Caption by Hyatt Announced – New Limited Service Brand
Hyatt has been growing like crazy lately. With the addition of Destination Hotels they added several new brands to their portfolio. This came after the launch of the Centric brand a couple of years ago and a partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World. They have been busy.
One area though where they have lagged is limited service. All of the recent additions to the Hyatt lineup have been full service hotel brands, whereas their Hyatt House and Hyatt Place limited service brands have largely remained the same with some nice updates along the way. As competitors have launched “lifestyle” brand after “lifestyle” brand like Canopy, Tru and Moxy. Hyatt has largely stayed on their own course adding a few hip Centric and Andaz properties in addition to the brands above, but not much when it comes to limited service.
A New Brand from Hyatt
That is until now. Yesterday Hyatt announced a new brand “Designed to Inspire Personal Connection”. It is called Caption by Hyatt. Yes, the name and description of this new Hyatt brand is about as modern as it can be. And it appears these limited service hotels will be quite different than other Hyatts.
Here is some more info about Caption by Hyatt:
The Caption by Hyatt brand has been designed to create a location where guests feel comfortable striking up a conversation with someone new over a cup of coffee, a bite to eat or a drink at the end of the day. Caption by Hyatt hotels will be anchored by a distinctive food and beverage experience that will be a vibrant mash-up between café, market and bar.
The brand is definitely going for the communal vibe in their description. This is not your grandfather’s Hyatt Place:
Alluring and approachable spaces –Caption by Hyatt hotels will invite guests in with cozy rooms and common areas that are flexible enough to move things around and make the space uniquely theirs. Social spaces will be richly designed and unexpectedly put together – sparking conversation and giving guests and locals alike no choice but to stay awhile.
Conversation-worthy food and beverage – Eating and drinking at Caption by Hyatt hotels will be about more than what’s on the table. They will bring people together to enjoy the locale’s dynamic culture.
Experiences that don’t begin or end at the hotel’s front door – Whether guests try something new or meet someone new, Caption by Hyatt hotels will create the conditions for connections that matter – all-day drinks and sharable snacks; spaces designed for guests to plug in anywhere; flexible and multi-purpose spaces for lounging and small events; and a rotating calendar of do-it-yourself and hosted events from trunk shows to local beer tastings.
My Thoughts
This brand sounds a lot like the lifestyle brands some of Hyatt’s competitors have launched. Those brands have been plagued by complaints such as the rooms being small and uncomfortable and often times having no desk or area to work outside of the bed. I suspect Hyatt will be going this same route with Caption, although I only have the press release (where rooms are described as “cozy”) to go by.
I do think this is a good move by Hyatt though as they grow. All of their competitors have multiple limited service brands and this type of hotel is something they don’t have in their portfolio. Hyatt Place hotels will continue to be great for families with large mini-suite type rooms and Hyatt House will serve longer term guests. Caption by Hyatt will cater to a different type of guest. I’m excited to stay in one if/when it gets built.
Caption by Hyatt – Bottom Line
Over the past few years Hyatt has been forced to grow as they have seen their competitors merge and get bought up. They are still quite small with around 700 properties worldwide, however World of Hyatt remains an amazing loyalty program and all of their additions lately have been welcome. Despite the fact that these lifestyle brands in the limited service segment aren’t really my cup of tea, I await to see how Hyatt does it. At the very least I’ll have more places to redeem my points which is always a good thing.
What do you think of the new Caption by Hyatt brand? Are you excited to see yet another Hyatt brand (does this make 16?) or do you think Hyatt needs to stop adding new brands and continue the expansion of their current lineup in other ways? Let us know below!
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Descriptions of hotels like this make my neck stiff. How thirsty/needy is this entire generation they’re targeting that they need everything designed so they can have social-time/romper room in every hotel lobby and snack bar???
If some “limited service” Hyatt Place hotels are already up to Cat 3/4 and charging $200-400 a night in some places, are we going to be paying $150 a night for Cat 2/3 properties that sound like a hostel?
Sounds like a place to see and be seen by other hipsters.