After Largest Guest Listening Exercise In Its History, Hyatt Makes First Step In Evolution Of Guest Experience

CHICAGO, Feb. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Guest request communication cards, a service providing frequently forgotten items and new healthy, balanced menu offerings are a sampling of new features available at Hyatt hotels and resorts around the world as a result of Hyatt's effort to listen more to guests and provide an experience tailored to their individual preferences.

Globally rolled out today, each of the enhancements is based on insights from female travelers collected as part of the most extensive guest listening exercise in Hyatt's history.  The launch of these new amenities and services marks the first milestone in Hyatt's evolution of hospitality, which includes changing the conversation with hotel guests, unleashing a spirit of innovation and perfecting new concepts through rigorous research and in-hotel testing.

"These changes represent a first step in re-thinking how we do business – they show we are ready as a company to break free from the 'one size fits all' playbook and have a real conversation with our guests to better understand what they want," said Sara Kearney, senior vice president, brands, for Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. "We are excited to introduce new amenities and services today that guests told us they wanted, and we are even more excited to see how our new approach will continually allow us to offer solutions to the issues today's travelers face."

Listening to Our Female Travelers

Hyatt began its efforts to evolve the guest experience with an intensive 18-month effort that included more than 40 facilitated group discussions around the world. Because women are such a critical segment of travelers, Hyatt focused its efforts on creating solutions to the issues that many women face on the road. While each feature was driven by insights from female travelers, Hyatt believes all guests can benefit from these new enhancements.

Hyatt's approach to listening goes well beyond typical market research by incorporating tactics aimed at understanding the deeper emotional needs of guests, creating ideas that target those needs and quickly prototyping and testing the ideas. Each feature launched today was perfected in real-world Hyatt hotels designated to incubate innovative ideas before global rollout.

Hyatt's research indicated women want:

• Assurances that their guest rooms have been cleaned and an open ongoing dialogue with the hotel to provide feedback.  Guests will now find communication cards that allow housekeepers to provide personal confirmation of a thoroughly cleaned room and open the door to two-way communication, encouraging guests to share additional needs during their stay.
• An easy way to obtain items forgotten at home without breaking stride. All business travelers forget things. Women, however, are often much more reluctant than men to seek assistance when they do, which can make something simple such as leaving a cell phone charger at home much more disruptive for female travelers. Hyatt is introducing Hyatt Has It, a service for all guests that will offer essentials such as a phone charger, curling iron, steamer, yoga mat, makeup remover wipes and razors to keep, borrow or buy.
• To maintain their health and well-being on the road.  All guests will find new menu offerings that include fresh juices and smoothies, balanced portions and "create your own" options, all of which are grounded in Hyatt's industry-leading food and beverage philosophy, Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served.
• Bath products that are of high quality. Hyatt hotels will now offer all guests upgraded, high-quality bath amenities from KenetMD Skin Care, Le Labo, June Jacobs and Aromapothecary across its portfolio of brands.

"I have read guest surveys for many years, but our new way of listening to guests and digging deeper leads to more meaningful findings," said Dave Jacobs, general manager, Hyatt Regency O'Hare, one of the hotels selected to conduct real-time testing of the new enhancements.  "Hyatt has set itself apart by designating several operating hotels as 'hospitality labs' so that we can get ideas right before global launch.  We're even working with staff to interact with guests differently, asking new questions to truly understand guests' needs."

For more information on new amenities and services at Hyatt hotels, and to learn more about Hyatt's new guest listening approach, visit www.hyatt.com/experience.

About Hyatt Hotels Corporation

Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company with a proud heritage of making guests feel more than welcome. Thousands of members of the Hyatt family strive to make a difference in the lives of the guests they encounter every day by providing authentic hospitality. The Company's subsidiaries manage, franchise, own and develop hotels and resorts under the Hyatt®, Park Hyatt®, Andaz®, Grand Hyatt®, Hyatt Regency®, Hyatt Place® and Hyatt House^TM brand names and have locations on six continents. Hyatt Residential Group, Inc., a Hyatt Hotels Corporation subsidiary, develops, operates, markets or licenses Hyatt Residences^TM and Hyatt Residence Club^TM. As of December 31, 2012, the Company's worldwide portfolio consisted of 500 properties in 46 countries. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com.

SOURCE Hyatt Hotels Corporation