While hotels rebrand all the time, this is one of the more unusual ones we’ve seen in quite some time, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s indicative of bigger issues with the brand.
In this post:
Andaz Vienna rebranding following financial issues & sale
The Andaz Vienna will be rebranding as the Hyatt Regency Vienna as of April 13, 2026, per a notice on Hyatt’s website. The hotel will remain fully open and operational throughout the transition, and all existing and future bookings will be honored as booked, with no impact to stays or benefits, as the hotel is remaining part of World of Hyatt.
For context, the Andaz Vienna was recently sold for around 92 million EUR, as part of the insolvency proceedings of the owners, Signa Development Selection. The hotel is now owned by WestInvest Gesellschaft für Investmentfonds mbH, a company of DekaBank.
The 303-room Andaz Vienna opened back in 2019, and it’s a hotel I reviewed a few years back. It’s a pretty nice property, with fun, quirky design, and nice amenities.
What’s the logic of rebranding from Andaz to Hyatt Regency?
Here’s what makes this interesting. It’s not unusual to see hotels rebrand when they get a new owner. After all, if a hotel isn’t doing well financially, it’s logical that they assume the brand might be part of the issue. However, a vast majority of the time when this happens, hotel owners will switch hotel groups altogether. Essentially they want to “take their business elsewhere,” so to speak.
In this case, the hotel is staying within the Hyatt family. Andaz is generally considered to be more premium (and lifestyle focused) than Hyatt Regency, so it’s interesting to see the hotel staying with Hyatt, and essentially voluntarily “downgrading” itself.
So, what’s the logic? The new owners feel that it makes sense to reposition the hotel, particularly because of the amount of event space at the property. It’s common for Hyatt Regency properties to be geared more toward business travelers, conferences, and other events, so they want the hotel’s branding to reflect those offerings.
Still, bigger picture, I can’t help but wonder if this is indicative of bigger issues with the Andaz brand. This is the third Andaz property to rebrand to another property within the Hyatt portfolio, with the other two being the Andaz Wall Street (rebranded as a Hyatt Centric as of 2022) and the Andaz Mayakoba (rebranding as an Alila as of this year).
Are these just one-off (or in this case, three-off) changes, or has the Andaz brand just sort of lost its luster? I really liked the Andaz brand when it first launched, but I’m not sure what it actually stands for at the moment, and the new property pipeline is small.
Outside of Asia, the only Andaz in the pipeline is the Turks & Caicos property (there were also plans for a Toronto property, but that seems to be stalled). Then you have a bunch of properties in China, and a few properties between India, Japan, etc.
It feels to me like Andaz is having similar issues to what we’ve seen at W Hotels in recent years, where there’s just not much appetite for the brand among developers, though the brand is finally making some changes. Within Hyatt’s portfolio, it seems like Thompson is now proving to be the lifestyle brand that more developers are interested in. I’m curious if Hyatt can reverse this trend and reinvent Andaz a bit.
Bottom line
As of April 2026, the Andaz Vienna will be rebranding as a Hyatt Regency. This follows the property being recently sold, and the owners feeling that the hotel would be better positioned with more of a business focus, especially given its conference and event spaces.
Perhaps this is just an issue specific to this hotel, but it sure feels to me like Andaz is a kind of confused brand at this point, given its lack of a pipeline outside of a China, with Thompson getting a lot more attention.
What do you make of the Andaz Vienna rebranding?
Pfft. Weak brand. They should go with Tim Dunn's Inn & Suites.
I stayed for four nights in 2023 and quite enjoyed it. Even though it wasn't in the heart of old Vienna, I found it easy to get back and forth on the tram. It was also VERY convenient to the train station for travel to/from the airport and onward.
I agree that the Regency brand isn't nearly as fun and attractive to me than the Andaz brand. Andaz, to me, feels like the older...
I stayed for four nights in 2023 and quite enjoyed it. Even though it wasn't in the heart of old Vienna, I found it easy to get back and forth on the tram. It was also VERY convenient to the train station for travel to/from the airport and onward.
I agree that the Regency brand isn't nearly as fun and attractive to me than the Andaz brand. Andaz, to me, feels like the older sibling of Hyatt Centric, and has a bit more whimsy in it's design choices than Thompson (currently my favorite Hyatt brand). I think it's definitely worthy of growth and investment, so I hope these changes are more one-offs.
Andaz is supposed to be a luxury brand, one step up from Kimpton. But it's not in reality. Andaz isn't franchised, unlike Thompson, Hyatt Centric and Hyatt Regency.
I can't speak to why the Vienna Andaz is making this decision, but I suspect the Andaz Wall Street (now Centric) was forced to downgrade.
It definitely does not meet the Andaz standard, especially next to the Andaz on Fifth Ave.
Franchising. The new owner almost certainly didn't want to pay Hyatt to manage. Hyatt doesn't franchise Andaz. It requires an owner to hire Hyatt on a management contract. Hyatt Regency allows the owner to cut costs by hiring cheaper third-party management or managing themselves.
As long as it remains a category 4 so we can use free night awards there...
Maybe it was the free mini bar or the expectation of a free mini bar that put them in the red.
Two things:
1) Hyatt classifies Andaz as "luxury" and Hyatt Regency as "upper-upscale."
2) Maybe it's because Hyatt franchises Hyatt Regency as a brand but not Andaz.
When i stayed here last year, i also thought it definitely wasn't andaz quality and felt more like hyatt centric. Since centric also lacks true brand standards--or, more specifically, there are fantastic Hyatt Regency hotels in Europe like Churchill in London & Hyatt Regency Amsterdam--this makes sense to me.
Most importantly, it says that Hyatt will actually hold hotels to types & standards...which has to be a positive. Right...?
Hyatt franchises Hyatt Centric. Centric is essentially the Hyatt conversion brand like Doubletree for Hilton. Just about any Holiday Inn or higher full-service hotel can convert into a Hyatt Centric.
I personally don't stay at lifestyle hotels - like W or Andaz. I think a business traveling prefers a Hyatt Regency, Grand, or Centric.
My understanding for Mayakoba was that Andaz was always a mismatch considering you've got Rosewood and Banyan Tree in the same development. So not necessarily an issue with the internal doings of Andaz, moreso upgrading to Alila to command the rates the owners think are feasible.
HR Vienna gonna be the most stylish Hyatt Regency