It’s been a while. I shouldn’t have left you. Without a strong blog to step to. I’ve been a smidge busy. Since my last IYKYK, I got married, had a baby, took over running an Airport Concession program, got recognized as Top 10 Airport concession program by USA Today, sprained my ACL, and discovered some exciting air fryer recipes. But I’m back. It’s good to see you again.

First things first: I actually wrote this article. Second, I prompted claude.aito write the same article and the fact that it did such a good job both scares and excites the bejeezus out of me. See AI version at the end. The future is now.

I’ve always had a soft spot for boutique hotels so this bit of news caught my eye. A couple weeks ago, Hyatt bought the iconic The Standard Hotel brand. Which sort of represents kind of an end of the era for the legacy big boutique brands. Morgans Hotel Group sold to sbe Lifestyle Hospitality and then Accor , IHG Hotels & Resorts bought Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, and Thompson Hotels and JdV by Hyatt were acquired by Hyatt. And now the last brand standing falls. Or flies, I don’t know. Amar Lalvani is sticking around so that’s one point in the boost column.

1. Iconic properties

Yeah, yeah, yeah, hotels aren’t really real estate, they’re operating companies. Sure. But what The Standard has historically had is really swell real estate. The DTLA Standard’s rooftop pool and ping-pong lounge was something special. The Standard has a whole webpage dedicated to how many movies and TV shows their properties have been in. (https://www.standardhotels.com/culture/standard_archives_movies_television)

The High Line outpost is famous for providing passing pedestrians full views of guests in various forms of nudity from the full glass windows. Which seems to be encouraged. Which brings us to probably the biggest reason to buy The Standard and the likeliest reason to neuter it (see below).

Boost case: With a fistful of Hyatt dollars, the brand can make a case for going after a higher class of property. Hyatt’s distribution puts a really nice safety net around taking a risk for owners here.

Where it can bumble: Growth for growth’s sakes. Easy to imagine a scenario in which the brand is shoehorned into properties that don’t fit. For all the iconicness (Is that a word?), both downtown LA and Hollywood locations closed and if there’s ever a place that a brand like this should crush, it’s Los Angeles. Also a risk in chasing up and coming cities that don’t hit. Does this make sense in Nashville? Tampa? Medellin? Hard to say.

2. Hairy Chested Sex appeal

While most of the acquired brands have moved into a family-friendly kitschy yet attainable space, The Standard has kept a delightfully seedy reputation. Come on, even the last minute booking app is called One Night Standard.

This kind of press is either priceless or a constant headache. For a full on indie brand with no buttoned up board to report to, it’s great. For a family friendly company, navigating that is maybe a bit trickier. Sex crazed hotel guests are notably fickle. It takes a lot of marketing, events, and being of the moment to keep the hornies (and the squares who just want to be entertained by being around the hornies) staying put. Being of the moment takes Opex. Which, when economies shift, is usually the first line item to take a hit. That said, according to Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian, The Standard’s customer is less susceptible to that kind of shock, so the parent company should be very motivated to maintain the vibes. See interview here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKMUAIoUfAU

Boost case: Hyatt relationship maybe gets you hotter DJ’s, more expensive event planners, and a draw for great F&B which increases the notoriety factor.

Bumble case: Play it safe. Try to get more families in. Replace local bars and restaurants with something some guy in headquarters wearing khakis thinks is cool.

3. Strong Visual Identity

The upside down logo. The red and white typography. The yellow deck chairs. You can put that on everything. Instantly recognizable, eminently scalable. In all fairness, pretty much all competing brands kind of look the same. Outside of say Aman and Proper Hospitality which are very niche at this point, there’s a lot of design crossover. Apparently, hotel swag is the new flex among the rich in Europe. What better way to take advantage of that trend than with branded clothes, totes, robes, and of course brunch slippers (https://shopthestandard.com/products/brunch-slipper)

Boost Case: Do what VW did with Lamborghini:Take a loud, expensive, ridiculous brand and make it louder, more expensive, and more ridiculous while using the balance sheet to increase quality (having stayed in a couple Standards over the years, the grout and caulk work and age of the carpet were always substantially below what was acceptable for that dollar spend)

Bumble case: Do what Ford and then Tata did with Jaguar:Try to tame something special into a mainstream competitor and succeeding at being both uglier and lower quality.

4. Residential Branding

Not long ago, I started seeing sponsored Instagram posts about a Standard-branded residential project in Lisbon(I’d just visited the city, so the algorithm was working)

Apparently, it’s 80% sold, so there you go. There are new branded properties coming up in Miami and Thailand, and there’s no shortage of both urban and resort locations in which this would work.

Boost Case: Having a residential option can de-risk a lot of development deals, especially in resort markets. The maturation of the second home and STR market via AirBnB and Pacasa, etc helps here.

Bumble Case: Tail wags the dog. More projects pencil but they’re the wrong projects for the brand and over time, they dilute the vibes.