STANDARD INTERNATIONAL acquired by HYATT

Hyatt Hotels completed on 1 October 2024 the acquisition of the brands and most of the affiliates of Standard International, the New York lifestyle hospitality company, after announcing the deal in August of that year. The perimeter was entirely asset-light, covering management, franchise and licence contracts for 22 operating hotels and around 2,000 rooms, a residential business with projects under development in six countries, and more than 30 future projects held under signed agreements or letters of intent. Amar Lalvani, until then executive chairman of Standard International, took charge of a new dedicated lifestyle division at Hyatt as president and creative director, based in New York with further offices in Austin and Bangkok. The unit combined the Standard and Bunkhouse brands with Hyatt’s distribution network, a prospect that had already attracted additional development projects between the announcement and the closing. Hyatt also indicated that it would set up a separate luxury division with its own leadership in the following months. The purchase extended a series of lifestyle acquisitions through which Hyatt had multiplied its lifestyle room count fivefold between 2017 and 2023.

The acquisition of Standard International is part of the growth strategy of Hyatt, which already has several external growth operations under its belt, notably Mr & Mrs Smith in 2023.