hospitalitystyle.com

(January 2009) posted on Wed Jan 21, 2009 EST

With its upside-down hotel and new lifestyle brand, the venerable hospitality chain is striving to re-emerge as a design leader.

By Val Hunt

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The sky was literally the limit when Hyatt Hotels & Resorts introduced its groundbreaking atrium hotel design in the 1970s. Now, Chicago-based Hyatt is pushing the limits of design with concepts that change how hotels operate and even how their guests perceive contemporary lodgings.

After a hiatus that saw design-led independents dominate the cutting edge, Hyatt -which owns, operates, manages or franchises more than 365 hotels and resorts worldwide-is muscling its way back onto the design scene with properties like the Park Hyatt Shanghai and the launch of its new lifestyle brand, Andaz. Recognizing that consumers are becoming more educated about quality design, the company is pouring millions of dollars into renovating its properties, including big facelifts for its Hyatt Regency branded hotels.

Fresh and interesting spaces like the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Chicago and the Hyatt Regency in Sarasota, Fla., send the message that great design is no longer perceived as just for the elite-or for hotels that don't wave a big-brand flag. Marble floors, rich colors and dramatic lighting add the panache that gives this full-service upscale brand a style-setting value add.

"Distilling what we've learned from these past 25 years and applying that to architectural and interior deign-not divorcing the architecture and interior design-is how we channeled our passion for customer-centered service into the new looks for our properties," says Robin Mackay, vice president of projects for Hyatt International. "The hotel today is not just a building; it's a lifestyle."

Determining exactly what lifestyle the hotel's design will embody was Hyatt's first task in getting back its design-savvy reputation. So Hyatt took a good look at the types of people staying in luxury hotels and boutique properties. The task of identifying the "typical " customer proved difficult because the behaviors of this group couldn't be defined by traditional generational standards. "We began to identify the needs of different types of guests using psychographic methods," says William Gullion, vice president of product design and technical services for Hyatt.

Bringing Down Barriers

Psychographic data showed Hyatt's executives how and why people make lodging choices, and they put that knowledge to work across its brands, including its new Andaz flag. With one renovated property in London and another conversion scheduled to open in West Hollywood this month, Hyatt wanted its fresh brand to make an attention-getting statement.