Dive Brief:
- Hyatt Hotels Corporation is continuing its push in the luxury lifestyle segment — this time in New Orleans. Two hotels in the city will join Hyatt’s portfolio as affiliate properties this year, the company announced Tuesday.
- Maison Métier, formerly Maison de la Luz, and The Barnett, formerly Ace Hotel New Orleans, will join Hyatt’s Independent Collection of brands as well as the World of Hyatt loyalty program. The hotels are owned by The Domain Companies and managed by HRI Hospitality.
- Hyatt’s brand expansion in New Orleans, on the heels of luxury lifestyle growth in Houston and Miami, “underscores Hyatt’s commitment to growing with intent in destinations that matter most to Hyatt guests,” Mike Waddell, the company’s senior vice president of global franchise operations, said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
Maison Métier will join The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, a portfolio of upper upscale and luxury properties, as an independently branded hotel, Hyatt detailed in a Tuesday release. The Barnett, meanwhile, will join JdV by Hyatt.
Both properties, Waddell said, are “purposefully crafted to be a place of discovery and joy through food and beverage, art, music and beyond.”
The Parisian-inspired Maison Métier offers 67 guest rooms and suites, along with the salon-style Bar Marilou. The Barnett, with art deco and French modernism design influences, offers a live music venue and several reimagined dining concepts, to be unveiled this fall.
The properties further expand Hyatt’s portfolio, which has seen recent growth “fueled by the leisure and lifestyle segment,” Waddell said.
With the New Orleans hotels, Hyatt builds on nearly a year of concerted growth in the burgeoning luxury and lifestyle segment. In September, the hotel company announced it had expanded its luxury lifestyle pipeline by more than 30 hotels.
Since then, Hyatt has opened the 172-key Thompson Houston in Texas and announced Andaz Miami Beach will open in the fourth quarter of 2024 after the full renovation and rebranding of The Confidante Miami Beach.
Other hotel companies are expanding in the luxury and lifestyle spaces as well, as demand for experiential travel ramps up.
Hilton, particularly, plans to double its lifestyle portfolio to 700 hotels within the next four years. And Marriott is focusing on growth in luxury, most recently announcing plans to convert three U.S. luxury hotels under its reservations system.
