World of Hyatt has released their annual hotel category adjustments for 2025. The changes are coming into effect from 25 March 2025.
The importance of the hotel categories is that they are used in determining the number of points required for a redemption. Basically, the higher the category, the more points you need to redeem a free night.
Overall, there are over 150 hotels around the world changing categories. While Australia and New Zealand remain unchanged this time, properties in Southeast Asia have undergone several changes. Indonesia (especially Bali) and Japan are the most affected by hotels moving up a category.
Full details of the changes can be found here, but let’s take a look at the changes in our part of the world.
Award Category Changes
Before digging into the changes, a quick recap on categories, and how Hyatt calculate the number of points required for a free night. There are two parts to it – the category, and whether it is a standard, peak or off-peak reward.
For standard rooms rewards, World of Hyatt divides its hotels into 8 categories, labelled Category 1 through to Category 8. The Category a hotel falls into helps determine the number of points required for a free night at that hotel. The other part of the puzzle is that at each Category there are off-peak, standard, and peak rates. These are pre-determined, and together with the Category will determine the final number of points.
The full award chart for standard rooms looks like this:
| Category | Off-Peak | Standard | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3,500 | 5,000 | 6,500 |
| 2 | 6,500 | 8,000 | 9,500 |
| 3 | 9,000 | 12,000 | 15,000 |
| 4 | 12,000 | 15,000 | 18,000 |
| 5 | 17,000 | 20,000 | 23,000 |
| 6 | 21,000 | 25,000 | 29,000 |
| 7 | 25,000 | 30,000 | 35,000 |
| 8 | 35,000 | 40,000 | 45,000 |
Note that these are for standard rooms. There are separate charts for Club Room Rewards, All-inclusive resorts, etc.
Change Details
Worldwide, there are 151 hotels changing categories. Of those, 118 hotels will move to a higher category, while the other 33 hotels will go to a lower category.
If we look specifically at Asia Pacific, we see that 25 hotels will move to a higher category while12 hotels will move to a lower category.
The following charts show these movements
Hotels Increasing in Category (Asia Pacific)
| Country/Region | Hotel | Current Category | New Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong | Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui | 4 | 5 |
| India | Hyatt Hyderabad Gachibowli | 1 | 2 |
| India | Hyatt Regency Chandigarh | 1 | 2 |
| India | Hyatt Regency Delhi | 1 | 2 |
| India | Park Hyatt Chennai | 1 | 2 |
| Indonesia | Alila Manggis | 1 | 2 |
| Indonesia | Alila Seminyak | 5 | 6 |
| Indonesia | Alila Ubud | 3 | 4 |
| Indonesia | Andaz Bali | 5 | 6 |
| Indonesia | Grand Hyatt Bali | 2 | 3 |
| Indonesia | Hyatt Regency Bali | 2 | 3 |
| Indonesia | Studios at Alila Seminyak | 1 | 2 |
| Japan | Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills | 7 | 8 |
| Japan | Caption by Hyatt Namba Osaka | 1 | 2 |
| Japan | Grand Hyatt Tokyo | 7 | 8 |
| Japan | Hotel Toranomon Hills | 6 | 7 |
| Japan | Hyatt Centric Ginza Tokyo | 6 | 7 |
| Japan | Hyatt House Tokyo Shibuya | 4 | 5 |
| Japan | Hyatt Regency Kyoto | 5 | 6 |
| Japan | Hyatt Regency Tokyo | 4 | 5 |
| Japan | Park Hyatt Tokyo | 7 | 8 |
| Malaysia | Alila Bangsar Kuala Lumpur | 1 | 2 |
| Malaysia | Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu | 1 | 2 |
| Thailand | Hyatt Regency Koh Samui | 4 | 5 |
| Thailand | Hyatt Regency Phuket Resort | 3 | 4 |
Hotels Decreasing in Category (in Asia Pacific)
| Country/Region | Hotel | Current Category | New Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | Andaz Nanjing Hexi | 4 | 3 |
| China | Commune By The Great Wall | 4 | 3 |
| China | Grand Hyatt Sanya Haitang Bay Resort and Spa | 5 | 4 |
| China | Grand Hyatt Shenzhen | 3 | 2 |
| China | Hyatt Regency Shenzhen Yantian | 2 | 1 |
| China | Park Hyatt Suzhou | 4 | 3 |
| China | Hyatt Regency Qingdao | 3 | 2 |
| India | Hyatt Regency Pune & Residences | 2 | 1 |
| Indonesia | Park Hyatt Jakarta | 4 | 3 |
| Japan | Hyatt Regency Yokohama | 4 | 3 |
| South Korea | Grand Hyatt Jeju | 5 | 4 |
| South Korea | Park Hyatt Busan | 6 | 5 |
What to do?
If you are looking at redeeming a reward night at a hotel going up a category, you might want to consider booking it before 25 March.
On the other hand, if you are looking at a hotel going down a category, you can book now or later. If you book a room for a stay after 25 March, Hyatt will refund the difference after 25 March. As a result, you can make your booking when it suits you
Final Words
World of Hyatt will be making changes to the categories of 151 hotels on 25 March. In our part of the world, a big part of the impact has fallen on Japan and Indonesia (mostly Bali).
While no one likes an increase, World of Hyatt have done a good job at staying transparent with their changes. In particular, they are giving a month’s notice of these changes.
