Hyatt's Newest Brand: The Unbound Collection

With around 638 properties in its network, Hyatt is one of the smallest of the major hotel chains.

At a time when bigger is deemed to be better—witness the mergers of

Marriott and Starwood

, and

Accor and Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissotel

—Hyatt looks to be a prime candidate to either acquire another hotel company, or to be acquired itself.

Against the backdrop of such dramatic expectations, Hyatt's latest growth initiative is decidedly underwhelming.



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Hyatt this week introduced a new brand,

The Unbound Collection

, "a global collection of unique and independent stay experiences." Sounds grand, and maybe it will be, eventually. But for the foreseeable future, Unbound consists of a mere four hotels, one of which is undergoing renovation and won't be back online until 2018:

• The Driskill Hotel, Austin, Texas
• Hotel du Louvre, Paris, France
• Carmelo Resort & Spa, Carmelo, Uruguay
• Coco Palms Resort, Kauai, Hawaii (undergoing renovation)
  
  
  
  For travelers who find themselves well served by Hyatt's relatively modest network of hotels, the additional properties are a bit of extra icing on the cake, in the form of more opportunities to earn and redeem points in the Gold Passport program.
  
  For those who need a more extensive network, The Unbound Collection is anything but a game-changer.
  
  
  
  Reader Reality Check
  
  
  
  Big news, or a yawner?