World Of Hyatt Mr & Mrs Smith Partnership: How It Works

In 2023, Hyatt acquired luxury hotel booking platform Mr & Mrs Smith for £53 million, and in 2024, we saw Mr & Mrs Smith integrated into the World of Hyatt program. We’ve increasingly seen the major hotel groups almost become online travel agencies of sorts, whereby they try to take a commission on anything that travelers may be looking to book, whether it’s a home rental, or unaffiliated boutique property.

In this post, I’d like to take a look at how this partnership works, and what it means for World of Hyatt members.

What is Mr & Mrs Smith?

For those not familiar with Mr & Mrs Smith, the company describes itself as a “travel club and boutique hotel specialist,” and is affiliated with over 2,000 hotels, and counting. The way I view it, Mr & Mrs Smith is essentially a luxury travel agency and marketing agency.

Mr & Mrs Smith doesn’t manage any hotels, but rather gets a commission when people book through the company. In turn, Mr & Mrs Smith offers some perks to those who book through the company. Think of it as being along the lines of Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) and Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) — these companies also don’t manage hotels, but rather market a variety of properties.

Arguably Mr & Mrs Smith has even fewer requirements than LHW and SLH when it comes to exclusivity and standards. You’ll find that many Mr & Mrs Smith properties also belong to other hotel groups or marketing organizations, and Mr & Mrs Smith markets properties belonging to many of the world’s best hotel brands.

Hyatt acquired Mr & Mrs Smith to enhance its position in the luxury hotel market, and further strengthen Hyatt’s distribution capabilities, especially in Europe. Hyatt hopes that this will help the brand forge relations with additional hotel owners, and more than one million Mr & Mrs Smith members.

While World of Hyatt historically had a partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World, that was discontinued as of May 2024, in favor of this new partnership. Instead, SLH has launched a partnership with Hilton Honors. I’d consider this to be a huge win for Hilton Honors, and a massive loss for World of Hyatt, but that’s just me…

Mr & Mrs Smith World of Hyatt integration details

Mr & Mrs Smith participates in the World of Hyatt program, with many Mr & Mrs Smith properties being bookable through Hyatt’s website and app. Not all Mr & Mrs Smith properties partner directly with World of Hyatt, but many do.

You need to reserve through Hyatt booking channels to be able to earn and redeem points. Mr & Mrs Smith continues to exist independently as a website (owned by Hyatt), and if you book directly through there, you don’t receive perks (and in many cases, you may even get a better deal there).

Earning Hyatt points with Mr & Mrs Smith

When booking a Mr & Mrs Smith property through Hyatt channels, you typically earn the same number of points as you would at a Hyatt property:

• World of Hyatt members earn five base points per USD spent on eligible room revenue with Mr & Mrs Smith (incidental spending isn’t eligible for points accrual), and those base points count toward lifetime World of Hyatt status
• World of Hyatt members receive their standard elite tier bonuses at Mr & Mrs Smith properties (10% for Discoverist, 20% for Explorist, and 30% for Globalist)
• World of Hyatt members receive standard elite nights for Mr & Mrs Smith stays, which count toward the Milestone Rewards program
• Stays at Mr & Mrs Smith properties are eligible for World of Hyatt’s global promotions, plus World of Hyatt’s Brand Explorer promotion
• World of Hyatt members paying with the World of Hyatt Credit Card (review) and World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (review) receive 4x World of Hyatt points per dollar spent for Mr & Mrs Smith stays

On the surface this sounds exciting, though just keep in mind that you might not always find the lowest rate through Hyatt’s channels, so you’ll want to compare pricing.

Redeeming Hyatt points with Mr & Mrs Smith

Points redemptions at Mr & Mrs Smith properties work differently than the standard World of Hyatt redemption rates. The good news is that you’re able to redeem your World of Hyatt points for any room at a Mr & Mrs Smith property, with no capacity controls.

The bad news is that pricing is dynamic, and doesn’t follow any award chart. In my experience, you can generally get somewhere around 1.0 cents of value per World of Hyatt toward the cost of a stay at a Mr & Mrs Smith property.

This is really quite an underwhelming value proposition, if you ask me. For what it’s worth, I value World of Hyatt points at 1.5 cents each, so I definitely wouldn’t recommend redeeming at a property that’s only getting you around a penny per point of value.

Hyatt elite benefits with Mr & Mrs Smith

Since Mr & Mrs Smith properties aren’t actually managed by Hyatt, there’s not much in the way of elite perks, at least not that are published. You receive a “Smith Extra” with each stay, which is a property specific amenity defined by each property (this is the same thing you’d get if booked directly with Mr & Mrs Smith).

Furthermore, World of Hyatt Globalist members may receive room upgrades, but that’s not clearly defined beyond that, and it’s not something that I would count on.

My take on Hyatt’s Mr & Mrs Smith partnership

On the surface, it’s of course nice to be able to earn World of Hyatt points for stays at independent, luxury properties. So this partnership is worth being aware of, as it greatly expands the types of properties that World of Hyatt members can stay at, while still being rewarded. Essentially Hyatt is getting a commission when you book these properties, and is giving members a kickback in the form of points.

With the above in mind, a few thoughts on this partnership. First of all, I think the opportunity to earn points is a lot more compelling than the opportunity to redeem points. The points earning rates are great, while the points redemption rates really don’t offer very good value, compared to how Hyatt points can otherwise be redeemed.

That being said, even when booking cash rates at Mr & Mrs Smith properties through Hyatt, I’m finding three main issues:

• In many cases, Hyatt has higher rates for Mr & Mrs Smith properties than you’d find when booking direct, or in some cases, even compared to what you’d pay if booking through the Mr & Mrs Smith website
• Even beyond that, in some cases you’ll find that hotels sell better types of package rates than what you’ll find through Hyatt’s website, like rates that include breakfast, half board, spa treatments, etc.
• In many cases, you’re forgoing perks at Mr & Mrs Smith properties that you could receive if booking through programs like Virtuoso or Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts; these include things like complimentary breakfast, property credits, room upgrades, and more

Bottom line

In 2023, Hyatt acquired Mr & Mrs Smith, which is essentially a luxury travel agency. While Mr & Mrs Smith continues to be an independent website, many properties have been integrated into World of Hyatt booking channels, allowing members to earn and redeem points.

While this has the potential to be a decent opportunity, just keep in mind the restrictions — rates are often higher, elite perks are limited, you’re often forgoing other incentives you could receive if booking elsewhere, etc. Personally I’d put this opportunity in the category of worth being aware of, but not necessarily terribly compelling. That’s especially true when you consider the poor redemption opportunities through this partnership.

What do you make of the World of Hyatt opportunities with Mr & Mrs Smith ?