We’ve seen a huge amount of brand inflation at the major hotel groups in recent years, in an effort to appeal to as many hotel owners as possible. Along those lines, Hyatt has just announced the details of its newest hotel brand…
In this post:
Basics of the new Unscripted by Hyatt hotel brand
Unscripted by Hyatt is the name of Hyatt’s newest brand. As it’s described, the brand is “designed for travelers who value the essentials and prefer spontaneity over structure,” and the brand will “bring to life a flexible, collection-style approach where each property reflects its own identity and local flavor yet remains unmistakably Hyatt in quality and care.”
Hyatt says that the new brand is part of the company’s “Essentials” portfolio, and it’s positioned in the upscale segment. This brand “fills a key white space in Hyatt’s portfolio,” and is designed to “unlock growth through adaptive reuse and conversion-friendly opportunities.”
So far, 40 hotels globally are in active discussions to join the brand, and the brand will offer a “light-touch operating model and flexible brand standards.” The expectation is that most of the initial properties belonging to the brand will be conversions rather than new builds.
Here’s how Dan Hansen, Hyatt’s Head of Americas Development, describes the new brand:
“The Unscripted by Hyatt brand gives owners a flexible path to join the Hyatt system while still delivering the high-quality, dependable experience guests expect from Hyatt. By joining the growing World of Hyatt loyalty program, owners benefit from our powerful network where an innovative new brand like Unscripted by Hyatt widens our guest and customer reach and strengthens the value of the whole Hyatt system.”
How will this brand be positioned in the market?
When hotels publish press releases about new brands, as a consumer, you really have to read between the lines to figure out what can actually be expected. After all, these announcements are primarily targeted at investors and hotel owners, rather than guests.
So based on what we know, there are a couple of key points. First of all, the brand will be upscale, so expect this to be on the lower end of Hyatt’s portfolio. These won’t be luxury properties. Second of all, the brand will be conversion friendly and hotels will be able to reflect their own identities, meaning there will be few consistent brand standards.
My initial read is that this will be like a much less luxurious version of Unbound Collection by Hyatt, as that’s a collection of independent luxury properties. For that matter, it sounds like this will be a lower end version of JdV by Hyatt, as the brands otherwise have very similar descriptions.
Hyatt describes JdV as “a collection of original hotels with a deep respect for the neighborhoods that make up each destination,” and “each hotel is uniquely inspired by its surroundings and is a story about the communities we call home.”
The emphasis of adaptive reuse and only having the essentials makes it sound like many Unscripted by Hyatt properties might be limited service.
I guess to make a Marriott comparison, Unbound Collection by Hyatt would be like Luxury Collection or Autograph Collection, JdV by Hyatt would be like Tribute Portfolio, and… I’m not sure what exactly Unscripted by Hyatt would be like?
Either way, I welcome the concept of unique, independent properties joining the major hotel groups, to benefit from their distribution power and loyalty programs.
Bottom line
Unscripted by Hyatt is a new collection-style hotel brand, which will be positioned in the upscale market. This will likely be like a less luxurious version of Unbound Collection by Hyatt. To me that sounds mighty similar to JdV by Hyatt, though likely lower end.
What do you make of the Unscripted by Hyatt brand?
Hope to see urcove in the us… it’s so nice and cheap and a lot better than hyatt place.
And really hope hyatt will make luxury property purchase from smaller brand like rosewood.
Hyatt needs to desperately fix its luxury portfolio. Park is just not cutting it in footprint. It's becoming almost laughable. They are hellbent in popping up Thompson (not that it's luxury) but the management of these hotels a few months after opening is horrid and they are quickly showing wear, being understaffed, and lack of employee training. Hyatt is still the most reliable with benefits but wow they need some vision. And fast. Regency's are...
Hyatt needs to desperately fix its luxury portfolio. Park is just not cutting it in footprint. It's becoming almost laughable. They are hellbent in popping up Thompson (not that it's luxury) but the management of these hotels a few months after opening is horrid and they are quickly showing wear, being understaffed, and lack of employee training. Hyatt is still the most reliable with benefits but wow they need some vision. And fast. Regency's are often dated and aging fast - and scattered. Destination and Unbound are sporadic and odd at times. Centric is wildly all over the place. Andaz can be truly horrifying (5th Ave last year was like a war zone with broken windows, destroyed furniture and strange odors).
They need to bring someone in to start instilling some vision in NA and Europe. It's getting bad and I am a loyal Hyatt Lifetime Globalist that is starting to look and book outside for a lot of my stays.
I agree. Hyatt has a fat middle - a lot of decent properties. I'll happily book these for 100+ nights of business stays a year. But outside of this I'd love some luxury and the Park footprint is lacking. Thompson, Andaz etc just aren't luxury brands. I'd love to see more Park Hyatts and a real investment in making them top tier, like they've managed to do in Japan. They should replicate a similar footprint...
I agree. Hyatt has a fat middle - a lot of decent properties. I'll happily book these for 100+ nights of business stays a year. But outside of this I'd love some luxury and the Park footprint is lacking. Thompson, Andaz etc just aren't luxury brands. I'd love to see more Park Hyatts and a real investment in making them top tier, like they've managed to do in Japan. They should replicate a similar footprint in Thailand, for example. They have customers who are willing to spend and keep their leisure stays under the same roof as their business stays, but right now I'm forced to book elsewhere if I want a real luxury product in the vast majority of destinations.
I hope they will acquire brands like rosewood. That would be perfect luxury addition to hyatt. Rosewood ain’t too big and will compliment park. Or even langhams.
Anyway, luckily i am based in asia. Park and grand and regency are plentiful and andaz and alila are usually new property with better mgmt than those in usa.
Another brand toward earning Brand Explorer free night.
I read something like 80% of US hotels are branded as part of a chain. How many of the remaining 20% of non-branded hotels are truly at the "upscale" level of this new brand?
like how deluxe is the crappiest room type in hotel lingo.
What kind of a world do we live in when “upscale” equals “low end”….
Like how deluxe is the crappiest room type in hotel lingo...
That's not a good sign. Here's how Hyatt describes the Unscripted brand in internal documents:
"For owners who refuse to follow the script, the Unscripted by Hyatt brand will redefine what it means to be independent."
https://www.hyattconnect.com/content/dam/MicroSites/assets/files/Unscripted_by_Hyatt_Fact%20Sheet_FINAL.pdf
Hyatt should buy Omni and/or Loews and ideally a 5* global chain
Hyatt should have bought Radisson. Radisson Blu and Park Plaza would have been good additions and with some investment could have been converted to Hyatt Regency or Hyatt Centric.
I suppose it could look at Strawberry in Northern Europe or Scandic for some European growth. Both chains each have about 225-240 properties.
Omni would be a good addition but many of those properties would require significant investment.
Not quite a new brand. This was a brand that they acquired when they bought Dream Hotels, and they needed to do something with it.
Yeah - I've been eyeing Unscripted in Durham for a Brand Explorer mattress run for, feels like, at least a year now. It's not that attractive, though.
I wonder if this is the plan for Bunkhouse Hotels. Hyatt has really dragged it's feet on that integration - even while making progress on the Standard brand - and my understanding is that many of those properties could probably fit into this description. I saw something at one point that Hyatt planned to make Bunkhouse it's own soft brand but wouldn't be surprised if this superceded it - combining it with the current Unscripted...
I wonder if this is the plan for Bunkhouse Hotels. Hyatt has really dragged it's feet on that integration - even while making progress on the Standard brand - and my understanding is that many of those properties could probably fit into this description. I saw something at one point that Hyatt planned to make Bunkhouse it's own soft brand but wouldn't be surprised if this superceded it - combining it with the current Unscripted Hotel Durham that is likely pushing against minimum brand standards
From a complete outsiders perspective; it would appear that the American marketing machinery is mocking the American consumer by offering the ‘same old’, ‘same old’ wrapped up with a different ribbon, simply to confuse.
Even Arps can see that and he is extremely suspect.
Why does Hyatt keep adding silly new brands instead of focusing on their core brands?
They should invest in building new Park Hyatts and Grand Hyatts around the globe instead of keep adding useless new brands no one cares about.
@ Jim -- I agree, though the short answer is because there's not much appetite for new hotel construction. So they instead focus on trying to convert existing properties with limited brand standards, since that's the most practical way to grow.
Because, apparently, nobody wants to build new Hyatt Regency-level hotels.
Same for Marriott. There aren't many new Marriott, Renaissance, Sheraton or Westin properties opening these days, at least in the USA.
Moreover, many markets where Hyatt lacks a Hyatt Regency or Grand Hyatt are saturated by comparable Marriott branded properties.
A Hyatt Place, Fairfield or Courtyard isn't just cheaper to build and operate. Importantly, it's more profitable.
Hyatt's focus is focused on resorts/all-inclusives, niches...
Because, apparently, nobody wants to build new Hyatt Regency-level hotels.
Same for Marriott. There aren't many new Marriott, Renaissance, Sheraton or Westin properties opening these days, at least in the USA.
Moreover, many markets where Hyatt lacks a Hyatt Regency or Grand Hyatt are saturated by comparable Marriott branded properties.
A Hyatt Place, Fairfield or Courtyard isn't just cheaper to build and operate. Importantly, it's more profitable.
Hyatt's focus is focused on resorts/all-inclusives, niches like boutiques/independents, and limited-service Hyatt Place or Hyatt House.
I suspect the underlying reason is that it's just incredibly expensive to build new hotels in cities, since a lot of cities have taken to charging "growth" taxes out the wazoo for any new buildings. Just wild that we have a housing crisis plus skyrocketing hotel rates nationally, but cities think the solution is to charge the developers exorbitant additional taxes and fees to build anything that might alleviate it. The only winner is the...
I suspect the underlying reason is that it's just incredibly expensive to build new hotels in cities, since a lot of cities have taken to charging "growth" taxes out the wazoo for any new buildings. Just wild that we have a housing crisis plus skyrocketing hotel rates nationally, but cities think the solution is to charge the developers exorbitant additional taxes and fees to build anything that might alleviate it. The only winner is the person who bought their home 10, 20, 30 years ago and gets to watch their own property values skyrocket while those "growth" taxes keep the property tax artificially low.
At the end of the day, it's much cheaper to just absorb independent existing hotels into the brand.
To those asking why Hyatt isn't building more Hyatt Regency / Park Hyatt / etc. The hotel companies are all asset light - they don't build hotels, third party real estate developers do. Developer appetite for "full service" hotels is low. Why? Interest rates are high, labor costs are high, room prices aren't high enough to earn the return they want, and the hotel industry is very economically sensitive and volatile. So they build stuff...
To those asking why Hyatt isn't building more Hyatt Regency / Park Hyatt / etc. The hotel companies are all asset light - they don't build hotels, third party real estate developers do. Developer appetite for "full service" hotels is low. Why? Interest rates are high, labor costs are high, room prices aren't high enough to earn the return they want, and the hotel industry is very economically sensitive and volatile. So they build stuff in the select service area instead. In general, investment in real estate is going to stuff like data centers right now. If you, as a customer, want a lot more Westin, Conrad, Grand Hyatt, whatever, you are going to have to ask those brand companies to kick in more money - but investors don't want that.
CRAP. A development like this is good for the careers of the in-house team at Hyatt that created this brand. And good for the investors ready to scam guests under yet another flag (as if Hilton's Curio Collection were not enough).
THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF HYATT as a trustworthy hotel brand.
It's more evidence that hotel owners don't want to open brands like Hyatt Regency anymore. They're too expensive. They would rather open more profitable limited-service properties like Hyatt Place or faux boutique/independent hotels with few brand standards.
Agree, Hyatt is running out of ideas.
Their success is marketing mediocre hotels as faux luxury, but not everyone (except the blogosphere) is buying it anymore
Mediocre hotels as faux luxury: Andaz is a great example of that
In my experience, Curio Collection hotels have all been quite good. Certainly more engaging than your typical 3-star mainline Hilton in a suburban business park.
Yayyy... another opportunity for Brand Explorer FNC!
I stopped caring about Cat 1-4 “awards” a few years ago. I don’t consider a free night at a Hyatt Place in rural Mississippi to be an award. It’s more like a punishment.
Hyatt’s rapid category inflation has made Hilton look generous, which is an impressive feat.
Losing SLH was the death knell for Hyatt as a serious third chain.
To me there's still plenty of value in Cat1-4, but yeah, definitely less than there used to be.
My go to Cat 4 redemption was HR Vancouver. Sadly, it recently moved to Cat 5. I haven't tried the HR Seattle yet, but yeah, slim pickings for Cat 4s above a Hyatt Place in the USA. I've got a reservation and SUA at the Cat 4 Grand Hyatt Berlin later this year. Hope it's nice.
I use them for Chicago HCs that otherwise go for over $200 or even $300 a night. It’s not that hard.
I'm not sure I would classify Unbound as Hyatt's version of Marriott's Luxury Collection. It's somewhere around Marriott's Autograph Collection and Hilton's Curio Collection.
If you read between the lines this new Hyatt "brand" will almost certainly have lower brand standards than Jdv and Unbound. There probably won't be a requirement for all-day dining or a gym. This is clearly intended aimed at existing independent hotels.
That's my biggest complaint about these soft-brand...
I'm not sure I would classify Unbound as Hyatt's version of Marriott's Luxury Collection. It's somewhere around Marriott's Autograph Collection and Hilton's Curio Collection.
If you read between the lines this new Hyatt "brand" will almost certainly have lower brand standards than Jdv and Unbound. There probably won't be a requirement for all-day dining or a gym. This is clearly intended aimed at existing independent hotels.
That's my biggest complaint about these soft-brand collections of formerly independent hotels. Yes, some are legitimate upscale or luxury hotels. But many are just basic hotels at the level or operating standard of a Holiday Inn Express, Hyatt Place or Fairfield in dumpy, older buildings that lack have the amenities and services of a modern, newly built building.
Few of them are genuine 4-star hotels.
What I find interesting is Hyatt seems to have basically abandoned Hyatt Regency. When was the last new Hyatt Regency announced? At least in the USA.
I think you're overestimating the place in the market. To me this sounds more like a Doubletree/Renaissance - Hyatt has lacked an easy conversion brand, and maybe this is it.
Maybe somewhere between Hilton's Curio Collection and Doubletree. But Renaissance is a full-service Marriott brand with specific brand standards. It's not a low-standard brand for independent hotels.
I apologize I thought Renaissance was Marriott's Doubletree equivalent
Delta is Marriott's version of Doubletree.
DoubleTree has brand standards too.
This feels like Hyatt's answer to Hilton's Tapestry Collection.
It seems like something just above Hilton's Spark, something for properties which cannot convert to Hyatt Place brand standards.
Doesn't matter to me, my domestic travel is way down and frequently just a night on the Interstate, and in Europe if I'm alone I stay either at Accor or NH Collection properties or at nation-specific brands such as Okko and PURO.