Two Hyatt hotels drop free suite upgrade awards for loyalty members

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For many World of Hyatt loyalists, one of the favorite perks of the program is the range of free night and upgrade certificates you can earn from accumulating qualifying nights and points during repeated stays.

Among these, a true highlight is a Room Upgrade Award for suite accommodations. With this reward, you can book a standard room at a hotel, or a deluxe room at a resort, and then upgrade your stay to a premium suite at no additional cost. Premium suites are often on top floors with expansive views, have multi-room spaces and can offer anything from a wet bar to a butler, depending on where you're staying. Oh, and they usually cost three to four times the price of a standard room, or more.

In other words, the suite upgrade award is pretty sweet.

However, as Hyatt states in their (quite lengthy) appendix of terms and conditions , not all properties participate in this loyalty perk.

That list of exclusions, unfortunately, is ever growing. And now we've learned that two more properties have been added to the list of places where you cannot redeem your suite upgrade award.

The first is Alila Napa Valley, a Category 8 property, located in Northern California's wine country near St. Helena. The property is celebrating its fifth birthday by waving resort fees for a year, but unfortunately is also is no longer accepting suite upgrade certificates. (For reference, a room here in the summer costs around $917 and a suite goes for around $2,738).

The second property added to the list that will not participate in the suite upgrade is Grand Hyatt Grand Cayman , also a Category 8 hotel. This is a new property that is currently accepting reservations for Oct. 31, 2026 and beyond. Here, standard rooms start at $676 and suites cost $2,942.

Related: 8 amazing places to use points for a trip to the Caribbean

As you can see from both of these examples, a suite upgrade is pretty valuable, and would definitely be appreciated at such pricey properties.

ZACH HONIG/THE POINTS GUY Bottom line

If you're a World of Hyatt loyalist hoping to redeem your suite upgrade certificates, you'll need to keep a careful eye on the ever growing list of properties that are not participating in the program, which now includes both the popular Alila Napa Valley and the soon to open Grand Hyatt Grand Cayman.

Related stories:

Is Hyatt Globalist status worth it?

How and when to use Hyatt upgrade certificates

Guide to World of Hyatt club lounge access awards, including how to use them for someone else

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.