Hilton’s luxury and lifestyle segment closed 2025 with strong performance indicators driven by sustained demand for experience-led travel. Presenting the outlook for 2026, Dino Michael, Senior Vice President and Global Category Head, Hilton Luxury Brands, stated:
“After a remarkable year in 2025, we’re inspired by what’s ahead for Hilton’s luxury portfolio. We have an opportunity to anticipate how travelers’ needs are evolving in 2026, whether it’s multi-generational families seeking shared experiences, solo travelers craving quiet reflection, or guests immersing themselves in the culture of a destination.”
Broader regional trends continue to support this momentum, particularly the drivers shaping the group’s next wave of growth across EMEA, where market diversification, brand elevation and destination repositioning play an increasing role.
Brand Momentum Across Waldorf Astoria, Conrad and LXR
Waldorf Astoria
Waldorf Astoria consolidated its global position in 2025 through openings and sustained investment in wellness, suite inventory and high-end gastronomy. The pipeline reflects Hilton’s commitment to long-stay luxury and destination-driven design.
Recent and upcoming openings include:
- Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Platte Island – opened 2025, featuring 50 villas designed around ecological integration.
- Waldorf Astoria Osaka – opening 2026, delivering 252 rooms in a major Japanese urban market with strong inbound flows.
- Waldorf Astoria Jaipur – opening 2027, offering 51 villas in a high-demand cultural destination in India.
These developments reinforce Waldorf Astoria’s positioning in markets where luxury demand is shaped by exclusivity, privacy, and high experiential value.
Conrad Hotels & Resorts
Conrad continued its expansion across leisure and metropolitan destinations, reinforcing its positioning as a design-led luxury brand with strong cultural anchoring. The brand’s development momentum reflects its recent Mediterranean projects, including the expansion in Corfu and its entry into the Athenian market, both of which illustrate Conrad’s ability to adapt its model to diverse regional demand structures.
Key recent and upcoming openings include:
- Conrad Orlando – opened 2025, a resort-scale property with 433 rooms integrated into a multi-experience entertainment and meetings district.
- Conrad Chongqing – opening 2026, bringing 275 rooms to a major Chinese metropolitan area marked by rising corporate and leisure flows.
- Conrad Budapest – opening 2026, a 312-room conversion positioned to address both international tourism and regional business demand.
These developments highlight Conrad’s progression across markets where architecture, local culture and diversified demand drivers support long-term brand visibility and asset performance.
LXR Hotels & Resorts
LXR strengthened its curated luxury collection with a focus on culturally significant destinations and high-barrier-to-entry markets. The brand continues to rely on independent-style hospitality, heritage-led concepts and bespoke service design.
Upcoming openings include:
LXR Tokyo Higashiyama – opening 2026, an architecturally distinctive 123-room luxury hotel in Tokyo’s cultural district.
LXR Diriyah – opening 2026, introducing 200 rooms as part of Saudi Arabia’s heritage-focused Diriyah development.
LXR Bali Ubud – opening 2027, offering 80 suites and villas with a strong wellness orientation.
These additions support the brand’s strategy of operating in destinations where cultural immersion and exclusivity drive long-term value.
Evolving guest expectations as a development influencer
Shifts in travel behaviour continue to influence Hilton’s luxury development strategy. Multigenerational travel, solo wellness journeys and deeper cultural immersion increasingly shape destination choice and brand engagement. Hilton’s response includes flexible room layouts, expanded wellness integration, immersive dining concepts and programming that supports extended stays—elements that are becoming essential components of competitive luxury offerings.
The 2025 review and 2026 development outlook confirm Hilton’s intention to reinforce its global luxury presence through targeted market selection, differentiated product positioning and a diversified pipeline across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and island destinations. With openings spanning large-scale resorts, heritage-focused urban properties and culturally anchored boutique assets, Hilton is aligning its luxury brands with long-term demand fundamentals and strengthening its role within an increasingly competitive global landscape.
As Jenna Hackett, Global Category Head, Lifestyle Brand Management, notes, the broader portfolio evolution also reflects changing expectations in the lifestyle and boutique segments:
“As we look toward 2026, Hilton’s lifestyle and collection brands are thriving in both emerging markets and unexpected destinations, giving travelers even more ways to experience places that feel authentic and inspiring. Every new opening reflects our commitment to creating locally rooted experiences that resonate with guests’ values and celebrate the unique character of each community we serve.”
Together, these strategic directions reinforce Hilton’s competitiveness in an environment where differentiation, cultural relevance and diversified asset types are becoming key drivers of long-term performance in the luxury and lifestyle segments.
