Millennial-friendly Hyatt Centric to open 5 new North American hotels this year: Here's why you should care
Quick summary
When's the last time you stayed at a Hyatt hotel?
No, not a Park Hyatt, a Grand Hyatt or a Hyatt Regency, but a true Hyatt-branded Hyatt hotel, like the Hyatt Palm Springs or the Hyatt New York Union Square.
Unless one of the remaining Hyatt hotels -- there are nine in the U.S., a handful in India and one in Paris, France -- is one of your go-to properties, chances are you haven't stayed at one in quite a while. (For the record, there are plenty of fans of the Hyatt Union Square and the Hyatt Paris Madeleine in the TPG office.)
And that's unlikely to change. As traveler tastes and trends evolve, so must Hyatt's. And today's hotel guests are demanding a little more excitement, more individuality and more personality from full-service hotels.
Enter Hyatt's new-ish Centric brand.
Established in 2015, the brand has grown quickly, with almost 30 properties in the U.S. alone, and several across Europe and Asia. According to a Hyatt spokesperson, Centric properties are "[c]entrally located in the heart of some of the world's most exciting cities and designed to turn a stay into an opportunity to discover the magic of a destination."
These hotels are designed to be hubs from which to explore a given city, rather than simply a place to crash at the end of a long day.
And, it appears this mission is working. We recently learned Hyatt Centric will expand with five more North American properties this year alone.
The first to open will be the Hyatt Centric SouthPark Charlotte (June 10, 2021); followed by Hyatt Centric Downtown Nashville (July 2021); Hyatt Centric 39th and 5th New York (Summer 2021); Hyatt Centric Denver (Fall 2021) and Hyatt Centric Sacramento (Fall 2021).
And with existing properties in places like the French Quarter of New Orleans; Key West, Florida; Lima, Peru; Goa, India; Hong Kong and more, the upcoming locations join a portfolio of hotels in some of the most alluring destinations on earth -- not exactly something you could say about the Hyatt Rosemont near Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
So, as Hyatt invests more in "lifestyle" brands like Centric, it's quickly becoming the "bread-and-butter" of the Hyatt family of hotels: ubiquitous enough that travelers can build loyalty with the brand, but hip and trendy enough to differentiate from the myriad soulless boxes you find in cities everywhere thanks to their prime locations, modern design, cool cocktail lounges and more.
TPGers have stayed at several Hyatt Centric properties around the world over the years, including most recently in the Ginza district of Tokyo. We've found the brand to live up to its millennial aspirations consistently across the portfolio.
If you find yourself traveling to a city with a Hyatt Centric property, they're worthy of your consideration. No, you won't be getting Park Hyatt-level luxury, but you will get a full-service hotel that's plugged into the heart of the destination you're visiting and with certainly more flair than a run-of-the-mill Hyatt House or Hyatt Place property.
And with the way Hyatt Centric has been growing lately, your chances of encountering one on your next journey are only getting better.
Featured rendering courtesy of Hyatt