Buoyed by the continuing growth in the number of potential customers around the world, luxury hotels remain a key growth driver for hotel groups. The openings expected next year by Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and IHG only serve to confirm this. " The global demand for unforgettable holidays and sophisticated accommodation is undeniable" says Dino Michael, VP of Luxury Brands for the Hilton Group. We're delighted to introduce them to a new era of luxury" . A new era symbolised by the spring reopening of the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Redesigned by architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and designer Pierre-Yves Rochon, with the number of rooms reduced to 375, the return to business of this legendary hotel will be the highlight of the year for the Hilton group, and undoubtedly for the global hotel industry as a whole.
But the brand founded on the aura of the New York palace will also continue to expand its footprint with new hotels, notably in Asia with the addition of a second hotel in Shanghai next summer 2025, in the Qiantan business district, the "new Bund" located on the Pudong side of the Huangpu river. A Waldorf Astoria is also expected in Osaka this spring, with a 252-room hotel next to the new Grand Green Osaka urban complex, just as the Japanese city is hosting the 2025 World Expo.
Another key event in the brand's development will be Waldorf Astoria's move to Rabat next year, on the floors of the Morocco's tallest skyscraperand among the highest in Africa. The programme includes 55 rooms and suites, several restaurants, including a poolside restaurant, meeting and event spaces and, as in all Waldorf Astoria hotels around the world, a signature Peacock Alley bar. Also in Morocco, Hilton will be welcoming a new member to its LXR collection of independent luxury hotels with a 148-room and suite hotel located in Casablanca's 'Golden Triangle'.
Still on the subject of the Hilton Group, its other luxury brand, Conrad, is also expecting two major openings for business travellers. In Athens in particular, with the completion of the transformation of the former Hilton, opened in 1963The Conrad Athens The Ilisian will have 307 rooms and suites, as well as a host of bars and restaurants - nine in all - and is positioned as a key venue for meetings and events, with a MICE area comprising 18 rooms. Similarly, the Conrad Hamburg, which revisits the historic Levantehaus building on the northern German metropolis' main shopping street, Mönckebergstraße, will also have a meetings component with its nine meeting rooms for 238 rooms, including 25 suites.
A collection of new hotels at Marriott and Hyatt
A leader in the luxury hotel sector with over 525 establishments, the Marriott group can count on its range of brands to complete its offer around the world. While the openings for Ritz-Carlton or St Regis will mainly concern exclusive resorts, whether in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic or Aruba, the Luxury Collection will offer new hotels in business destinationsThe Casa Brera will be opening in Milan in January. The result of Patricia Urquiola's restoration of a historic building close to La Scala, Casa Brera will offer 101 rooms and 15 suites, as well as several gourmet restaurants.
But 2025 will also see the addition to the Luxury Collection of a star of the Madrid hotel sceneThe former Westin Palace Madrid is already part of the Marriott family. Opened in 1912 at the request of King Alfonso XIII, the establishment has been completely transformed to move upmarket even further, offering 470 completely renovated rooms, as well as a vast space of over 2,500 m² for exclusive meetings and events.
While 2025 will see the completion of other projects for the American group, such as the opening of the JW Marriott Hotel Tokyo, next year will bring the following to light the evolution of the W brandW New York, now more luxury than lifestyle, still design-led but less focused on the club and cocktail mix and more on a more sophisticated restaurant offering. This repositioning will be marked by the reopening of its flagship hotel, the W New York - Union Square, and the unveiling of a new hotel in Florence, a stone's throw from the Ponte Vecchio.
The Hyatt group, with over 250 luxury and lifestyle hotels worldwide and around fifty more expected over the next two years, is also strengthening its offering in this area. buoyant segmentThe group intends to go even further by restructuring its future growth around two entities: one for its luxury brands Park Hyatt, Alila and Miraval, and the other dedicated to lifestyle and based on the recent acquisition of the Standard International group and the Hyatt brands embodying contemporary, casual luxury, such as Andaz and Thompson.
Among the openings already planned for the coming year, following the recent inaugurations of the Park Hyatt London River ThamesIn addition to the Alila Shanghai urban resort and The Standard Singapore hotel, new establishments will be crossing the path of business travellers. Park Hyatt will set up in Kuala Lumpur and Taipei in Asia, but also in JohannesburgIn the Rosebank district, a luxury boutique hotel with around thirty rooms and suites. A contemporary and exclusive home, the result of the transformation of the former Winston Hotel by the renowned design studio Yabu Pushelberg.
Lifestyle signs, Andaz to travel the world with openings in Doha and Bangkok in Asia, Lisbon in Europe and Miami Beach in the United States. Florida is also on the year's agenda for Thompson Hotelsand another opening in Shanghai. In Asia, the Unbound Collection by Hyatt will have a new member in Jakarta, the Keraton at the Plaza.
For the IHG Group, 2025 will be marked by the completion of a similar project, the installation in London of its Six Senses wellness-oriented luxury brand, within the walls of the former Whiteleys department stores'This Art Deco-style building, designed by Foster+Partners, will house a 109-room luxury hotel with a private club. But next year will also see the continued growth of the Vignette Collection, launched in 2021 to bring independent luxury hotels into the IHG fold. In this context, the highlight of the coming year will be its move into the tallest tower entirely dedicated to hotels, the Ciel Tower in Dubai, with over 1000 rooms and suites and the city's highest infinity pool.
Proof of the diversity of options available to travellers, the Vignette Collection is preparing to open an astonishing ski resort in Shanghai, with the Shanghai Snow World Hotel featuring 272 rooms and 17 suites at the foot of the indoor slopes, within theone of Osaka's oldest hoteliersRIHGA Royal Hotel. Completely renovated, this key stop-off point for VIPs visiting Japan's second city will be back in business, offering over 1,000 rooms with 18 bars and restaurants and 56 rooms for meetings, banquets and events. In Istanbul, it is in a historic building, the Tütün Han, a former tobacco factory dating back to the beginning of the twentieth century.e In the middle of this year, the collection will offer a 51-room boutique hotel.
Return of a legend
At the same time, business travellers in search of exclusivity will have their share of new prestigious addresses to discover in 2025, with, for example, luxurious Rosewood hotels expected in 2025. in the former American Embassy in London such as the former Amsterdam courthouse, or the takeover of the management of Hotel Lutetia in Paris by Mandarin Oriental. As for the Radisson Collection, new developments are planned in Budapest and Casablanca, in Lyon with the reopening of the Cour des Loges, and in Brussels with the opening of a new boutique hotel. an urban resort to replace the former Sterrebeek racecourse to offer a hotel with 150 rooms and five meeting rooms surrounded by an 18-hole golf course.
As for travellers loyal to the Accor group, they will be able to visit Cairo from January, the largest Sofitel in the worldSofitel Cairo Downtown Nile, with 615 rooms and suites and over 2,000 m² of banqueting and event space. Or a second Raffles in Singapore, on Sentosa Island, the tropical counterpart to its historic palace in the city centre, with 62 villas with swimming pools and a ballroom that can accommodate events for 600 people. As for Fairmont, the list of destinations to be added is long to its offering around the world with Bangkok, Hanoi, New Orleans, Prague, Udaipur and Tokyo on the 2025 programme. But the symbol of the French group's increasingly assertive ambitions in the luxury hotel sector will undoubtedly be the unveiling in Rome this spring of the first Orient Express hotelThe Orient Express La Minerva, the result of the meticulous restoration of a historic palace in the Italian capital. A new dolce vita for this legendary name in the world of travel.
