Luxury

A new tier of ultra-luxury has jumped out from the broader commoditized luxury category into a sphere of its own. Brands like Aman and Bvlgari Hotels are catering to the upper echelons of global wealth. As these top-of-the-strata services cost more than ever, an arms race is unfolding for the staff, product, and experience that can keep pace with lofty daily rates and steep checks.

It's no small feat for Loes Dingemans to grow a boutique hotel chain to six properties during a pandemic. But she may face high barriers to expanding the Pillows brand across Europe.

Inspirato, the self-styled "luxury travel subscription brand," is becoming a little less subscription-oriented as it tries to expand its potential customer pool.

In this video from Skift Global Forum East 2022, we hear from Nicholas King, group chief development officer of Red Sea Global, about how the company’s newest coastal developments in Saudi Arabia go beyond sustainability into regenerative tourism to meet travelers’ demand for luxurious, yet environmentally-friendly, experiences.

In this video from Skift Global Forum East 2022, we hear from Annette Gibbons-Warren, cultural planning director, Royal Commission for AlUla, and Melanie de Souza, the company’s executive director of destination marketing, about Saudi Arabia’s ambitious international arts and culture capital of the future.

Rosewood practices arbitrage, luxury-hotel style. The company seems to believe that the three most important words in hospitality real estate are experience, experience, and experience.

Replicating a lifestyle hotel brand worldwide is a bit like walking on a tightrope blindfolded. Only the skilled survive. Marriott's Edition is up to the challenge, according to the brand's boss. Expect an acrobatic 2023.

The conventional wisdom is that it's an easy win for fashion brands to create explicit brand extensions with luxury hotels. But that's wrong, according to the Ferragamo family's hotel group. The debate is fascinating.

Can you go wrong with imagery of animals or nature and heartwarming messages? Not if you're a hotel sharing your sustainability efforts via social media. That's what The Datai Langkawi, Fairmont, and Banyan Tree have found.

Entrepreneur Sheila Johnson has been steadily expanding her luxury hotel empire. Some call her business, which has lately generated buzz, an overnight success that's been 17 years in the making.