Hyatt is adding adding Lindner Hotels to its portfolio converting most of the properties to the JdV brand.
JdV is a soft brand, with ‘independent’ hotels able to affiliate without making substantial changes or having a cookie cutter brand approach. Still, for European properties, that doesn’t just mean slapping new logos on the building.
Across Europe fewer than 10% of homes have air conditioning. And that was before monthly power bills became more expensive than college. Americans have a lot of Europe-envy, and tourists often don’t visit with average Europeans when they visit. (They also visit Western Europe far more than Eastern Europe.) So we don’t often realize that Europeans are, on average, poor by U.S. standards.
Since the Lindner properties have focused on a primarily European market, it’s not surprising that many of the properties aren’t air conditioned. I asked Hyatt about this – whether JdV was going to be marketing hotels without air conditioning? And the answer is no. They explain,
Air conditioning is a JdV brand standard and a portion of the Lindner branded hotels will undergo renovation prior to affiliation with the JdV by Hyatt brand.
Airbnb’s in Europe may limit air conditioning use to save electricity. Spain insists thermostats are set to 80 degrees in summer. If you want air conditioning, go stay at a Western chain hotel.
All of these independent hotels that are neither owned nor managed by Hyatt is turning Hyatt into merely a hotel booking website, not terribly different than Hotels.com. That’s the direction Marriott has went. It is sad to see Hyatt following that path.
Outside the energy crisis the Air Conditioning in Europe is pretty weak. I’m normally sweating most nights and avoid going during the summer for this reason.
I just got back from Europe and I was sweating in Late Sept
600 a night euro hotel.Sorry we shut down AC on Sept 1 every year
Want a fan with that?:(
There are lots of Hyatt properties in Europe that don’t have air conditioning including JDV and Unbound.
Agree with Nick Thomas
While Hyatt still performs very well in Europe in the US it is falling apart in some key cities with 4 star hotels that are in dire need of refreshing and lower food & beverage/service standards
I’m deeply concerned they don’t fall from desirability.I’m starting to avoid some of their full service hotels which are also @ their highest prices in history now for revenue or award
I’m afraid they will lose their identity with these mediocre brands
Great to see an interesting, unique article and learn something new.
How did you ever jump to the conclusion that Europeans are poor compared to US citizens?
@Robert – per capita gdp
Spain: 27,057.16
France: 38,625.07
U.K.: 40,284.64
Germany: 45,723.64
United States: 63,543.58
I boooked– and later cancelled Story hotel Riddargatan Stockholm when I found out no AC. And they are JDV so there is no mandate. It never even occurred to me to check something like that but now with global warming and European heat waves, no way will I book a property without AC during warm months
Europeans don’t require A/C like Americans simply because the average European isn’t fat like the average American.
Gary, any response to the above comments about no a/c in Hyatt family hotels?
Food points , I hate going to Europe for the air conditioning reason alone. I think you have to not just stay in Western brands but make sure it’s a large hotel , not one of those hotels in old towns.
I haven’t been to Europe since 2018. I like a room that’s cool enough to hang meat in. In 2015,16 and 17 we visited Germany and Austria each of those years and side tripped to Prague in 2015, Budapest in 2016 and Krakow in 2017.
The one thing consistent was the superior air conditioning we experienced in the former Communist cities with the Sheraton Krakow capable of getting our room into the high 50’s, low 60’s while temperatures outside were in the high 80’s. In Budapest we stayed at the IHG Intercontinental and in Prague we stayed at the Hilton Old Town. Those 2 hotels had the capabilities to keep a room a few degrees below 70 which my wife and I consider on the high end for comfortable sleeping.
The one thing I found consistent with the German and Austrian hotels was how horrible the air conditioning was. We stayed at the Munich Hilton City and Nurnburg Hilton as well as the posh Ritz Carlton in Vienna. The rooms in Germany couldn’t get a room below 80 and the Ritz had a thermostat that had a setting of 65 but couldn’t get the room below 78. The Germans seemed astonished that we were uncomfortable with the hotel “climate control” and the folks in Vienna offered to check out the AC but reported everything was working normally. Even the room thermostat had a room temperature reading that showed the room was 68 degrees when in fact it was 79.
I’m trying to put together a family trip for 7 next year to Germany, Austria and Slovenia which we had to cancel because of Covid in 2020. My plan was to use the Hyatt near the Hofburg in Vienna for a few of those nights.
As for AC, I’m trying to stay positive but with all the recent mandates, will probably end up being very disappointed.
@Robert, did you really not know this? If you’re an American, you don’t have to be offended for the Euros, they have plenty of more social programs to help them get by. Us Americans need the higher wages to pay for things like healthcare and it works very nicely if you have a good job in something like engineering or anything where you actually contribute to society instead of some nonsense like generic “business.” Overall, though, life is so much more comfortable in America. I suppose that’s why others might tell us we’re the problem, because we truly have it all.
You book a European hotel without A/C exactly ONCE … then you pay more attention. It is really annoying to be told that a hotel has A/C when you can’t get your room temp down past 78. We never travel in the summer, but even shoulder season has its share of hot days. So sadly, we usually book a Hilton or InterContinental … who can sleep when it’s nearly 80 degrees in your room? I have found that airport hotels in Europe often have decent A/C, so that’s always a consideration. Finding good public transportation in Europe’s a lot easier than the US, so I can plan a good trip. With online information so easily obtainable now, it’s quite enjoyable to put together a trip and stay in places where we can sleep properly. We’ve done the whole ‘quaint and charming hotel’ circuit and now just want to be comfortable. I remember booking a Crowne Plaza in Sorrento mostly because it had an ice machine. Amazing how we like our creature comforts.
to huey judy- Stayed at Crowne plaza Zurich in Sep. Was happy that the AC worked well but the property was not quite in its usual pristine condition due I believe to financial difficulties brought on by covid ,
May is traditionally when European operated hotels turn on air conditioning despite the fact it can be 90 F in April in Andalusia. It is even a government policy in some countries. And October is when they start the heat. You’ll find a few instances when the heat is not turned on till 7 PM in business hotels.
And Switzerland has a GDP per capita of 86.600 or so. Of course, they have to pay for health insurance as well. My wife, from her socialized medicine country with a GDP per c of only 62k or so, hates AC. Unlike the American South or Midwest,
most of the time it’s reasonably comfortable, and so AC is seen as unnecessary and wasteful. But go ahead and book that nice room with AC: it’s cheaper than the Paducah Holiday Inn Express, and the breakfast might be edible, to boot.
To join Hyatt they will have to jack up their prices while lowering standards and quality?
@Ray: While not “technically” Europe, have you noticed the girth of those in the U.K.?
Stayed in the blazing hot Crowne Plaza in Paris during the “Lucifer” Heat wave of July 2017. Fans were distributed to every room, probably 85 degrees inside. Sleep impossible. Only the IHG executive club lounge had any meaningful working a/c for breakfast.
Entire stay was absolutely miserable. At check out I shared my disappointment with the manager; he comped half of the nights.
Never again (France) in July.
GDP means nothing for multiple reasons. first of all, it matters what things cost. living expenses in Europe are far lower, for one, second, one has to look at MEAN income and not average. The fact that Elon Musk has endless billions creates a nice bump in average GDP but means absolutely nothing to the average Joe. there is overall a much larger middle class in Europe. Just go get a taxi in Germany and be surprised that it’s an E class Benz and not a beater Ford.
@tj: Living expenses in Europe are far lower?
Afraid not.
What’s the cost of a liter of petrol?
What is the taxation rate?
How much is VAT?
That taxi in Germany will be a Mercedes, but is will have cloth seats, a manual transmission, and none of the luxury features found in a Mercedes sold in the U.S.
Apples and oranges.
Ahhh, the myth of the Ugly American lives on. Yes, I have been uncomfortably warm in European hotels, and no, most of the time you won’t be able to hang meat in your room. If you ask for ICE with your drink you will probably get one or two cubes, and the 7 oz portion for the same cost as a beer or a glass of wine has always struck me as an interesting “benefit” of being in Europe. I’m in Athens at the moment and I can’t figure out why the room that’s comfortable when I go to sleep is hot at 4 AM.
Yes, things are different. Gas is $7.00 or more per gallon, but public transport is efficient and usually inexpensive. We’ve experienced medical care in emergency rooms that puts the US to shame. As another reader says – apples and oranges… but in the end we’re all fruit.
@1KBrad, which continent do you think the UK belongs to?
Two of the three Hyatt JDV properties in Sweden can’t be counted on having air conditioning in guest rooms to cool the rooms. That is unless Hyatt is counting the ability to open windows as being mechanical/electrical air conditioning.
It’s funny all this whining about complaining about lack of AC in chain hotels in Europe.
There are so many better independent hotels with a/c not to mention Gary’s hated AirBnBs that disclose AC or not upfront.
Gotta love Americana and their love of chain hotels.
It is an empirical, true fact that the countries on the European continent are, as a whole, poorer than the United States. Gary’s statement wasn’t a political statement. It’s an empirical, true fact.
“… the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis published a study that provides exactly that for 2010. Combined with World Bank data for the same year, these datasets show that the poorest 20 percent of U.S. households have higher average consumption per person than the averages for all people in most nations of the OECD and Europe”
“The high consumption of America’s ‘poor’ doesn’t mean they live better than average people in the nations they outpace, like Spain, Denmark, Japan, Greece, and New Zealand. This is because people’s quality of life also depends on their communities and personal choices, like the local politicians they elect, the violent crimes they commit, and the spending decisions they make.”
See here: https://www.acton.org/publications/transatlantic/2019/08/27/americas-poorest-are-richer-most-average-europeans-study
I’m old to remember many 2-star and 3-star independent hotels outside capital cities not having en suite bathrooms. That was during the 1990s. I also remember squat toilets (toilettes à la turque) being common in France until the early 2000s. In the Britain, central heating was still a novelty when I went over as a kid in the 1990s. Radiators were much common, even for the middle-class.
The quality of life for the average person in the Schengen area varies a lot by country.
Top 10 Countries with the Highest Quality of Life – U.S. News
Best Countries Report 2021
Canada
Denmark
Sweden
Norway
Switzerland
Australia
Netherlands
Finland
Germany
New Zealand
The US is good for people in the top 1-10% of the social-economic spectrum, but it’s a much more precarious financial situation for the vast majority of Americans than it is for the vast majority of people in the above-mentioned countries.
I live in Europe but spend about 1/3 of the year in the US. The AC situation is truly terrible. I’m always either sweating or freezing inside. Like a third world country. I always leave Europe for the US In the summer to avoid the horrible heat.
@Ann: I enjoy a certain minimum level of service and amenities at hotels.
Chain hotels provide that.
I also stay at independent hotels, but the standards vary and I have to choose much more carefully.
The standards at AirBnBs are even more varied. I tried it once. That was enough.
@GUWonder: The results are only as good as the survey and what factors are examined.
Lower their standards?
There wasn’t AC in the 1600s
Same story with rental cars. if you visit Paris or London in August be sure to pay extra for a top line rental car otherwise there’ll be no A/C.
As regards lifestyle and wealth, ask who’s got your back? Medical expenses? Dentist? Unemployed? Homeless? High taxes buy peace of mind
I am not sure how Hyatt can ensure that, especially in this case which is a “partnership”. Because Hyatt did not purchase these hotels, what leverage does it force the European hotels to make that “one big change” (AC) to become part of Hyatt?
In fact, none of that stuff will be relevant relevant in the long run. The more relevant question, which I posed over at OMAAT in a post that was then promptly taken down (not sure whether it was because of the question), is the following:
Isn’t Hyatt, in its frenzied expansion spree to try to address its footprint “problem”, running the risk of downgrading or “diluting” its brand by adding in its portfolio a heterogeneous collection of already-branded hotels, instead of growing its hotels “organically” to ensure that the chain retains the distinctive Hyatt identity and “flavor”?
Won’t the increasingly heterogeneous collection of hotels make it tough to ensure consistency in the delivery of benefits to World of Hyatt members? If I were a WoH loyalist, I would be greatly concerned that Hyatt’s strategy for growth and address its footprint problem is to do it by “mergers and acquisitions” (M&A), as opposed to growing the company “organically” (i.e., from within) like Hilton CEO, Chris Nassetta, is determined to do.
While the M&A model can achieve “explosive” growth, it is widely considered to be highly risky due to the possibility of brand “dilution”, loss of brand standards (hotels not becoming like Hyatt), and high costs if integration of different management styles is botched and/or disrupts core company operations and standards. Organic growth, on the other hand, achieves slow to moderate growth, depending on the size of investment, but ensures both management style consistency and retention of established (core) company operations and standards.
My bet is that unless Hyatt stops at some point after growing by M&A to focus on growing “organically”, it will become an unwieldy mess that the owners would want cash out on and move on…sounds familiar?
‘…what leverage does it have to force the European hotels…”
With folks often commenting awkwardly from tiny hand-helds, it’d be helpful to implement a comments text editor here like on the Disqus commenting platform for clearer exchanges!
@DCS: Pursuing a strategy of mergers and acquisitions isn’t necessarily bad. Hyatt could have bought Radisson for some of the full-service properties that it desperately needs. But I imagine the cost of bringing the Radisson properties, at least in the United States, was too much money.
Hyatt seems to be following the Marriott strategy for growth since nobody in North America seems interested in building new full-service hotels. In markets without Hyatt, there are so many full-service properties under the Hilton, IHG and Marriott brands (among others) that there likely isn’t the market for a Hyatt Regency, especially when downtown office buildings and suburban office parks will never regain their pre-pandemic viability. So there only path to grow are more limited-service properties in the United States, resorts, and then independent hotels that want access to Hyatt’s booking platform. In effect, Hyatt is becoming a hotels.com.
@FNT Delta diamond. Your study is utter nonsense. I have lived in the US for 25 years and in Germany for 25 years so I know precisely how the living standard compares. In Germany, even the lowest middle class can afford to take multiple International vacations a year. Your study is a biased right wing article.
In my experience, the US is only good if you are in the top percent of earners, otherwise Europe is far better. I admit that if you are in the top, life here is better (I am in the Bay Area and in the top 1%), taxation is lower, you got great benefits and lots of money. For anyone in the 80% and below, life in Europe is much better because taxation is only high for high incomes and you have an unbelievable amount of benefits. Healthcare free, retirement free, college free etc.. Cost of living excluding top cities like London, Paris etc is far lower. You simply need to earn far less to live a comfortable middle class live. I have many relatives that work in what would be considered “low incomes jobs” in the US – waiters, librarians, grocery workers. They all own homes and take vacations. Similar folks in the US are doing multiple jobs just so stay afloat.
I would assume that the vast majority of readers of these blogs are all high income earners like myself, we don’t know what the life of “normal” people in the US feels like.
@FNT Delta Diamond — You simply justified why it makes sense for Hyatt to use M&A as a growth strategy, and I have no issues with that. However, you did not address the underlying pitfalls, especially with respect to the aspect of the strategy that has implications for consistency in delivering loyalty benefits to WoH members when the participating hotels are heterogeneous with their own pre-existing “cultures”…it is a real challenge.
TJ is correct about how it is in the higher income countries within Europe. Germany, included. Whether or not it is sustainable longer term.
LOL @ GDP claims.
At purchasing power parity, Ireland, Switzerland, and Luxemburg are ahead of the US. Denmark is on par (ahead of the US according to World Bank, slightly trailing according to IMF).
The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and Sweden are all within 15% of the US’ GDP per capita (at PPP prices). France and the UK are at around -20 to -25 per cent vis-a-vis the US.
However, as is well known in the literature, most of the US’ lead is accounted for by a larger number of hours worked per capita. In other words, European countries consume more leisure, Americans consume more goods and services (bought by additional hours worked).
In any case, these are small differences by any measure. Explaining the lack of air conditioning by differences in the standard of living is just LOLOLOL
@TJ: I live in a single-wide trailer in a classic American trailer park. I’m unmarried. I don’t need a fancy house and I don’t have family expenses. I don’t have health insurance. If I get sick, I pay out of pocket. I make around $55,000 a year, which is more than enough money for me. I drive a 22-year-old Volvo S80. I travel extensively both on other peoples’ money and my own money.
@TJ: I also don’t own any stocks or bonds. I have no retirement fund, pension or 401(k). I work as a 1099 contractor. I have a simple savings account at the bank. I have a few credit cards. I pay my balance in full every month. I’d put my wealth and lifestyle above any European even though I’m probably considering working poor.