Best Uses of Hyatt Category 1-7 Certificates for Globalists Based Out of SE VA
In this post, I wanted to go over some of the best ways to use category 1-7 Hyatt certificates, particularly for those wishing to only stay 1 or 2 nights who are traveling from SE VA & who are globalists themselves or who are using a Guest of Honor Booking from a Globalist. Generally speaking, the higher the value in $ you'd get between the free night and any globalist perks or Small Luxury Hotels perks, the more reasons you have to use the category 1-7 certificate there. While there are many other factors, that's my top recommended factor to consider at least. The next major factor is how long it will take you to get there, since a category 1-7 certificate is not often paired with another one on a category 5-7 property and the points or $ cost is typically high.
Image courtesy Hyatt.com
Image courtesy Hyatt.com
Globalist Status Benefits
For anyone with Globalist status, & for those using someone else's Globalist status for a Guest of Honor certificate booking, it's best to know the benefits of status so that you can maximize your value, depending on the hotel brand.
Here is a picture with the benefits of Globalist status on the right:
Image courtesy https://world.hyatt.com/content/gp/en/tiers-and-benefits.html#charts
Club lounge perks: Most locations that have a club lounge (primarily Hyatt Grands & some Hyatt Regencies) will provide free access to it if it’s open during the stay. It's best to reach out to the hotel to confirm that if it has a club lounge, it will be open for the duration of your stay, and ask what type of food will be available (i.e. morning breakfast, evening d'oeuvres, & dessert). For instance, with the Grand Hyatt in DC, I’ve confirmed directly with the hotel that this one is open and that the standard “continental breakfast, evening hors d’oeuvres, and all-day refreshments” are available during stays, including on weekends. If the lounge is available, I recommend going there (not the restaurant) for free breakfast and other meals/snacks, with the lightest options typically at lunch, best options at breakfast, & 2nd best at dinner, typically with limited hours. While the evening options are typically called evening hors d'oeuvres, whether or not they can replace dinner depends in large part on the hotel. At Hyatts, it’s not typical for what’s served at lunch to be a meal replacement, & typically doesn’t include hot items, but it may vary by the hotel. In the case of the Grand Hyatt Washington, it's snacks only at lunch time and not a viable meal replacement. This benefit is available "for each registered guest in the room, up to a maximum of two (2) adults and two (2) children."
Breakfast perk: When not staying at a location with a club lounge, at many Hyatt hotels that don't typically offer breakfast, guests "will receive daily complimentary full breakfast (which includes one entrée or standard breakfast buffet, juice, and coffee, as well as tax, gratuity and service charges) for each registered guest in the room, up to a maximum of two (2) adults and two (2) children."
Upgrade status perk: If space is available at check in at certain Hyatt brands (i.e. Regency & Grand), you would have the option to get upgraded up to a standard suite. It's not a bad idea to check a hotel in advance of a stay online to see if paid standard suites are available. If so, it's not a bad idea to call the hotel to see what percent of suites are booked. Keep in mind that according to the terms, "Not valid at Caption by Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Destination by Hyatt Residences, or Vacation Ownership Property hotels and resorts."
If a hotel has any parking fees paid directly to the hotel ($62/night typically at Grand Hyatt Washington), destination fees ($20/night at Grand Hyatt Washington), or resort fees, those shouldn’t be needed due to Globalist status.
"Late Checkout", up to 4 PM, is a nice perk, but it's especially nice if you're also able to snag an early check in, & especially so on a 1 or 2 night stay, which is built into the terms when it says "Priority Room Availability".
For more term details, go here.
Small Luxury Hotels Benefits
Hyatt has partnerships with some brands including Small Luxury Hotels. While you won't be receiving any benefits from your globalist status, the following benefits are important to note for all Hyatt members when booking at these properties via Hyatt:
"Daily complimentary continental breakfast for two.
Complimentary Wi-Fi.
Early check-in at noon (based on availability at check-in).
Late check-out at 2 p.m. (based on availability at check-in).
One category room upgrade (based on availability at check-in)."
Drivable Options Where You Can Stay
With a category 1-7 free night certificate, you'd be able to stay in standard rooms (or up to a standard suite in some cases via a free status upgrade if space is available upon check-in) at any of Hyatt's >1300 category 1-7 properties around the world. That said, I'd generally recommend one of their category 6-7 properties that would be a <4 hr drive or flight(s). For instance, here are some drivable options outside of Hampton Roads:
Image courtesy Hyatt.com
That said, while Keswick Hall is a solid option any time of the year, the ones on the coast are highly seasonal in their pricing in this example. If wanting to dive deeper into when you could get good value, get off the Hyatt website and instead move over to Google Hotels for a city and look at the "When to Visit" section. In this case, that's in July & August:
If I then look at options over the weekend prior to July 4th (with holiday weekends tending to have high prices, especially highly celebrated ones), I get some viable redemption options:
Image courtesy Hyatt
If wanting to stay any time soon, you'd typically be better off staying at Keswick Hall or a category 5 property instead to get better value unless going during a time when the $ prices are significantly higher than what they are currently above.
Image courtesy Hyatt
Out of the possible times available in the near future, those times of higher value are typically going to mean more to do:
Image courtesy Google
Going on the Hyatt website I see an option available for 25k points at the $991/night date of April 8th ($1009/night on the Hyatt website):
Image courtesy Hyatt
I then do a Google search to see what's the fuss about that date, and I see some viable reasons why. I find this events page for the town. After seeing some Easter events, I discover that it's Easter weekend, with Easter-themed events in Charlottesville like the Easter Eggstravaganza on Carter Mountain Orchard. My wife and I have gone to Carter Mountain Orchard at least a few times before and it's a wonderful place. There are also a number of events going unrelated to Easter that day, like the Charlottesville City Market & Ellington's Evening of Music & Poetry Feat.
Top Suggested Hotel for a Drivable Visit
Here is my top recommendation far surpassing the value of anything else that comes close that isn't a >4 hr drive:
Keswick Hall in Charlottesville on Easter Weekend, a Small Luxury Hotel
Of course, dates will vary in $ price, but the certificate value remains the same, so with the certificates, pricier dates can be ideal to maximize value. That said, lower-cost $ dates typically will have a higher likelihood of an upgrade due to the SLH perks or our Globalist status (in the case of hotels where applicable, which don't include SLH properties).
That date, you'd be saving $1154 under current pricing:
Hotel Bookable Until March 28th for Indirect Flights Under $200: Wentworth Mansion in Charleston
I'm including this one in part because it's about to go from category 7 to 8, even though it's certainly not the highest-value option on this article.
Image courtesy Hyatt
If paying for the above in $, it would take $651.80 May 16-17:
Image courtesy Hyatt
While available on direct flights, the timing of those flights was poor which would lend more toward indirect flights. May 16-17 was found due to the timing of arrival and departure as well as the relatively low cost:
Image courtesy Google Flights
Many High Value Options Where You Can Stay w/ Low Cost Direct Flights
There are plenty of direct flights out of SE VA, from Newport News, Norfolk, or Richmond. See my article on finding cheap flights if desired.
It's a good idea to check Google flights to look for options across a broad range of dates.
Image courtesy Google
Here's a map of some of those direct flights available at least as of the time of the map creation. In many of those cases, there are category 6-7 options for a stay.
Here's one example at the Thompson Central Park of where you could save over $700 (including taxes) on a 1-night hotel stay in New York in May:
Image courtesy Hyatt
Image courtesy Google
Andaz 5th Avenue in NYC wouldn't be bad either:
Image courtesy Google
Another fine option is the Park Hyatt Chicago:
Image courtesy Google
Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach (near Tampa) is an option, but you'll more often be getting lower value there than the above properties unless you are able to get an upgrade at check-in, with some exceptions like March 24th-25th where you can save over $700 for the night before any upgrade.
There are plenty of good options on Nashville, especially on peak dates:
Image courtesy Hyatt
The Hyatt Place Nashville Downtown & Thompson Nashville aren't available on that date, an example of phantom availability:
Image courtesy Hyatt
The Grand Hyatt Nashville also has a club lounge that would come free courtesy the Globalist perks:
Image courtesy Hyatt
Miami has some decent options as well, though the Hyatt Regency Miami & Hyatt Centric Las Olas below are both phantom availability & category 3-4 so not worth using a category 1-7 certificate on:
Image courtesy Hyatt
Keep in mind that the above costs at most brands aren't factoring in the free parking (if applicable), free breakfast, and the possibility of a free upgrade if space is available at check-in you'd be getting
Time
For a 1 night stay, I'd generally recommend leaving early in the morning and getting back at night in an ideal world. I'd also generally recommend travel that would be less than 4 hours each way. If you leave at 8 AM, get to a location at 12 PM, and then return at 5 PM, you'd have a full 24 hr day plus an afternoon at a destination. In some cases, you may want to make stops or take detours along the way if driving.
Value
While it may be tempting to pick the first destination that comes to mind where a category 1-4 property is available, I suggest only choosing a destination where you'd be getting high value. If you only pick a category 1 hotel property just because it's the only hotel when you want and where you want it, you'll likely be leaving a lot of value on the table.
I also recommend choosing a hotel not just based on the standard price, but based on all the savings you'd receive based on the Globalist status benefits. I'm particularly a fan of properties with a club lounge that have a number of standard suites, though I'm not seeing great options for that in this case except in Nashville. That's better on the category 1-4 certificates due to the Grand Hyatt Washington.
Additional Costs
When considering a 1 night stay, be sure to keep in mind additional costs like:
Parking Fees (typically not an issue since parking is free at Hyatt hotels for Globalists (but not necessarily at SLH properties), but be sure to confirm prior to booking)
Rental Car Costs if flying or going by train and you don't plan to use another form of transit
Baggage fee costs for transit, if applicable
Meal costs
If you have a Bank of America credit or debit card, and especially if others in your party have one as well, consider timing your visit to go on a Museum's On Us weekend (the first full weekend of every month) in a city with an attraction that you'd like to visit.
Changing Hotel Categories
A number of Hyatt hotels are changing categories on March 28. I'll mention some notable ones here. Airport codes referenced are Norfolk (ORF), Richmond (RIC), & Newport News (PHF):
Properties to book now due to shifting from category 7 to 8:
Florida: Hyatt Centric Key West Resort & Spa (4 hrs 10 minutes + 2 leg flights)
South Carolina: Charleston - Wentworth Mansion (1 hr 19 minutes direct flight on Breeze from ORF)
Vermont: Stowe - The Lodge at Spruce Peak (3 hrs 18 minutes + from RIC) - with this one, prices are falling rapidly due to ski season dwindling down
Property to consider along with category 6-7 properties due to a shift up from category 5 to 6:
Tennesse: Nashville - Grand Hyatt Nashville (2 hrs direct from ORF)
Properties to consider if considering other category 5 properties due to a shift up from category 4 to 5:
Illinois: Chicago Athletic Association (2 hrs 15 minutes direct from RIC or ORF)
Louisiana: New Orleans - The Eliza Jane (2 hrs 15 minutes direct from RIC or ORF)
Properties to not use a category 1-7 certificate on due to shifting from Category 5 to Category 4
DC: Thompson Washington D.C. (3 hr drive depending on where from under low traffic)
Kentucky: Louisville - the Grady (3 hrs 34 minutes + indirect)
Tennessee: Nashville - Hyatt House Nashville Downtown / Convention Center (2 hrs direct from ORF)
There are no category 8 properties coming down to category 7 in the US, & no category 8 properties within a 4 hr flight sequence of SE VA coming down to category 7.
Why To Not Consider Category 1-4 Properties
Since category 1-4 certificates are so much easier to come by, using a category 1-7 certificate on a category 4 property would typically be considered a waste, though it may still be tempting at a spot like the Grand Hyatt Washington where I'll be staying using points later this month using a confirmed suite upgrade for a >1k sq ft grand suite including free parking in the middle of DC & club lounge access for my breakfasts and dinners. I acquired the points for that stay using 2 Chase Freedoms that converted to Hyatt Rewards via my Chase Sapphire Reserve.