LIFESTYLE BRANDS

Thanks to an obsession with “millennials”, big hotel groups have begun launching “lifestyle” brands with a more individual feel. At the top end of the scale, Marriott International debuted Edition in partnership with US hotelier Ian Schrager in Waikiki in 2010. While that property has since left the brand, there are now Editions in London, Istanbul and Miami, with New York, Abu Dhabi and Bangkok in the pipeline.

Marriott also has the Autograph Collection – with a tagline of “exactly like nothing else” – while at the no-frills end, it unveiled Moxy last September at Milan Malpensa airport, with sexy digital prints and Instagram walls (see page xx). Another 150 Moxys are set to arrive by 2020.

Hilton Worldwide has two new brands. Curio is a collection of four- and five-star hotels “hand-picked for [their] distinctive character”, which first entered the market last summer. Canopy by Hilton is “all about being local, through design, food and beverage, art and local know-how”, and is expected to debut this year.

Langham Hotels’ Cordis (high-end but without the opulence) will open soon in

Hong Kong, while Hyatt Centric – “for modern explorers” – is set to launch in Chicago and Miami this year. IHG, meanwhile, has Even hotels – aimed at “travellers who maintain a healthy and active lifestyle”. There are two open in the US and three more in the pipeline.