After Program Changes, Is It Cheaper To Book SLH Hotels With Hyatt or Hilton Points?

Earlier this year, a big change happened in the world of boutique-style hotels.

Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) ended its partnership with World of Hyatt in favor of Hilton Honors, meaning its hotels could be booked with Hilton points.

But at the same time, more than 60 SLH properties that were previously bookable with Hyatt points rejoined Hyatt through the Mr & Mrs Smith collection of small, intimate hotels. 

Some of those hotels are now bookable with points on both the Hilton and Hyatt sites. We wanted to look at whether it’s more economical to book those hotels — which tend to be higher-end properties in coveted locations — on one or the other platform. Plus, how was pricing affected at these properties as their partnerships made changes this year?

Here’s what we found.

What Is Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH)?

In February 2024, Hilton Hotels announced a partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World as part of a new strategy to give Hilton guests access to hundreds of independent, boutique-style hotels.

Small Luxury Hotels of the World is a group of 570 boutique hotels in 90 countries. They have just 50 rooms on average, which offers a more intimate experience than larger hotels. The SLH team inspects each property annually to ensure it meets a rigorous list of criteria.

SLH properties had been previously bookable using World of Hyatt points. But in May, SLH officially ended its partnership with World of Hyatt in favor of Hilton Honors, and hundreds of SLH properties became bookable with Hilton.

Hyatt didn’t get out of the boutique hotel game, though. While it gave up its partnership with SLH, it acquired Mr and Mrs Smith, a UK-based group of boutique properties.

As a consequence, more than 60 SLH hotels that were previously bookable with Hyatt points rejoined Hyatt through Mr and Mrs Smith. 

Now, 29 of those hotels can be booked with points both on the Hilton and Hyatt sites.

Price Comparison Between Hyatt and Hilton

More than 400 hotels from the SLH collection are bookable through Hilton.com, either with cash or points (or a combination of both.) For the purposes of this article, we looked only at properties that can be booked on both Hyatt and Hilton platforms.

We considered what they used to cost when they were bookable on points only through Hyatt, and we compared that to the points prices today on both the World of Hyatt site and the Hilton Honors site.

Note that the original Hyatt-SLH price is based on the Hyatt award chart, but that, unfortunately, no longer applies. That’s because Hyatt did not include Mr & Mrs Smith hotels in its award chart. Prices for Mr & Mrs Smith award stays on the Hyatt site are now priced dynamically, based on expected demand and time of year.

Hilton doesn’t have an award chart and hasn’t had one for several years now. Prices are dynamic.

We looked at dates next year, for a standard room at the standard — as opposed to saver — pricing level. We also included the previous price at these properties under the old Hyatt-SLH partnership as a reference point.

First, these properties generally got more expensive after they returned to the Hyatt program under the Mr & Mrs Smith label. Second, it is usually cheaper to book them using Hilton points.

We value Hilton Honors points at 0.5 cents apiece and World of Hyatt points at 1.5 cents. At those valuations, you will find that booking those hotels is often cheaper (in terms of total value) using Hilton points, as those hold one-third the value of Hyatt points. While the numbers are higher with Hilton solely in terms of the number of points required, the cost when considering the value of the points is lower — given that the points costs aren’t 3 times what Hyatt is charging.

For example, consider the Rothay Manor Hote. Booking through Hyatt requires $363.75 worth of points, based on our valuation of Hyatt points at 1.5 cents each. Even though Hilton requires more than double the number of points, you’re only paying $300 worth of points when considering their half-a-cent value.

Also factor in that Hyatt Free Night Awards cannot be used to book Mr & Mrs Smith hotels, but you will be able to use Hilton’s Fifth Night Free and free night certificates on SLH bookings.

Booking through Hyatt could work for some properties that charge high resort fees. Since those fees are waived when booking Mr and Mrs Smith properties with points, you may get a better deal using Hyatt. To know if that’s the case, compare the points price to the cash price after resort fees, which may require making a dummy booking.

How To Book SLH Hotels Using Hilton Points

Head to the landing page for SLH properties and Hilton, and sign in to your Hilton Honors account. Enter your destination and dates, click the “Special rates” box, and select “Use points.” Then click “Find a hotel,” and available properties should appear. You’ll see the points price, plus the cash price below it.

Divide the cash price by the number of points to obtain the value of cents per point. That way, you can see whether you’re getting at least the average value we place on Hilton points, which is half a cent per point.

In the case above, 843 / 120,000 = $0.007 or 0.7 cents per point, meaning this redemption would be a better value than the 0.5 cents per point average.

SLH also has its own loyalty membership club, but earning and redeeming points for stays at SLH properties through the Hilton Honors program is more lucrative. The recent devaluation of Hilton Honors points does not appear to have affected most hotels in the SLH collection.

Final Thoughts

Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) properties can now be booked with Hilton points, and a small subset of 29 hotels can be booked with both Hyatt and Hilton points.

We compared prices in points for the latter set and found that in general you would be better off booking with Hilton points.