Hyatt Hotels Corporation is launching a platform built around booking villas and vacation rentals, set to go live within weeks. The new program will be called Home & Hideaways by World of Hyatt and will integrate with the company's loyalty program.
The Chicago-based company also has sold its existing vacations-rental management business, Destination Residences Management, for an undisclosed price to Los Angeles-based real-estate firm Lowe.
Initially to be launched only in the U.S., the new platform will offer short-term vacation rentals, private homes and remote hideaways. An international rollout is planned for later.
Hyatt said in a statement that it will allow its loyalty members to unlock access to residential rental accommodations across the U.S. in destinations such as Hawaii, Colorado, “and more, with plans to grow the platform globally.”
This is not Hyatt's first foray into home-sharing but is its most direct. The company previously held partial ownership in both Onefinestay and Oasis Vacation Rentals.
Hyatt and Lowe have done business before.
Lowe previously owned Two Roads Hospitality along with Geolo Capital but sold that company to Hyatt in October 2018 for a deal estimated between $480 million and $600 million. Geolo, like Hyatt, has connections to the Pritzker family, with John Pritzker serving as founding partner and director.
Lowe plans to integrate DRM into CoralTree Hospitality Group, a wholly owned management company that formed out of the Two Roads deal, and will provide management services through that platform to residences on the Homes & Hideaways platform.
Lowe founded Destination Hotels & Resorts in 1973 to manage independent resort properties in the U.S. and later merged with Commune Hotels & Resorts to form Two Roads.
Geolo retains ownership of several Hyatt properties, including several Thompson-branded hotels.
In its news release, Hyatt said the new platform will be a “collection of private homes featuring beachfront escapes, mountainside ski chalets, expansive villas, country chateaus, cozy cottages, modern townhouses, apartments, flats [and] penthouses.”
As of the end of June 2023, Hyatt’s portfolio consisted of approximately 1,250 hotels in 76 countries.