Hyatt to buy The Standard hotel group
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Just over a month after early reports circulated, Hyatt has officially announced it is buying boutique hotel operator Standard International.
Founded by Andre Balazs, The Standard properties are generally aimed at a young, hip audience, sitting somewhere (in my view) between Marriott’s EDITION and W brands.
There aren’t many of them, but they are in places where you may want to be:
- London (St Pancras)
- Ibiza
- New York (East Village)
- New York (Meatpacking District)
- Miami Beach
- Bangkok
- Maldives
- Hua Hin
- Melbourne
The pipeline for late 2024 and 2025 is:
- Brussels
- Dublin
- Lisbon
- Singapore
The two Los Angeles hotels have both closed.
Standard International has also introduced The StandardX, a sub brand that sits slightly below The Standard but still offers design-focused, boutique hotel stays. The first of these opened in Melbourne earlier this year.
Standard International, the parent company, owns two other small chains which are also included in the deal:
- Bunkhouse (12 sites in the US and Mexico)
- The Peri Hotel (2 sites in Thailand)
Does Hyatt really need three extra brands? Perhaps not, but The Standard will be a flagship brand for the company. I suspect the Bunkhouse and The Peri Hotel brands would be rebranded or slotted in under the JdV brand.
According to the press release, “The transaction is anticipated to close later this year, subject to customary closing conditions.”
Part of the purchase includes creating a new ‘lifestyle group’ headquartered in New York City and made up of staff from Hyatt and Standard International. By the sounds of it, this sub division will be responsible for The Standard and other so-called ‘lifestyle’ brands in the Hyatt portfolio (I suspect Andaz will be one of them), perhaps in a similar way to how Accor’s lifestyle brands are under the Ennismore umbrella.
Once the transaction closes, you’ll be able to earn and burn World of Hyatt points at The Standard, The StandardX and other Standard International hotels.
PS. if you are wondering how much it costs to acquire an ‘asset light’ hotel brand (ie. without ownership of any of the actual properties), Hyatt is paying an initial $150 million for Standard International. Additional payments of up to $185 million will be made as (if) hotels in the current pipeline open.
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