Hyatt's communication with and treatment of its UVC members is bad and getting worse. More importantly, member benefits have been eroded since Hyatt's purchase of ALG in November 2021. I'll be providing examples of all that as the blog develops, but let's start with an overview of where the club is and how it got here. In my time, these are the most significant events that have shaped the club:
Dec 2018 ALG Buys Majority Interest in Alua Hotels and Resorts - This event precedes our time in UVC by just over a month, but it started ALGs European operations which eventually evolved into its European Collection of resorts. Originally, Alua was the only European Collection brand. Since then, European Collection resorts have opened under the flags of Secrets, Dreams and Zoetry.
Jan 2019 My wife and I joined UVC at Secrets St. James, Montego Bay, Jamaica. I signed a contract with UVC Global Panama, S. de R.L.. We paid tens of thousands for the Gold+ level. I received Premier Nights, VIP Weeks, an RCI membership, preferred club benefits and other privileges, but the centerpiece is what I'm told is a 25% discount on any of the hotels operated by AMResorts.
May 2019 ALG Opens its First Secrets Resort in Europe - Secrets Mallorca Villamil opened in May 2019. It was ALG's first European property to open with an original AMResorts brand.
Aug 2021 ALG introduces the AMR Collection - ALG formed the AMR Collection only weeks before it announced it had agreed to sell to Hyatt. As noted in the press release, the AMR Collection includes all the AMResorts brands that operated hotels at the time: Secrets, Dreams, Breathless, Zoëtry, Alua and Sunscape.
Aug 2021 Hyatt Announced it Reached an Agreement to Buy ALG - This was a $2.7 billion USD deal. As noted in the story:
The Hyatt acquisition includes all of ALG's other businesses, including its well-known brands in packaged travel: Apple Vacations, Travel Impressions, Funjet Vacations, CheapCaribbean, Southwest Vacations, United Vacations, BlueSkyTours Hawaii and BeachBound.
Hyatt also becomes the parent of technology company Trisept Solutions, ALG's Unlimited Vacation Club and Amstar, a provider of transportation and excursions in resort destinations.
Nov 2021 Hyatt Closes on Its Purchase of ALG - The Unlimited Vacation Club gets a new owner. Hyatt begins its management of the resorts, the brands and the club. The club begins to change under Hyatt's leadership.
May 2022 Hyatt Rebrands Its AMR Collection as Inclusive Collection - Hyatt adds Ziva, Zilara and Vivid brands to the original six brands included in ALG's AMR Collection and rebrands the new portfolio as its "Inclusive Collection."
The new Inclusive Collection of luxury all-inclusive resort brands cater to every guest and member’s wish to create more meaningful and rewarding experiences with best-in-class luxury resort brands, including Hyatt Ziva resorts, Hyatt Zilara resorts, Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts, Secrets Resorts & Spas, Breathless Resorts & Spas, Dreams Resorts & Spas, Vivid Hotels & Resorts (coming soon), Alua Hotels & Resorts and Sunscape Resorts & Spas.
The Ziva and Zilara properties were all-inclusive resorts all owned and managed by Playa Hotels & Resorts. Hyatt owned and managed the Ziva and Zilara brands before they purchased ALG. Vivid was an all-inclusive brand launched by ALG that had no operating properties at the time of ALG's sale to Hyatt. The first Vivid property, Vivid Grand Island in Cancun, was under construction when the AMR Collection was rebranded as the Inclusive Collection. Hyatt Vivid Grand Island opened in April 2024.
Apr-Dec, 2022 Hyatt Makes the AMR Collection Available to WoH Members - Hyatt rolled it out over a period of eight months, but within about a year of its purchase of ALG, World of Hyatt members could use their membership benefits at all AMResorts brands acquired in the ALG purchase. In contrast, UVC members still have not been given access to the eight original Ziva and Zilara properties that Hyatt added to the Inclusive Collection in May 2022.
Dec 2023 Hyatt makes Ziva Riviera Cancun and Zilara Riviera Maya available to UVC Members. On December 15, 2023, Hyatt announced, in an email to UVC members, that management of Ziva Riviera Cancun and Zilara Riviera Maya changed from Playa Hotels & Resorts to Hyatt. As a result, Hyatt made those two properties available to UVC members.
At this time, we are pleased to share that the management of both Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun & Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya has transitioned from Playa Hotels & Resorts to Hyatt on December 15, 2023. This means that both Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun and Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya are now part of the Unlimited Vacation Club® portfolio and are now available to book as part of your UVC membership.
UVC members can now receive all the on-property benefits you know and expect when booking through official UVC channels. UVC members enrolled in World of Hyatt will also be able to earn points for qualifying stays at these resorts. ...
Only these two Ziva and Zilara properties were made available to UVC members. Notably, both were former AMResorts properties that were purchased and renovated by Playa before re-opening as Ziva and Zilara. Playa's original eight Ziva and Zilara properties have never been available to UVC members.
Feb 2024 Hyatt Sells 80% Stake in UVC but Continues to Manage the Club - About 15 months after closing on its purchase of ALG, Hyatt sold 80% of UVC to an unnamed "investor unaffiliated with Hyatt." Hyatt retained a 20% interest. Despite the sale, Hyatt continues to manage the club under a "long-term management agreement."
Dec 2024 Hyatt Executes JV Agreement with Grupo Piñero to Manage Bahia Principe - In late 2024, Hyatt completed a couple of business deals that significantly expanded its inventory of all-inclusive properties. This was the first. This deal wasn't a purchase, but a 50/50 joint venture with a Spanish company, Grupo Piñero, "to manage Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts-branded properties and own the Bahia Principe brand."
This press statement does say, "Details regarding when and how Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts will participate in the World of Hyatt loyalty program will be shared at a later date," but doesn't mention if the Bahia Principe properties will ever be included in the UVC portfolio. As of December 2025, neither World of Hyatt members nor UVC members have access to Bahia Principe resorts.
Dec 2024 Hyatt Recasts Its Portfolio of Collections - This press release was pretty unassuming. There was no obvious connection to UVC, so no reason to pay attention to it. There wasn't a whole lot of detail, but it announced the addition of two new portfolios and a shuffling of properties within those newly expanded portfolios. The new portfolios were:
The Luxury portfolio features the finest places for the most refined tastes, enriched with unparalleled service, unmatched amenities and high design. These ultraluxe escapes are designed to delight the luxury seekers who delight in the rare and thoughtfully curated, and includes brands such as Park Hyatt, Alila and Miraval.
The Lifestyle portfolio is for guests and visitors who are always at the center of culture, no matter where they are. Encompassing brands such as Andaz, Thompson Hotels and the newly acquired Standard International brands including The Standard and Bunkhouse, these hotel hot spots offer originality in design, dining, and cultural programming, with immersive experiences that transport guests and visitors somewhere else.
Shortly after this press release, I noticed this image appearing in Hyatt marketing materials. You can find it, among other places, at the bottom of hyattinclusivecollection.com.
This image shows that Impression by Secrets is no longer an Inclusive Collection brand. It's now a Luxury Collection brand. Also, Breathless is no longer an Inclusive Collection brand. It's now a Lifestyle Collection brand.
What does it mean to UVC members when entire AMResorts brands are removed from the portfolio of brands where we can use club benefits? No one from Hyatt is willing to engage me on this and other questions I have on where Hyatt is taking the club. Members are in the dark on how these changes will affect the value of their membership.
Jun 2025 Hyatt Closes on the Purchase of Playa Hotels & Resorts - Immediately after purchasing Playa, Hyatt rebranded five former Playa properties to AMResorts brands, and immediately after the rebranding, those five properties were made available to World of Hyatt members. Today, more than six months after the purchase and rebranding of those Playa properties, none of them is available to UVC members even though my contract says I can use club benefits at all AMResorts brands. This continues a consistent and troubling history where Hyatt gives preferential treatment to their World of Hyatt members, who pay nothing for their membership, over their UVC members, who pay thousands for theirs.
This transaction includes the acquisition of 15 all-inclusive resorts previously managed and owned by Playa. Of these, eight were already represented within Hyatt’s system as Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara properties. As part of the transaction, Hyatt expands its all-inclusive portfolio with the addition of several resorts located in premier beach destinations, including Secrets La Romana and Dreams La Romana in the Dominican Republic; Dreams Rose Hall in Montego Bay, Jamaica; and Hyatt Vivid Playa del Carmen and Sunscape Cancun in Mexico.
Hyatt crossed a line in denying UVC members the ability to book AMResorts-branded properties. Hyatt is, now, willfully and brazenly violating my contract.
I can tick off the benefits that come with my UVC membership. I can even tell you where I can use those benefits today. But in Hyatt's UVC, I can no longer be confident of where I'll be able to use those benefits in the future. In the UVC Hyatt has created, I have no way to value my membership anymore. A UVC membership is only as valuable as Hyatt will allow it to be, and Hyatt is actively engaged in reducing that value.
In ALG's UVC, I always knew what resorts were and would be available to me: All AMResorts-branded properties were available to UVC members all the time. There was never an AMResorts property where I couldn't use my club benefits when ALG owned UVC.
In Hyatt's UVC, there are currently eight properties with AMResorts brands that Hyatt denies me access to: the five former Playa properties identified above and another three Alua properties (more on Aluas later).
If you add the eight Ziva and Zilara properties that Hyatt denies to its UVC members, there are currently sixteen Inclusive Collection properties that Hyatt won't allow UVC members to use:
AMResorts branded resorts not available to UVC members
1. Secrets La Romana Resort & Spa
2. Dreams La Romana Resort & Spa
3. Dreams Rose Hall
4. Hyatt Vivid Playa del Carmen
5. Sunscape Cancun
6. AluaSoul Sunny Beach
7. Alua Calas de Mallorca Resort
8. AluaSoul Sunny Beach
Additional Inclusive Collection Resorts not available to UVC members:
9. Hyatt Zilara Cancun
10. Hyatt Zilara Cap Cana
11. Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall
12. Hyatt Ziva Cancun
13. Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana
14. Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos
15. Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta
16. Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall
My recent communication with two different staff members in UVC's Quality Assurance group suggests that Hyatt's view of the contract is that Hyatt, unilaterally, gets to name the resorts that are in and not in the club, and they can change that list whenever and to whatever they want. Hyatt's interpretation means members can no longer count on any property being included in the UVC inventory.
I've been a UVC member for about seven years now. Using my Premier Nights, my VIP Weeks, my RCI membership and the few discounts I've received booking with Unlimited Nights, I've recovered more money than I spent to join UVC. I'm out of Premier Nights and VIP Weeks now, but my discount will last the rest of my active traveling days. Any future savings using that discount is additional value for me.
New members are in a different place. In the current state of UVC, unless and until something authoritative is issued by Hyatt to the contrary, new UVC members will be spending thousands on a club that two UVC staff have told me can be reduced to next-to-nothing by Hyatt unilaterally. It's not worth next-to-nothing now, but Hyatt has started down that road, and there's no telling where that road will lead.
No one in any sales office will tell a prospective member how Hyatt is denying members club privileges at resorts that members used to be able to count on. The sales teams are just going to talk about the benefits. If you get great benefits but can use them at only a shrinking inventory of properties, is the club worth the thousands you'll be asked to spend? How do you know you're getting a reasonable contract price if you don't know where you will be able to use your benefits in the future? New members, even upgrading existing members will be asked to spend thousands on a UVC contract. Given Hyatt's behavior, how do you know you'll be getting commensurate value?
I've tried to talk to someone authoritative at Hyatt about their intentions for the future of the club. I've told them they were violating my contract. They won't talk to me. So I started this blog. If I can't correct Hyatt's recalcitrance, at least I can expose it.