CHICAGO, Illinois—Hyatt Hotels Corporation detailed the growth of its Essentials portfolio with several milestones, including signing more than 20 new Hyatt Select deals in 2025 and reaching 70 total hotel deals for the Hyatt Studios brand since its launch. Additionally, Jason Ballard was recently appointed as global brand leader — Essentials. In his new role, Ballard will lead ongoing efforts to ensure Hyatt’s Essentials portfolio is brand-focused.
Under Ballard’s leadership, Hyatt is positioning the brands in its Essentials portfolio—Caption by Hyatt, Hyatt House, Hyatt Place, Hyatt Select, Hyatt Studios, Unscripted by Hyatt, and UrCove—to offer owners value in the hotel industry’s select-service category. Half of Hyatt’s executed 2025 U.S. Essentials portfolio deals are in new markets.
“Hyatt is hyper-focused on elevating the guest experience within the Essentials portfolio and deepening engagement with our 61 million World of Hyatt members to deliver a best-in-class experience each time they walk through our doors,” said Ballard. “In this next chapter, I’m proud to lead a talented team driving our select-service growth strategy—designed to deliver high-owner returns and trusted brand experiences—through more markets and more stay occasions to members.”
Ballard, who brings more than two decades of Hyatt experience scaling select-service properties globally to the role, will oversee strategy, performance, and brand evolution for Hyatt’s Essentials portfolio. His Hyatt leadership roles include franchise operations, brand performance, and development across the Americas, Asia Pacific, and EAME regions. Recently, Ballard led the launch of Hyatt Studios, Hyatt’s newest extended-stay concept, and the successful opening of the brand’s first hotel in Mobile, Alabama, earlier this year.
“Jason’s leadership has been instrumental in strengthening our franchise capabilities and establishing the Hyatt Studios brand as a standout success while setting a new benchmark for flexible, owner-focused select-service hospitality,” said Pete Sears, group president, Americas, Hyatt. “From his early career at Hyatt scaling the Hyatt Place brand globally to his foundational work in our franchise capabilities, his strategic vision and operational expertise will now guide our Essentials portfolio as we expand into more markets and deliver more value to guests, members, and owners.”
Portfolio Growth
Hyatt’s 2025 development pipeline highlights a pipeline trajectory with new hotels planned across the U.S.
- New U.S. markets: 50 percent of new U.S. deals signed within the Essentials portfolio in 2025 represent new markets for Hyatt, including the expected opening of a Hyatt Place hotel in Missoula, Montana, in 2027.
- Extended Stay Growth: The Hyatt Studios brand has continued to grow since its launch in 2023, with a pipeline of 70 executed deals, including new U.S. markets for Hyatt.
- External Pipeline Growth: The Hyatt Select brand, Hyatt’s upper midscale and conversion-friendly concept, has executed more than 20 hotel deals this year.
- The Unscripted by Hyatt brand recently opened Latitude Suites in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, and has several additional executed deals across the U.S. in 2025.
“Our development pipeline reflects Hyatt’s intentional approach to growth, anchored in expanding in the right markets with the right brands,” said Dan Hansen, global head of growth operations and strategy, Hyatt. “There is an incredible amount of white space in the Americas, and our Essentials brands give owners the opportunity to enter new markets for Hyatt where there is limited intra-brand competition and expand the Hyatt network for our guests and members.”
