I don’t currently have any magazine subscriptions. Which is to say I don’t have any “print” magazine subscriptions, the paper, tactile kind that are delivered to your home, maybe even through a mail slot. When I fly, nothing sets the scene better than a quick scan through a Hudson News, where, invariably, I toggle between global affairs, sports and men’s fashion On a recent trip, I bought the April/May issue of Esquire, which actually satisfied two of my likes: The cover featured Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams donning a Ralph Lauren overcoat—it was an issue where sports and style collide. One other thing caught my eye; the top right cover line read: “Best New Hotels Anywhere 2025.” I plopped down the $10.49 ($7.99 for the magazine, $2.50 for a pack of Mentos) and hustled to my gate.
Backstory: During NYU IHIF in June, Barry Sternlicht, who with preternatural acuity founded Starwood Hotels and, more recently, reanimated it, had an onstage one-to-one with another hospitality legend, Jonathan Tisch. Part of the conversation touched on consumer tastes and how they are evolving. Sternlicht is not only a real estate mogul; he also sits on the board of Estée Lauder, in tune with customer preference and their buy decisions. He confidently said that independent startups—what he called “piranhas”—are coming to take the legacy brands’ lunch, using a digital arsenal to extract market share. He alluded to Hailey Bieber, who recently sold her beauty brand Rhode for $1 billion.
As I cozied into my window seat, buckled my seatbelt and popped in a Mentos, I turned directly to the best hotels listing. To my amazement, out of the 42 hotels anointed globally, only nine would be considered hard brands. The bulk were hip, mostly luxury properties with names like Populus, in Denver, or Hotel Hana, in Paris. Park Hyatt London River Thames made the list, as did Kimpton Bem Budapest, but the dearth of familiar brands, from the likes of Marriott, Hilton and more, were few and far between. It may be why Sternlicht also noted the continued rise of soft brands to lure in independent hotels.
There is truth that independent hotels oftentimes provide an experience that is diametrically opposite the known brand quantity, which is to say that a stay at the SIRO One Za’abeel in Dubai will be different than a stay at the nearby Jumeirah Emirates Towers.
It doesn’t mean it’s better. It’s hard to disagree with Barry Sternlicht: he literally created one of the most defined and adored hard brands ever in W. However, I don’t think independent hotels are eating the brands’ lunch—the mere fact that they keep being financed by banks, built by developers and sought out by loyal guests is proof. There are some 8 billion people in the world and when you toss out—let’s call it—coastal biases, you quickly understand that the experience (and, yes, experience has many variables, including money spent) at a Holiday Inn or a Hilton Garden Inn can be as much enjoyed as at Borneta in Barcelona or The Potlatch Club in the Bahamas. Different experiences, yes, but experiences are subjective, personalized, impressionistic. And there is no one brand for that.
