It has been in the pipeline since the end of August and now it's official: Hyatt has added to its portfolio of lifestyle brands by completing the acquisition of the Standard International group and its Bunkhouse Hotels and The Standard brands. The deal, which has been announced at a cost of $150 million - to which an additional $185 million will be added as future developments take place - will strengthen the American group's position in this buoyant segment, with 22 hotels. Including some of the world's trendiest hotels like The Standard High Line in New York and its London counterpart, housed in a Brutalist building just a stone's throw from St Pancras station, or The Standard, Bangkok Mahanakhon, rising high into the skies above the Thai capital.
While Hyatt is preparing to build on this acquisition to create a new group entirely dedicated to contemporary hotels, headed by the former executive chairman of Standard International, Amar Lalvani, the American group had already seen a number of major events in its history. the number of lifestyle hotel rooms quintuples between 2017 and 2023. This will be achieved through acquisitions such as that of Standard International and, in 2018, the Two Roads Hospitality group, parent company of the Alila, Destination, JdV and Thompson brands, as well as through the organic growth of its own trendy brands such as Andaz, which will make its Australian debut next year at Goald Coast, in a new skyscraper with direct access to the convention and exhibition centre in neighbouring Brisbane.
Since the announcement of the acquisition of Standard International, the collection has already been enhanced by a new boutique hotel in New York, The Manner. With 97 rooms, this upmarket establishment on a quiet street in the SoHo district has already welcomed, according to Hyatt, " some of the most coveted after-parties "And three establishments are also due to open between now and the end of the year. And three other establishments are also due to open between now and the end of the year: a Bunkhouse Hotel in the United States, the Hotel Saint Augustine in Houston, and the Hotel Saint Augustine in Paris. two in Asia with the Standard Singapore and the StandardX Bangkok Phra Arthit. In total, if twenty or so hotels, some thirty projects are underway, some of which are " by the planned announcement of the acquisition" underlines the American group.
Going beyond standards
But these will not be the only additions to Hyatt's luxury and lifestyle portfolio. More than twenty new hotels are expected by 2025, on the American continent alone. For example, Andaz will set up shop in Miami Beach at the end of the year, a few months before the arrival of a Thompson hotel. For its part, the Hyatt Centric brand will make its debut in October both in the Dominican Republic, in the heart of Santo Domingo, and in Costa Rica, in San José, while waiting to discover the island of Puerto Rico next year.
While these developments also affect the resort segment, with the opening of a Park Hyatt in Los Cabos, Mexico, in 2025, and the Secrets and Dreams hotels in Playa Esmeralda in the Dominican Republic, they also involve business and MICE hotels. Following the transition of the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort to the Grand Hyatt brand after a refurbishment that saw the property expand its meeting space capabilities, the Grand Hyatt brand is now looking forward to the opening in November of a hotel with more than 450 accommodations in Deer Valley, Utah. Its strong point: offering one of the largest event facilities on a mountainside in the whole of the United States.
