World Of Hyatt’s 2025 Hotel Category Changes: Redeem Now

Several weeks ago, World of Hyatt revealed hotel category adjustments for 2025, impacting which hotels are in which categories (and in turn, impacting how many points are required for free night redemptions). This is something that Hyatt does annually. I want to post a reminder of this, as these changes will go live in the coming days, so now is the time to lock in any stays that could be increasing in price.

There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the total number of properties changing categories isn’t as bad as in some past years. The bad news is that the percentage of properties increasing in category (rather than decreasing) is high.

151 Hyatt hotels changing categories on March 25

World of Hyatt’s 2025 hotel category changes will be kicking in for bookings made as of 8AM CDT on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.

As of that date, 151 hotels will be changing categories, with 118 hotels shifting to a higher category and 33 hotels shifting to a lower category. You can find a full list of hotels changing categories here.

In terms of booking logistics:

• All reservations made prior to March 25 will follow the current award chart, even if you stay on a subsequent date
• Members who have stays booked at hotels that go down a category will receive an automatic one-time refund of the points difference; these points will be returned starting March 25
• Any adjustments made to bookings after the changes go into effect will follow the new pricing

As a reminder, below is the standard World of Hyatt award chart.

Some notable Hyatts changing categories

As mentioned above, we’re seeing 151 hotels shifting categories, with 118 hotels shifting to a higher category and 33 hotels shifting to a lower category. That’s rough, as 78% of hotels changing category are getting more expensive, while only 22% are getting less expensive.

On the plus side, at least the total volume of hotels changing categories isn’t as extreme as in some recent years. While you’ll want to take a look at the full list of properties for yourself, let me share what I consider to be some notable category changes.

Here are some of the World of Hyatt category increases that stand out most to me:

• Andaz Peninsula Papagayo goes from Category 7 to Category 8
• Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills goes from Category 7 to Category 8
• Grand Hyatt Kauai goes from Category 7 to Category 8
• Grand Hyatt Tokyo goes from Category 7 to Category 8
• Park Hyatt Tokyo goes from Category 7 to Category 8
• Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht goes from Category 6 to Category 7
• Grand Hyatt Baha Mar goes from Category 6 to Category 7
• Hotel Toranomon Hills goes from Category 6 to Category 7
• Hyatt Centric Ginza Tokyo goes from Category 6 to Category 7
• Hyatt Regency London The Churchill goes from Category 6 to Category 7
• Park Hyatt Buenos Aires goes from Category 6 to Category 7
• Alila Seminyak goes from Category 5 to Category 6
• Andaz Bali goes from Category 5 to Category 6
• Grand Hyatt SFO goes from Category 5 to Category 6
• Hyatt Regency Kyoto goes from Category 5 to Category 6
• Thompson Palm Springs goes from Category 5 to Category 6
• Alila Ubud goes from Category 3 to Category 4
• Park Hyatt Chennai goes from Category 1 to Category 2

Here are some of the World of Hyatt category decreases that stand out most to me:

• Hyatt Regency Maui goes from Category 7 to Category 6
• Thompson Hollywood goes from Category 6 to Category 5
• Hotel Figueroa Los Angeles goes from Category 5 to Category 4
• Thompson Atlanta goes from Category 5 to Category 4
• Park Hyatt Doha goes from Category 5 to Category 4
• Park Hyatt Suzhou goes from Category 4 to Category 3
• Grand Hyatt Muscat goes from Category 3 to Category 2
• Grand Hyatt Amman goes from Category 2 to Category 1

Looking at the big picture trends, we’re mostly seeing award price increases in Japan and Southeast Asia, while we’re seeing some decreases in California, China, and the Middle East.

The economics of World of Hyatt awards

If you want to make sense of these hotel category changes, it’s worth understanding how the economics of hotel loyalty programs work. Keep in mind that most Hyatt hotels are independently owned, so Hyatt’s loyalty program has to compensate individual hotels for each redemption. As a general rule of thumb, here’s how it works:

• When the hotel isn’t full, the loyalty program compensates the hotel at some reimbursement rate that’s slightly above the marginal cost of servicing a room, etc.
• When the hotel is full (think 90-95%+ occupancy), the loyalty program compensates the hotel close to the average daily rate, in recognition of the fact that the room may have otherwise been sold

For example, if a hotel has high rates but low occupancy, it might be in a disproportionately low category. Meanwhile if a hotel has lower rates but consistently high occupancy, it might be in a disproportionately high category. It’s all about World of Hyatt’s redemption costs.

In recent years, we’ve seen a huge increase in the average cash rates at hotels, especially for luxury, leisure oriented properties. So it’s not surprising to see points redemption rates increase as well, reflecting that trend.

Bottom line

World of Hyatt has revealed its hotel category changes for 2025. As of March 25, 2025, we’re going to see 151 properties shift categories, with 78% of those properties going up in cost, and 22% going down in cost.

The annual category changes we see from World of Hyatt is ultimately the equivalent of a soft devaluation. Then again, the cash cost of many of these properties are increasing as well, so it’s really only a devaluation compared to previous points redemption rates, rather than compared to cash rates. Furthermore, at least World of Hyatt publishes award charts — other hotel programs just have dynamic pricing, so constantly increase redemption rates without us even knowing.

What do you make of these World of Hyatt changes?