The lifestyle hotel sector continues to woo some of the world’s largest hotel companies, it seems.
Hyatt is once again on the cusp of making a play for an established lifestyle hotel brand. The Chicago-based hotel company is in advanced talks to acquire Standard International, Bloomberg reports. Standard International operates a global network of hotels across brands like The Standard, Bunkhouse and Peri. The structure of any potential Hyatt deal — and whether it includes all of the Standard International brands — is not yet public.
“As a matter of policy, we don’t comment on questions of this nature,” a Hyatt spokesperson told TPG. “We remain committed to asset-light growth through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions but have nothing new to share at this time.”
When contacted by TPG on Thursday morning, a representative with Standard International declined to comment. But any potential Standard International tie-up would be the latest in a long list of Hyatt’s luxury and lifestyle plays.
The company’s 2018 acquisition of Two Roads Hospitality brought in brands like Thompson Hotels, Alila, Tommie, Joie de Vivre (now JdV) and Destination. Hyatt has since gone on to make a splash in the all-inclusive resort space with its 2021 Apple Leisure Group takeover, which ushered in luxury offerings like Secrets and Impression by Secrets. The company has also acquired the lifestyle hotel-centered Dream Hotel Group as well as the Mr & Mrs Smith luxury and lifestyle booking platform in recent years.
However, we shouldn’t view Standard as just a case of fueling Hyatt’s lifestyle hotel gluttony. The brand, first developed by hotelier Andre Balazs and now overseen by CEO Amber Asher, has achieved what very few lifestyle hotel brands have: staying power. Further, some could argue Standard would easily become Hyatt’s most headline-stealing brand: FKA Twigs, Madonna, Janelle Monáe and Billie Eilish have all turned up — some to even perform — at The Standard, High Line’s Met Gala after-party.
Standard’s first hotel — the now-closed The Standard, Hollywood — was a media mainstay, appearing in everything from “Sex and the City” and “Ocean’s Twelve” to “Entourage.”
But the brand didn’t stop there. The Standard, High Line in New York City remains a hotel hot spot and nightlife staple — good luck ever trying to get into the hotel’s rooftop bar Le Bain — well beyond its 2009 grand opening. Standard has since gone global and now has Thai real estate firm Sansiri as a major investor. TPG is a big fan of the brand’s outposts in Bangkok as well as the Thai resort destination of Hua Hin, and you’ll also find Standard properties in places like London, Miami and Ibiza, Spain. Upcoming openings include hotels in Singapore, Dublin and Lisbon, as well as the first of the new brand StandardX in Melbourne, Australia.
It will be interesting to see how the cooler-than-cool Standard vibes mesh with Hyatt’s loyalty network and scale. It’s not like points hotels and lifestyle brands are mutually exclusive: Marriott’s Edition brand shows you can do both. But it’s also abundantly clear that major brands see the path forward for lifestyle brands as giving each more operational autonomy than, say, a Hyatt Regency or a Westin.
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Accor’s Ennismore lifestyle arm, which includes Standard competitors like Mondrian and Delano, is more removed from the Paris-based hotel company than its hard brands like Sofitel and Fairmont. The original Ennismore team also retains an ownership stake in the division. Hilton’s NoMad growth plans still very much involve the luxury lifestyle brand’s original team at Sydell Group. Marriott recruited nightlife and boutique hotel maven Ian Schrager to assist in getting Edition off the ground — a signal this type of hotel requires careful attention to detail.
While details aren’t clear yet on how Hyatt and Standard will or won’t integrate, some recognition of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” will be needed here. While Hyatt’s Dream Hotel Group acquisition gave the company a boost in New York City, the Dream hotels in the Big Apple also feel a bit past their cool-factor expiration date, I can say after several stays at each in the last few years.
It’s a different story at Standard International, which has New York City hotels in the Meatpacking District and the East Village and a new concept in the works in SoHo. It would behoove Hyatt to listen to the lifestyle experts that still have lines forming down the block at their hotels 25 years in and counting.
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