Articles

Member Spotlight: Hyatt Hotels

Categories: Cleaning for Health & Safety, ISSA Member Spotlight

All of us dream of getting away—away from home—the home we may have been stuck at for almost a year now. We may be dreaming of a vacation on a warm beach, an exotic location, or possibly even a mountainous skiing holiday. Maybe we would even just be happy with a non-Zoom business seminar or event held in a great location. But we worry. Will we be safe? Because of this pandemic, we worry about cleanliness and social distancing. We fear for our health.

Providing safe and clean environments is a top priority for Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. All of Hyatt’s hotels throughout the globe remain committed to enhanced levels of cleanliness—now and in the future.

Who is Hyatt?

Hyatt was founded by Jay Pritzker in 1957 when he purchased the Hyatt House motel adjacent to the Los Angeles International Airport. The Pritzker family grew the company into a North American management and hotel ownership company. On December 31, 2004, all the hospitality assets owned by the Pritzker family were consolidated under a single entity, now Hyatt Hotels Corporation.

Now headquartered in Chicago, Hyatt is a leading global hospitality company offering 20 premier brands. As of September 30, 2020, the company’s portfolio included more than 950 hotel, all-inclusive, and wellness resort properties in 67 countries across six continents.

Senior Vice President of Global Operations at Hyatt Hotels Corporation Frank Lavey tells us that Hyatt’s purpose is to care for people so they can be their best.

Purpose of care

Hyatt’s purpose is brought to life by their colleagues, often referred to as the Hyatt family. It is a company that was built by family. It’s a workplace where coworkers become friends.

Hyatt works with existing and prospective owners and developers to mindfully increase their presence worldwide, leading to guest satisfaction, brand preference, and new channels for professional growth for their colleagues.

Wellbeing is at the heart of Hyatt’s business and core. “As part of our Global Care & Cleanliness Commitment, we’ve required each property to have at least one trained Hygiene & Wellbeing leader. This person is responsible for their hotel adhering to new operational guidance and protocols, including colleague certification, training and recertification processes, and enforcing new policies, such as mandatory face coverings,” says Lavey.

“We’re also taking steps to instill confidence and peace of mind in our colleagues by introducing a daily survey to measure colleagues’ comfort and wellbeing, the hotel’s cleanliness, working order, and customer service. This enables hotel leaders to address opportunities, make adjustments as necessary, and meet colleagues’ needs in real time.”

Exciting offers

Hyatt has several offers on the table to help make our dreams of a getaway a reality. “Guided by our purpose of care and commitment to listening to guests and members, we recently launched the Work from Hyatt extended-stay package that gives families, couples, and individuals a seamless, much-deserved change of scenery,” says Lavey.

With millions of people still working and learning remotely, the Work from Hyatt package encourages work-life and school-life balance with the comforts of a premium resort experience.

Available at more than 90 participating resorts in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, the 7-night minimum “work from anywhere” package includes many amenities, such as both room and workspace options for families to spread out and complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi internet access. To further care for World of Hyatt members when they are ready to travel and help them look forward to the journeys ahead, they rolled out three total Bonus Journey global promotions this year.

Members earn triple points on qualifying purchases starting with their first qualifying stay at all Hyatt locations worldwide, plus participating MGM, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and Lindblad Experiences.

World of Hyatt credit card members can earn quadruple points at participating resorts, and all members will earn double Tier-Qualifying Night credits toward elite status in 2021.

Safety first, wellbeing always

The safety and wellbeing of guests, customers, and colleagues is a top priority for Hyatt. Continuing to monitor the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation closely, Hyatt created their Global Care & Cleanliness commitment. This enhances existing rigorous cleaning protocols and advances operational guidance, challenging all to act with greater diligence. This commitment examines the entirety of the hotel experience—from health and hygiene, to technology, to how spaces are designed and used.

With regard to this, Lavey explains, “When we established our cross-functional working group in response to COVID-19, we knew that working closely with medical experts, like the Cleveland Clinic, and industry professionals from companies like American Airlines and Gensler, would help ensure our guests feel confident that everything we do is with their safety in mind. As the pandemic evolves, we remain close to medical experts for guidance on how best to keep guests and colleagues safe and healthy. We have sought guidance from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC) that shapes all decisions around our cleaning equipment, chemicals, and processes.”

GBAC^™ STAR accreditation

As a member of ISSA and guided by their purpose to care for people so they can be their best, while delivering world-class hospitality for more than 60 years, Hyatt’s Global Care & Cleanliness Commitment builds on existing rigorous safety and cleanliness protocols.

This now includes GBAC^® STAR^™ Facility Accreditation through the Global Biorisk Advisory Council® (GBAC) at all Hyatt hotels.

“We have engaged in ongoing conversations with guests and customers to determine how we best meet their new expectations,” says Lavey. “We know that for our colleagues, guests, and customers to feel confident returning to our hotels, their peace of mind is critical. We are taking decisive actions, like introducing the GBAC^® STAR accreditation for facilities through a performance-based cleaning, disinfection, and abatement of viral contagion program that will focus on establishing hotel environments that are sanitary, safe, and healthy. We want to make sure our guests and colleagues feel confident that everything we do is with their safety and wellbeing as a top priority.”

Hyatt is the first hospitality brand to commit to the GBAC^® STAR accreditation program, which includes detailed training at more than 900 Hyatt hotels worldwide and will be complemented with regular and internal third-party auditing.

“The ISSA team has been a great partner,” claims Lavey. “We are proud that Hyatt is the first hotel company to commit to securing GBAC^® STAR accreditation at all properties worldwide. The ISSA team has risen to the occasion to support us in our goal. The ongoing communication and collaboration has given us added confidence to make sure we are doing all that we can to keep our colleagues and guests healthy and safe.”

Lavey adds, “While our industry remains challenged by the ongoing pandemic, we remain confident about long-term recovery. With multiple vaccines and rapid-testing opportunities becoming available, travel is poised to return strong.”

Through the pandemic and beyond, colleague and guest health and safety will remain top priorities for Hyatt, according to Lavey.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation has responded to the pandemic with the health and wellbeing of its guests, colleagues, and customers in mind. When you need to get away, for business or pleasure, Hyatt is there for you.

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