Last week, Starwood was promoting its 200th Four Points by Sheraton location by offering 200 to 400 bonus Starpoints and a free breakfast for one.

Not to be outdone, this week Hyatt is promoting its more than 200 Hyatt Place locations by giving out 200 free rooms in the next 200 hours in 9 separate photo contests over the next 8 calendar days using Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare/Swarm.

The contest has two steps to enter:

(1) Take a Photograph.   First, take a Photograph.  Any Photograph you submit in this Promotion must be taken by you. Your Photograph should emphasize the Hyatt Place brand.  This could be accomplished by including images of buildings or articles bearing the HYATT PLACE trademark, images capturing distinctive Hyatt Place trade dress, or images taken in an identifiable location within a Hyatt Place hotel. How you elect to capture the Hyatt Place brand is up to you.  However, if you enter your Photograph into a Contest, your Photograph will be judged, in part, by the extent to which you capture the Hyatt Place brand, as detailed below in the “Winner Selection†section.

(2) Post your Photograph as part of an Entry Post on Twitter or Instagram or as part of an Entry Check-In on Foursquare.  You may enter each Contest in any or all of three ways: through Twitter, through Instagram, or through Foursquare.

And the winner:

In each Contest, eligible Photographs will be judged by a panel of judges chosen by Sponsor in its sole discretion (the “Judgesâ€), based on the following criteria according to the percentage weights indicated (collectively, the “Criteriaâ€): creativity (50%) and the extent to which the Photograph captures the Hyatt Place brand (50%).

Each eligible Photograph will be scored in accordance with the Criteria. The one (1) entrant with the highest score will be selected as the potential winner of the grand prize. In the event of a tie in the selection of any winner, the tie will be broken by naming as the winner the entrant with the higher score on the “brand†Criterion.  If there is still a tie, the tie will be broken by having a new judge review and judge the tied entries according to the Criteria.  In the event that the total number of eligible Photographs is less than the total number of prizes for a particular Contest, then any remaining prizes for that Contest shall remain un-awarded. Sponsor reserves the right to contact entrants for verification purposes and administration of the Contest. All Judges’ decisions are final and binding in all matters relating to the selection of winners in the Contest.

Within approximately five (5) days of the end of each Contest Period, Sponsor or its designee will attempt to notify the potential winner that he or she may have won a prize by using the direct message feature on Twitter or Instagram, as applicable, for the user account that posted the potentially winning Entry Post. Potential winner must respond within twenty-four (24) hoursaccording to the instructions in the notification, or prize and any further participation may, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, be forfeited.

Bottom Line

While a free night at a Hyatt Place is a nice prize, it seems like there is a lot of effort involved.  If you have some adorable kids or pets and can take a cute snapshot in a Hyatt Place lobby using the free green apples they give out, it might be worth it.  Otherwise this promotion is less than ‘picture perfect.’