. Yeah, it will take some labor to do it, but if they create a process to get credit (eg. “email you receipt and we’ll take care of it”), I’m sure only those who really care will bother. And those are the people Hyatt should want to keep happy anyway.