Andaz to debut in Asia
Andaz debuted in London last November with the opening of the Andaz Liverpool Street. This will be followed by the Andaz Wall Street, New York (first quarter 2009), Andaz Fifth Avenue, New York (fourth quarter 2009) and Andaz Austin, Texas (third quarter 2010).
Interviewed by TTG Asia at the recent PATA CEO Challenge in Bangkok, Global Hyatt’s senior vice president, product and brand development, Mr John Wallis, based in Chicago, said the chain had yet to see a slowdown in hotel expansion despite the US financial turmoil, the oil crisis, credit-tightening by banks and higher construction costs.
Mr Wallis said: “In fact, our development pipeline is stronger than it has ever been.”
The company has 50 full service hotels in the pipeline globally, 14 of them in China (see box). In the US, its new Hyatt Place brand, positioned in the same market as Marriott’s Courtyard, marked a 100-hotel milestone recently. A third new brand, Hyatt Summerfield Suites, targeting the longer term-stay market, is also seeing success in the US with 30 properties now and will be brought overseas as with the other two brands.
But with other chains fielding new brand concepts, from Indigo to Pullman, Andaz is the most anticipated brand of the three new Global Hyatt brands.
Mr Wallis said Andaz was not Global Hyatt’s answer to Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ W or InterContinental Hotels Group’s Indigo.
“The way we try to design it is such that it won’t have a competitor - we are redefining the sector and it will be the answer to the experience a certain niche market today wants,” he said.
That niche is the jeans-with-Armani-shirt traveller, a k a, smart, sophisticated and stylish. Global Hyatt’s survey shows this niche wants the benefits of a chain hotel, but do not want to be part of the chain. They want “personal style”, which is what Andaz means in Hindu.
Most of all, they want an “uncomplicated” experience at hotels, according to Mr Wallis.
Andaz hotels are small, with just above 200 rooms as an ideal size. The “uncomplicated experience” begins from the living room (not lobby), where check-in is paperless and genuine hosts (not bellboys, receptionists, etc) interact fully with guests, to an inclusive rate plan which covers breakfast, laundry, Internet, etc.
Mr Wallis said: “In designing the Andaz concept, we are actually reconfiguring or deconstructing the hotel experience. It is not just the hardware or the name, but what is inside the suit that is going to make the brand.
“The m ost innovative aspect of Andaz is people, as it requires a different type of person to work in the hotel. For, once you take the barrier of a desk out between a staff behind the counter and the guest on the other side, you will need associates who are far more extrovert, who enjoy direct human contact. Hyatt’s always been about people, people, people, not location, location, location. Today, this has become even more critical.”
He added: “We’re not a massive distribution player, we want to keep the brand pure. We have 50-60 new hotels in key destinations globally and our philosophy will remain putting the preferred brand in every market, not being the biggest necessarily in the market. Our focus is on customer delivery - we’ve always felt you can’t grow unless you are aligned with with customer preferences.”
Asked if its oldest brand, Hyatt Regency (the original 1969 Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, marked the birth of Hyatt International), remained relevant in the face of new concepts, Mr Wallis said: “Totally relevant. That’s because it has constantly evolved and there are new-generation ones - the Hyatt Regency in Kiev or the new ones opening in China, for example. These are fresh, modern workhorses.”
In the company’s brand hierarchy sits the Park Hyatt, followed by Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suites.
As for Andaz, it sits “outside” this traditional brand structure - a brand with the benefits of an established chain, yet is not “part” of it, with its own personal style.
Global Hyatt’s development pipeline in Asia-Pacific
ASIA-PACIFIC
Hyatt on the Bund, Shanghai (631 Rooms, Opened June 2007)
Hyatt Regency Jing Jin City Resort and Spa, Tianjin (837 Rooms,
Opened October 2007)
Park Hyatt Beijing (237 Rooms, Third Quarter 2008)
Grand Hyatt Guangzhou (376 Rooms, Second Quarter, 2008)
Park Hyatt Shanghai (174 Rooms, Third Quarter 2008)
Park Hyatt Ningbo Resort and Spa (228 Rooms, Second Quarter 2009)
Grand Hyatt Shenzhen (400 Rooms, Fourth Quarter 2009)
Grand Hyatt Macau, (771 Rooms, Fourth Quarter 2009)
Hyatt Regency Chongqing (342 Rooms, Third Quarter 2009)
Hyatt Regency Nanjing (428 Rooms, Second Quarter 2009)
Hyatt Regency Beijing (352 Rooms, Second Quarter 2009)
Hyatt Regency Hong Kong - Tsim Sha Tsui ( 364 Rooms, First Quarter
2009)
Hyatt Regency Suzhou (440 Rooms, Second Quarter 2010)
Hyatt Regency Chengdu (450 Rooms, Second Quarter 2010)
Park Hyatt Koh Samui (120 Rooms, Fourth Quarter 2009) -
Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa, (258 Rooms, Second Quarter
2010)
Grand Hyatt Islamabad (360 Rooms, First Quarter 2010)
Hyatt Regency Lahore (300 Rooms, Fourth Quarter 2009)
