What is Hyatt Guest of Honor?
Most hotel elite benefits die with the account they belong to. This is the rare one built to be handed to someone else.
In one line
A Guest of Honor award lets someone with no Hyatt status stay as though they were a Globalist — breakfast, upgrades, waived resort fees, late checkout — for up to seven nights.
Where the awards come from
They are Milestone Rewards, earned by Globalists as they pass night and points thresholds through the year. The first arrives around the 40-night mark, more follow at 60, and further awards accrue every ten nights beyond that, up to about ten in a year. Nights credited by the co-brand cards count toward the thresholds. Lifetime Globalists receive a separate batch each March.
That scarcity is the whole point. Someone holding one has stayed a great many nights to get it, which is why they tend to be treated as worth something rather than given away.
What the award covers
- Up to seven nights on one stay
- Breakfast, or club lounge access where the hotel has one, usually for two adults and two children
- Room upgrades subject to availability
- Resort and facility fees waived — often the single largest saving
- Late checkout, parking on award stays, internet and bottled water
It works on stays booked directly with Hyatt, paid or on points. It does not stack with a free-night certificate, because you cannot apply two kinds of award to the same reservation.
How it moves between people
There are two ways to use one on someone else's behalf, and they are not the same thing.
- The Globalist books it. They make the reservation in the guest's name and apply the award. The booking stays in their account, so they hold the reservation.
- The award is gifted. The holder transfers it to another member's account — last name and member number, and it arrives instantly. The recipient then books their own stay. An award can only be transferred once.
Gifting also earns the Globalist a bonus elite night once the stay is completed, which is Hyatt deliberately making it more attractive to share an award than to sit on it.
They expire
Milestone awards last through the rest of the year they were earned, plus a further stretch into the next — a little over a year in practice, less if it was earned in December. Lifetime Globalist awards run shorter. An award's remaining life is a real part of what it is worth, so it is worth asking about before anything else.
World of Hyatt's terms prohibit buying, selling and bartering awards. The ability to gift one is not permission to sell one, and accounts have been closed over the difference. Read the current terms and decide for yourself before arranging anything.