Two renowned Hyatt city hotels now become resorts and it makes us question where the bottom is for the World of Hyatt program.

Two Park Hyatt hotels now consider themselves resorts

Recently, two Park Hyatts have reclassified themselves from being hotels and now consider themselves to be resorts. These are the Park Hyatt Tokyo, a hotel we visited twice before renovation, and the Park Hyatt Sydney.

How do we know these hotels consider themselves resorts now? Because Hyatt is at least ‘honest’ in the sense that you can view the list of amenities for the property and see ‘resort’ listed there. As an example, just head to the Park Hyatt Sydney’s homepage and scroll down to the list of amenities towards the bottom. There, you’ll see it clearly listed as an amenity.

That’s the one thing we’ll say that Hyatt is at least clear about compared to some other properties. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve shown up at a Marriott, thinking the property wasn’t a resort only to find out that it considers itself one.

Of course, I don’t think you’d find very many people who would reasonably believe that both of these city hotels are true resorts. When you think of a resort, you think of a sprawling property where you’d just want to lounge around and not leave. Relaxing on a fake beach or soaking in the sun at the pool–these are resort things. Both the PH Tokyo and PH Sydney don’t have that same feeling.

What is the implication of resorts in the World of Hyatt program?

What big difference does it make that hotels call themselves resorts? Well, at Hyatt, top-tier Globalist benefits include a 4PM late checkout that’s guaranteed. Guaranteed–except at resorts.

You see, when a hotel calls itself a resort, it no longer needs to honor that benefit. In our experience, resorts will still try to extend a slightly later checkout but most don’t go all the way to 4PM because they don’t have to. Hyatt isn’t as keen at monetizing this at resorts by charging a late checkout fee (yet) as other chains like Hilton are.

All other Globalist benefits operate the same way; it’s just the late checkout benefit that changes with the resort designation. And where this impacts Globalists, it impacts Guest of Honor awards the same way. Clearly, these properties were having difficulty honoring late checkout with all the Globalists and Guests of Honor at the hotel. These are two of the most aspirational properties within the Hyatt umbrella, so they attract plenty of people looking to maximize their benefits. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that Globalists and Guests of Honor stay at these properties in large numbers.

Why are people upset about this?

First of all, this is a slippery slope. As properties recognize what others are able to “get away with”, they start to wonder “why not me?” This is exactly why there needs to be a clear definition posted about which hotels count as a resort and which do not. Otherwise, you can expect all other Category 8 properties to become a resort. We’re not saying this is imminent by any means, but some of these tactics start small and then spread.

Secondly, by updating the official Hyatt website with the ‘resort amenity’, it seems like Hyatt implicitly approves. In fact, Hyatt manages both properties (though it doesn’t own them). That also boosts the perception that Hyatt has no problem with the designation. How could they not approve of the designation when they’re the ones also making the decision to change to a resort? It could be that one hand is just not talking to the other, but the longer this continues, the more unlikely this becomes.

Third, this comes right after the devaluation and big category change. People are exhausted with the negative changes Hyatt keeps introducing in 2026. Yet, here they are allowing properties to skirt elite benefits by a bogus reclassification. I guess this is part of a multi-point attack on members to pad not just the bottom line for World of Hyatt but also individual hotels.

Hyatt knows it still has a problem with coverage across key markets

Hyatt has historically needed better benefits to attract people to stay at their properties. It’s relatively easy for people to find a hotel where they need it with Marriott, Hilton, and even IHG. But with Hyatt, you might have to go out of your way to stay at the property.

While the chain has grown, it still acknowledges that it has a long way to go to catch up. Just look at their admission in their 2026 Q1 investor presentation. Where they positively spin it as a growth opportunity, it negatively means they’re behind their peers currently.

Having zero presence in 8% of the top 50 markets, 23% in the top 51-150 markets, and 53%(!) of the top 151-674 markets is sad, indeed. And even within those markets, competitors have 3-4 times the number of hotels Hyatt has. Hyatt is still a small chain. As much as they might have grown, they have a long way to go until they’re as relevant as other chains. In fact, it’s even worse when looking at solely US hotels where competitors have a presence in 99% of the top 691 markets. Hyatt is nowhere close.

Bottom line, this is all about Hyatt believing it doesn’t need to be orders of magnitude better than other chains. Instead, it just needs to be marginally better than other chains. And would you believe it that this all seems to be part of their plan for 2026? They’re telling investors that the loyalty program will “drive commercial results”. They even bolded the phrase to point that out to investors. Hyatt wants your money and they seemingly are fine with sharing in the opportunity with individual hotels looking to get out of honoring benefits.

Have your opinions of Hyatt changed in 2026?

Suggested reading:

• The Hits Keep Coming: Hyatt Transfers Devalued from Chase Cards
• Hyatt Brand Rankings 2026: A Clear Look at How World of Hyatt Loyalty Has Started to Fall Behind
• Hyatt Guest of Honor: How It Works & What to Know