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Which hotel brand is best, Hyatt Vs. Marriott? Many cities and resort destinations have both a Hyatt and a Marriott hotel. In many major cities worldwide, including Hong Kong, Bangkok, London, Singapore, Macau, Dubai, Paris, New York, and Los Angeles, and tourist destinations like Hawaii, Florida, and the Caribbean, there are numerous Hyatts and Marriotts to choose from.
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Park Hyatt hotels and Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, and JW Mariott hotels tend to be the most luxurious options within each hotel brand. All typically have excellent facilities, extensive grounds, spas, and often pools. Below, we outline why you should choose Hyatt over Marriott and vice versa.
We have also outlined the best Park Hyatt hotels and best Marriott hotels in case you want to delve further into each hotel brand.
1. Loyalty
If you intend to stay at low-end brands for business and collect points for your personal vacation, Marriott brands are usually the best choice. There’s a much larger array of Marriott properties in resort areas, particularly if you want to stay at one of their top brands.
The best Marriott hotels include the JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, BVLGARI, EDITION, and The Luxury Collection. These brands occupy a 5-star luxury category, with room quality and size, service, restaurants, and the hotel as a whole offering an ultra-luxurious setting. All these hotels are part of the Marriott Bonvoy brand loyalty program.
Ritz-Carlton is probably the best Marriott brand, and there is a wonderful Ritz-Carlton in Maui that is one of the best Marriott hotels on the Hawaiian islands and is one of the best places to spend your Marriott Bonvoy points if you are vacationing. There is also the fabulous Royal Hawaiian, the pink palace, on the beach at Waikiki, as well as the beachfront Moana Surfrider and the luxurious Ritz-Carlton, set back from the beach. All of these hotels are amazing places to earn and burn your points.
Hyatt is part of the World of Hyatt loyalty program, and you can earn and redeem points for free nights in this program. Park Hyatt hotels are the highest Hyatt brand, but there are no Park Hyatt hotels in Hawaii, and Park Hyatts mainly sit in cities, meaning there are a limited number of high-end vacation destinations where you would want to burn your Hyatt points. We have outlined the best Hyatt hotels on Hawaii, and they are great, but only one ticks the 5-star ultra-luxury box, and that’s the Andaz Hawaii which we would highly reccomend.
Whether you stay at a Marriott or a Hyatt, you will earn useful loyalty points, which can be collected towards free nights. Both loyalty schemes are similarly good.
It’s worth mentioning that these loyalty benefits are nowhere near as good as the benefits you get by booking via luxury travel concierge. If you book with our concierge, you will also get all your usual World of Hyatt or Marriott Bonvoy points during your stay.
Our travel agency partnership with JW Marriott and Park Hyatt Hotels means you will also get brilliant free benefits, usually including breakfast for two, prioritized room upgrades (subject to availability), hotel credit, and more if you book with one of our team. Our deals are almost always better than booking directly on the hotel website for both brands.
In Paris, New York, and London, we can offer you free club lounge access when you book an InterContinental hotel through our agents, regardless of your loyalty status.
2. Style
Park Hyatt offers a very high-end finish. We think Park Hyatt hotels offer the most luxurious setting of all the major branded hotel chains (excluding Four Seasons). They also set up eccentric popups like the Christmas popup at the Park Hyatt Zurich above and showcase brilliant artwork, both of which are incredibly uplifting to enjoy.
Take the Park Hyatt Zurich pictured above that we reviewed last year. This hotel boasts elegant swathes of black marble throughout the expansive double-level foyer. The lobby lounge, adorned with art and frequented by a sophisticated clientele, features a grand fireplace. The generously sized rooms offer exquisite bathrooms that seamlessly connect to the bedroom, ensuring a pristine and luxurious experience for guests.
Particularly great JW Marriotts include the JW Marriott Venice which is an outstanding property. The Ritz-Carlton Maui in Kapalua is a dreamy hotel with luxury interiors looking out upon a paradise of grassy lawns, flowering bushes, and pools all leading down to the beach.
A JW Marriott and Park Hyatt are within walking distance of each other in New York. The Park Hyatt New York is a new property based on one of the skinny new skyscrapers overlooking Central Park. It has a great pool, fantastic large rooms, oversized bathrooms, and it is just up the sidewalk from the Ritz-Carlton.
By contrast, the JW Marriott Essex House is not a particularly luxurious property in New York, although it has interesting historic aspects, such as its lifts. If you are looking for an alternative to the the Park Hyatt or the JW Marriott in New York, the St. Regis NY is also worth considering and has a very good breakfast. We have compared the Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis and JW Marriott New York.
We have also reviewed the Park Hyatt Vienna, which is another stunning refurbished Park Hyatt hotel, this time set in a tasteful conversion of the headquarters of an Austrian Hungarian Monarchy Bank, right in the heart of The Golden Quarter. Preserving numerous elements of the century-old Neo-classical structure, this conversion showcases marble staircases polished over time by the hustle and bustle of countless bank clerks. True to the Park Hyatt brand, this hotel offers a distinctive experience that’s truly one-of-a-kind and certainly worth exploring.
While Vienna does have a Marriott hotel, it pales in comparison to the elegance and sophistication of the Park Hyatt Vienna. Furthermore, there is no JW Marriott establishment in the city.
As you can see, the best hotel style, Hyatt Vs. Marriott, depends on the location and individual hotel and varies between destinations.
3. Location
As a general rule, Hyatt and Marriott hotels are both centrally located in cities. JW Marriott Cannes is right on the seafront; in Berlin and Frankfurt, the Marriotts are in the city centers; in San Francisco, the JW Marriott is right on Union Square, and in Los Angeles, the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott are perfectly positioned for LA LIVE.
In Florida, the JW Marriott Grand Lakes and Bonnet Creek and the Ritz-Carlton are all located close to the Disney parks. There is a huge choice of hotels within the Marriott brand around Disney in Orlando, far more and better than Hyatt hotel options.
There are also four brilliant Ritz-Carlton hotels in Miami, including a brilliant Ritz-Carlton on South Beach and a JW Marriott on Brickell Avenue. The choice of Hyatt hotels is much smaller in Miami, so as a general rule, Marriott is a better option in Florida.
The New Orleans JW Marriott is close to the Ritz-Carlton, the Ritz-Carlton is brilliant and well located, but our favorite choice in New Orleans is Four Seasons.
Whether a Marriott or Hyatt is better located is property-specific, but there are usually more Marriott subsidiaries, so there is more choice within the Marriott brand. Park Hyatt Seoul, for example, is located in the city’s business center, not the tourist center. If you are heading to Seoul, you might also want to consider the Andaz, which we compared with the Park Hyatt Seoul.
In London, a new and fabulous Park Hyatt has opened, but it could have a better location and is a tube ride away from the tourist sites, top shopping spots, and the West End. The Hyatt Regency Churchill is a much better choice for location here.
The JW Marriott Grosvenor house on Park Lane in London, which we have reviewed has a fabulous location within walking distance to Knightsbridge with Harrods, Oxford Street, the West End and Picadilly circus. While it is likely the new Park Hyatt will have more snazzy interiors (and a pool), the JW Marriott and the Hyatt Regency locations are better than the Park Hyatt London.
4. Size
The luxury Marriott and Hyatt hotels tend to be smaller than their mid-range counterparts, which can have thousands of rooms. There is nothing to choose between here. If you want a smaller Marriott or Hyatt, go for one of their high-end or boutique brands.
5. Rooms
Park Hyatt rooms tend to have a more modern design, whereas Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott rooms can be more traditional and generic in decor. Park Hyatt, New York’s rooms are between 500 and 620 ft². They are large and stunning, and we particularly like the views from these rooms.
Mid-range Marriott hotels, Grand Hyatt, and Hyatt Regency hotels all have similarly generic rooms. None of these brands stand out overall.
6. Pool & Gym
Whether there is a pool and gym is very property-dependent, but as a general rule, the facilities and the presence of amazing pools are usually dictated by the hotel’s location rather than the brand. Ritz-Carlton resorts tend to have the largest grounds and best facilities of either Marriott or Hyatt hotels.
There are exceptions. The Park Hyatt New York has a gorgeous swimming pool, jacuzzi, and sauna on the 25th floor on the opposite side of the building to Central Park. This is a reason to choose this hotel over both the JW Marriott and the nearby Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis, none of which have a pool.
The Park Hyatt St. Kitts Christophe Harbour has a gorgeous pool and beach, and although the Park Hyatt Vienna is a city hotel, it has a deliciously warm swimming pool under the barrel ceiling of the old bank vault. The Park Hyatts in Paris and Zurich don’t have pools, but the new Park Hyatt does have a pool in London, so each property is very different.
7. Ski
The best Marriott ski hotels are Ritz-Carltons and St Regis hotels, and they can be found in Bachelor Gulch and Lake Tahoe. We can not think of any JW Marriott ski hotels.
The best Hyatt ski hotels are at Park Hyatt hotels, including Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort which is a gorgeous ski hotel.
8. Club Lounge
Marriott hotels and Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Regencies usually have club lounges, and high-status Marriott Bonvoy loyalty members and World of Hyatt members usually get free access to this lounge, respectively. Park Hyatt hotels don’t have club lounges. Ritz-Carlton hotels have some of the best club lounges in the world, but you have to pay to access them, even if you have high status.
JW Marriott Club lounges are excellent. These club lounges can be accessed with high loyalty status. We personally reviewed the club lounge at the JW Marriott in London.
9. Family Facilities
Park Hyatt and JW Marriott hotels are similarly family-friendly. If you want the best brand for family-friendly luxury hotels, it is usually best at Four Seasons or some Belmond properties like the Hotel Cipriani.
10. Price
Park Hyatt hotels tend to be some of the most expensive hotels in a city, but with a Park Hyatt, you tend to get what you pay for with large rooms, a higher level of luxury, and often unique surroundings. Park Hyatt Sydney is usually the most expensive hotel in Sydney, and while you can’t argue with its location, right on the waterfront in the rocks, the prices here can be eyewatering.
High-end Ritz-Carlton Marriott hotels are expensive and excellent, too. Mid-range Hyatt and Marriott hotels are more reasonable and similarly priced.
For a more reasonable Park Hyatt or JW Marriott stay, check out our review of some of the cheapest Park Hyatt hotels and the cheapest Marriott hotels.
11. Conclusion
While both Hyatt and Marriott hotels are excellent hotels in any city or resort, Park Hyatts are more luxurious and unique. They are comparable to the high-end Ritz-Carlton hotels within the Marriott brand. Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Regency hotels are usually comparable to Marriott hotels in quality and price.
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