Shown above is the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort — close to Walt Disney World, Florida.
What are the best Hyatt resorts for winter or spring break travel? Given the current Coronavirus situation, it’s unclear when international travel will be something we’ll once again do. Even if we believe it’s safe, international destinations may not allow visitors from the United States or they may require a 14 day quarantine upon arrival. And so, more than ever before, most of us (I suspect) are looking forward to domestic travel.
I previously covered summer destinations within the continental United States in my “best resorts for domestic US summer travel” series:
In the above series, I skipped resorts in locations that may be uncomfortably hot in the summertime. In other words, I previously skipped resorts in places like Florida and Las Vegas. Now, I’m filling in those blanks…
I chose Hyatt to start with because, among the hotel chains, Hyatt is the one that most often offers great point value for award stays. And I know that many readers have plenty of Hyatt points since they can transfer 1 to 1 from Chase points if they have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, Ink Plus, or Ink Business Preferred card.
Before, you ask, yes I will follow up with similar posts for Hilton and Marriott. Look for these posts soon:
- Best Hilton resorts for winter and spring break in the continental United States
- Best Marriott resorts for winter and spring break in the continental United States
In this post I’ve looked exclusively at Hyatt and aimed to answer this question:
What are the Best Hyatt resorts for winter or spring break in the continental United States?
I used Hyatt’s website to find their properties within the US and I filtered to resorts:
Next, I limited my search to two categories of resorts:
- Resorts that offer snow-skiing
- Resorts located in warm weather destinations
With each resort that met the above criteria, I looked at room rates and award availability for the five nights between Christmas and New Years Eve (December 26 – 31). This is traditionally a very popular time of year to travel and so I was interested to see if the current COVID-19 situation has made it easier to snag these usually hard-to-get awards.
I also looked at each resort for a common spring break period: March 7 – 12. Incidentally, the reason for looking specifically at 5 night spans is so that when I produce similar posts for Marriott and Hilton, I can use the same dates. Both of the latter programs offer 5 night awards for the price of 4 and so 5 night stays are the sweet-spots for those programs.
Here’s what I found….
Northeast
Vermont
The Lodge at Spruce Peak (Stowe). A Destination Hotel.
- Award Category 8 (40,000 points per night)
- Resort fee: $42.40/night (waived for award stays)
Winter Break
- Dec 26 – 31 average room rate: $1,999 (no standard rooms are available — only suites)
- Dec 26 – 31 points rate available? No*
- * Suite night awards may be available but they’re not viewable online.
Spring Break
- Mar 7 – 12 average room rate: $300
- Mar 7 – 12 points rate available? Yes
- Award value: 0.9 cents per point (very poor value)
Southeast
Florida
Hyatt Centric Key West Resort & Spa
- Award Category 6 (25,000 points per night)
- Resort fee: $45/night (waived for award stays)
Winter Break
- Dec 26 – 31 average room rate: $917
- Dec 26 – 31 points rate available? Yes
- Award value: 3.8 cents per point (great value)
Spring Break
- Mar 7 – 12 average room rate: $460
- Mar 7 – 12 points rate available? Yes
- Award value: 2.0 cents per point (very good value)
Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa
- Award Category 6 (25,000 points per night)
- Resort fee: $30/night (waived for award stays)
Winter Break
- Dec 26 – 31 average room rate: $352
- Dec 26 – 31 points rate available? Yes
- Award value: 1.5 cents per point (fair value)
Spring Break
- Mar 7 – 12 average room rate: Not Available
- Resort fee: $42.75/night (waived for award stays)
Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress (Orland Area)
I’ve stayed at this resort with my family and friends many times. In addition to being close to Disney World, it offers lots of fun things to do such as pitch and putt golf, a climbing wall, tennis, basketball, boating, water slides, etc. It also has a decent Regency Club lounge with a great outdoor seating area where you can watch the theme park fireworks in the distance each evening.
- Award Category 3 (12,000 points per night)
- Resort fee: $42.75/night (waived for award stays)
Winter Break
- Dec 26 – 31 average room rate: $329
- Dec 26 – 31 points rate available?
- Award value: 3.1 cents per point (great value)
Spring Break
- Mar 7 – 12 average room rate: $284
- Mar 7 – 12 points rate available?
- Award value: 2.7 cents per point (great value)
Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa
- Award Category 5 (20,000 points per night)
- Resort fee: $35/night (waived for…
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