Following recent corporate acquisitions, Hyatt Hotels is now well placed to build its presence in the luxury and lifestyle segments of the hotel industry around the globe.
And at the late 2024 ILTM event in Cannes, France the group detailed its plans to open more than 50 luxury and lifestyle hotels over the next two years. This will build on the group’s progress in 2024, a year when it opened 28 lifestyle hotels. The shift into this space aims to seet growing demand notably from new generations of younger travellers, who are seeking a different look and feel when choosing where to book hotel stays.
Acquiring lifestyle brands
In August 2024, Hyatt agreed to acquire Standard International, a hotel brand group at the forefront of the lifestyle hotel space. With the acquisition came a group of operating hotels under brands including Standard, StandardX, Bunkhouse, Peri and The Manner. The acquisition means the group is now establishing a dedicated team to take Hyatt’s lifestyle offerings forward, led by Amar Lalvani, former executive chairman of Standard International.
The Standard deal followed Hyatt’s June 2024 purchase of the Me and All lifestyle brand in Europe. The acquisition built on an existing strategic collaboration with the German Lindner hotel group, cemented in 2022 which saw the Lindner properties migrate to the Hyatt platform, substantially increasing Hyatt group’s profile and presence in mainland Europe.
Me and All, launched by Lindner in 2016 and with six hotels open and four more signed, will now become a separate lifestyle brand. Hyatt expects the brand to be particularly suited to hotel conversions, enabling the faster onboarding of newly signed properties.
“We don’t take for granted that we are the brand of choice for high-end travellers,” said Crystal Vinisse Thomas, VP & global brand leader for lifestyle & luxury brands at Hyatt. “This trust drives us to constantly explore new and innovative ways to deliver unparalleled and unique experiences that exceed guest expectations.”
The group is now reorganising its hotels under two groupings: the luxury portfolio, and the lifestyle portfolio. Luxury brands will include Park Hyatt, Alila and Miraval, while lifestyle hotels are those under the Andaz, Thompson and Standard International brands.
A strong openings schedule
Leading the openings for the next two years will be the Park Hyatt brand, with openings in Los Cabos, Kuala Lumpur, Johannesburg, Pho Quoc and Taipei expected in 2025. The following year will see launches in Cancun and Mexico City.
Andaz, too will see many more hotels appearing. New sites include Doha, Miami Beach, Lisbon, Bangkok, Gold Coast and Turks & Caicos. The Thompson and Unbound Collection brands will each see three openings, including Thompson Miami Beach, Thompson Shanghai and Thompson Monterrey. Unbound additions include Noor-Us-Sabah Palace, Hotel La Compañia del Valle and Keraton at the Plaza. Further new openings are also promised for the Miraval, Alila, Dream and Inclusive brands.