Official UVC Worthlessness

I have expectations for the Official UVC FB group that they're unwilling to meet. I want them to answer my membership questions, help resolve disputes, advocate on my behalf with the resorts and keep me updated on the status of properties coming and going from the UVC inventory.  Also, it wouldn't hurt if they'd treat me more respectfully. They just want to sell me more stuff. So, I've come to think of that group like I think of $2,400 VIP Weeks. In some circumstances and under a specific set of facts, you might find a little bit of value there, but they're largely worthless. Here are some examples.

1.  Back in October 2023, there were increases to many costs members are charged for various UVC services (e.g. the transaction fee members, and the cost to deposit a week of TPUs into an RCI account). Members weren't notified by UVC of these increases, or what the new costs would be. In almost all clubs, subscriptions, memberships I'm involved with, members, especially loyalty members, get a notice in advance of cost increases. That didn't happen in Hyatt's UVC. I was hearing rumors in my FB groups of impending cost increases, so on October 30, 2023, I asked the Official UVC FB group if there would be official notification.

Their response? Nothing! 

Not only did they not answer my question, but they wouldn't even publish the question to the group. To this day, it sits in Official UVC FB group purgatory, unpublished. 

2.  In October 2024, UVC started accepting reservations for Secrets Baby Beach which was still under construction but projecting a Spring 2025 opening. I was interested in visiting. I checked pricing. I read the resort guide. It left me with some questions, so I asked them in the Official UVC FB group. They responded, but they didn't answer my question. A response that's not an answer to the question asked is a common ploy of this group. I asked them a second time to get me answers. The second time, they didn't respond at all. Really? UVC asks members to spend thousands of dollars on a week's stay at a new resort, but they refuse to tell members what they'll get for their money?

 

Having been stonewalled by the Official UVC FB group, I emailed the resort directly and got my answers. This is something UVC should have done. It would have been useful to all members for UVC to get answers to my questions and then provide those answers to the entire group membership. Serving member interests is not what the Official UVC FB group is about. I had to get the answers for myself.  When I did, I posted the answers to my own questions in a comment on my original post. That comment was deleted by the moderators. Eventually, the whole post was deleted. This is Hyatt's UVC.

Does UVC work for its members? If they did, they would have pursued answers for me. All members would benefit from a UVC that works as our advocate with the resorts. Hyatt's UVC doesn't work for the benefit of members. Hyatt's UVC works for the benefit of Hyatt.

3.  In June of 2025, Hyatt announced they had closed on the purchase of Playa Hotels and Resorts. By June 12, 2025, I noticed all of the former Playa properties acquired in the purchase already appeared on hyattinclusivecollection.com and could be booked by World of Hyatt members with their discount. Eight of the former Playa properties were the original Ziva and Zilara properties that remained as Zivas and Zilaras but with Hyatt now as their management firm. UVC members weren't given access to these Zivas and Zilaras, but Hyatt does include them in their Inclusive Collection with all other properties in the UVC inventory. Five of the former Playa properties were rebranded by Hyatt to AMResorts brands, yet not even these appeared on the UVC members' website for members to book. Hyatt was denying members access to five AMResorts-branded properties despite contract language that tells me I can use my club benefits at all AMResorts properties.

By July 24, 2025, I realized that in addition to the five rebranded Playa resorts, there was Alua Soul Sunny Beach from the European Collection and a new resort, Secrets Mirabel, that Hyatt was denying to its UVC members. That's a total of seven AMResorts properties, all open, all taking reservations and all available to World of Hyatt members that UVC members didn't have access to. I wanted some clarification from official Hyatt sources about what Hyatt was doing to the club.  I attempted to post my concerns to the Official UVC FB group and asked for contact information for a Hyatt executive who could explain to me what was going on.

Again, the Official UVC FB group didn't respond and wouldn't publish my post to the group. It, too, sits in Official UVC FB group purgatory keeping my October 2023 post company. 

How many other memberships or subscriptions do you have that treat their customers the way Hyatt treats its UVC members? Costco? Netflix? Your local newspaper? Your gym? Most businesses treat their loyalty customers very well. They want to keep them as customers. That's not Hyatt's UVC. In Hyatt's UVC, I'm often treated like I'm the enemy. Instead of an honest response to some basic questions, this UVC member got ignored. Who is UVC serving with this behavior? Not members.

UVC's Communication, or Lack of It, Part IV

In a news release dated December 4, 2024, Hyatt announced that it was expanding its portfolio of "Collections," adding a Luxury Collection as well as a Lifestyle Collection. Soon after, without any fanfare or background, and naturally, without any communication to UVC members, I noticed a reorganization of Hyatt brands within its new slate of "Collections." Among other places within Hyatt's marketing materials, there's an image of the brand reorganization at the bottom of hyatt.com

Notably to UVC members, the Impression by Secrets brand is no longer an Inclusive Collection brand; it's been recast as a Luxury Collection brand. Similarly, Breathless is no longer an Inclusive Collection brand; it's now a Lifestyle Collection brand. 

It's hard to tell how much of Hyatt's reformulations of its Collections to believe, though. Their marketing group is circulating the image above, but if you click the dropdown arrow at the top of the home page at hyattinclusivecollection.com, you'll get a menu of Inclusive Collection brands from their IT guys that includes both Impression and Breathless.

Even Hyatt employees seem confused about what brands go where, but irrespective of Hyatt's internal confusion, these brand reformulations add more concern for the future of UVC.

In May 2022, only five months after Hyatt's purchase of ALG, the AMResorts Collection was rebranded as the Hyatt Inclusive Collection. The change was significant to club members because UVC was developed as a loyalty program for AMResorts properties. In ALG's UVC, the scope of a UVC contract was defined by the term "AMResorts."  In the 2019 UVC contract here, you'll read in paragraph 1 of Exhibit B:

1. AMResorts Hotels.
1.1. "Participating Hotels" Member may book their reservations with a preferential rate at any of the hotels operated by AMResorts ("Participating Hotels") available at www.unlimitedvacationclub.com at the applicable rates. Such reservations must be booked using the process described in the Contract and in the Operating Rules. Participating Hotels may be added or removed unilaterally by AMResorts. 

Conditions of use for Membership type:

ALG wanted a loyalty program for their AMResorts brands. They honored that contract language. There was never a time in ALG's UVC when I didn't have access to all properties operating with an AMResorts brand. And when a new property opened with an AMResorts brand, I knew I'd be able to use my club benefits at that new property.  In Hyatt's UVC, that's no longer the case. When Hyatt bought ALG, they already had a loyalty program called World of Hyatt. World of Hyatt encompasses all Hyatt properties, not just their all-inclusives. That's the program that Hyatt devotes time and energy to.  Hyatt doesn't need a second loyalty program, especially one that rewards loyalty to only a portion of the properties they manage. Hyatt doesn't honor UVC contract language.

I inferred from Hyatt's rebranding of the AMR Collection that the term "AMResorts Brands" in my UVC contract was being replaced with the new term "Inclusive Collection Brands," and that my membership was now a loyalty program for Hyatt's Inclusive Collection. Except Hyatt included its own Ziva and Zilara brands in the Inclusive Collection without giving UVC members access to those properties. The rebranding made it only partially true that my membership was connected to the Inclusive Collection. Hyatt's behavior with its Zivas and Zilaras began me questioning what I really had with my UVC membership. Eventually, members were given access to one Ziva (which has since rebranded as a Dreams) and one Zilara, but we still don't have access to the other eight Zivas and Zilaras more than three years after Hyatt added the Ziva and Zilara brands to the Inclusive Collection. Just as importantly to me, there are several other Zivas and Zilaras currently in development in the Hyatt pipeline. Can members expect access to those? There's been no  communication from Hyatt of their intentions for the Ziva and Zilara brands with respect to UVC.

In rebranding five Playa Resorts properties to AMResorts brands without giving UVC members access to them, Hyatt has altered the entire concept of UVC as a loyalty program for a collection of brands. There's no coherence anymore. What members get from UVC has become vague and confused. Yet, Hyatt is silent about what's going on. Is Hyatt's manipulation of the UVC inventory by resort rather than by brand a temporary aberration or a permanent sea change to the club that longtime members used to know? Is there any brand where UVC members can feel confident they'll be able to use club benefits in the future, or will future decisions to bring new resorts into the UVC inventory be made on a resort-by-resort basis irrespective of brand?

Hyatt behaves as if they can change the club's inventory unilaterally. Reread the contract language quoted above. Is the inventory of brands available to club members supposed to be fluid? That's not how I read it. If a property has an AMResorts brand, UVC members should be able to book it with club benefits.  In violation of member contracts, Hyatt has usurped the right to manipulate the inventory of properties available to UVC members. 

What does it suggest about Hyatt's intentions for the future of UVC if they remove entire brands from the Inclusive Collection?  Can members still count on being able to book brands relocated from the Inclusive Collection in the future? Conceivably, Hyatt's plan is to eliminate all resorts with a Breathless or Impression brand from the UVC inventory. How can UVC members be assured of the club's future and a membership's value if no one from Hyatt tells us what the long-term plan is for the club? 

How does a prospective member sitting in a UVC sales offices know he's getting sufficient value for the tens of thousands of dollars he's being asked to pay for a new UVC membership if he can't be sure of where he can use club benefits or how Hyatt will unilaterally alter those benefits in the future? I'm sure UVC sales staffs are making the club sound as fabulous as ever, but the reality is, the way Hyatt manages the club, members don't know what they can count on any more. What a new member gets for his money is a moving target, and only Hyatt knows where the target will move.

This is why, today, when I'm chatting up prospective members while on vacation, I discourage them from joining UVC. If you like the Inclusive Collection resorts, save your thousands of dollars. Don't join UVC. It's no longer a stable and reliable organization. Join World of Hyatt. Hyatt treats its WoH members better than its UVC members, and since WoH is free, you'll feel no compunction about abandoning Hyatt brands when you tire of the way Hyatt treats you.

I would welcome something unequivocal from an authoritative Hyatt official on what members can expect for Impression and Breathless, specifically, and UVC, in general. Are there any resorts members can assume will be added to the UVC inventory when one opens with a specific brand? If so, which brands?

And why do I have to ask? 

UVC's Communication, or Lack of It, Part III

On June 2, 2025, Hyatt announced the opening of AluaSoul Sunny Beach. The press release specifically stated that the new AluaSoul is available to World of Hyatt members. The press release did not say the resort was available to UVC members, and it isn't. I went to the European Collection tab on the members' website the day the opening was announced, and sure enough, AluaSoul Sunny Beach is not an option for UVC members to book. Alua is an AMResorts brand. My UVC contract entitles me to UVC benefits at all AMResorts properties. Hyatt's UVC is violating my contract by not allowing me to book this property.

The same day of the press release, a UVC member asked in the Official UVC FB group if AluaSoul Sunny Beach would be made available to UVC members for booking. 

 

The moderators published it to the group, but seven months later, there's been no response. At this point, I think it's likely there never will be a response. My question asking if UVC would notify members of impending rate increases the Official UVC FB group deemed too sensitive to even approve for the group. This one they figure is okay to approve, but they won't answer it. I don't get those guys. Who does UVC serve by this behavior? It certainly isn't members.

In December 2025, I noticed a redesign of the dropdown list for European Collection resorts on the members' website. I checked to see if AluaSoul Sunny Beach was added for members to book. Nope. It's still not there. Worse, I discovered there are two other Alua resorts, Alua Calas de Mallorca Resort and AluaSoul Costa Adeje, that aren't included in the redesigned dropdown list, and so aren't available to members for booking. 

All three of these Aluas: AluaSoul Sunny Beach, Alua Calas de Mallorca Resort and AluaSoul Costa Adeje are available to World of Hyatt members to book. None of them is available to UVC members. 

Further, there are three properties that are included in the redesigned dropdown list on the UVC members' website that aren't operating under Inclusive Collection brands and probably shouldn't be there: Aluasoul Alcudia Bay appears to have been rebranded as Bordoy Alcudia Bay; Hotel Oberoy is an independent property with no brand at all, and Zoetry Halkidiki which Hyatt announced as a new construction project, but which never opened under that brand, and is currently operating as Zelia Resort Halkidiki. None of these three can be booked through the members' website. My attempt to book shows no availability at all three resorts. They do, however, appear as booking options.

In Hyatt's UVC, because of their shenanigans manipulating the UVC inventory by resort rather than by brand, it's hard enough for members to keep up with which resorts are and aren't available to them. UVC shouldn't be adding to members' confusion by including non-UVC resorts in the dropdown list of European Collection resorts.

Alua was an AMResorts brand before Hyatt's purchase of ALG.  Currently, it is identified in Hyatt marketing materials as an Inclusive Collection brand. Why aren't all Aluas available to UVC members? UVC has a contractual obligation to its members to make all AMResorts properties available for booking with club benefits. They're not honoring that obligation. 

Communication from Hyatt of its intent for Aluas, Zivas, Zilaras and the former Playa properties rebranded to AMResorts brands is needed. What's going on?

And why do I have to ask?

UVC's Communication, or Lack of It, Part II

When ALG owned UVC, all properties with an AMResorts brand were available to me to book with club benefits. My UVC contract is written around the basic concept that the Unlimited Vacation Club is a loyalty program for and confers member benefits at all AMResorts-branded properties. In ALG's UVC, as soon as a new AMResorts-branded property opened, I knew it was another resort where I could use my club benefits. I knew what my membership provided and could place a value on it. 

My contract tells me that my UVC benefits can be used at "all AMResorts brands." In ALG's UVC, that meant something. ALG created a "Collection" of AMResorts properties called the AMR Collection. I knew I could use my membership at all of those properties. And when a new resort opened with an AMR Collection brand, I knew I could use my membership at that new property. I knew the value of my membership.

In May 2022, when Hyatt re-branded ALG's AMR Collection to its own Inclusive Collection and included its Ziva and Zilara properties in that new Collection without giving UVC members access to all Zivas and Zilaras, they began to erode my confidence in the value of my membership. I still felt confident that I could use the club at AMResorts-branded properties, but I no longer had a "Collection" of properties that was connected to my membership. I started to wonder where Hyatt was taking the club.

UVC members get teasers from the Official UVC FB group that Ziva and Zilara are coming to UVC, and we just have to "stay tuned," but that's as far as it goes.

We've been getting these teasers for more than three years, and UVC members still don't have access to the original eight Zivas and Zilaras.

Hyatt ended any assurance I had in the value of my membership when they purchased Playa Hotels and Resorts in June 2025, rebranded five of those former Playa properties to AMResorts brands and denied its UVC members access to any of those AMResorts-branded properties. Now, I can't even be assured that Hyatt will allow me to use club benefits at AMResorts-branded properties despite what my contract tells me. Now, Hyatt is violating my contract.

Still, there's no official communication with members about what's going on or what Hyatt sees as the future of UVC. The absence of communication in the uncertain environment Hyatt has created exacerbates my concern for the future of the club.

Today, members get vague hints and a trite response from UVC (When a member asks a question in the Official UVC FB group. None of this is volunteered by UVC.) that the recently rebranded Playa properties will be incorporated into UVC in the future.

If Hyatt gave members an honest answer to this question, or if they gave members their schedule for when the former Playa properties with new AMResorts brands will come into the UVC inventory, or even if they offered any reasonable explanation for why they're not already part of UVC, I'd be willing to extend them some patience, but they don't even try to be respectful of members. If Hyatt has to violate UVC contracts to achieve their management goals for these properties, the very least they owe its UVC members is an explanation of why this is happening and their schedule for when it will be complete. There have been many members asking this question for months in the Official UVC FB group, and they all get a similar dismissive and contemptuous non-answer. Hyatt is violating our contracts, and they don't care.

I've tried to engage someone at Hyatt  in an authoritative position to tell me what's happening with the club and what Hyatt's long-range plans are for UVC. I've tried to post on the Official UVC FB group (they wouldn't even publish my post let alone answer my questions), I've communicated with two reps from UVC's QA department without any resolution, and I've emailed a couple of Hyatt execs with my questions. Neither has responded. I've gotten nowhere. All roads have reached a dead end. No one at Hyatt will give me any insight into the direction Hyatt is taking UVC. They're definitely taking it somewhere new, but no one will say where.

Hyatt should stop thinking of the Unlimited Vacation Club as a loyalty program. Loyalty is a two-way street. Hyatt's UVC street goes only one way. Only a masochist would be loyal to a company that treats them the way Hyatt treats its UVC members. 

UVC's Communication, or Lack of It, Part I

UVC's communication with members ranges from poor to non-existent. That is, unless they're trying to get us to spend more money. They're all over that! In the next four posts, I'll provide examples of just how poorly UVC communicates with its members.

1.  There were price increases for reservation fees and other basic club services in October 2023. UVC gave no notice to members that the price increases were coming, which prices were increasing or what the new prices were going to be. Especially with their loyalty customers, most businesses give advanced notice of price increases. That didn't happen in Hyatt's UVC. Members were just supposed to figure out for themselves what prices were increasing and when it was going to happen. I found out about these increases in my Owners' FB groups, so I asked UVC in the Official UVC FB group back in October 2023 if there was going to be an announcement of what services were getting price increases and what the new prices were. 

The Official UVC FB group didn't answer my question. They wouldn't even publish it to the group.  It's a basic question that most businesses would consider of obvious interest to a loyalty member. I think most businesses wouldn't have to be asked a question like this. They would volunteer the information to their customers. UVC wouldn't answer it. This is Hyatt's UVC.

2. Information on new resort openings has become increasingly vague since Hyatt bought ALG. In most cases, Hyatt announces new resorts and major renovations when construction starts and gives an estimated completion date. UVC posts links to these Hyatt press releases in the Official UVC FB group. Rarely, does Hyatt provide updates on openings after the initial announcement even though resorts rarely open in the month that's originally projected. Eventually, Hyatt begins taking reservations based on the projected opening, but more often than not, even the date they begin accepting reservations get delayed and folks who made reservations have to cancel or get re-booked. Hyatt does a poor job of estimating construction completion and a worse job or communicating extended opening dates with members.

3. Hyatt doesn't even communicate with UVC members when new resorts become available for booking. Not too long ago, Hyatt Vivid Punta Cana and Secrets Mirabel Cancun were made available to members, but there was no notice from UVC to its members that those resorts were available for booking on the members' website. 

Pre-opening pricing for both of those resorts was very good. A normal business would be trumpeting things like this to its loyalty members. UVC doesn't. They were completely silent with members about these new openings. Even when it's in UVC's interest to do so, they choose not to communicate with members. Members are just supposed to figure it out for themselves. I don't get it.

4.  Hyatt doesn't communicate with members on failed openings, or on resorts leaving the UVC inventory. Zoetry Halkidiki and Breathless Sunny Beach were both announced to be opening more than a year ago. Neither has opened, and Hyatt hasn't informed its members of their status. AluaSoul Alcudia Bay and AluaSoul Costa Malaga used to be part of the European Collection but no longer are. They just disappeared from the UVC inventory without any notice to members. In Feb 2024 Hyatt announced a new Breathless would open in Puerto Vallarta in 2025.  It didn't. The project was supposed to be a renovation and rebranding of the existing Krystal Grand Puerto Vallarta.  2025 has come and gone, but there's been no further communication with members on the Breathless project.

The inventory of UVC properties is of paramount interest to members. Someone in an authoritative position in the Hyatt organization should be communicating with UVC members whenever that inventory changes.

5.  I can find better information on new UVC resorts from travel agents on YouTube or in FB fan groups than I get directly from UVC. The travel agents posting on social media tell their followers that their information comes directly from Hyatt. Hyatt treats travel agents better than its loyalty UVC members. Why is that? Why aren't UVC members given the same information, and on the same timing, that Hyatt gives travel agents? Why doesn't Hyatt allow UVC members, or their representatives, to attend the same video conference updates on new resort openings that Hyatt invites travel agents to? Deliberately excluding UVC members from receiving information that's of obvious interest to them, and that's willingly shared with travel agents, is another example of Hyatt's contempt for its UVC members.