The origins of the Hotel Chain.
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The Hyatt Corporation was born upon purchase of the Hyatt House, at Los Angeles International Airport 
on September 27, 1957. The Hyatt Hotel Los Angeles which opened Dec 1st, 1954 is considered to be the 
first hotel in the world built outside of an airport. 

The original owners were entrepreneurs, Hyatt R. von Dehn and Jack D. Crouch. 

Jack Dyer Crouch (22 October 1915 - 25 July 1989) was an American entrepreneur and conglomerate 
organizer born in Columbia, Missouri. He has 4 sons, (J. Richard Crouch, Jack Crouch II, Robert Crouch, 
Michael Crouch), and 2 daughters, (Cathy Crouch, Michelle Crouch)

He created the Hyatt Hotel chain in 1954 with his partner Hyatt R. von Dehn, and later became a Hilton 
Hotel Franchise Owner in the United States. He is accredited with conceptualizing and building the world's 
first fly-in (airport) hotel, The Hyatt House Los Angeles. 

Prior to that, he owned "Jack's on the Strip" in Hollywood, one of the first drive-thru restaurants in 
California. It was there that he would meet Hyatt R. von Dehn, who would soon invest in his airport hotel 
concept.

Hyatt R. von Dehn was eager to get out of the hotel business after a few years, so he sold his share in 
the hotel to Jay Pritzker. Mr Pritzker heard the hotel was for sale while sitting in its coffee shop 
called 'Fat Eddie's' waiting for a flight. He scribbled a bid for $2.2 million dollars on a napkin, and 
the Hyatt Corporation was born. (That's the equivalent of $15,770,581 in 2006). 

Jay Pritzker and Jack Crouch remained partners until 1965, opening airport hotels in several cities 
including San Francisco, Seattle, and San Jose. Jack stepped away from Hyatt to pursue other hotel 
ventures, while Jay and his younger brother, Don continued to run the Hyatt chain.

The Hyatt became famous after the chain opened the world's first atrium hotel in 1967, the Hyatt Regency 
Atlanta, a decade after opening its first hotel. 

In 1969, Hyatt opened its first hotel overseas, the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong. In 1980, the Grand Hyatt 
and Park Hyatt brands were introduced. Hyatt has become known for its resorts after the opening of 
Hyatt Regency Maui in 1980. Today Hyatt has over 340 hotels worldwide.

In December 2004, Global Hyatt announced it would acquire AmeriSuites, an upscale chain of all suite 
business class hotels from affiliates of the Blackstone Group, a New York based private equity investment 
firm. Blackstone had inherited AmeriSuites from its 2004 acquisition of Prime Hospitality. The AmeriSuites 
chain is being rebranded and converted to a new concept called Hyatt Place. With Hyatt Place, Global 
Hyatt will better compete with the limited service products Courtyard by Marriott and Hilton Garden 
Inn offered by industry leaders Marriott International and Hilton Hotels Corp.

In December 2005, Global Hyatt announced a second limited service acquisition, Summerfield Suites. 
Again the seller was the Blackstone Group. Blackstone had inherited Summerfield Suites from its purchase 
of Wyndham International. Summerfield Suites will be rebranded as Hyatt Summerfield Suites and positioned 
to compete in the upscale extended stay market against brands such as Residence Inn, Homewood Suites 
and Staybridge Suites.