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Hyatt is doubling down on luxury while its competitors focus on budget hotels
The future of Hyatt is about luxury, lifestyle and resorts. Cheap hotels? Leave that to Hilton and Marriott. Hyatt on Thursday reported hefty profits ($294 million for the last three months of the year and $455 million for all of 2022) and significant growth — increasing its room count by nearly 7{5a5867cc9cca71cf546db38f42fbf171004839e3542174405390d177276b4f49} last year. That’s higher than Marriott’s 3.1{5a5867cc9cca71cf546db38f42fbf171004839e3542174405390d177276b4f49} net unit growth and Hilton’s 4.7{5a5867cc9cca71cf546db38f42fbf171004839e3542174405390d177276b4f49} (though both companies have larger portfolios than Hyatt’s). Marriott and Hilton both made moves in recent months to court travelers at more affordable price points. Marriott plans to acquire the Mexico-based City Express chain of midscale hotels later this year. Hilton launched the premium economy…