Hyatt Hotels Corporation is an American multinational hospitality company that manages and franchises luxury hotels, resorts, and vacation properties. The Hyatt Corporation came into being upon purchase of the Hyatt House, at Los Angeles International Airport, on September 27, 1957. As of March 25, 2018, Hyatt has 777 properties in 54 countries.^[4] Fortune magazine ranked Hyatt #186 on its list of "America's Best Employers" for 2018.^[5]

The first Hyatt House opened in 1954 by entrepreneurs Hyatt Robert von Dehn and Jack Dyer Crouch as a motel near Los Angeles International Airport.^[6] In 1957, the hotel was purchased by entrepreneur Jay Pritzker for $2.2 million. His younger brother, Donald Pritzker, also took on an important role in the company. Considering the growing use of air travel for business, the Pritzker brothers realized that locating a high quality hotel near a major airport was a valuable business strategy. Within two years, they opened Hyatt House motels near San Francisco International Airport and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport.^[7]

In 1967, the company opened their Regency Hyatt House in Atlanta, Georgia (today the Hyatt Regency Atlanta). The futuristic hotel was designed by Atlanta architect John Portman, who would go on to design many other hotels for the chain. It featured a massive indoor atrium, which soon became a distinctive feature of many Hyatt properties.^[8]

In 1969, Hyatt opened its first hotel outside the United States, when it was awarded the management contract for the President Hotel in Hong Kong. The President Hotel was renamed the Hong Kong Hyatt Hotel (later known as the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong).^[9]

In 1972, Hyatt formed Elsinore Corporation, a subsidiary to operate the Four Queens Hotel and Casino and the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa & Casino. After Hyatt became a private company in 1979, Elsinore was spun off as a public company. The company opened the Playboy Hotel and Casino as a joint venture with Playboy Enterprises.^[10][11]

Donald died in 1972 and Jay continued to run the company.^[12]

In 1980, the Grand Hyatt and Park Hyatt brands were introduced. Hyatt runs resort hotels, starting with the Hyatt Regency Maui in 1980.^[13] As of 30 November 2015 Hyatt had over 627 hotels worldwide.^[14]

In June 2004, substantially all of the hospitality assets owned by Pritzker family business interests, including Hyatt Corporation and Hyatt International Corporation, were consolidated under a single entity called Global Hyatt Corp. On June 30, 2009, Global Hyatt Corporation changed its name to Hyatt Hotels Corporation.^[15]

In December 2004, Hyatt Hotels Corporation acquired AmeriSuites, an upscale chain of all-suite business class hotels from affiliates of the Blackstone Group, a New York-based private equity investment firm. Blackstone had inherited AmeriSuites from its 2004 acquisition of Prime Hospitality.^[16] The AmeriSuites chain was rebranded and called Hyatt Place, a competitor to the limited-service products Marriott International's Courtyard by Marriott and Hilton Worldwide's Hilton Garden Inn.

In December 2005, Hyatt acquired limited service company Summerfield Suites from the Blackstone Group. Blackstone had inherited Summerfield Suites from its purchase of Wyndham International. In January 2012, Hyatt Summerfield Suites were rebranded as Hyatt House to compete in the "upscale extended stay market" against Residence Inn, Homewood Suites, and Staybridge Suites.^[17]

In August 2009, it was reported that Hyatt Hotels Corporation filed plans to raise up to $1.15 billion in an initial share sale. That November Hyatt completed an initial public offering and began trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol H.^[18] According to the filing Mark S. Hoplamazian was to serve as CEO and Thomas Pritzker as Executive Chairman.^[19] The public offering is a result of the acrimonious breakup of the Pritzker family empire. Accused of looting family trusts, Thomas and cousins Penny and Nicholas took control of the family businesses when they and other family members were sued by cousin Liesel Pritzker, claiming fraud and seeking damages of over US$6 billion.^[20]

As of 31 December 2014, Hyatt Corporation's worldwide portfolio consisted of 587 properties.^[21] On September 1, 2011, Hyatt acquired Hotel Sierra, which has 18 properties in 10 states. Along with Hyatt Summerfield Suites hotels, several of these properties were rebranded as Hyatt house in January 2012.^[22]

Hyatt Hotels Corporation operates several chains. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) awarded the company 100% in the HRC Equality Index for eight consecutive years.^[23] The Hyatt Regency brand is the oldest brand in the company, with the Grand Hyatt and Park Hyatt brands being introduced in 1980. Some of these are styled as "resort" properties, and may have spas or other recreational facilities. Other brands include Hyatt Place, designed as a limited service offering for business travelers. An extended stay chain, Summerfield Suites, was acquired by Hyatt in 2005, and was renamed Hyatt House in January 2012. Hyatt launched the Andaz brand in April 2007.^[24] The first Andaz hotel was the Great Eastern Hotel in London, followed by hotels in San Diego, West Hollywood, Shanghai^[25] and New York City (Andaz Wall Street & Andaz 5th Avenue).

On November 2013, Hyatt introduced their first all-inclusive resort brands, Ziva and Hyatt Zilara. As of 2015, Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara offer all inclusive accommodations in Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos and Rose Hall, Montego Bay, Jamaica.

On October 28, 2015, Hyatt announced that they were in advanced talks to acquire Starwood Hotels in the coming weeks in a cash and stock transaction. The transaction was not completed, and Starwood was acquired by Marriott International instead.

On November 14, 2016, Hyatt and Bahria Town Group signed an agreement for construction of four properties in Pakistan, combined worth US$600 million. Properties include the Grand Hyatt Golf Resort on Murree Expressway in Islamabad, Hyatt Regency Golf Resort in Bahria Town Karachi, Hyatt Regency in Lahore, and Hyatt Regency in Bahria Town Rawalpindi. The Hyatt Regency Karachi features Pakistan's first night-lit 36-hole golf.^[26]

On December 6, 2018, Hyatt signed a contract with Kastrati Group to manage MAK Albania Hotel (former Sheraton Tirana) in Tirana, Albania. The hotel will be branded as Hyatt Regency and Residences Tirana.^[27]

Hyatt operates a loyalty program called World of Hyatt, which replaced Gold Passport on March 1, 2017.^[44]

Hyatt's partnership with MGM Resorts International allows members who join both companies' loyalty programs - World of Hyatt and Mlife, respectively - to "status match" (i.e., match their lower status in one of the programs to the higher tier achieved in the other), and then earn points and credits, as well as avail themselves of the perqs and partnerships associated with the higher, matched status in both programs.^{[45][46][47][48]}

In 2018, Hyatt also began partnering with select properties in the SLH (Small Luxury Hotels of the World) chain, which allows World of Hyatt members to earn and redeem points during their stays at participating SLH properties.^[49]

In October 2018, Hyatt announced their purchase of Two Roads Hospitality, a lifestyle hotel management company, for a base purchase price of $480million. Hyatt will take the management controls of 85 properties of Two Road's across eight countries. All the hotels will join the World of Hyatt loyalty programme in 2019.^[50]