Hyatt brings 1,800-room StandardX to a Times Square supertall
The building is called The Torch, and the hotel will carry a substantial run of restaurants, bars and nightlife venues beneath its ride.
Hyatt is taking its StandardX brand to North America for the first time, with an 1,800-room flagship set to rise over Times Square. The StandardX Times Square will be in a supertall under construction in Midtown Manhattan, the company announced, and is scheduled to open in the second half of 2028.
The room count makes it the largest Hyatt property in New York City and one of the biggest hotels in the city altogether. The building, developed by Extell Development Company, has been dubbed The Torch, and it will house what Hyatt calls a substantial series of restaurants, bars and nightlife venues.
The most arresting elements are outside the rooms. The property will carry a rooftop pool, a rarity in New York, an observation deck positioned more than 1,000 feet in the air, and an enclosed free-fall thrill ride. Hyatt confirmed all three in its statement.
Hyatt positions StandardX as the irreverent younger sibling to The Standard, a toned-down version with the same heart. The brand launched in 2023, with its first hotel opening in Melbourne, Australia in 2024, and it has a further property coming in Thailand.
Amar Lalvani, Hyatt's chief creative officer and the president and director of Hyatt Lifestyle Group, described the idea behind the brand. The Standard has always been about being part of the city, he said; StandardX takes that idea and makes it simpler and more accessible.
That usually means placing guest rooms in an interesting neighbourhood with everything happening outside the door, Lalvani said. Times Square inverts the formula. In this part of New York, he noted, a lot of it will be happening right inside the building.
The design draws on the city's theatrical character. Hyatt promises bold colour, sculptures, reflective finishes and other unexpected details, with bedrooms that are expressive yet plain-spoken, while the shared spaces blend the design, music and social buzz the Standard name stands for.
Lalvani called New York energetic, theatrical and completely over the top. "We want to embrace that, have some fun with it, and create something that could only happen in New York," he said.
The Standard is no stranger to New York. The brand already operates The Standard, High Line in the Meatpacking District and The Standard, East Village. Hyatt says the Times Square flagship will bring culture and nightlife to a very different part of the city.
Hyatt framed the opening as a new chapter in The Standard's relationship with New York. The company also confirmed plans to convert The South Congress Hotel in Austin, Texas, to The Standard brand, giving it a debut in that state.
That Texas conversion is expected to open this coming spring. The Times Square project, meanwhile, builds on Hyatt's longstanding relationship with Extell Development, the pair having previously partnered on the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley resort near Park City, Utah.
Hyatt was quick to stress that the Times Square hotel is a one-off flagship rather than a template for other StandardX properties. It is not a model to be reproduced elsewhere.
The district has seen a run of hotel activity in recent years. The 1,300-room Row NYC reopened this May after multiyear renovations, and the 419-room voco Times Square Broadway, part of IHG Hotels & Resorts, opened earlier this year.
The StandardX will be right off Times Square and inside the Theater District, where the attractions look set to draw thrill-seekers and tourists alike.
No opening room rates have been published, and Hyatt has not detailed the free-fall ride's operator, height or ticketing. Nor has it said how many of the 1,800 rooms will be at each price point.
A one-off, not a template
Hyatt's insistence that the property is a single flagship, rather than a repeatable formula, matters for the brand. StandardX hotels elsewhere stay simpler and more streamlined, with casual service and connected neighbourhood positioning, while Times Square concentrates the spectacle inside the tower.
For travellers tracking the brand, the flagship extends what began in Melbourne to New York. The second half of 2028 is the date Hyatt has given for the doors to open on what will be one of the city's largest hotels.
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Images: Featured image by HYATT; The Points Guy
