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.

Hyatt Sells a Majority Interest in UVC

Hyatt purchased ALG, including the Unlimited Vacation Club, in November 2021. At the time of the purchase, Hyatt already had a loyalty program called World of Hyatt (WoH). With the acquisition of ALG, they suddenly had two: UVC, which was specific to AMResorts properties, and WoH, a broader program that gives its members discounted prices at almost all Hyatt properties, including AMResorts properties. Did Hyatt need two loyalty programs? Did they want two?

Apparently, not. 

In February 2024, Hyatt issued a press release reporting their 4th Qtr 2023 results.  Buried in the report, is this bit on UVC:

Transactions and Capital Strategy

On February 14, 2024, the Company completed a transaction that resulted in the restructuring of the entity that owns our Unlimited Vacation Club (“UVC”) business by selling 80% of the entity to an investor unaffiliated with Hyatt for $80 million. Hyatt will continue to manage the Unlimited Vacation Club business under a long-term management agreement and license and royalty agreement, ensuring a seamless transition for colleagues, UVC members and hotel owners. As a result of the transaction, the Company will receive management fees and royalty fees in relation to the exclusive arrangement between the Hyatt Inclusive Collection brands and UVC, and the Company will no longer report Net Deferrals and Net Financed Contracts.

The official explanation for the sale was investor confusion. Apparently, the Unlimited Vacation Club business required accounting that Hyatt's hotels business didn't and that confused investors. Hyatt's sale of their majority interest in UVC apparently ended the need for the confusing accounting. That's what they told us anyway.

Hyatt maintains a 20% ownership interest in UVC and continues to manage the club. However, Hyatt's revenue from UVC, as it is with most of its businesses, is now derived primarily from management fees rather than sales.

I don't know the deal the new majority owner has with Hyatt, but part of that deal seems to be the majority owner remains on the sidelines and lets Hyatt run the UVC business. The majority owner hasn't even been named in any press release I've read. He seems happy on the sidelines. He's a silent majority owner.  Hyatt still runs UVC.  In their social media accounts, UVC continues to identify itself as a "Hyatt Company." 

Here's one example from the UVC-Unlimited Vacation Club Facebook page:

Here's another from Instagram:

And from X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter: 

 

Legally, the Unlimited Vacation Club business and Hyatt are two different companies with different owners, but there is no practical distinction between them. They act as one organization. Hyatt is UVC. UVC is Hyatt.

Not All Facebook Groups are the Same

The UVC Facebook group that I find the least useful is UVC-Unlimited Vacation Club. Official Group.  This is UVC's Official group. Its admins and moderators are UVC staff. Currently, it looks like this although they change their cover photo pretty regularly:

 

The Official UVC FB group is in a position to provide a useful service to members, but they don't.  UVC prefers to use the group to market its resorts and to give existing members new ways to spend more money. Like the Owners' groups I belong to, the Official UVC FB group allows only UVC members to join. 

Here are some ideas that the Official UVC group could implement that would be beneficial to members:

1. Respond to all member questions promptly, accurately and clearly. You'd think this would be obvious, but it's not for the Official group gang. As you'll see in future posts here, they've been known to approve a post asking a question and then not answer the question. Other times (I have a couple personal experiences with this), they won't approve a questioning post at all.  Questions that do get approved rarely get answered publicly in the group so all members can learn. The admins' preferred method of responding to member questions is to direct the member to FB Messenger to address the issue one-on-one rather than in the group. That approach may help the one member, but there are another 8,000 or so members in the Official group who could be learning from that one member's experience. Apparently, that's a bad idea to UVC. In the best case, the way the Official group addresses member issues helps members only one at a time.

2. Advocate for members' interests with the resorts. This is probably a lost cause in a Hyatt-run UVC. In addition to managing UVC, Hyatt also markets and provides other management services to the resorts. There are times, and there will always be times, when a member's interests conflict with a resort's  interests. More often than not, Hyatt will support the resort (their larger revenue source) before they support a UVC member. In Hyatt's UVC, members don't have a reliable advocate with the resorts and probably never will.

3. Provide members with updates on what's happening in the club.  Since Hyatt's purchase of ALG, there have been a lot of changes at UVC. Hardly any of them get communicated to members (there will be a lot more on how poorly UVC communicates with members later). There have been a number of significant business transactions Hyatt has made recently that have implications for UVC members. Hyatt's UVC won't discuss the future of the club with members. I've tried. I know. They won't. 

Questions from members about the future of the club are the ones that don't get approved and published to the group, or do get approved but don't get answered, or (and this seems to be the preferred approach) get approved and get a response that doesn't answer the question. Such behavior from the group that presents itself as UVC's "official" voice does members, and Hyatt, more harm than good. Periodic question and answer sessions led by knowledgeable Hyatt staff (not the admins and moderators of the FB group) would be welcome. Hyatt's UVC seems to take a "let members figure it out for themselves" approach to the club's future.

4. Advise members of construction and renovation schedules for all resorts. When a new resort breaks ground, or an existing resort begins renovations, Hyatt releases a press statement notifying the world of the project. Soon after, if I want to follow what's happening on the project, I'll join a FB fans group for that resort. Unfortunately, FB fan group intel is the best way to keep up with what's going on with construction projects. UVC offers members no updates on projects under construction. Many of the fan groups are started and run by travel agents seeking new business. The travel agent admins of those groups share info on construction status and resort amenities, etc. that they tell group members has been given to them by Hyatt. Why Hyatt won't share this same info with its UVC members, who serve as their own travel agents, is a head scratcher. It seems like it would be beneficial to Hyatt to generate interest in the resort, especially among loyalty members, while the property is still in construction. Deliberately excluding UVC members from the same information they willing share with travel agents is another example of Hyatt's contempt for its UVC members.  Hyatt should be giving UVC members the same information at the same time it's given to travel agents. The Official UVC FB group is an obvious place to share that information, but it doesn't happen.

5. Provide members with UVC rep contact information at each resort. UVC's social media managers did this for a short time and posted email addresses for UVC reps at each resort on their blog. They didn't keep the data current. When new resort staff arrived or old resort staff departed, when new resorts opened or old resorts closed or rebranded, the email addresses on the UVC blog didn't get updated. Quickly, the published data was unreliable. Members could try using an email address from the blog, but they never could be sure if it was correct. Often, it wasn't. Ultimately, UVC gave up and removed the contacts page from their blog entirely. It was useful when it was accurate. For UVC, it was too hard to keep accurate. I have some ideas I could share.

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In Hyatt's UVC, the Official FB group doesn't exist to help members. It  exists to make Hyatt more money. Most posts made by its admins are advertising resorts, or other travel products: Amstar (A Hyatt company providing ground transportation and excursions), Funjet (A Hyatt company providing chartered air travel), travel insurance (through a non-Hyatt company UVC partners with). In Hyatt's UVC, the main purpose of the Official group is to increase members' spending. 

If UVC focused on member satisfaction with the club, members might choose to spend more money on their own. Just a thought.