Hyatt is once again making a game of expanding its reach into the luxury hotel and lifestyle segments.
The Chicago-based hotel giant plans to acquire Mr. & Mrs. Smith, a London-based travel booking platform that includes more than 1,500 boutique and luxury hotels and villas around the world, Hyatt leaders announced Friday morning.
This agreement is made at the expense of IHG Hotels & Resorts, the company Currently collaborating with Mr. & Mrs. Smith that allowed IHG to penetrate deeper into boutique and luxury hotels, although that partnership never really had a solid foundation from a loyalty program perspective.
Hyatt is expected to fully acquire the Mr. & Mrs. Smith for £53 million (about $66 million) and close the deal by the end of June. The move is the latest in a string of acquisitions and partnerships spurring Hyatt expands into luxury and lifestyle hotels as well as strengthening the European real estate portfolio.
Hyatt management noted that Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s deal involves hotels in 20 countries that currently do not have any Hyatt-branded hotels in operation, such as Fiji, Croatia, Iceland and Anguilla (though not yet). World of Hyatt members may find points accumulation and redemption options in a number of locations through the program’s affiliation with Luxury small hotel).
“Founders Tamara and James Lohan, along with their impressive team, have built the ultimate global direct booking collection of travel experiences,” said Mark Vondrasek, chief commercial officer of Hyatt. The accommodation is truly unique, consisting of rooms located in treehouses, caves, and underwater suites. statement. “It is important that we see a lot of synergy between our shared care ethos, and we look forward to working together to collectively focus on new, memorable stay experiences for guests and World of Hyatt members – and introduce new guests to Hyatt properties around the world.”
Hyatt’s profit is IHG’s loss
Mr. and Mrs. Smith is a compelling way to earn and redeem IHG One Rewards points while traveling in parts of the world that don’t have one of the company’s top brands like InterContinental, Kimpton or Six Senses.
Personally, I’ve enjoyed staying at Mr and Mrs Smith properties booked through IHG over the past few months, including at Les Rosées, a guesthouse in southern France north of Cannes, and Germany’s Ameron Frankfurt Neckarvillen Boutique , which has helped me elevate my status. IHG One Rewards Elite Status.
Both hotels offer local flavors as well as personal touches upon arrival, such as a bottle of local French wine at Les Rosées and locally produced chocolates at Ameron Frankfurt. The staff at both properties go to great lengths every day to make an overnight stay extraordinary, from homemade cookies and wonderful French breakfasts to remembering the best. Personal preference in cocktails in the middle of a crowded bar in Germany.
Sign up for our daily newsletter
The fact that these hotels and other hotels in the Mr. & Mrs. Smith will now be part of the Hyatt that has put considerable pressure on IHG to find new partners with unique luxury properties to entice its members into loyalty. This follows a number of other challenges that IHG has faced recently, including take about 100 hotels to Sonesta’s acquisition and a planned Six Senses outpost in New York City has moved the brand affiliation to Accor .’s Faena brand.
But Hyatt will also be under pressure to integrate Mr. & Mrs. Smith into the World of Hyatt ecosystem. Although I love staying at the Mr. & Mrs. Smith as an IHG One Awards member, but I (along with countless readers) note that booking a hotel through IHG is a daunting endeavor and you often have to remove any branding options under manually, but Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s partnership in the hotel booking system even shows up in search.
Discrete loyalty recognition is another sticking point in the IHG partnership, as IHG One Rewards members earn a set of benefits while those in InterContinental Ambassador and Kimpton Inner Circle members separately special of IHG enjoy high benefits with the property of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
It is unclear if Hyatt has worked out the technical aspects of this partnership, as a company statement acknowledged that immediate integration will not occur at the conclusion of the agreement:
“The day after the closure, Hyatt plans to reveal direct booking access to properties in the Mr. & Mrs. Smith through Hyatt’s distribution channels, including Hyatt.com and the World of Hyatt app. The move is anticipated to potentially unlock access to more than double the number of luxury hotels and global boutiques in Hyatt’s direct booking channels, and Hyatt is exploring ways to enable members to World of Hyatt members earn and redeem points at eligible hotels in Mr. & Mrs. Smith’s collection.”
Although IHG One Rewards travelers may complain that Mr. & Mrs. Smith via IHG isn’t always the easiest, but Hyatt’s language implies that a better solution won’t immediately come to World of Hyatt members either. We will continue to monitor the development of this partnership as it develops… and hope that the rollout of earning and redeeming options and recognition of elite status will follow. Faster and smoother exit with Hyatt than with IHG.
Hyatt renews focus on luxury
This move may come as a surprise to some, as Hyatt has launched a more reasonable price point long-term stay brand last week. However, Hyatt leaders repeatedly touted how the company focuses almost entirely on the more upscale travelerand this is clearly another foray into this market.
Trade Mr. & Mrs. Smith reaffirms Hyatt’s historic premium business model — and injects more luxury fuel into the system of its World of Hyatt loyalty program. There are more than 1 million members participating in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, this will be a significant addition to the reported 36 million World of Hyatt members by the end of 2022.
The Smiths also have a significant presence in Europe, where Hyatt has seen rapid growth thanks to Apple Leisure Corporation is worth $2.7 billion acquired last year as well as partnering with Germany’s Lindner Hotels & Resorts.
“I am truly delighted that we have found a globally trusted and dynamic brand like Hyatt to take Mr. and Mrs. Smith into our next chapter. We have long admired and respected Hyatt and believe that there is no better place than us to build on what we have already achieved and take our company to the next level. ,” Tamara Lohan, co-founder and CEO of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, said in a statement.
“Our vision has always been Mr. & Mrs. Smith became the world’s leading travel club for hotel lovers. Thanks to Hyatt, that vision has become closer to reality. With the support of Hyatt, Mr. and Mrs. Smith will be able to offer our community of members, hoteliers and partners much more.”
It remains to be seen, however, that World of Hyatt will be able to integrate Mr. & Mrs. How quickly and tightly Smith enters its own online platforms and whether Hyatt matches the attribution privileges based on Mr. & Mrs. while also benefiting their own elite members while the Smiths stay.
It is also the next step in Hyatt’s ongoing multi-pronged strategy of both outright acquisitions of other hotel groups as well as strategic booking partnerships like these to deliver tangible value. for World of Hyatt members. Ensuring that these members find new reasons to stay loyal after all this effort is an immediate hurdle to overcome. The rapid integration between all these platforms will be the easiest way to make this deal a success from the customer’s point of view.
Related readings:
