There is something rather unique about World of Hyatt fans, especially top-tier Globalists. We get rather excited sometimes when new Hyatt hotels are announced. The latest example comes from Las Vegas, as according to Hyatt…
The more than 2,510-room Rio Las Vegas will be renovated and rebranded into multiple Hyatt full-service brand flags, and will undergo a redevelopment of the current public spaces, including gaming, retail, food and beverage, spa and fitness, and pool recreation deck. In addition, the Rio Las Vegas will undergo a renovation of one of the hotel’s existing towers, and upon completion, the tower is expected to become a 1,501-room Hyatt Regency hotel with standard guestrooms averaging 580 square feet. The remainder of the Rio’s guestrooms are expected to be branded or affiliated with one or more other Hyatt full-service brands after they are renovated…
Why Does This Matter?
The Rio hotel isn’t located on the Las Vegas Strip – it’s located on the other side of the Las Vegas Freeway from the Bellagio and Caesar’s Palace – but although this location is far from ideal, you are still a short taxi or Uber ride away from all of the action. (and of course a massive property such as the Rio has all of the casino games and entertainment options you could ever want…)
World of Hyatt has a partnership with MGM Resorts where you can earn and spend points at participating MLife properties. This partnership will remain unaffected.
So why is the news of a Hyatt Regency and other full-service Hyatt brands so interesting?
Resort Fees
Las Vegas hotels are notorious for adding ridiculous resort fees and other surcharges to your bill. And the easiest way to get these waived is to lose a lot of money at the casino and become noticed by Guest Services.
A full service Hyatt Regency will undoubtedly be required to waive resort fees for Globalist members.
This will be good news for those Globalists who have stayed at a MLife hotel and been unable to get the $40+ of resort fees waived.
Elite Benefits
I wouldn’t expect the new Hyatt Regency to include an Executive Lounge. But I expect that the hotel will honor most, if not all, of the standard Globalist benefits such as:
- Room upgrades, both confirmed upgrades to suites as well as when-available upgrades at check-in
- Complimentary full breakfast in the restaurant
- 4pm late check-out
Again, when you stay at an MLife hotel in Las Vegas, you will receive none of the benefits you might be accustomed to as a Hyatt Globalist.
The Bottom Line
I expect that it will take awhile for the hotel conversion / renovation to occur. As such, there is no news about the award category for this hotel (i.e. the number of points you will need for a free night)
But with luck, this new Hyatt Regency will be ready to go for when travel resumes fully and we can contemplate visiting Las Vegas again…
You can read the Hyatt press release by clicking here.
