9
May
U.S. Travel Association Daily Getaways sponsored by American Express offers Hyatt Gold Passport points at 12:00 noon eastern time (pre-sale) and 1:00 pm regular sale.
There are severely limited quantities of Hyatt points in three of the four sales for various amounts of points from 24,000 to 69,000 point sets. You can buy a maximum of one set of points from each sale for a total four sets of points for a potential 159,000 Hyatt Gold passport points. Read More…
Visa Signature card holders in the U.S. can register their U.S.-issued Visa Signature card number by May 11, 2012 for 90 days of instant Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum elite status. This status level has benefits of free internet, 15% bonus points, possibility of room upgrades and 2pm late check-out. Platinum members also receive a Platinum Extras certificate every 3rd stay for benefits like bonus points, dining discounts and room upgrades. Read More…
Hyatt Hotels is rebranding Avia Napa and Avia Savannah to its luxury Andaz boutique brand in summer 2012. These two hotels, Andaz Napa and Andaz Savannah will bring the Andaz portfolio to eight hotels. Andaz Amsterdam will be the 9th Andaz and is also scheduled to open in summer 2012 on the Prinsengracht, the same city center canal as Starwood’s The Pulitzer Hotel.
Avia Napa and Avia Savannah were acquired in July 2011 along with Avia Long Beach, Avia The Woodlands Texas and 16 Hotel Sierra extended stay properties. In September 2011 these properties became part of Hyatt Gold Passport with the Avia upper upscale properties retaining their name. Hotel Sierra properties along with all Hyatt Summerfield Suites were rebranded as HYATT house in 2012.
Andaz Napa will have 141 rooms. This hotel is fairly new (2009) and located in downtown Napa. I visited the Avia Hotel in February 2011 and I found it to be the most interesting hotel in town if you wanted to be some place that had a happening vibe.
Napa, California
Napa, California as a town is a reflection of the mixed economy of northern California. The Napa Valley wine region is primarily north of the city of Napa. The city itself has some beautiful late 19th/early 20th century architecture with Victorian houses, lots of older trees and a small, older central business district that kind of reminds me of a Bruce Springsteen song the times I have walked the streets the past few years.
“Now Main Street’s whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain’t nobody wants to come down here no more”
– My Hometown, Bruce Springsteen
Downtown Napa has had many businesses go under in the past few years and the tough economy of the old town center has been apparent during my visits since 2009. Yet, there is also a vibrant restaurant and bar scene with new places and new buildings. The supposedly improving economy may just fill many of the older vacant store fronts and new construction complexes along the Napa River with new businesses.
Avia Napa was a real bright spot as a new hotel on First Street opened in July 2009.
Hyatt’s Avia Napa hotel will undergo some refurbishment with the primary change looking to be the lobby conversion into a lounge area. The bar seemed to be the focal point of the lobby when I was there last year with a lot of open space and not much seating.
I like the location of Hyatt’s Andaz Napa better than the Westin Verasa Napa which is on the other side of the river and not really near much of anything except the Napa Wine Train station. There are several restaurants and bars in the downtown area.
Avia Napa was the hotel I considered the best value in town when I was in Napa about a year ago. As Andaz Napa I expect the rates might climb quite a bit higher. Time will tell and the rebranding to Andaz Napa will happen during the peak season dates from July to October 2012.
Rates for Avia Napa this next week are under $200 per night. Last year I think they were around $150 per night this time of year on weekdays when the hotel was not yet a Hyatt. Napa hotels always have higher rates on weekends when tourism substantially picks up.
About Andaz Hotels
Andaz Hotels are currently in London, New York (2), West Hollywood, San Diego and Shanghai. Other Andaz properties in development are locations in the resort area of Papagayo, Costa Rica; Providenciales, Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean; Delhi, India; Sanya Sunny Bay, China (a rapidly developing beach resort area with all major luxury brands claiming a bit of beach); and Maui, Hawaii.
Hotel News Now published an article on the Andaz brand this past week that is an interesting read.
Hyatt Hotels press release on Avia to Andaz rebranding (March 8, 2012).
Hyatt Hotels launched a new rate offer this week called Free Time that gives a free night rebate at checkout. This rate is available for booking from March 20 through November 30, 2012 for stays through December 30, 2012.
Most participating hotels offer the third night free and the rate includes full breakfast for two and some hotels offer 2pm late checkout.
This offer is only for participating hotels in the US, Canada and Caribbean. Hyatt House and Hyatt Place are not participating brands.
The rate code is FRTIME. There is a website Hyatt.com/freetime that should describe the promotion offer and participating hotels, however, the link is not active at the time of writing. Read More…
Hyatt Gold Passport offers 10% to 30% bonus points on points purchases from January 18 through March 15, 2012. The normal purchase rate of $24 per 1,000 points is charged, but the bonus points reduce the net cost. There is a calendar year limit of 40,000 points as the maximum purchase, yet this offer allows members to buy as many as 52,000 points for 2012.
This is a good opportunity to load up on Hyatt Gold Passport points if you have specific plans for using the points in 2012. I could show you loads of hotels where this is a great deal compared to the published rate, but suffice to say this can be a route to discounted hotel rooms. DealsWeLike blog showed a couple of examples where buying points saves major cash outlay at a couple of resort hotels.
Assume you purchase 52,000 points for $960. Here is the table to showing room rate to reward rate equivalent after buying points at $18.46 per 1,000 points.
Hyatt Gold Passport Reward Nights (Hyatt link to free night rewards)
This table shows the cost or reward nights at each hotel reward level when buying points with the 30% bonus. If the published rate after tax is more than the rate shown here, then the points option is cheaper. Keep in mind though that a Hyatt reward stay does not earn points or elite credit and for Diamond members, confirmed suite upgrades are not applicable to reward stays.
Buy and Transfer Points for Bigger Hotel Rewards is the column I wrote for InsideFlyer January 2012 issue showing the rules for buying and transferring points across the major hotel loyalty programs. The piece shares some strategies and opportunities available to members who may want to buy points for a hotel reward as a cheaper alternative to the published room rates.
One of the features of Hyatt Gold Passport is the free transfer of points between any two members to reach the level needed for a reward stay redemption. This gives a couple the opportunity to purchase and combine 104,000 points with this current Hyatt Gold Passport promotion.
You may only have as few as 6,000 points in your account today and tomorrow you could have 110,000 points after combining points with another member (spouse, parent, traveling companion). Five nights at a Category 6 Hyatt Hotel for $1,920 in points purchases can potentially be a huge discount at some Hyatt Resorts and aspirational properties.
Hyatt has a promotion for 1,500 bonus points at AVIA, Hotel Sierra and Hyatt Summerfield Suites for stays from November 22 through January 8, 2012. Use Special Offer Code 1500GP when booking rates. There is no higher rate for using this code. 1500GP promotion works with AAA and AARP discount rates too.
There is no list of participating hotels. Every hotel I tried in these brands showed 1,500GP beside the rate code.
Hyatt AVIA Napa AAA discount + 1,500 bonus points per stay.
The Gold Passport Diamond customer service agent didn’t mention this offer when I booked AVIA Long Beach last week and the earliest mention I see of the offer on the web is November 26. I will see if I can get the bonus retroactively?
My AVIA Long Beach hotel review this week shows several photos of a master suite at the property along with the hotel facilities. The pool is a great hotel feature. Checking this 1500GP rate I see AVIA Long Beach has a special December 2011 offer for the master suite room category at $119. This rate also allows 1500GP bonus. That is a deal for this hotel. The lowest advance purchase rate is $171.15 for the Master Suite room.
Gold Passport Suite Upgrade rate AVIA Long Beach Dec 13, 2011.
This looks like a good Winter Hyatt Gold Passport Bonus Offer.
Winter Hyatt Gold Passport Bonus Offer AVIA, Hotel Sierra, Summefield Suites for stays Nov 22-Jan 8, 2012.
The promotion also mentions Hyatt House which is the new 2012 Hyatt brand being created from Hyatt Summerfield Suites and recently acquired Hotel Sierra extended stay properties. Four AVIA upper upscale boutique hotels were also acquired by Hyatt in the Hotel Sierra deal.
Passports with Purpose 2011 Reminder
Hyatt Gold Passport donated a 110,000 points prize to sponsor Loyalty Traveler for the Passports with Purpose raffle.
$10 per ticket can win you some really cheap points (Loyalty Traveler post Nov 30, 2011).
