In late 2024, Hyatt acquired Standard International, the parent company of The Standard and Bunkhouse Hotel brands. There’s now an update, as Hyatt has revealed plans to integrate these brands into the World of Hyatt portfolio. Let’s go over all the details, starting with the basics of this acquisition.
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Hyatt acquires Standard International, multiple brands
In October 2024, Hyatt acquired Standard International, parent company of Standard and Bunkhouse Hotel brands. Hyatt paid a base purchase price of $150 million, with up to an additional $185 million over time, as more properties are added to the portfolio.
This is an asset-light purchase, as this includes management, franchise, and licensing contracts, for 22 open hotels, with approximately 2,000 rooms. Hyatt anticipates the stabilized annual fees associated with the base purchase price to be around $17 million, and sees them going up to $30 million, as more hotels are added to the portfolio.
For those not familiar with Standard Hotels, it’s a “lifestyle” hotel brand known for nightlife and partying. I wouldn’t say it’s a luxury brand, but rather it’s more a “hip” brand. Standard Hotels has properties in places like Ibiza, London, the Maldives, Melbourne, Miami, New York, and more. Then Bunkhouse Hotels has a portfolio that includes properties like Hotel Saint Cecilia in Austin and Hotel San Cristóbal in Baja California.
Here’s how Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian described this deal, at the time:
“The development community knows an industry game-changer when they see it, and the enthusiasm for bringing together the ethos of The Standard and Bunkhouse brands and the power of Hyatt’s network and distribution system is palpable. Developers love this combination as much as we do.”
Historically, Hyatt has of course had the issue of not having as big of a footprint as competitors like Hilton, IHG, and Marriott. The company has tried to improve that situation by acquiring other hotel groups. This has included the purchase of Two Roads Hospitality (Alila, Thompson, and more), Apple Leisure Group (Secrets, Dreams, Zoëtry, and more), Mr & Mrs Smith (essentially a luxury travel agency), etc.
World of Hyatt adds Standard & Bunkhouse properties
Effective immediately, Hyatt is starting to integrate Standard properties in the World of Hyatt program, allowing members to earn and redeem points, and take advantage of elite perks. Let’s go over the timeline with which properties are being added, and which World of Hyatt category they’ll be:
- As of May 7, 2025, The Standard, Ibiza, joins World of Hyatt, as a Category 6 property
- As of May 14, 2025, The Standard, London, joins World of Hyatt, as a Category 6 property
- As of May 14, 2025, The Standard, High Line, joins World of Hyatt, as a Category 6 property
- As of May 14, 2025, The Standard, East Village, joins World of Hyatt, as a Category 6 property
- As of May 21, 2025, The Standard, Bangkok, joins World of Hyatt, as a Category 2 property
- As of May 21, 2025, The Standard, Bangkok Riverfront, joins World of Hyatt, as a Category 2 property
- As of May 21, 2025, The StandardX, Melbourne, joins World of Hyatt, as a Category 2 property
- As of May 21, 2025, The Standard, Hua Hin, joins World of Hyatt, as a Category 3 property
- As of May 21, 2025, The Standard, Maldives, joins World of Hyatt, as a Category 6 property
- As of May 21, 2025, The Standard, Singapore, joins World of Hyatt, as a Category 5 property
On top of that:
- The Standard, Pattaya, is opening soon, and will be a World of Hyatt Category 3 property
- The Standard, Brussels, is opening soon, and will be a World of Hyatt Category 4 property
The timeline for Bunkhouse Hotels joining World of Hyatt hasn’t yet been announced, but that should change soon.
As far as elite perks and points earning goes, these will all be pretty standard World of Hyatt properties:
- Members will earn 5x World of Hyatt points per eligible dollar spent, and will qualify for elite bonuses
- Members will earn 4x World of Hyatt points per eligible dollar spent on a co-branded Hyatt Card
- Stays will earn elite qualifying nights, so will count toward Milestone Rewards, the Brand Explorer promotion, and more
Hyatt forms new dedicated lifestyle group
While this shouldn’t impact guests directly, it’s worth noting that with this deal, Hyatt has also formed a new dedicated lifestyle group, with headquarters in New York City, and additional offices in Austin and Bangkok.
It’s being led by Standard International’s Executive Chairman Amar Lalvani, who used to lead global development of W Hotels, before partnering with André Balazs on Standard Hotels.
This new group is supposed to leverage Hyatt’s operational and loyalty infrastructure while assuming distinct leadership across key functions, including experience creation, design, marketing, programming, public relations, restaurants, nightlife, and entertainment. It will be made up of staff from both Standard International and Hyatt. Here’s how Lalvani described this, back when the deal closed:
“The lifestyle segment isn’t for the faint of heart, it takes creativity and commitment. But if you get it right, you reap the benefits of outsized guest loyalty and outsized developer returns. The beauty of this combination is that Hyatt respects the creativity and freedom required to deliver the experiences we do, and we respect the value of Hyatt’s storied history, global infrastructure and best-in-class commercial services.”
I can’t help but find this to be an interesting development, given that Hyatt is based in Chicago, so decentralizing many functions is an unusual move. I’m not sure if Hyatt just wanted to retain some talent that didn’t want to move to Chicago, if Hyatt thinks it’s cooler to have offices for its lifestyle brands in New York, or what.
This is a positive development, I guess?
I’m a fan of Hyatt, as much as one can be a fan of a for-profit, publicly traded travel brand, without seeming like a company spokesperson. I think Hyatt tries harder than other major hotel groups, and the World of Hyatt program differentiates the hotel group from competitors.
I appreciate the focus that Hyatt leadership has on growing the brand, to become more competitive in terms of global footprint. At the same time, this seems to be happening primarily in the form of acquiring small portfolios of properties. I’m conflicted about that.
On the one hand, I generally think that more options for earning and redeeming points, and taking advantage of elite perks, are a good thing. Furthermore, I also recognize that organic growth can only happen so quickly, so often these kinds of strategic investments are the best way to fuel growth fast. That’s especially true at a time like this, when interest rates are high, and developers don’t necessarily have the appetite for a lot of newly built properties.
On the other hand, I can’t help but feel like Hyatt has had an unbelievable amount of brand inflation at this point, and it makes it hard for even engaged customers to keep track of the various brands. Hyatt is now up to 30(ish) hotel brands.
I mean, heck, Hyatt has 10 different all-inclusive brands. Can someone explain the difference between them all to me? Because I can barely name a handful of them, and don’t even ask me to tell you the differences between them.
And here’s the other thing. Hyatt is definitely focused on “luxury” expansion, rather than limited service expansion. The Wall Street Journal even recently did a story about “Why Hyatt Is Choosing Luxury Over Affordability.”
But if you ask me, Hyatt is only sort of focused on luxury. Sure, most of Hyatt’s recent brand acquisitions have been for upscale and upper upscale properties. But we’re seeing very little growth with true luxury brands, and frankly even those luxury properties that are opening, aren’t exactly “flagship” properties.
Yes, I’m happy there’s a new Park Hyatt London and Park Hyatt Marrakech, but both of these seem like “better than nothing” additions, rather than true flagship properties for the brand, based on the location alone. I doubt it will happen (since it would be very costly), but I’d absolutely love to see Hyatt acquire one of the major, non-publicly traded luxury hotel brands out there. It’s an area where Hilton is excelling, as the current Waldorf Astoria pipeline is impressive.
Bottom line
Hyatt purchased Standard Hotels in October 2024. We’re now seeing Standard properties start to join the World of Hyatt program, with a phased approach. The good news is that the integration seems to be quite good, with full points earning and redemption opportunities, as well as elite perks.
Hyatt has been growing quite a bit lately by acquiring new brands. While more World of Hyatt properties is a good thing, in an ideal world we’d see a bit more growth to existing portfolios, rather than just small new brands added.
What do you make of Hyatt acquiring Standard Hotels, and the World of Hyatt integration?
I think you said it Ben, I know others have.
The 3 big hotel companies will eventually own all the hotels in the World. Marriott a few days ago buying another one, and now this.
Must be part of the incentive plans these guys make, you showed last week.
Hyatt focused on luxury? Really? If anything they seem to have been focused on all-inclusive. As a globalist I often have trouble finding Hyatt properties where I travel (mostly in Europe and Asia) outside major cities, and even in the big cities the offerings are often quite slim. I understand that building organically is slow and won't let Hyatt expand their footprint fast, but the acquisition strategy they have employed makes me wonder what Hyatt...
Hyatt focused on luxury? Really? If anything they seem to have been focused on all-inclusive. As a globalist I often have trouble finding Hyatt properties where I travel (mostly in Europe and Asia) outside major cities, and even in the big cities the offerings are often quite slim. I understand that building organically is slow and won't let Hyatt expand their footprint fast, but the acquisition strategy they have employed makes me wonder what Hyatt wants to be. Not clear to me.
I fully agree that Hyatt is just not doing enough to bring on new top luxury properties. Especially in the U.S. and Europe. No, Thompson and Alila do not count.
My feeling is that the cost in most places for building anything in the Park category is halting a lot of potential pipeline projects. Which would make acquisition of one of the existing luxury brands far more attractive and theoretically easier for expansion. But, then...
I fully agree that Hyatt is just not doing enough to bring on new top luxury properties. Especially in the U.S. and Europe. No, Thompson and Alila do not count.
My feeling is that the cost in most places for building anything in the Park category is halting a lot of potential pipeline projects. Which would make acquisition of one of the existing luxury brands far more attractive and theoretically easier for expansion. But, then again, with most of the luxury brands based in Asia, and some privately owned by very prominent families there, I doubt they will budge to a Hyatt etc. More likely you could imagine Four Seasons acquire one of them to gain even more strength.
I'm imagining a landscaping company buying a hotel chain now...
@Gray. Good one! Rudy would be so excited though.
I've disagreed with many things you've written here, Antwerp. I concur with you on this SO HARD. Thompson is shoddy faux upscale and Alila doesn't even come close to luxury (Alila Ventana Big Sur looks like a sparkly turd next to Post Ranch Inn).
You're also spot on on with the rest, well done.
The Standard Bangkok at Cat 2 is music to my ears. The location in Mahanakhon building is quite elite, very well connected to BTS, and at least for me not too touristy. The room should come with rooftop access as well, which in itself is quite pricey. The question is when we can book these Standard hotels with points.
He is wrong. It is category 4. The Standard X on the river is category 2
Miami Beach?
Is StandardX Bangkok not joining?
Yes, that is one on river. Cat 2.
Hyatt will expand in any way possible (unless potential properties are in the Mountain West)
It seems the new battleground in loyalty is not necessarily luxury but "boutique" offerings. IHG has the Kimpton and Hotel Indigo brands. Hilton gobbled up the Collegiate-themed properties (which are kind of fun). Probably my favorite Hyatt stay was in the Unbound collection. Part of this is about being able to acquire anything to grow room count, but the other part is that so many of these boutique properties are redevelopments, rather than new build....
It seems the new battleground in loyalty is not necessarily luxury but "boutique" offerings. IHG has the Kimpton and Hotel Indigo brands. Hilton gobbled up the Collegiate-themed properties (which are kind of fun). Probably my favorite Hyatt stay was in the Unbound collection. Part of this is about being able to acquire anything to grow room count, but the other part is that so many of these boutique properties are redevelopments, rather than new build. They tend to be smaller and embedded in an already developed area. It appeals to younger and more active people. If you want to grow loyalty over the long term, you need to have hotels where younger people want to stay. And that's not in a Doubletree next to the office park.
Nice to see both Bangkok hotels at only a Cat 2 - definitely thought it would be higher. Imagine they won't stay that way long! Will definitely check them out right away
He is wrong. The Standard at Mahanakon is cat 4. The Standard X at river is cat 2.
@lucky.. Where would you most want to see a hyatt that there is not one currently? Could make for a fun post.
Aspen, please please please
Too many places to list...the footprint is just way too small.
Category 2 for the BKK properties is quite a nice surprise...these are typically priced well over $200/night in a city where $125/night can get you something much better than decent (though prices are definitely creeping upward...).
He is wrong. Standard at Mahanakon is cat 4.
I have never stayed at any Standard hotel but have attended an event at The Standard, High Line (in New York) and found the hotel staff to be friendly (by NY standards)