News Releases

GRAND HYATT GOA, INDIA

Jun 23, 2022
Hyatt Announces Plans to Bring Its Luxury Park Hyatt Brand to Johannesburg
After an extensive refurbishment, the iconic Winston Hotel is expected to reopen as Park Hyatt Johannesburg in 2023

CHICAGO (June 23, 2022) – Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) announced today that a Hyatt affiliate entered into a management agreement with an affiliate of the Millat Group for the Winston Hotel in Rosebank, Johannesburg, to join the Hyatt portfolio as an affiliated hotel. The hotel will be available on Hyatt’s booking channels in the upcoming weeks. Following an extensive refurbishment, the hotel is expected to rebrand to Park Hyatt Johannesburg in early 2023, marking the re-introduction of the Park Hyatt brand to South Africa, signifying Hyatt’s focus on growing its luxury brands in the destinations that matter most to travelers, World of Hyatt members, customers, and owners. 

“We are delighted to continue building on our relationship with the Millat Group and add Park Hyatt Johannesburg to Hyatt’s growing collection of luxury properties throughout the African continent,” said Ludwig Bouldoukian, Regional Vice President Development Middle East Africa for Hyatt International. “Park Hyatt hotels are found in the world’s most premier destinations and this development in Rosebank demonstrates a commitment to catering to both domestic and international high-end travelers who are looking for an oasis of calm and refinement, highly attentive personal service and elevated experiences in an intimate environment, while still enjoying the vibrancy of Johannesburg.”

The refurbishment of the hotel will be overseen by Yabu Pushelberg, an award-winning global designer that has previously worked on hotels such as Park Hyatt New York, Park Hyatt Shenzhen, and Park Hyatt Bangkok, as well as some of the world’s leading luxury brands, including Bergdorf Goodman and LVMH. Yabu Pushelberg’s thoughtful and rigorous approach to design will revitalise the hotel while celebrating the heritage and craftsmanship of its locale. Highly curated interiors and contemporary architecture will combine indoor and outdoor elements, inviting guests to lose themselves in a romantic and layered experience rooted in the surrounding landscape.

Once the hotel joins the Park Hyatt brand, it is expected to be popular with business and leisure guests alike, offering understated luxury and an elevated home away from home experience with highly personalized, intuitive, and fully engaged service; renowned art and design; a profound reverence for culture; and exceptional food and beverage. The hotel’s highly convenient location in Rosebank is within walking distance of the area’s lively bars, popular restaurants, and notable galleries. Guests can enjoy easy access to Rosebank Gautrain Station, as well as thriving shopping and entertainment attractions, including The Zone and Rosebank Mall.

All 30 guestrooms and suites will be fitted with king size beds, professionally equipped workstations, and en-suite bathrooms. The hotel’s restaurant will include a spacious dining room and an outdoor terrace for refined, al-fresco dining, overlooking its picturesque swimming pool. The hotel will also feature an atmospheric bar with an open-air courtyard, as well as a stylish multi-purpose event space for conferences and meetings, accommodating up to 60 guests.

Once completed, the refurbishment will complement the world-class sophistication and understated elegance for which the Park Hyatt brand is known. Guests can expect personalized, considered experiences and high-end service that will exceed their expectations of a luxury stay in Johannesburg.

“We are excited to work with Hyatt again. The plans for Park Hyatt Johannesburg represent an incredibly exciting addition to our hotel portfolio,” said Hamza Farooqui, the Millat Group’s CEO. “We have seen a considerable uptake in domestic and international travel, from both a leisure and a business travel perspective. Hyatt and Millat’s proven understanding of luxury travel will ensure that the renovated hotel offers a world-class product and service never before seen in South Africa.”

This marks the fourth collaboration between Hyatt and the Millat Group in South Africa, joining Hyatt Regency Cape Town, Hyatt House Johannesburg Sandton, and Hyatt House Johannesburg Rosebank.

Hyatt’s portfolio in Africa consists of 13 hotels, including Hyatt Regency Johannesburg, Hyatt Regency Algiers AirportHyatt Regency TaghazoutHyatt Place Taghazout BayHyatt Regency CasablancaHyatt Regency Dar es Salaam, The KilimanjaroHyatt Regency Addis Ababa , Hyatt Regency Cairo West, and Park Hyatt Zanzibar.

The term “Hyatt” is used in the release for convenience to refer to Hyatt Hotels Corporation and/or one or more of its affiliates.

About Park Hyatt 

Park Hyatt hotels provide discerning, global travelers with a refined home-away-from-home. Guests of Park Hyatt hotels receive quietly confident and personalized service in an enriching environment. Located in several of the world's premier destinations, each Park Hyatt hotel is custom designed to combine sophistication with understated luxury. Park Hyatt hotels feature well-appointed guestrooms, world-renowned artwork and design, rare and immersive culinary experiences, and signature restaurants featuring award-winning chefs. There are currently 45 Park Hyatt hotels in the following locations: Abu Dhabi, Auckland, Bangkok, Beaver Creek, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Busan, Canberra, Changbaishan, Carlsbad, Chennai, Chicago, Doha, Dubai, Guangzhou, Hamburg, Hangzhou, Hyderabad, Istanbul, Jeddah, Kyoto, Maldives, Melbourne, Mendoza, Milan, Moscow, New York, Ningbo, Niseko, Paris, Saigon, Sanya, Seoul, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Siem Reap, St. Kitts, Suzhou, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Vienna, Washington, D.C., Zanzibar, and Zurich. For more information, please visit parkhyatt.com. For more information, please visit parkhyatt.com. Follow @ParkHyatt on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and tag photos with #LuxuryIsPersonal.

About the Millat Group

The group is a private family office that uses its own balance sheet to bring entrepreneurial solutions to complex commercial problems. The group has a strong investment portfolio which includes real estate, direct investments, and private equity holdings. It owns flagship assets in South Africa and internationally. It deploys its capital and know-how on assets and sectors it deeply understands. Its sectors of expertise include real estate, hospitality, technology, and financial services. 

For more information, please visit www.millatinvest.com.

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About Hyatt Hotels Corporation

Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company guided by its purpose – to care for people so they can be their best. As of March 31, 2022, the Company’s portfolio included more than 1,150 hotels and all-inclusive properties in 71 countries across six continents. The Company's offering includes the Park Hyatt®, Miraval®, Grand Hyatt®, Alila®, Andaz®, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt®, Destination by Hyatt™, Hyatt Regency®, Hyatt®, Hyatt Ziva™, Hyatt Zilara™, Thompson Hotels®, Hyatt Centric®, Caption by Hyatt, JdV by Hyatt™, Hyatt House®, Hyatt Place®, UrCove, and Hyatt Residence Club® brands, as well as resort and hotel brands under the AMR™ Collection, including Secrets® Resorts & Spas, Dreams® Resorts & Spas, Breathless Resorts & Spas®, Zoëtry® Wellness & Spa Resorts, Vivid Hotels & Resorts®, Alua Hotels & Resorts®, and Sunscape® Resorts & Spas. Subsidiaries of the Company operate the World of Hyatt® loyalty program, ALG Vacations®, Unlimited Vacation Club®, Amstar DMC destination management services, and Trisept Solutions® technology services. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “may,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “likely,” “will,” “would” and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by us and our management, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the acquisition of Apple Leisure Group ("ALG"), including the related incurrence of material additional indebtedness; our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition of ALG as rapidly or to the extent anticipated, including successful integration of the ALG business; the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and the pace of recovery following the pandemic, any additional resurgence, or COVID-19 variants; the short and long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including on the demand for travel, transient and group business, and levels of consumer confidence; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, any additional resurgence, or COVID-19 variants, and the impact of actions that governments, businesses, and individuals take in response, on global and regional economies, travel limitations or bans, and economic activity, including the duration and magnitude of its impact on unemployment rates and consumer discretionary spending; the broad distribution and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, wide acceptance by the general population of such vaccines, and the availability, use, and effectiveness of COVID-19 testing, including at-home testing kits; the ability of third-party owners, franchisees, or hospitality venture partners to successfully navigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, any additional resurgence, or COVID-19 variants; general economic uncertainty in key global markets and a worsening of global economic conditions or low levels of economic growth; the rate and the pace of economic recovery following economic downturns; global supply chain constraints and interruptions, rising costs of construction-related labor and materials, and increases in costs due to inflation or other factors that may not be fully offset by increases in revenues in our business; risks affecting the luxury, resort, and all-inclusive lodging segments; levels of spending in business, leisure, and group segments as well as consumer confidence; declines in occupancy and average daily rate; limited visibility with respect to future bookings; loss of key personnel; domestic and international political and geo-political conditions, including political or civil unrest or changes in trade policy; hostilities, or fear of hostilities, including future terrorist attacks, that affect travel; travel-related accidents; natural or man-made disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, oil spills, nuclear incidents, and global outbreaks of pandemics or contagious diseases, or fear of such outbreaks; our ability to successfully achieve certain levels of operating profits at hotels that have performance tests or guarantees in favor of our third-party owners; the impact of hotel renovations and redevelopments; risks associated with our capital allocation plans, share repurchase program, and dividend payments, including a reduction in, or elimination or suspension of, repurchase activity or dividend payments; the seasonal and cyclical nature of the real estate and hospitality businesses; changes in distribution arrangements, such as through internet travel intermediaries;  changes in the tastes and preferences of our customers; relationships with colleagues and labor unions and changes in labor laws; the financial condition of, and our relationships with, third-party property owners, franchisees, and hospitality venture partners; the possible inability of third-party owners, franchisees, or development partners to access capital necessary to fund current operations or implement our plans for growth; risks associated with potential acquisitions and dispositions and the introduction of new brand concepts; the timing of acquisitions and dispositions and our ability to successfully integrate completed acquisitions with existing operations; failure to successfully complete proposed transactions (including the failure to satisfy closing conditions or obtain required approvals); our ability to successfully execute on our strategy to expand our management and franchising business while at the same time reducing our real estate asset base within targeted timeframes and at expected values; declines in the value of our real estate assets; unforeseen terminations of our management or franchise agreements; changes in federal, state, local, or foreign tax law;  increases in interest rates, wages, and other operating costs; foreign exchange rate fluctuations or currency restructurings; lack of acceptance of new brands or innovation; general volatility of the capital markets and our ability to access such markets; changes in the competitive environment in our industry, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, industry consolidation, and the markets where we operate; our ability to successfully grow the World of Hyatt loyalty program and Unlimited Vacation Club paid membership program; cyber incidents and information technology failures; outcomes of legal or administrative proceedings; violations of regulations or laws related to our franchising business; and other risks discussed in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including our annual report on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which filings are available from the SEC. These factors are not necessarily all of the important factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by any of our forward-looking statements.  We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information or future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

 

MEDIA CONTACT:
Siân Rylander
Hyatt
sian.rylander@hyatt.com

Kai Simon
Hyatt – Europe, Africa and Middle East
kai.simon@hyatt.com