Hyatt Is Bringing Its StandardX Brand to Times Square With 1,800 Rooms and a Free-Fall Ride

Hyatt’s smallest lifestyle brand is about to get a very big hotel.

Hyatt and the Extell Development Company just announced The StandardX Times Square, an upcoming property with 1,800 rooms that will mark the brand’s North American debut. It’s a bold move for a brand that currently has just 1 hotel worldwide.

Here’s what we know so far.

Hyatt Bringing the StandardX Brand to Times Square in NYC

The StandardX Times Square will open at 255 West 45th Street, right in the middle of Manhattan’s Theater District. Extell is developing the tower, which will be hard to miss.

Along with the hotel, the building will have an observation deck over 1,000 feet above the ground, a rooftop pool, and an enclosed free-fall thrill ride — yes, a thrill ride within a hotel near Times Square.

The property will also feature several restaurants, bars, and nightlife venues, including a rooftop bar and lounge. These spaces will be open to the general public, not just hotel guests.

StandardX is the younger, more casual sibling of The Standard, both of which Hyatt acquired in 2024. StandardX aims to keep the good beds, good design, and personality associated with The Standard, but cut what isn’t needed to bring prices down. Rooms are simpler. Service is more relaxed.

Hyatt’s press release says the Times Square hotel will be a flagship rather than a template for future StandardX properties. When it opens, expect a design inspired by New York’s theater scene, including bold colors and sculptures.

“In Times Square, a lot of it will be happening right inside the building,” said Amar Lalvani, Hyatt’s Chief Creative Officer and President and Creative Director of The Lifestyle Group, Hyatt.

The hotel is expected to open in the second half of 2028. Hyatt says it will share more details about the design, dining, and nightlife as the opening date gets closer.

Why This Matters for The StandardX Brand

The StandardX is a tiny brand right now.

The StandardX, Melbourne, opened in the city’s Fitzroy neighborhood in August 2024 with 125 rooms. A second hotel, The StandardX, Bangkok Phra Arthit, opened later, but has since left the brand. Earlier this month, Hyatt announced that the property had reopened as QURO Bangkok Riverside, part of Unscripted by Hyatt.

That leaves Melbourne as the only StandardX hotel until the Times Square property opens in 2028 — or later, given that hotel opening dates often slide past their estimated opening dates.

This matters most if you’re working on Hyatt’s Brand Explorer award. You earn a Category 1-4 free night certificate for every 5 unique Hyatt brands you stay at, and The StandardX counts as its own brand. Right now, checking it off requires a trip to Australia. That’s a long way to go just for a brand checkmark.

When the Times Square location opens, U.S. travelers will finally have a much more convenient option for checking out a brand they’re not familiar with. The project also shows that Hyatt hasn’t given up on the brand after it lost 50% of its worldwide presence.

With roughly 1,800 rooms, the new property will be more than 14 times the size of the Melbourne hotel.

Final Thoughts

The StandardX is set to grow from a single hotel on the other side of the world to a massive flagship in our nation’s largest city.

The thrill ride and on-site observation deck will command most of the headlines in this announcement. For Hyatt loyalists, though, the bigger news is a StandardX that’s easy to reach — though it’s not coming until 2028 at the earliest.

If you want a StandardX checkmark for Brand Explorer before that, you’ll need to head Down Under.