Hyatt Regency Newport Beach
Bringing The Newporter Back Home
5-day product Discovery sprint • Presented to Hyatt corporate Stakeholders
| 5 days
Sprint duration
| $417K
Phase 1 membership
revenue
| $3.25M
Revenue at Scale
| $125K
Short-term
revenue unlock
THE BRIEF
Hyatt gave us five days and a broad mandate: figure out why locals weren't engaging with the property and propose a membership model. My job was to lead research, stay disciplined in discovery, and deliver a recommendation to corporate stakeholders.
WHAT WE FOUND
We hit the streets first. Most locals didn't know the property was a Hyatt. Didn't know there was a golf course. The only event anyone could name was the Jazz Festival. A 26-acre resort, invisible to its own neighborhood.
| The highest concentration of young locals in Newport,
completely underserved, sitting right outside the gates.
AI mapping revealed the Mariners and Costa Mesa neighborhoods had almost no fitness, dining, or social options, and over 40% of residents were 25–44. Hyatt also confirmed their guest base was aging. They needed new demographics. That anchored everything.
| Finding 1
Zero local awareness of events, amenities, or the property's history
| Finding 2
Underserved 25-44 community right next door with nowhere to go
| Finding 3
Blue ocean in pricing - better amenities than competitors at half the cost
THE STRATEGY
Before any membership could work, the basics had to be fixed. Slow WiFi. $40 parking. A café that closed at 11am. We knocked those down first - free parking with a $15 F&B minimum, all-day coffee, fast WiFi. That alone projected $125K in net-new weekday revenue from space sitting empty.
Co-working became the gateway. Locals come for the desk, discover the golf course, stay for dinner. The property sells itself - it just needed an audience
The Founder Membership: capped at 100 for exclusivity and promoted through personalized outreach to high-spend past guests, conversion booths at events, and curated placements in local publications.
| Now
Zero local awareness of events, amenities, or the property's history
| Next
Co-working gateway. 100-member Founder Club. $$3.25M annual revenue
| Later
Newport's community living room
THE RESULT
Presented to Hyatt corporate on day five. Four separate threads - awareness gaps, underserved demographics, competitive pricing, and aging guests - unified into one membership strategy with a phased roadmap and clear financials at every stage.
| The Newporter isn't a hotel perk. It's 26 acres of home.