* IPO of 38 mln shares priced at $25/shr

* Proceeds to go to Pritzker family

* Option for underwriters to buy 5.7 mln shares

NEW YORK, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Hyatt Hotels priced its initial public offering of 38 million shares at $25 per share on Wednesday, within its expected range.

Hyatt shares will start trading on Thursday under the ticker "H" (H.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on the New York Stock Exchange.

Chicago-based Hyatt had said it would sell its shares for between $23 and $26 each. The proceeds of the IPO would go to the Pritzker family, which controls the company.

If the IPO's underwriters, led by Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), along with Deutsche Bank Securities (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) and J.P. Morgan Securities (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) choose to exercise an option to buy another 5.7 million shares, those proceeds will go to Hyatt.

Hyatt's revenue for the first half of 2009 declined 18.5 percent from a year earlier, reflecting sluggish demand for hotels, especially from the corporate sector.

Two of Hyatt's rivals -- Marriott International (MAR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (MAR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Starwood Hotels & Resorts (HOT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) -- have forecast revenue per available room declines of as much as 5 percent in 2010, suggesting that the U.S. hotel industry will not quickly rebound from the current recession.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman)