Luxury hotels tips

Meliá Hotels International is Spain’s largest hotel and resort operator, aiming to grow its portfolio across the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and Asia Pacific by 40 percent in the next three years. The Mallorca-based company, controlled by the Escarrer family, is open to selling a stake to a world player like Hyatt or Marriott. But its strategy in recent years could set it up to go it alone for much longer.

Some hoteliers take a stand-back approach, outsourcing most of the concept creation and design. Then there’s Palisociety’s founder and CEO Avi Brosh — who’s involved in every last detail.

To better understand the independent luxury hotel scene, I recently sat down with Gordon Drake, who last year became CEO of the Doyle Collection — an Irish family owned group of luxury hotels operating in Dublin, Cork, London, Bristol, and Washington D.C.

Jumeirah Hotels is keen to invest in more properties in Europe. Having recently acquired Le Richemond in Switzerland’s Lake Geneva, Jumeirah with a 26-property portfolio now has five hotels in Europe.

The Postcard Hotel is a brand with momentum behind it. It was named Asia’s leading boutique hotel brand at the World Travel Awards in 2022. Even though the India-based brand only launched in 2018, it already has nine properties open, with another 23 under development.

Mondrian Singapore Duxton, a 302-room luxury hotel, has seen its opening delayed by a couple of months. The Straits Times has a fun profile by Louisa Lim of all the frenzy behind-the-scenes in how the joint venture by hotel group Accor and lifestyle brand builder Ennismore aims to get the five-star hotel just right.

Bulgari Hotels & Resorts opened its eighth hotel on April 4, the Bulgari Hotel Tokyo.

Yoshiharu Hoshino, the CEO of Hoshino Resorts was named the “master entrepreneur of the year” in Japan by the consultancy EY.

Radisson Hotel Group announced on Wednesday that it would be debuting its luxury lifestyle brand, Radisson Collection in India with the signing of the first hotel in Hyderabad.

The idea behind the family-owned boutique hotel brand, Maisons Pariente, when it launched in 2019, was to create intimate luxury hotels — each in extraordinary places. “Rather than build vacation homes, we designed homes that have everything to make you feel like you’re invited to a friend’s house,” said Kimberley Cohen, co-founder of Maisons Pariente.

For a brand around since 1907, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts has suddenly had a lot of activity. In January, parent company Accor installed new Fairmont CEO Mark Willis, who has been leading a rethink of the brand’s strategy. Some of the details about strategy changes will be revealed later this month at a conference with the general managers at the brand’s 86 hotels.

As the world of fashion paid homage to the life and legacy of polarizing fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld at the 2023 Met Gala and its accompanying exhibition, it appears that Lagerfeld’s influence will long continue with The Karl Lagerfeld Macau scheduled to open in the summer of 2023.

When Jennifer May and her father Michael Stevenson remodeled their restaurant in Sedona, they couldn’t get over how much people loved the view, which overlooks some of the most iconic red rock formations in Arizona.

‘Dinner’ by Heston Blumenthal, which recently opened in Dubai at Atlantis The Royal, offers guests a “relaxed” dining experience driven by spectacle and storytelling. As consumer expectations rise, chefs are constantly upping the ante for not just their cuisine, but also the dining experience in order to stand out to guests.

This summer, Palazzo Avino – a 12th century villa turned five star hotel – has partnered with Maison Valentino on a ‘Summer Beach Takeover’. 

The new Grand Hotel Son Net, which opened last month, is set at the foothills of the Tramuntana Mountains on the island of Mallorca — and does not want to be referred to as a boutique hotel. Nor does it consider itself a resort.

Antitrust regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) is scrutinizing Tata Group-owned Air India’s planned merger with Vistara over concerns about competition in the aviation sector. The watchdog has issued a show-cause notice to Air India to explain its position and asked the company for clarification on why the merger should not be investigated.

Sabre said on Wednesday it had acquired a small startup, Techsembly, which helps luxury hoteliers manage the sales of gift cards, among other cloud-based software services.

Puente Romano Beach Resort in Marbella, Spain has teamed up with Italian luxury fashion brand Fendi to transform its Chiringuito Beach Club into the ‘Fendi for Puente Romano Beach Club’.

Porsche Cars North America, Inc. and Nobu Hotel Atlanta have partnered on a new Porsche inspired guest experience.

The Royal Mansour Marrakech has launched a new culinary school for guests who are looking to elevate their cooking knowledge under the expert guidance of the hotel’s chefs.