Hyatt has announced a new upscale collection brand this morning: Unscripted by Hyatt. This brand will be part of the Essentials portfolio. They note that they currently have over 40 hotels globally in active discussions about joining this brand.
Unscripted by Hyatt is “…designed to unlock growth through adaptive reuse and conversion-friendly opportunities,” and will allow each property to have their own unique style.
“The Unscripted by Hyatt brand gives owners a flexible path to join the Hyatt system while still delivering the high-quality, dependable experience guests expect from Hyatt,” said Dan Hansen, Head of Americas Development, Hyatt. “By joining the growing World of Hyatt loyalty program, owners benefit from our powerful network where an innovative new brand like Unscripted by Hyatt widens our guest and customer reach and strengthens the value of the whole Hyatt system.”
With the addition of Unscripted by Hyatt, their Essentials portfolio is now the following:
- Caption by Hyatt
- Hyatt Place
- Hyatt House
- Hyatt Studios
- UrCove
- Unscripted by Hyatt (new)
Looking at this list, three of the six are new brands. Caption by Hyatt debuted in 2022, Hyatt Studios debuted earlier this year, and now Unscripted by Hyatt.
Hyatt notes that this will be an upscale property, which would be a very different style than the rest of the brands in the Essentials portfolio. Caption by Hyatt, Hyatt Place, and the rest of them are by no means upscale, and are mostly select service properties.
That said, Hyatt discussed similar benefits for hotel owners when starting the Hyatt Studios brand recently, by being conversion-friendly and offering a flexible path to join the program.
The number of Hyatt brands is no doubt growing. They now have 33 brands, which will be 34 after this new one debuts. By comparison, Marriott has 37 while having a much larger footprint. I get that Hyatt wants to grow each section of its portfolio and offer new benefits to property owners and unique stays to its customers, but I’d also like to see them grow using their current brands. I also can’t complain about new Hyatt properties, either. Hyatt currently has about 1,350 properties globally, a minuscule number compared to Marriott, which has about 9,360. Its smaller footprint is the biggest drawback for Hyatt, so I understand their efforts in creating flexible ways to welcome new properties to the World of Hyatt program with new brands.
But as always, this is another chance to check off the Hyatt Brand Explorer award, where you can earn a category 1-4 free night after staying at 5 different brands.
Featured image by Hyatt.
