Owner's Discount Reservation with Hyatt Residence Club

One of the perks of being a timeshare owner is the ability to make discounted reservations using cash at the the various resorts.  Almost all timeshare companies provide this perk including Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott and others.  Today, I wanted to take a closer look at Hyatt's owner discount program.  According to Hyatt:

As a Hyatt Residence Club member, you can enjoy priority reservations and discounts up to 40% on rental stays using cash instead of points. Reservations can be made at any time, and are subject to availability.

According to Hyatt, you can save up to 40% of rental stays.  I have personally make reservations using this program and there can be some discounts to be had.  In addition, as discussed in various other posts, it is rare that airfares and timeshare weeks line up exactly right. Sometimes, airfare costs differ by so much that it is worth it to arrive a day or two before the timeshare week starts or stay a few days later.  Unfortunately, even though a lot of programs provide flexibility for these one, two or three night stays, the cost using points can equal or even surpass a week long stay. In most situations, it makes sense to book using cash. 

While there are usually various  hotels within the same areas as the timeshare, moving rooms or resorts is disruptive and generally a pain.   While reserving a room at the same timeshare does not guarantee that you will not have to move rooms, most timeshares have the ability to keep you in the unit provided that the unit is not rented for the following week.  However, it all depends on the resort.

OWNER DISCOUNT RESERVATION:

In order to make an owner discount reservation, you need be an owner with Hyatt.  You can login to their portal at www.hyattresidenceclub.com.  You can navigate to "reservations" and then you have the ability to choose whether you are looking at a single property or multiple resorts.  In order to see what types of discount are really being offering, here are few results for random weeks during the week.

FIRST TEST:

Residence at Park Hyatt Beaver Creek:

In doing a search for a two night stay, I find various open dates in September and October.  Most are for three bedrooms but there are a couple of 2 bedroom units. 

For example, I see a two night stay in a 2 bedroom unit for September 11 - 13th.  Hyatt requires a deposit in the amount of $708.12 which is also the cost of the room for two nights.  The price per night for the reservation would be $354.06 including all taxes and other fees. 

In comparison, booking directly with Hyatt showing a room cost of $539.00 per night plus occupancy taxes of $118.47 and resort fees of $44.40 for a total cost of $1240.87. 

In this example, booking through the Owner Discount Reservation portal would save $532.75 providing a total discount of 42.93%. This discount actually exceeds the stated discount amount. 

While the room cost is still over $350 a night, this does provide you a reasonable discount off the public retail rates. 

SECOND TEST:

Hyatt Wild Oak in San Antonio

Hyatt Wild Oak is a very nice property located in San Antonio, Texas that is close by Seaworld.  There are water slides, trails, and tons of kids activities.  My family frequents this property a lot as it is a close drive for us and provides a nice little getaway from the everyday routine.

Using the same dates as above, (September 11- 13th), I found plenty of availability.  September is one of the nicest months in Texas as it is still hot but the crowds have died down.

I found availability using the Owner Discount Reservation portal for a studio unit and a 1 bedroom unit:

Owner's Discount: 
STUDIO UNIT:  Total for two nights $254.52 or $127.26 per night (including all taxes)
1 BEDROOM UNIT: Total for two night $324.56 or $162.28 per night (including all taxes).

In comparison, here are the results for booking directly with Hyatt:

Hyatt Rates:

STUDIO UNIT:  Total for two nights $322.45 including city tax, occupancy tax, and resort fees or $161.22  per night
1 BEDROOM UNIT: Total for two nights $462.55 including city tax, occupancy tax, and resort fees or $231.27  per night

As you can see, there is definitely a discount for booking through the Owner Discount Reservation Portal.

The savings for the studio unit for this two night stay is $67.93 or a 21% discount.
The savings for the 1 bedroom unit for this two night stay is 137.99 or a 29.8% discount.

Overall, while these reservations do provide discounts off the regular retail rates, they still can be expensive especially when comparing the nightly rates to the effective nightly rates when using timeshare points or exchanging through an exchange company. However, that is not always feasible so if and when you need a couple of extra nights at the resort, the owner discount reservation can at least provide you with a reasonable discount off the retail rates. 

Availability differs so even if you see availability at the Hyatt website, you will not always see availability using the Owner's Reservation Discount portal.

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