Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a franchise agreement with Primehotels Oy for the first Hyatt property in Finland. Expected to open in 2022, the 224-room Grand Hansa Hotel will become the first The Unbound Collection by Hyatt property in the Nordics as the brand enjoys continued momentum across Europe.

Incorporating references to Finnish folklore and mythology, Grand Hansa Hotel’s historical façade will represent the city’s fascinating past. Combined with Helsinki’s vibrant atmosphere, the hotel will provide independently minded guests with one-of-a-kind experiences reflecting The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand ethos. Prior to its opening, the hotel will undergo a renovation leading to the development of 224 upscale guestrooms and a newly built entrance. The large ground floor space will allow for significant food and beverage offerings, as well as extensive conference and meeting facilities.

The Grand Hansa Hotel will benefit from the strong demand of both business and leisure travelers to Helsinki with forecasts predicting 30 million passengers by 2030. Strategically located opposite of the Central Railway Station and only a 30-minute train or taxi ride from the award-winning Helsinki Airport, business travelers will be in the immediate vicinity of key industries and Government entities, including the University of Helsinki’s central campus. Leisure guests will also benefit from being within a five-minute walk from nearby shopping outlets and tourist attractions such as the Helsinki Market Square and Finnish National Theater.

“We are thrilled to see the development of Grand Hansa Hotel in the Nordics as Finland is an important market for us,” said Guido Fredrich, Hyatt’s regional vice president of development for Europe.  “We are excited by the growth we have seen in Helsinki’s tourism sector in recent years. The region’s rich history and distinct culture make The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand a natural fit for Grand Hansa Hotel, as we grow our brand presence in the European luxury market.”

“We are thrilled to be working with Hyatt for their first hotel in Finland,” said Tomi Peitsalo, CEO of Primehotels Oy. “As an internationally trusted brand, we believe Hyatt represents the perfect fit with Primehotel’s growth strategy. Together with our expertise and great reputation, we will successfully bring this historic building to life.”

“We are committed to building a sustainable Helsinki today, for tomorrow,” said Antti Kerppola, CEO of Ylva, the owning company of Grand Hansa Hotel. “Together with Hyatt and Primehotels Oy we will be able to deliver a prestigious development with high-quality services that our city deserves.”

Grand Hansa Hotel will become the eighth addition to the expanding The Unbound Collection by Hyatt portfolio in Europe. It will join the Hôtel du Louvre in Paris, Párisi Udvar Hotel in Budapest, Hôtel Martinez in Cannes, Nish Palas in Istanbul, Sofia Barcelona in Spain, Hôtel du Palais, Biarritz and the recently opened Great Scotland Yard Hotel in London.

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

About Hyatt Hotels Corporation 

Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company with a portfolio of 20 premier brands. As of September 30, 2019, the Company’s portfolio included more than 875 properties in over 60 countries across six continents. The Company’s purpose to care for people so they can be their best informs its business decisions and growth strategy and is intended to attract and retain top colleagues, build relationships with guests and create value for shareholders. The Company’s subsidiaries develop, own, operate, manage, franchise, license or provide services to hotels, resorts, branded residences, vacation ownership properties, and fitness and spa locations, including under the Park Hyatt®, Miraval®, Grand Hyatt®, Alila®, Andaz®, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt®, Destination®, Hyatt Regency®, Hyatt®, Hyatt Ziva™, Hyatt Zilara™, Thompson Hotels®, Hyatt Centric®, Caption by Hyatt, Joie de Vivre®, Hyatt House®, Hyatt Place®, tommie™, Hyatt Residence Club® and Exhale® brand names, and operates the World of Hyatt® loyalty program that provides distinct benefits and exclusive experiences to its valued members. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com. 

The Unbound Collection by Hyatt

The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand is a portfolio of independent, premium hotel properties, ranging from historic urban gems to contemporary trend-setters and boutique properties to resorts. Whether it is a fascinating past, an exclusive location, famous architecture and design, or an award-winning dining experience, each of the brand’s 19 hotels has its own distinct narrative and creates novel, story-worthy experiences for guests. In markets from Barcelona to Budapest, guests can be inspired by hidden gems around the world. For a full list of hotels in the collection, visit unboundcollection.hyatt.com. Follow @UnboundxHyatt on Facebook and Instagram and tag your photos with #TellYourTale.

About Primehotels Oy

Primehotels Oy is a private Finnish company that owns, builds and operates premium hotels in multiple locations across Finland. Primehotels appears to be more of a collection than a chain of hotels because of the unique personality and atmosphere each of these hotels have.

Primehotels will strongly invest in growth during the coming years. In addition to Grand Hansa Hotel, a unique modern luxury hotel in Helsinki’s city center, the company’s growth strategy over the next few years will include several new and interesting hotel units.

About Ylva

Ylva’s goal is to contribute to the construction of an international, sustainable city of tomorrow. Our business activities focus on real estate and financial investments along with the hotel and restaurant sector. Our owner is the Student Union of the University of Helsinki and our profits are used to promote student activities. We have been part of Helsinki’s cityscape for 150 years and our business operations focus on long-term planning. For us, profitability means sustainable decisions that will keep us integrated with the city and the society for the next 150 years as well.

Forward-Looking Statement 

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. These statements include statements about our plans, strategies, outlook, occupancy, ADR and growth trends, market share, the number of properties we expect to open in the future, our expected adjusted SG&A expense, our estimated comparable system-wide RevPAR growth, our estimated Adjusted EBITDA growth, our expected net rooms growth, maintenance and enhancement to existing properties capital expenditures, investments in new properties capital expenditures, depreciation and amortization expense and interest expense estimates, financial performance, prospects or future events and involve known and unknown risks that are difficult to predict. As a result, 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, 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; levels of spending in business and leisure segments as well as consumer confidence; declines in occupancy and average daily rate; limited visibility with respect to future bookings; loss of key personnel; 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 and common stock repurchase program and other forms of shareholder capital return, including the risk that our common stock repurchase program could increase volatility and fail to enhance shareholder value; our intention to pay a quarterly cash dividend and the amounts thereof, if any; 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;  the impact of changes in the tax code as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and uncertainty as to how some of those changes may be applied; increases in interest rates and 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 industry consolidation, and the markets where we operate; our ability to successfully grow the World of Hyatt loyalty 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 SEC, including our annual report on Form 10-K, which filings are available from the SEC. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements set forth above. 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 do not undertake or assume any 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.