How to Navigate Hyatt Hotel Categories for Awards

The World of Hyatt loyalty program offers many opportunities to redeem points for stays at more than 1,500 hotels and resorts worldwide. Properties ranging from convenient airport locations to five-star Park Hyatt hotels are divided into categories that determine how many points you need for an award night.

Navigating Hyatt hotel categories can be challenging; however, Hyatt lets you search by category so you see only properties within your budget in points. Here are some tips to keep in mind when embarking on your journey into World of Hyatt redemption categories.

What are Hyatt hotel categories?

Every World of Hyatt hotel falls into a category, from 1 through 8. The higher the category, the more points needed to redeem an award night.

Generally, a hotel’s category is determined by variables like location, type of property and demand. Upscale Hyatt brands like Park Hyatt and Hyatt Regency, as well as hotels in desirable locations, are usually in categories 5 through 8.

If you’re planning a trip to Miami, for example, you could choose a Category 3 property like Hyatt Place Miami Airport-East, located across from the airport. If a glamorous boutique hotel in Miami Beach is more your style, a Category 6 property such as Andaz Miami Beach could be your choice.

Not all properties fall into categories 1 through 8. All-inclusive resorts, Miraval resorts and Mr. & Mrs. Smith properties use a different pricing system.

Hyatt award charts: Higher-demand nights cost more

As of May 20, 2026, Hyatt has changed its award chart, significantly raising the ceiling on how much most nights will cost when booking with points.

Prior to the change, Hyatt used three pricing tiers for room rates: Off-Peak, Standard and Peak. Now, there are five pricing tiers: Lowest, Low, Moderate, Upper and Top. That means award prices are more dynamic and demand-based than before. Most notably, the number of points needed for the highest-demand nights have risen dramatically.

Here's how much you should expect to spend at category 1 through 8 hotels:

• Lowest: Fewer points are needed when hotels are the least busy, offering the best value. Rates range from 3,000 to 35,000 points per night.

• Low: More points are required when hotels are busier, ranging from 4,500 to 45,000 points per night.

• Moderate: This middle-of-the-pack tier ranges from 6,000 to 55,000 points per night.

• Upper: When hotels are busier than normal, expect to pay 7,500 to 65,000 points per night.

• Top: These are the most expensive and highest-demand nights, ranging from 9,000 to 75,000 points per night.

To browse the number of points you need for rooms of every type and in every category, see the charts here.

Under the old award chart, Off-Peak rates ranged from 3,500 to 35,000 points per night, while Peak rates ranged from 6,500 to 45,000 points per night.

How much category pricing has increased since the change

While the Lowest tier of pricing seems relatively similar to the old Off-Peak rates, the biggest change has been to Hyatt properties on the highest-demand nights. Here’s how much the maximum prices have increased when comparing peak rates to the Top tier:

• Category 1: 6,500 is now 9,000 points (+38%).

• Category 2: 9,500 is now 15,000 points (+58%).

• Category 3: 15,000 is now 20,000 points (+33%).

• Category 4: 18,000 is now 25,000 points (+39%).

• Category 5: 23,000 is now 35,000 points (+52%).

• Category 6: 29,000 is now 40,000 points (+38%).

• Category 7: 35,000 is now 55,000 points (+57%).

• Category 8: 45,000 is now 75,000 points (+67%).

For more information about the changes, read our analysis.

How to find Hyatt hotels by category

With some hotel loyalty programs, it can be difficult to find properties where you’ll have enough points for an award stay. You have to keep searching for different dates or cities to find a room in your points budget. But Hyatt has a better way — if you know where to look.

From Hyatt’s homepage, click “Loyalty Program” and then select “Redeem” among the drop-down options.

Scroll down the page and click the “Explore Reward Destinations” box, which will open a map of Hyatt locations.

You also can find the map by going to the homepage, clicking “Explore” and then selecting “Hotels & Resorts.”

On the map you’ll see a “Filters” box in the top left-hand corner of the page. Click on it to sort properties by hotel brand, amenities and — most helpful for award night searches — categories, with the number of points you need for a stay in each category clearly displayed.

Search Hyatt categories

Let’s say, for example, you have 20,000 points and you’re looking to put them to use for a free hotel stay. You could get six Lowest-tier nights at a Category 1, three nights at a Category 2, or two nights at a Category 3 hotel.

To find results that fit into your points budget, select hotel Categories 1, 2 and 3 from the filter and you will see the number of results in the specific area. In our example, the results dropped from 1,184 to 536.

The map will show all the hotels that fall into your search criteria. If, for example, you’ve decided to go to Philadelphia, zoom into the Philadelphia area or type “Philadelphia” into the search bar to see your options.

For each result, you’ll see a “Points Calendar.” Click on it and you’ll see a calendar listing the nightly price in points for that property.

How to earn Hyatt points quickly

Beyond qualifying hotel stays, another way to amass a large number of points is to earn a sign-up bonus for a Hyatt credit card. There are two cards available: one personal or consumer card, and one business card.

If you seek more flexibility in redeeming miles for hotel stays, consider applying for a more general travel credit card instead. A more general travel credit card differs from a hotel card in that you can book lodging at multiple hotel chains, rather than reaping the benefits of staying loyal to a single brand.

» Learn more: The best Hyatt credit card offers

The more high-end the travel credit card, the more benefits you can enjoy, including airport lounge access or automatic elite status in certain programs. That said, a brand-specific hotel card can net you benefits like late checkout or free breakfast, which can have meaningful dollar value.

(Top photo courtesy of Hyatt)