The Andaz Wall Street New York has been closed for most of the pandemic. The hotel will soon resume operations, but under a different brand.
Hyatt Centric Wall Street New York opening soon
The Andaz Wall Street will rebrand as the Hyatt Centric Wall Street when it resumes operations on January 26, 2022. The hotel’s restaurant Wall & Water, will reopen as of the same day. The hotel will continue to be a Category 5 World of Hyatt property, meaning the points requirements won’t be changed.
In terms of branding, this is definitely a downgrade. For context, Hyatt Centric is Hyatt’s brand of “upper-upscale lifestyle hotels in the center of their destination.” Generally speaking I find Hyatt Centric properties to have good locations, but otherwise be pretty generic and bland (read my reviews of Hyatt Centric properties in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and New Orleans). Andaz is definitely intended to be a more high-end lifestyle brand.
The 253-room Andaz Wall Street originally opened in 2010. The hotel’s guest rooms were modernized in 2019, and the lobby has also recently been enhanced. The hotel’s owners also plan to invest a further $5 million to improve the property over the coming years.
Why is the Andaz Wall Street being rebranded?
Here’s the explanation that Hyatt provided for why the Andaz Wall Street is being rebranded as the Hyatt Centric Wall Street:
Rebranding Andaz Wall Street to Hyatt Centric Wall Street New York was a strategic decision based on the hotel’s location in the heart of the world’s most exciting city, a key brand differentiator for the Hyatt Centric brand, which is known to embrace the locale and inspire exploration. The hotel is ideally situated at 75 Wall Street and offers a premier location for savvy travelers to discover the best that New York City has to offer with premium lifestyle accommodations in the heart of Wall Street.
Interestingly this isn’t Hyatt’s only property in New York that’s rebranding. In late 2021 the former Grand Hyatt New York reopened as the Hyatt Grand Central New York. That was clearly a cost cutting initiative, so that the hotel no longer had to maintain Grand Hyatt brand standards (including the club lounge).
With that in mind, I’m not sure what to make of this rebranding:
- This property was the second Andaz in the city (after the Andaz 5th Avenue), and it will now be the third Hyatt Centric in the city
- The Andaz 5th Avenue was always priced much higher than the Andaz Wall Street, and I always got the sense that the Andaz Wall Street wasn’t commanding the rates that the owners were hoping for
- I have a hard time imagining a hotel owner would voluntarily choose to spend money on a rebranding to become a lower end brand (and potentially not be able to command rates that are as high), simply as a “strategic decision based on the hotel’s location”
- Not only that, but the owners are investing a further $5 million in updating the hotel, which makes this all the more confusing
I suspect there’s more to this than in the press release, but it doesn’t seem like it’s quite as extreme as the Grand Hyatt rebranding, which was simply to avoid having to provide Grand Hyatt services.
Bottom line
The former Andaz Wall Street will be reopening as of January 26, 2022, but it’ll be known as the Hyatt Centric Wall Street. This is an interesting direction for the hotel to take, as Hyatt Centric is a less premium brand. While it’s claimed that this was simply a strategic decision based on the hotel’s central location, I suspect there’s a bit more to this.
What do you make of the Andaz Wall Street rebranding, and what do you think the motive is?
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