UK Edition
Hotel trends for 2016
1. Hotel restaurants get interesting
Michelin stars and hotels have long been an apposite pairing (Paris and London hold constellations), but in 2016, many hotels are saying goodbye to cloches and cheese carts and turning the idea of a resident hotel restaurant on its head.
Following Rene Redzepi’s successful Noma residency at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo last year, chefs of similar acclaim are setting up temporarily at hotels. Grant Achatz, three Michelin-starred chef at Chicago’s Alinea, will take over at the new Faena Hotel Miami Beach, while Albert Adrià, of the inimitable elBulli in Spain, will host a 50-day dining concept at London’s Café Royal.
Over in Dubai, the new Palazzo Versace opens restaurant Enigma in January, where the chefs will change four times a year. Likewise, east London hotspot the Town Hall Hotel is planning to host a rotating list of global mixologists at their award-winning cocktail bar Peg + Patriot, alongside their existing ‘bed and beverage’ offering, whereby rooms are stocked with homemade cocktails straight from the bar.
A dish from Enigma, Palazzo Versace Dubai's new restaurant which will see a rotating timetable of chefs
•London hotels with Michelin-starred restaurants
2. Hotels go smart
2015 was the year that saw Japan successfully pull off a hotel manned solely by robots. Hotels will continue in a techie vein this year, focusing on a smoother experience for guests.
Arrive hotel, opening in Palm Springs, is the creation of Facebook millionaire Erza Callahan. It’s a hotel for the social media age, with easy check-in at the hotel bar, multi-functional staff (all will be able to do check-ins, park your car or deliver room service), and in-room Netflix and Apple TV. Rooms won’t, however, include landline telephones – instead all services will be available by text message. Similarly, in Baja California, guests of new hotel Mar Adentro will have personalised tablets in rooms which control everything from the air-con, to ordering room service, to declaring any dietary requirements. Wi-Fi will also be as strong on the beach as it is in the hotel.
Hopefully stronger Wi-Fi will trickle down into the mainstream: Best Western, the first hotel brand to introduce free Wi-Fi, is leading the industry once again with its new Li-Fi technology. Showcased last year, it would mean that 5g technology could be transmitted through lights, meaning an unprecedented connection speed in rooms – and no more having to visit the hotel lobby to get a decent connection.
Check-in and out will also be a big focus. Late check-outs for no extra charge are becoming more popular (Only You in Madrid already live by this rule, alongside an all-day breakfast), and hotels will start experimenting with the 24-hour blocks (already adopted by The Patina hotel group). This would mean that if you check in at 4pm, for example, you will not be asked to check out before 4pm the following day.
Henn-na Hotel in Japan, the world's first robot-operated hotel
•Video: inside Japan's robot hotel
3. The year of the Palaces
Luddites will be glad to hear that it’s not all about technological advancements in 2016. It's also going to be about appreciating historic hotels, too. Most notably is The Ritz Paris reopening in March. After it was declared unsuitable for ‘Palace distinction’ – a plus-five-star status enjoyed by hotels such as Le Bristol and Le Royal Monceau – it began a three-year, €200 million refurbishment. It includes a full update on rooms and suites (especially bathrooms), subtle technological improvements, a new chef, Nicolas Sale, and the arrival of the world's first Chanel spa. Loyal fans of the hotel will be relieved to know that the hotel's Bar Hemingway remains largely untouched.
The city’s Hôtel de Crillon underwent a similar demotion and will also reopen this year, after an intensive restoration, under the management of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts.
Although it does not apply Palace status to its hotels, New York sees a similarly noteworthy grand opening this year in The Beekman, one of the first high rises in the city, while The Ritz London will be celebrating its 110th anniversary.
The Ritz Paris will reopen in March 2016 Photo: Christophe Madamour
•New York hotel openings for 2016
4. More beds for millenials
As hotels continue to fight against the popularity of Airbnb, they are expanding their appeal to ‘millennial’ travellers (18-35 year-olds). And we’re not just referring to emoji room service. Big-brand hotel groups are tapping into the youth market by launching diffusion brands which come at a cheaper price point, and often have a strong focus on lifestyle, locality and insider knowledge, compared to their bigger siblings. They’re more likely to be located in Brooklyn over Manhattan, for example, or in up-and-coming destinations.
Hilton’s younger brand Canopy opens its first outpost in Reykjavik this year; Hyatt Centric will open in Uruguay; while Viceroy’s hotel Proper, envisioned as a ‘grand hotel for the modern age’, will open in San Francisco. On top of that Generator, the ‘posh hostel’ group, have announced new openings in Rome, Amsterdam and Stockholm.
Generator Amsterdam will open in a former University building this summer
•The best new hotel openings of 2016
5. Hotel group shake-ups
At the end of last year it was announced that Marriott and Starwood are merging to create what will be the world’s largest hotel company. The union of the two industry mainstays means that the gamut of hotel brands will range from the EDITION and Autograph Collection to the W and St Regis. The newly created group will have more than 1.1 million hotel rooms worldwide.
Following that, Accor Hotels, who own affordable brands such as M Gallery, Mama Shelter and Novotel, will join forces with a hotel group at the other end of the spectrum, luxury group FRHI Holding (owners of Fairmont, Raffles and Swisshotel). Elsewhere Morgans Hotel Group have just announced they are putting the Hudson New York and Miami’s Delano up for sale.
A room at W Dubai Al Habtoor City, due to open in March 2016
6. Wellness reaches new heights
Yoga retreats and lavish hotel spas are nothing new, but hotels are getting serious about their health offerings this year. Equinox, the premium gym group, is reported to be launching a hotel brand for ‘health-conscious travellers’ with its first property slated for Manhattan, followed by Los Angeles. A standard gym offering this will not be, considering that their campaign is shot by fashion photographer Rankin, and that many of their outposts are in architecturally impressive buildings. Expect cream of the fitness crop, with interiors designed by Yabu Pushelberg, a 60,000 square-foot gym and indoor/outdoor pools.
Well-established hotels are also offering new, and more serious, spa experiences focusing on the mind over the body. Mandarin Oriental have launched a yearly ‘Silent Night’ whereby all of their spas, worldwide, will transform into peaceful retreats, responding to the growing trend of mindfulness. In London, the subterranean Akasha spa at Café Royal has added to its comprehensive treatment list by employing an intuitive counsellor, reiki master and a cognitive and emotional coach.
The spa at the newly opened Mandarin Oriental Marrakech
•The best spa hotels in Europe
7. Everybody loves a concept
In a world of countless choice, hotels are making themselves stand out. A tight theme helps. The newly opened Book and Bed in Tokyo joined the city’s coolest independent book publisher, Shibuya Publishing & Booksellers, to curate its 1,700-strong library, which you can read in your ‘bookshelf bed’.
A Barcelona hotel has gone one step further with its niche Margot House, inspired by fashion icon Margot Tenenbaum of Wes Anderson’s film The Royal Tenenbaums, while an underwater hotel in Key West, Florida, has also been approved for next year.
A library-meets-hotel at Book and Bed in Tokyo
•The world's best themed suites
8. Eco gets serious
Long gone are the days when reusing towels and automatic lights rendered a hotel eco-friendly. The standards are, sensibly, a lot higher now, as hotels continue to commit to sustainable practices. 16 New York hotels have just signed a commitment to lower their greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent in the next decade.
One of the aforementioned 16, 1 Hotel Central Park, has already started to educate guests in sustainability – all showers have a five-minute hourglass in order to remind guests of wasted water consumption. Closer to home in Cornwall, the Eden Project will welcome a fully sustainable hotel this year, in nearby St Austell.
1 Hotel New York is just one of 16 hotels in the city who have committed to sustainability
•The best boutique hotels in New York
9. Exclusivity is the new luxury
Two Parisian nightclubs with cultural cachet reopened as hip hotels in 2015. Once largely inaccessible to the regular common folk, they are now readily bookable – Les Bains, a former hangout of 80s and 90s hipsters and rockstars, is now a boutique property, while former 1950s jazz-turned-nightclub Le Montana (popular with the likes of Grace Jones and Jerry Hall) reopened as a six-suite hotel designed by fashion polymath Vincent Garré.
In London, exclusivity still reigns, with members clubs acting as the crème de la crème of city accommodation. Last year saw the Arts Club and The Hospital Club open hotel rooms, while next year will see the Devonshire Club members’ club in Mayfair open its doors to a comparatively large 68 bedrooms. The Green Room, in Wood Green, also slated for next year, will be even more selective: it's a hotel specifically for actors and artists.
Le Montana, a former jazz club, is now a boutique hotel