At the end of last year, World of Hyatt announced that it would be expanding its footprint in Las Vegas through a partnership with The Venetian and Palazzo. The two sister properties are upscale casino/resorts with nice rooms, attractive pools and good food and beverage outlets.
At first glance, that seemed exciting given Hyatt’s lackluster footprint in Sin City, and its even more lackluster off-strip crown “jewel,” The Rio. However, since Hyatt introduced dynamic off-chart pricing with its introduction of Mr & Mrs Smith (MMS) last year, new additions have largely centered around a similar theme: nice properties, yucky award pricing.
Well, both of these Las Vegas hotels are are now live in World of Hyatt and the news isn’t good: there’s little in the way of elite benefits and award pricing is sometimes more than a normal Hyatt Category 8…even midweek.
World of Hyatt / Venetian Details
The Venetian and Palazzo are now live and can be booked via World of Hyatt with points or cash. Here’s the sordid details:
- Award prices are dynamic, revenue-based and overall are a terrible value. I checked several weekend and midweek dates throughout the Spring and found values that ranged from ~0.7-1.0 cents per point (we peg the reasonable redemption of Hyatt points at 1.7 cents each).
- Resort fees aren’t waived on award stays, unlike most properties in World of Hyatt. The fees are folded into the total points price, so you don’t have to fork over cash, but you’re still paying for them indirectly.
- There’s little in the way of benefits for elite members and no free breakfast for Globalists. The terms indicate that elite members can receive benefits like “Invited Guest check-in; late checkout and early check-in (pending availability), suite upgrades (pending availability); and discounts on gondola rides and select retail locations.” That’s it. Nothing except for priority check-in is guaranteed and Discoverists get the exact same benefits as Globalists.
- No free parking for Globalists on awards stays. But, by now you assumed that, right?
- The Venetian counts as a unique brand under Hyatt’s Brand Explorer promotion, so I guess that’s something.
- You only get points-earning, elite night credit and other Hyatt benefits when booking through Hyatt. This could be a reasonable option for folks that were going to pay the full direct cash price anyway, as the rates seem to usually be quite close. That said, there are often 3rd-party offers for less. In those cases, there is an opportunity cost to getting these limited benefits (although it could be useful for those who need elite nights).
Quick Thoughts
I’m actually a fan of both The Venetian and Palazzo. I’ve stayed at each one multiple times, usually on good-value, midweek Fine Hotels and Resorts stays to use up Amex Platinum credits. The rooms are spacious and well-appointed, the location on the strip is central and I like the selection of restaurants.
I also like World of Hyatt. However, I’m not a big fan of the combination of the two, at least in its current form.
You only get benefits if you book through Hyatt, but cash rates are fairly high and the award prices make many Mr & Mrs Smith properties look like a value. Even if you do part with the mountain of points required, you still have to pay for resort fees, parking and breakfast, regardless of your elite status. There’s just not a lot to like here, unless you were already going to pay the direct cash rate anyway. In that case, you can at least earn Hyatt points and elite nights.
This is only the latest in a series of underwhelming additions that Hyatt has made to World of Hyatt in last year or two, in terms of the benefits and value that it offers Hyatt members. Hopefully that changes at some point, but for now there’s little reason for most folks to book either The Venetian or the Palazzo through World of Hyatt.
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[…] reported on One Mile at a Time, Frequent Miler, Thrifty Traveler, MilesTalk, and View from the Wing, the deal is lacking in several key areas, […]
Worse than they were under IHG.
It must be said that Hyatt Hotels are actually expanding into a city that can get the reservations and may not need to give such perks, right now. It seems that if enough loyalists make formal complaints that they might add the perks back, if not slowly. It actually works. I have worked corporately for Hyatt in the past and know that they do listen to their most important guests.
Dynamic Hyatt is on its way for the full portfolio – book it. Whereas previous years the excuse was that they didn’t know how to implement it, the recent UI / UX changes, the ink train rollbacks, the MMS rates, and now these one off property rates indicate it’s coming fast.
Just made a booking that required a first night deposit and the authorization amount on my card is for room rate plus county tax to the cent. Typically the resort fee would be included at this stage if they were going to charge it.
From what I can see, the resort fee is waived for globalist.
My understanding is that’s because Hyatt folds in the cost of the resort fee into the room rate (which is why it’s included in the points price, not added additionally).
For example, looking on February 19th, I see a 20% off rate of $282 + tax. The $282 is actually a $231 and change + fee he $50 resort fee – which I can see broken out in the review page. However, when I go to finalize, it lists the room rate as being $282 and then shows taxes.
Not certain that’s what’s happened in your case, but I believe that’s how it’s supposed to work.
I can see the full price breakdown on my booking. It is a separate line item and not included in the first night deposit.
Oh, I see what you mean. It’s showing the resort fee on the reservation, but the deposit didn’t include it.
My guess is that you’ll end up paying it upon departure, but if you don’t get charged the resort fee on the stay after completing it, please let us know. That would be a surprising, but very welcome, non-enforcement!
Marriott is way better than Hyatt these days.
Disagree, both chains seem to have bent the knee to Vegas hotels. Partnerships are both very one sided. No real perks for elites, and none at all if you book through the hotel directly. It’s clear who has the upper hand in both relationships.
In the franchise/franchisee model that all major chains have adopted, we are not the customer. The customer is always the hotel owners, which is why status perks have become useless. There is no incentive for hotel owners to abide by them or for loyalty programs to enforce them.
Another swing-and-a-miss from Hyatt. They seem to be doing a lot more of that lately. I think they should go back toward their roots with full service hotels that have functional club lounges and the rest of the features that made Hyatt a success to begin with rather than offering one bad value after another with every new announcement. I say this as a 70+ night Globalist for last year.
Sad. Globalist, plenty of paid stays, multiple Hyatt cards. But I can read the tea leaves. No point sticking with a loyalty program that is self-immolating. Excited to get started with Hilton.
While I agree that Hilton has added some really great value with the changes to their award certs (unlimited standard room points, any night of the week), how they’ve handled the integration of SLH with actual semi-fixed award pricing and full Hilton Honors benefits at SLH properties, the Hilton credits on their AmEx cards that so far can be used for stored value by buying gift cards, and that they’ve been giving away boatloads of their points / FNAs through AmEx welcome offers on those cards, I fear there is a big devaluation coming.
In most major cities, I’m seeing Marriott properties charging the same number of points per night as comparable Hiltons, even through Hilton points are far easier to come by and transfer at a better rate from AmEx. I can’t image that is going to be sustainable moving forward. Hilton hasn’t really raised the award limit on the 130K – 150K top end in a long time (relative to the points world), so I’d expect to see Hilton gut award prices for the most aspirational properties like the Maldives just as Marriott has done since they moved to dynamic pricing, and for the FNAs to eventually get capped at like 100k – 130K points.
I’ve gotten crazy value from Hilton the last three years or so, and I hope the devaluation holds off for as long as possible as I’ve got a lot more aspirational properties I’d like to hit, but I’m seeing the writing on the wall with the current outsized value of this program compared to Marriott. It’s not that long ago that Hilton and Marriott were in a race to the bottom with each other in terms of gutting their award programs.
Hilton raised the points cap on their top end properties last month, and it was totally reasonable. What you’re describing is the devaluation of Marriott’s loyalty program. Their points are worth less and less everyday. Changes that Hyatt announced in the last 12 months have also been universally negative. Hilton knows it. They’ve added exciting properties and great value with SLH. They also expanded their relationship with Amex.
I certainly hope you’re right. When a program tries to boost its loyalty program, it’s us points enthusiasts who win. Lord knows Hilton loves selling their points to AmEx.
Ooof. I agree with you that this is not good. Maybe Hyatt is probably leaning on it’s loyal customer base. I stayed there in May 2024 and got extremely great value when it was under IHG.
Can you book the hotel through FHR and earn Hyatt points on the booking? If so, that seems not terrible… like the rest of it is
Not according to the terms.
What terms. FHR gives you the hotel night credit
I’m guessing Tim means these terms detailed in the article:
“You only get points-earning, elite night credit and other Hyatt benefits when booking through Hyatt.”
I have a stay there Sunday booked through FHR. I just replaced my IHG number with my Hyatt. We’ll see what they do for Hyatt members.
Please report back!
Mr Mrs smith is a waste. I booked a stay in ischia and a few days later I had to cancel. It was TEN months before the stay. I had to pay a 100$ fee to cancel I’ll never again book that brand.