Hyatt Hotels & Resorts Transforms
Hyatt creates new possibilities for meetings and corporate travel
BCD Travel In Motion, September 2007 (excerpted)
When the Hyatt Regency O'Hare opened in 1971, its soaring atrium lobbies – designed by famed architect John Portman – helped revolutionize hotel architecture.
More than 35 years later, Hyatt Regency O'Hare is again at the forefront of a trend with a $60 million transformation that will serve as a case study for Hyatt's atrium properties all over the world.
"The opportunity is to breathe vitality back into Portman's classic design and keep pace with rising expectations of group and business travelers," says Larry Traxler, vice president, architecture and design, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts.
Hotel and Resort Rejuvenation
The O'Hare project is not an isolated effort. Hyatt has committed more than $500 million for capital improvements to rejuvenate dozens of hotels and resorts across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. The initiative kicked off in 2005 with a $60 million upgrade of Grand Hyatt New York, which also marked the introduction of Hyatt's Grand Bed. Since then, the entire chain has been upgrading its rooms with state-of-the-art product and service features, from express check-in kiosks and Web check-in to Wherever Wi-Fi, 24-hour Stay Fit gyms and more.
"The bar has been raised in our industry," says Traxler. "We're looking at each individual property and how it is used and trying to respond in a unique and effective way that makes sense for today's traveler."
These updated improvements, combined with innovative savings programs such as the Hyatt Meeting Savings Card, make Hyatt an easy choice for meeting planners.
Raising the Bar
Such improvements are part of a larger trend of raising the bar by transforming properties as diverse as Park Hyatt Washington, Hyatt Regency Monterey and Hyatt Regency Mission Bay (formerly Hyatt Regency Islandia) to better serve emerging needs in local markets. These projects encompass everything from meeting rooms and public spaces to restaurants, corridors and guestrooms.
To identify needs, Hyatt increasingly is asking focus groups to speak about their likes and dislikes before a renovation begins. These insights often lead to surprising revelations. For example, most business travelers do not use bathtubs, as they prefer a shower. This has led to replacing bathtubs at some locations with stand-up showers.
Likewise, replacing tube TVs with flat-panel TVs makes guestrooms feel much more spacious. The ability to make such decisions property by property highlights a key design advantage at Hyatt – that is, hotel architecture is not standard.
"The design of every Hyatt hotel or resort is unique and responds to the market it is in," says Traxler. "This has given our designers extraordinary freedom in helping to transform hotels so they can operate on many different levels and serve many different customers simultaneously."