This story didn't get picked up here yesterday, but
Joie De Vivre Joins World Of Hyatt (h/t OMAAT) effective today, May 15, 2019.
This is exciting news because Hyatt is expanding their portfolio of hotels and giving you more locations to redeem your points. As we know, Hyatt offers amazing value per point and UR easily transfers to WOH 1:1. In this case, Joie De Vivre is a boutique hotel chain with some interesting properties in the SF Bay Area, NYC, Chicago, and Baltimore:
- Chicago Athletic Association in Chicago (Category 4)
- Hotel Lincoln in Chicago (Category 3)
- The Talbott in Chicago (Category 3)
- Hotel Revival in Baltimore (Category 2)
- Hotel Avante in Mountain View (Category 4)
- Avatar Hotel in Santa Clara (Category 3)
- Hotel del Sol in San Francisco (Category 4)
- Wild Palms Hotel in Sunnyvale (Category 3)
- Waterfront Hotel in Oakland (Category 3)
- Hotel 50 Bowery in New York City (Category 5)
- Park South in New York City (Category 5)
- The Laurel Inn in San Francisco (Category 5)
- Carmel Valley Ranch in Carmel (Category 6)
- Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco (Category 5)
Here in SF, the addition of Joie De Vivre adds a WOH Cat 4 redemption (which the recent category changes all but eliminated from the city) at the Hotel del Sol. But I can't recommend the place because of its location right off the very busy stretch of Lombard Street that's a major thoroughfare to and from the Golden Gate Bridge. The Hotel del Sol is situated close to the trendy Cow Hollow and Marina neighborhoods and the Presidio (and Walt Disney Family Museum). The Laurel Inn and Kabuki Hotel are in mixed retail and residential neighborhoods, and kind of out of the way from the usual tourist destinations, although they're easily accessible by Uber/Lyft. I can't say they're better choices to redeem at than the Hyatts on the Embarcadero, Union Square, or Fisherman's Wharf (also Cat 5s).
Can I say though, that I'm super excited to see the Carmel Valley Ranch on this list (even if it's a Cat 6)?