World of Hyatt 2018 Hotel Category Changes

World of Hyatt continually reviews all of their properties and makes adjustments to which category each hotel should be in, on an average of once a year. They have just announced their most recent list of category shifts, so you can see which hotels will be moving.

If you spot a hotel that you want to book and the property is increasing in category (as well as the points needed to redeem), as long as you make reservations prior to December 13, 2017 (at 12:01am CST) you will still be able to redeem at the current rates.

For hotels decreasing in category and requiring less points, you may want to wait until December 13 to make your redemption reservation if you can, though World of Hyatt customer service can proactively make the adjustment.

Here’s Hyatt’s award chart as a refresher –

Thankfully, there are very few hotels changing categories this time. There are a total of 9 properties being affected.

Here is the list of hotels moving up a category –

Hyatt Highlands Inn Carmel moves from Category 6 to 7.
Hyatt Place Orlando Airport moves from Category 1 to 2.
Hyatt Place Lake Mary/Orlando-North moves from Category 1 to 2.
Hyatt Place St. Paul/Downtown moves from Category 1 to 2.
Hyatt Place Augusta moves from Category 2 to 3.
Hyatt Place Long Island City/New York City moves from Category 2 to 3.
Hyatt Place Shenzhen Dongmen moves from Category 1 to 2.

All of the above properties are moving up one category each.

The Hyatt Place Santa Cruz is also going up, but it moves from Category 2 to 4 so it jumps up 2 categories.

Here is the list of hotels moving down a category –

The Confidante Miami Beach moves from Category 6 to 4.

The nice part about the Confidante’s move down a couple categories is that now it can be redeemed using the Hyatt Credit Card anniversary night category 1-4 benefit.

I haven’t stayed at the Hyatt Place in Santa Cruz, but when it comes to the shift up two categories I think the phrase “location, location, location” may have something to do with the shift. Santa Cruz is a very popular place to visit especially during summer beach weather so this change makes sense.

I have stayed at the Hyatt Highlands Inn in Carmel many times, and have long thought it to be a very special property. In fact, I would say that even though it has some quirks it is one of my favorite Hyatt hotels.

The views are stunning, the Globalist breakfast is delicious, the two-story town homes with fireplaces are romantic, and you can’t beat the location. I’m disappointed this is moving up to Category 7, but I’m not surprised.

Overall, not a ton of properties are shifting up this time around which is good. Unfortunately for me at least, one of my favorite properties will require more points for redemption going forward. Usually there is more advance notice before the category changes occur, though this time there are just a few days. Make sure to get those bookings in today or tomorrow for any properties moving up!