Making Time for People in Luxury Hospitality
Rosewood Villa Magna MD Friedrich von Schönburg shares how AI, messaging, and local culture can free staff to focus on the human connections that define luxury service.
Rosewood Villa Magna MD Friedrich von Schönburg shares how AI, messaging, and local culture can free staff to focus on the human connections that define luxury service.
Leonardo Hotels Central Europe adds two acquired properties in Regensburg and Kiel and relaunches a renovated Magdeburg hotel, expanding its German portfolio to three new or upgraded locations.
Booking.com's 11th Annual Travel Predictions, drawn from 28,000+ travelers, identify group budget friction, personalized wellness, recovery-focused stays, and local cultural experiences as key drivers shaping 2027 guest expectations.
An analysis of four hospitality wellness business models covering treatment-based, access-based, membership, and real estate, with data on spa margins, medical spa revenues, and investment trends.
Accor signed multiple development agreements during Dominican Republic Week in Paris, bringing its pipeline in the country to 23 projects covering nearly 6,000 keys, 1,000+ branded residences, and up to 9,000 direct jobs.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) today announced the opening of QURO Bangkok Riverside, part of the Unscripted by Hyatt brand portfolio. Formerly The StandardX, Bangkok Phra Arthit, the 62-key hotel marks a new chapter as the first Unscripted by Hyatt hotel in Thailand, bringing its distinctive character and creative spirit to one of Bangkok’s most vibrant riverside districts.
Hilton Santa Clara has completed a multimillion-dollar renovation spanning its 280 guestrooms and suites, meeting and event spaces, dining venues, and public areas. Located directly across from the Santa Clara Convention Center and just steps from Levi’s Stadium and California’s Great America, the newly transformed hotel brings a contemporary Silicon Valley-inspired design to the destination. The hotel also introduces new spaces for meetings, gathering and socializing, catering to business travelers, meeting groups, sports fans, and leisure guests.
Signia Hilton Savannah reached a major construction milestone today as the Savannah-Georgia Convention Center Authority (SGCCA), Savannah Convention Center, Hilton, Brasfield & Gorrie, Songy Highroads, elected officials and community partners celebrated the topping out of the 444-room hotel. The property will serve as the headquarters hotel for the Savannah Convention Center, further enhancing the destination's ability to host meetings, events and conventions.
OTA share of hotel bookings held flat in 2025 at ~30%, but Booking Holdings now collects guest payment on 73% of its sales, up from 25% in 2019, giving it growing control over room pricing.
Wymara Resort + Villas in Turks and Caicos joins Preferred Hotels & Resorts' Legend Collection, with its villa property also entering Preferred Residences, giving guests access to the I Prefer loyalty program.
ITC Hotels Limited (ITCHL) announced the signing of a management agreement for 171 key Welcomhotel by ITC Hotels Roorkee Mandawar. Strategically located in the Mandawar area of Roorkee in Uttarakhand state, the hotel enjoys excellent connectivity from the National Capital Region Delhi, Dehradun, Haridwar and Rishikesh. Positioned along the Delhi-Haridwar Highway, this new destination will serve as a gateway to the Char Dham pilgrimage routes of the Himalayan region, and several prominent leisure destinations within Uttarakhand. The location also benefits from proximity to the IIT Roorkee and the region's growing educational and industrial ecosystem.
Charlotte Weatherall, GM of Corinthia London since July 2025, shares lessons from her first year, including the TMT programme giving staff up to £200 to create spontaneous guest moments.
Just 45 minutes from Sydney, where the bushland of Mount White meets the waterways of the Hawkesbury and the Central Coast begins, The Grand Saddles Lodge will welcome its first guests on 2 November, unveiling an intimate 20-suite retreat where exceptional food and wine, richly layered interiors, restorative wellness and experiences rooted in the surrounding landscape come together.
Adina Hobart is using place-led design, local storytelling, and self-guided exploration to connect guests with Tasmania’s wilderness and encourage longer, more independent stays.
GHA adds Far East Hospitality's 26 properties and 6,212 rooms across Singapore, Malaysia and Japan to its portfolio, with integration into GHA DISCOVERY loyalty programme planned for early 2027.
HVS forecasts strong fall 2026 U.S. hotel performance driven by ADR gains, with occupancy still ~2 points below 2019 norms, rising cap rates, and outsourced staffing becoming an industry norm.
Hotel Zephyr's GM details how Canary's AI Voice handled 800+ calls in a single month, cutting hold times and freeing staff, while Dynamic Upsells generate $130K in annual ancillary revenue.
A reflective post-event piece on Destination AI 2026, noting broad hotel industry readiness for AI but a persistent gap in practical implementation knowledge.
The Warbler Hotel opens on St. Charles Avenue in the Garden District from a group of native New Orleanians, intentionally designed as a local gathering place on one of the city's most iconic avenues. The six-story hotel transforms the former Trolley Stop Cafe site, a beloved St. Charles Avenue diner that served locals and visitors for 26 years, into 58 guestrooms, destination dining, and a rooftop social space built with the intention of immersing travelers and locals in the spirit of New Orleans.
Cushman & Wakefield argues that rising capital costs, operational complexity, and earlier exit planning are collapsing the traditional linear hotel investment lifecycle into a continuous, interconnected cycle of decisions.