“Reflecting over my career, working at Hyatt has been a dream job,” says Sarah Klymson, who is known for curating one-of-a-kind guest experiences for Park Hyatt, Joie de Vivre, and Miraval, among others, where she helps communicate the mission of these brands to Hyatt’s ever-expanding audience. Her time at the hotel giant has also revealed how design has the power to inspire and connect people. “I thrive on learning,” she says. “This opens my mind to new ways of thinking and allows me to constantly reinvent myself.”
Early beginnings
As a child growing up in central Florida, Klymson always loved to create “whether it was making a costume from old fabric scraps my mother had saved or inventing new games for my sister and brother,” she explains. It was that innate sensibility that led her to study interior design at Florida State University and earn a master’s degree in architecture at the University of South Florida before moving to Chicago and kicking off her design career at a high-end residential firm.
On joining Hyatt
In 2015, after stints at Gensler and McDonald’s, Klymson accepted a position with Hyatt Hotels, where she now serves as the global vice president of product and brand development. “Part of the beauty of the hospitality industry is that it’s constantly evolving to reimagine or solve a problem in a compelling way,” she says. “At Hyatt, I have been exposed to the world in new ways, and I’ve seen how our design concepts are translated across the world to be relevant to guests in each market.”
The Miraval Austin Resort & Spa, a collaboration between Hart Howerton and Clodagh Design
On launching new brands
Last year, Klymson and her team launched lifestyle select-service brand Caption by Hyatt. The collaboration with internal teams, as well as a group of creative outside partners and consultants, including Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group and local firm Avenir Creative, “pushed us to create something that addressed what guests are looking for in their travel experiences, as well as what is top-of-mind for developers today,” she points out. “I am beyond proud of how our team came together, harnessing our groups skillset, to launch this brand.”
On defining success
“Success is defined by a constellation of points for me versus any one point. If I had to say what all those points have in common, it’s that they are all things I have reached by making a difference in the lives of others through my work,” she says.
A rendering of the lobby of Hyatt’s new lifestyle brand, Caption, designed by Avenir Creative
Photos by James Baigrie and Jay Davalos; renderings courtesy of Hyatt Hotels
This article originally appeared in HD’s July 2020 issue.
