Hyatt Regency Chicago Launches Children’s Menu

HYATT REGENCY CHICAGO LAUNCHES GROUNDBREAKING CHILDREN’S MENU “FOR KIDS BY KIDS”

INCLUDING THREE-COURSE ORGANIC MENU DEVELOPED BY ALICE WATERS

Developed for Kids, by Kids, Hyatt Regency Chicago’s New, Healthier Menu Offers Fun, Fresh and Flavorful items

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (JULY 19, 2012) – Hyatt Regency Chicago today announced the launch of a new, innovative menu, “For Kids By Kids,” which provides more nutritious, fresh and interactive offerings for children. The menu is grounded in Hyatt’s industry-leading philosophy Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served. – promoting healthy people, a healthy planet and healthy communities – and has been developed in association with the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA). As part of the roll out, separate from the PHA commitment, Hyatt Regency Chicago will also offer a three- course organic menu for children developed exclusively by renowned food pioneer and chef, Alice Waters.

The “For Kids By Kids” menu was tasted, tested and approved by kids, including 11-year-old cooking enthusiast Haile Thomas, who is spearheading a campaign for healthy eating through her online cooking show, Kids Can Cook. Hyatt’s food and beverage team worked with Haile and her peers to ensure offerings on the menu not only meet the brand’s standards for nutrition and quality, but are also fun. Through their research, Hyatt learned that kids today have a greater level of sophistication in their taste preferences, but also enjoy items with which they can interact. To that end, new menu offerings will present a creative way for kids to engage with their food, such as customizing their own pasta dish and “shaking” their own salad.

With their new “For Kids By Kids” menu, Hyatt is making children’s health a priority and strives to make the healthy choice, the easy choice for guests. Sample items from the new Hyatt Regency Chicago “For Kids By Kids,” menu include:

Breakfast: Top Your Own Taco, a whole wheat tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, cheese and fun toppings; Waffle Dipping Sticks with peanut butter, maple syrup and fruit sauces.
Lunch: Shaken Chopped Salad with roasted chicken, vegetables, brown rice and yogurt basil dressing; Build Your Own Whole Wheat Sub Sandwich with turkey, lettuce, tomato, cheese on a whole wheat mini-sub. (These offerings are also available during dinner hours).
Dinner: Natural Beef grilled and served with potatoes, roasted vegetables and garden salad; Vegetable and Sesame Rice Noodles with marinated tofu, corn, green beans, basil and cherry tomatoes.

Additionally, the menu developed by Alice Waters features a full organic meal offering including a salad, chicken entrée and a dessert. Another unique feature is that for children who prefer to choose the same meal as their parents, they have the option of ordering a half portion off the regular menu at half the price.

“We have made an industry-leading commitment to serving food and beverages that are good for our people, our planet and our communities. That is why we have transformed our children’s menu and looked to experts such as Alice Waters, to help guide our offerings,” said Patrick Donelly, General Manager at Hyatt Regency Chicago. “We look forward to welcoming our youngest guests to try our new “For Kids By Kids” menu.”

“For Kids By Kids” further illustrates Hyatt’s commitment to Partnership for a Healthier America, which will hold Hyatt accountable for continuously improving the nutritional profile of food menus at full-service managed Hyatt properties across the U.S. over the next ten years. Through this commitment, Hyatt’s “For Kids By Kids” will offer fruits and vegetables as the default side item, make low-fat milk available with free refills, meet the most recent U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, My Plate and PHA’s standards and ensure food illustrations depict healthier options.

To add another layer of fun to mealtime, Hyatt will launch HyattFlavorJourney in September where kids and parents can learn more about “For Kids By Kids” and enjoy games and activities. Guests can use a QR code on their menu to link to the site.

Hyatt Regency Chicago’s “For Kids By Kids” menu aligns with the StayFit vision of creating an atmosphere for guests who like to stay active while away from home. Along with Hyatt’s Global Food Philosophy; Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served., Hyatt Regency Chicago encourages its guests to partake in local Chicago activities and events that are communicated through the hotel’s social media communications. Events include communicating free fitness classes in nearby Millennium Park, healthy tour options for families and adults, planned Chicago running routes that begin with social surprises for guests running relevant races while staying in the hotel. For guests who like the alternative, Hyatt Regency Chicago’s StayFit gym is showcased through photos and videos featuring state-of-the-art gym equipment.

About Hyatt Regency Chicago
Hyatt Regency Chicago, the largest hotel in the Midwest and Hyatt property in the world, features 2,019 guest rooms, 228,000 square feet of meeting and event space, and six restaurants and lounges. The hotel is located at 151 East Wacker Drive in the heart of downtown. Hyatt Regency Chicago borders the Magnificent Mile and is only blocks away from Chicago’s premier theatre, cultural, shopping and dining districts. For reservations, visit www.chicagohyatt.com, facebook.com/Hyattchicago or Twitter handle @HyattChicago.

Forward-Looking Statements
Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include statements about our plans, strategies, occupancy and ADR trends, market share, the number of properties we expect to open in the future, our expected capital expenditures, depreciation and amortization expense, interest expense and effective tax rate, estimates, financial performance, prospects or future events and involve known and unknown risks that are difficult to predict. As a result, our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “may,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “likely,” “will,” “would” and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by us and our management, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, general economic uncertainty in key global markets, the rate and pace of economic recovery following economic downturns; levels of spending in business an leisure segments as well as consumer confidence; declines in occupancy and average daily rate; our ability to successfully execute and implement our organizational realignment and the costs associated with such organizational realignment; loss of key personnel, including as a result of our organizational realignment; hostilities, including future terrorist attacks, or fear of hostilities that affect travel; travel-related accidents; changes in the tastes and preferences of our customers; relationships with associates and labor unions and changes in labor law; the financial condition of, and our relationships with, third-party property owners, franchisees and hospitality venture partners; if our third-party owners, franchisees or development partners are unable to access the capital necessary to fund current operations or implement our plans for growth; risk associated with potential acquisitions and dispositions and the introduction of new brand concepts; changes in the competitive environment in our industry and the markets where we operate; outcomes of legal proceedings; changes in federal, state, local or foreign tax law; foreign exchange rate fluctuations or currency restructurings; general volatility of the capital markets; our ability to access the capital markets; and other risks discussed in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which filings are available from the SEC. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information or future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable laws. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements

# # #