I wrote last month that Hyatt was in talks to acquire Standard Hotels. That was sort of interesting. Current hotels include New York in the Meatpacking District and the East Village; Miami Beach; London; Maldives; Ibiza; and Hua Hin.
The deal closed, and I now realize it’s broader than I thought. That’s because they’re acquiring all of Standard International. That’s not just Standard Hotels.
Standard includes Bunkhouse Group properties in Austin, which includes Hotel Magdalena, Hotel San Jose, Hotel Saint Cecilia and the Austin Motel. It also includes the 7 locations of Jo’s Coffee. Their South Congress location is one of the most iconic spots in Austin where every tourist stops for a photo.
Hyatt is picking up management, franchise and license contracts – not the real estate – and the hotels in Austin are… interesting.
The Austin Motel is another one of the most iconic spots in town. On South Congress about a mile from downtown, its motto is “So Close Yet So Far Out.”
It’s legitimately a motel and room rates run $150 – $250 or more.
It’s a 41-room 1930s-era motor lodge with neon sign that attracts locals to its pool with day passes. And, since Austin really isn’t centered around a downtown, it’s actually quite a good location for tourists. The property maintains the ‘Keep Austin Weird’ vibe of the early-2010s (from long before the Californians arrived during the pandemic).
So does that mean we will start to earn Hyatt points for Jo’s coffee purchases – would blow Starbucks loyalty program out of the program
the ‘keep austin weird vibe’ had already jumped the shark by 9/11
rent the movie for a glimpse of what once was
@habard +1 Gary thinks he moved here before it had already changed when he’s part of the reason/mass influx that has continuously eroded it… The airport change in 1999 was one of the telltale signs of Austin begging to lose its “weird” luster and turning into a large city.
@bonvoyed – the movie i mentioned was filmed in austin in ’89, my last year on the 40, and it precisely and exactly depicts what austin once was in a way superior to that depicts austin in 1976 and released 3 years later (’93)
@gary – it’s funny you cite the influx of californians given your alma mater 🙂
so my attempts to write the names of the movies inside ‘less than’ and ‘greater than’ arrows is not working, let me try to write the names of the movies without the arrows:
Slacker (1990)
Dazed and Confused (1993)
@hagbard celine @BonvoyedAgain y’all are missing the vibe and the reference as it refers to Austin Motel, the early 2010s were a time of merchandising the recent past, taking memories of Austin and corporatizing them, selling them back at significant markup.
“Keep Austin Weird” became a corporate-produced slogan on t-shirts sold to tourists. And that’s the vibe still at the Austin Motel, when that time has largely passed the rest of the city by.
When I moved here newcomers were outsiders, interlopers, as Austinites tried to hang onto a past that had already largely slipped away. By the time I’d been here 5+ years I stopped getting that side eye. Then the pandemic hit and Austin changed again. This didn’t used to be a city where anyone made reservations at restaurants, now you can’t get reservations for the best places a week or two out without an in. The era chronicled by Richard Linklater is a distant memory at best to those that have been overrun.
Imagine think Californians only started arriving in Austin in large numbers during the pandemic. You’re out of touch with reality, Gary,
Austin is still in Texas!
@ATX – the data supports me on this. As many Californians moved to Texas in each of 2021 and 2022 as in the three years preceding the pandemic combined.
There was a great acceleration of California migration to Austin during the pandemic.
Austin doesn’t center around a downtown? But so much of its culture does center around 6th Street and the University, which are… downtown. Huh
I can remember when both the San Jose and Austin motel were basically shooting galleries.
Oh if I had only put a down payment on anything back then
Keep Austin Weird died when Max Nofziger left the Austin City Council (gave up flower business and became a consultant) and Leslie just plain left (suspect it quit being weird enough for him.)
South Congress is literally just a shopping and entertainment district for visiting out of towners. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s nothing weird about a Soho House, a a Hermes store, and a national taco chain that can’t get a liquor license.