Across the board, we’ve seen a growing number of hotels try to find loopholes in order to avoid having to deliver all elite perks. It’s an area where not all hotel groups are created equal, and historically, Hyatt has done much better than the competition.
Unfortunately here’s a trend that’s really disappointing to see, and I hope Hyatt leadership seriously reconsiders allowing hotels to go down this path…
The Park Hyatt Sydney is now a resort, not a hotel
The MileLion flags how the Park Hyatt Sydney has recently made a subtle change — as of May 2026, the property is being categorized as a resort, rather than as a hotel. This is even reflected on the hotel’s website — under the “Amenities” section, you’ll now see “Resort Property” listed as one of the features.
If you ask me, what has long made World of Hyatt stand out from the competition was the program’s genuine intent to deliver value to members, and also to make sure hotels are following the spirit of the rules. Honestly, no one is loyal to Hyatt because their points earning rates are great (especially after the devaluation), but instead, it’s really about on-property treatment.
So if Hyatt has just decided to give up on that and wants to go the direction of Marriott, that sure would be a shame. This is the kind of garbage we typically expect from Marriott, where hotels make random exceptions for themselves, and corporate doesn’t do anything to stop it.
The other thing is that you know that if nothing is done about this, it’ll catch on. Before we know it, all Park Hyatts in the world will suddenly be resorts.
World of Hyatt members choose to earn Globalist status in exchange for some promised perks. So when we’re promised guaranteed late check-out at non-resorts, that should be based on a reasonable definition of what constitutes a resort, and not just what a hotel feels like calling itself on a particular day.
Bottom line
The Park Hyatt Sydney has started classifying itself as a resort rather than a hotel. This is the second Park Hyatt city hotel in recent weeks where that has happened, as we’ve seen something similar at the Park Hyatt Tokyo.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on One Mile at a Time.
