In 2022, Hyatt announced a collaboration with Lindner Hotels, in order to increase the brand’s footprint in Europe, and in particular, in Germany. The family-run German hotel group maintained control of its properties, but were integrated into Hyatt booking channels, and participated in the World of Hyatt program.
This included both Lindner Hotels, as well as me and all hotels (yes, it’s lowercase), which is Lindner’s more modern, lifestyle hotel brand. There’s now an interesting update, as Hyatt has announced that it has acquired the me and all hotels brand, and will use it to grow in Europe.
In this post:
Hyatt buys me and all hotels to grow in Europe
Hyatt has just purchased me and all hotels from Lindner Hotel Group. The deal has already closed, though terms aren’t public. Currently, the me and all hotels group consists of six properties in central locations across Germany. However, Hyatt has big growth plans for the brand:
- While me and all hotels properties are currently part of the JdV by Hyatt brand, this will become its own Hyatt brand, within the global lifestyle portfolio
- There are already several me and all hotels properties in the pipeline, including in Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, and Stuttgart, plus several additional deals in various stages of negotiations
- Now Hyatt plans to position me and all hotels as a conversion-friendly lifestyle brand for growth across Europe and beyond
Here’s how Hyatt describes the concept behind me and all hotels:
The me and all hotels brand combines outstanding guest satisfaction with a conversion-friendly development model in the desirable upscale lifestyle space, positioning it for scale and accelerated expansion across Europe and beyond.
me and all hotels combine central locations, urban design, leading-edge technology and vibrant public spaces. With casual flair, they appeal especially to city and business travelers as well as urban locals by enabling both social interaction and productive co-working sessions. Local heroes from the areas of gastronomy, music, art and start-ups provide constantly new, individual experiences with pop-up kitchens, a wide variety of events and sustainable products.
My take on Hyatt acquiring me and all hotels
When discussing the business side of the hotel industry, it’s always important to remember that us guests aren’t the actual customers of the major hotel groups. Rather, the customers are the property developers, and we are the “product” that they sell to their customers.
We’re seeing the major hotel groups create all kinds of new hotel brands lately, and in particular, there’s a big emphasis on conversion brands. With interest rates as high as they are, new construction is expensive, so the major hotel groups are instead going after existing hotels that either want to join a major hotel group, or want to switch the hotel group they belong to.
As much as I’m not a fan of hotel brand inflation, this actually seems pretty sensible. me and all hotels is kind of along the lines of Marriott’s Moxy and Aloft brands, as I see it. It’s an area where Hyatt doesn’t really have a competitive brand, so acquiring me and all hotels makes sense:
- It’s an existing brand with a cool design, and it’s probably not that expensive to acquire, given that it’s still small
- It gives Hyatt a footprint for growing in Europe, which is a market where Hyatt doesn’t have many budget friendly properties with personalities
Now, I think the only catch is that with me and all hotels being positioned as a conversion brand, the properties probably won’t all be of the same quality.
Bottom line
Hyatt has acquired me and all hotels from Lindner Hotels. While these properties are already partnering with World of Hyatt, Hyatt is now taking full control of the brand. This means that me and all hotels will become its own Hyatt brand (rather than part of the JdV by Hyatt brand), and will be used a conversion brand for many existing hotels.
I can see Hyatt’s logic for this acquisition, as Hyatt doesn’t really have a popular limited service lifestyle brand in Europe, and this seems to check those boxes.
What do you make of Hyatt acquiring me and all hotels?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-17/hyatt-said-to-be-in-advanced-talks-to-buy-standard-hotels-brand
Ben, did you see Hyatt’s expansion in NoLa announced this week? They added two excellent—though different—options. Maison Metier (formerly Maison De La Luz) is supposed to be great.
I passionately hate M&AH as they insist in addressing you with the personal "you" (German: du) instead of the for formal "sir" (German: Sie) directly from check-in, mind you even if you reply formally back to them.
To my knowledge the first conversion urban lifestyle bla bla hotel brand by a major group was the Ibis styles brand by Accor (years ago, worldwide footprint by now). Credits to them. The concept of these hotels is very popular. Major player in that league in Germany ist MotelOne. Interesting to see in what hands this brand will end up.
Hyatt still seems to have a large gap in their network in Munich. There's an Andaz but thats about it I believe.
Me And All is FAR!!! from any Moxy Property i know!
Moxy is Style and modern, while the Me And All i know is cheap and V E R Y low and basic.
Marriott clearly in the lead, i'd say!
I'm shocked to read your message honest. It doesn't get cheaper / more tincan stay than Moxy (nothing inherently wrong with them, but they're really dorms with the Marriott pricing overhead on top). me and all at least have some personality (I can comment for the one in Dusseldorf at least).
I disagree that companies that use lower case branding should be referred to in all-lowercase in writing. We don't refer to AirBNB as airbnb, but that is how it is spelled in their logo. Proper nouns should always be capitalized in English.
For the record, Skift follows my suggested approach: https://skift.com/2024/06/28/hyatt-snaps-up-small-lifestyle-hotel-brand-in-european-push/
I agree.
My grammar bugbear is when brands with a lower case first letter (which is suss anyway) are written like that at the beginning of a sentence. Such as “iPhone 16 has just come out…”. No, the first letter at the beginning of a sentence is always upper case so iPhone would become “IPhone 15 has just come out…”.
Also brands that are in all caps when they’re not an acronym. Nup, not happening.
I agree. No one writes “jetBlue”, it’s just their branding. Some people get upset over the most trivial, inconsequential things.
Smart positioning by Hyatt. Europe has been their weakest region, especially given current demand. They are making great strides to increase their footprint and this is brand they can grow, especially in smaller/midsized European cities and airports.
So many shifting brands/alliances and more to come!
me and all is such a stupid name.
It's even managed to confuse Lucky into writing "us guests" instead of "we guests"
The idea that a small brand with just six properties has any recognition to justify creating a whole new brand in Hyatt's portfolio is an incredibly stupid decision. Plus, "me and all" is just a stupid name for a chain to begin with. At least come up with a better name.
And can someone clarify whether Hyatt is merely buying the brand and all intellectual properties associated with it or is Hyatt also buying the six current properties?
The bigger acquisition from Hyatt is coming. So stay tuned.
@ B P R -- Interesting. Any clues you want to provide/anything further to share? :-)
Omni, Loews Hotels and Club Quarters seem like obvious choices. Maybe Scandic Hotels in Europe?
There ya go :) right on cue
Kimpton? Mandarin Oriental?!!
IHG would never sell Kimpton to Hyatt. Ever. Mandarin Oriental is extremely unlikely.
Hyatt was asleep at the wheel. Graduate Hotels would have been a great acquisition. Likewise, Radisson Hotels Americas would have been a good addition if Hyatt was willing to invest in the Radisson brands and convert to Hyatt, Hyatt Centric and Hyatt Regency.
@ B P R :-) :-) :-) you can't just put lines like this out there, giving Ben sleepless nights as a total Hyatt freak! ;-)
BUT . . . it sure would be interesting to hear what you had in mind, no matter is there is ANY truth behind it!
Lifestyle lifestyle lifestyle
I'm going to guess CitizenM as there was an article I read several months ago mentioning that they were considering selling and they are in the lifestyle market. With 31 or 34 properties depending on the source you reference they are much bigger than this deal but still quite small in the scheme of things.
H10 in Spain is an obvious choice and in the same vein as Lindner in Germany. Preferred Hotels would also be a good guess, in the same vein as Hyatt's purchase of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
I also wouldn't be surprised if, someday, Hyatt gets bought out by Accor in some way shape or form some day. It would go a very long way toward filling the gaping North American sized hole in Accor's network....
H10 in Spain is an obvious choice and in the same vein as Lindner in Germany. Preferred Hotels would also be a good guess, in the same vein as Hyatt's purchase of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
I also wouldn't be surprised if, someday, Hyatt gets bought out by Accor in some way shape or form some day. It would go a very long way toward filling the gaping North American sized hole in Accor's network. Would also kill WoH and make IHG's program the best in terms of loyalty benefits.
They're not getting bought out by anyone with the Pritzker family in majority control. Otherwise works have happened long ago.