Luxury Hotel Chains: 20 Brands Compared

This guide first ran in September 2020 as a list of 20 luxury hotel brands. The same 20 are below, rechecked in October 2026: who owns each one, how many hotels it runs by its own or its parent company’s latest published count, which loyalty programme it uses, how many of its hotels made The 50 Best Hotels 2026, and what it opened in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

The list is our selection, kept from the original so the comparison runs like for like. Two of the 20 are not luxury brands by their owners’ own positioning: Hilton Hotels & Resorts (Hilton’s luxury brands are Waldorf Astoria, Conrad and LXR) and Omni, which calls its hotels upscale. Both stay in for continuity.

The 20 brands compared

Hotel counts are open hotels unless stated. “50 Best” counts hotels in The 50 Best Hotels 2026 list, split into the main 1–50 ranking and the extended 51–100 list (announced in September 2026).

“None found” means the brand’s own website showed no points programme when checked in October 2026.

What changed since the 2020 list

• Counts moved. Four Seasons went from “more than 100” to 135 hotels, Mandarin Oriental from “more than 30” to 47, Shangri-La from “over 100” to 91 Shangri-La-branded hotels (107 across all five of the group’s brands), and Hilton Hotels & Resorts from “more than 500” to 626.
• Owners changed. Jardine Matheson took Mandarin Oriental private and delisted it from the Singapore Exchange on 20 January 2026. Oetker Collection renamed itself Oetker Hotels in July 2025.
• Hotels changed hands. The Ritz-Carlton Moscow, named in the 2020 text, became The Carlton Moscow in July 2022 after Marriott left Russia. One&Only Desaru Coast became a Mandarin Oriental in January 2026. One&Only Wolgan Valley is becoming the first Ritz-Carlton Lodge. Hotel Danieli in Venice reopened as Danieli, Venezia, A Four Seasons Hotel on 30 July 2026. Soneva Kiri in Thailand is no longer on Soneva’s website, which now lists three resorts, all in the Maldives.
• Corrections to the 2020 text. W did not start in New York in 1888: Starwood launched it in April 1998. The Peninsula was not founded in Baghdad in 1880: its parent, HSH, was incorporated in 1866 and The Peninsula Hong Kong opened in 1928. The 2020 text tied The Savoy in London to Ritz-Carlton; The Savoy is now A Fairmont Managed Hotel.

Average room rate by brand

The listed owners publish average daily rate (ADR) by brand in their quarterly results. These are averages across each brand’s comparable hotels, before tax, for April to June 2026. Marriott only publishes brand rates for the US and Canada, so its figures are not directly comparable with Hyatt’s and Hilton’s worldwide figures.

Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Aman, Belmond, Oetker, One&Only, Soneva and The Peninsula do not publish a brand-wide rate in the sources used here.

One&Only

• Owner: Kerzner International, which also runs Atlantis. Kerzner is controlled by the Investment Corporation of Dubai.
• Hotels: One&Only does not publish a total. Its website names 14 open resorts, including Reethi Rah (Maldives), Le Saint Géran (Mauritius), Palmilla and Mandarina (Mexico), Kéa Island and Aesthesis (Greece), Portonovi (Montenegro), Cape Town, and Nyungwe House and Gorilla’s Nest (Rwanda).
• Started: Kerzner announced the brand on 4 December 2002, launching it with the reopening of Le Touessrok in Mauritius.
• Loyalty: no points programme found.
• Recognition: One&Only Mandarina is No. 23 in The 50 Best Hotels 2026. Reethi Rah and Portonovi hold Forbes Travel Guide Five Stars; Portonovi has Two MICHELIN Keys.
• Opened 2024–2026: One&Only One Za’abeel, Dubai, the brand’s first city hotel (15 January 2024); One&Only Moonlight Basin, Montana, its first resort in the US (open from 18 November 2025).
• Left the brand: Desaru Coast in Malaysia (now Mandarin Oriental, January 2026) and Wolgan Valley in Australia (becoming a Ritz-Carlton Lodge).
• Announced: Hudson Valley (2029), Fiji (2029), Courchevel (2030).

Four Seasons

• Owner: privately held. Cascade Investment is the majority shareholder; Kingdom Holding and founder Isadore Sharp hold the rest. Cascade agreed in September 2021 to raise its stake from 47.5% to 71.25%.
• Hotels: 135 hotels and resorts and 61 residential properties in 47 countries, with about 60 projects in development (January 2026).
• Started: Four Seasons dates its founding to 1961, with a single hotel in Toronto. A 2021 Four Seasons release gives 1960.
• Loyalty: no points programme. Four Seasons has said it focuses on recognising guests rather than on points.
• Recognition: 42 Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star hotels in 2026, plus 16 spas and 4 restaurants. Four Seasons says this is the most of any hotel company, for the eleventh year. In The 50 Best Hotels 2026: Bangkok at Chao Phraya River (No. 3), Firenze (No. 12), Astir Palace, Athens (No. 27), Tamarindo, Mexico (No. 74) and Hong Kong (No. 86).
• Signature hotels: Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills; Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat; Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan; Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest.
• Opened 2024–2026: Naples Beach Club, Florida, and Puerto Rico (2025); Cartagena, Colombia (April 2026); Red Sea at Shura Island, Saudi Arabia (June 2026); Mykonos (July 2026); Danieli, Venezia, reopened with 120 rooms on 30 July 2026, rising to 168 when the Palazzo Danieli Excelsior wing is restored in 2027.
• Announced: Gstaad, Madinah and the Dominican Republic (mid-2027), Beirut (2027), and Tangier (announced 8 October 2026, no date given).

Six Senses

• Owner: IHG Hotels & Resorts, which bought the brand in February 2019 for US$300 million, when it managed 16 hotels.
• Hotels: 27 open, 2,120 rooms, 33 in the pipeline (30 June 2026).
• Started: 1995, according to the brand.
• Loyalty: IHG One Rewards; Six Senses hotels started earning points on 31 March 2021.
• Signature hotels: Zighy Bay (Oman), Yao Noi (Thailand), Douro Valley (Portugal, the brand’s first in Europe, 2015), Laamu (Maldives).
• Opened 2024–2026: La Sagesse, Grenada (April 2024); Kyoto (23 April 2024); London at The Whiteley, the first in the UK (March 2026); AMAALA, Saudi Arabia (July 2026, as announced); The Palm, Dubai (stays from 1 September 2026).

W Hotels

• Owner: Marriott International, through its purchase of Starwood on 23 September 2016.
• Hotels: 72 hotels with 20,197 rooms, plus 16 W Residences (30 June 2026). The brand’s site gives 30-plus countries.
• Started: Starwood launched W on 2 April 1998, with the first hotel, W New York on Lexington Avenue, due that autumn.
• Positioning: Marriott groups W with its luxury brands in its US and Canada reporting. It had no hotel in The 50 Best Hotels 2026.
• Loyalty: Marriott Bonvoy.
• Opened 2024–2026: W Punta Cana, the brand’s first adults-only all-inclusive (19 August 2025); W Riyadh KAFD, the first W in Saudi Arabia (around April 2026); W Sardinia – Poltu Quatu (2026).

Mandarin Oriental

• Owner: Jardine Matheson, which bought out minority shareholders in a deal approved in December 2025 that valued the group at about US$4.2 billion. Mandarin Oriental delisted from the Singapore Exchange on 20 January 2026.
• Hotels: 47 hotels, 16 residences and 43 Exceptional Homes in 30 countries and territories (October 2026). The group’s 2025 results gave 45 hotels at the end of 2025.
• Started: The Mandarin opened in Hong Kong in 1963. The group bought into The Oriental, Bangkok, in 1974.
• Loyalty: Fans of M.O., which the brand calls a recognition programme. It has three tiers (Fans of M.O., Silk, Pearl) and no points.
• Recognition: in The 50 Best Hotels 2026: Qianmen, Beijing (No. 7), Bangkok (No. 10), Hong Kong (No. 59), Shenzhen (No. 90). Mandarin Oriental The Landmark, Hong Kong, received Two MICHELIN Keys in September 2026. Four of its hotels gained Forbes Travel Guide Five Stars in the 2026 awards.
• Signature hotels: Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong; Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok; Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London; Mandarin Oriental, New York.
• Opened 2024–2026: Mayfair, London, Muscat and Qianmen, Beijing (2024); Lutetia, Paris (2025, joined the brand); Vienna (1 December 2025); Desaru Coast, Malaysia (30 January 2026, formerly One&Only); Punta Negra, Mallorca (announced for 1 June 2026); The Landmark, Hong Kong (reopened 2026).
• Announced: Manila Makati (November 2026), Cortina (2027).

Belmond

• Owner: LVMH.
• Properties: 43 in 24 countries and territories, a count that includes trains, river boats and safari lodges as well as hotels (LVMH’s Belmond page, checked October 2026).
• Started: 1976, with the purchase of Hotel Cipriani in Venice. The Orient Express name is now an Accor hotel brand; Belmond runs the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express train.
• Loyalty: no points programme found.
• Recognition: six hotels in The 50 Best Hotels 2026, which Belmond says is three in the top 50 and three in 51–100: Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro (No. 29), Mount Nelson, Cape Town (No. 34), Maroma, Riviera Maya (No. 47), Palacio Nazarenas, Cusco (No. 54), Splendido, Portofino (No. 60), Hotel das Cataratas, Iguassu (No. 77).
• Signature properties: Hotel Cipriani, Venice; Copacabana Palace; Villa San Michele, Florence; the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.
• 2024–2026: the Britannic Explorer, a sleeper train in England and Wales, was scheduled to launch in July 2025 and is listed on belmond.com. Splendido, Portofino, was scheduled to reopen after a redesign in 2025. Villa San Michele, Florence, reopened on 28 April 2026 after a renovation. Grand Hotel Timeo, Taormina, opened a Dior spa in 2026, with another announced for Hotel Cipriani. Copacabana Palace’s renovated Pool Wing is due in December 2026.

Aman

• Owner: Vlad Doronin, who bought Aman in 2014 and is chairman and chief executive of Aman Group.
• Hotels: 36 hotels and resorts in 21 destinations (August 2026). Aman Group also runs Janu, a sister hotel brand launched in 2020.
• Started: 1988.
• Loyalty: no points programme found.
• Recognition: in The 50 Best Hotels 2026: Aman Tokyo (No. 11), Amangiri, Utah (No. 45), Aman Nai Lert Bangkok (No. 48), Amangalla, Sri Lanka (No. 71), Aman New York (No. 87). Janu Tokyo is No. 52.
• Signature hotels: Amanpuri, Phuket; Aman Tokyo; Amangiri; Aman New York.
• Opened 2024–2026: Aman Nai Lert Bangkok, 52 suites (April 2025); Amanvari, Baja California Sur, Aman’s first resort in Mexico, 18 casitas (1 August 2026). Amangani, Wyoming, is listed as reopening soon.
• Announced: Aman at Sea’s first yacht, Amangati (2027); Aman Miami Beach and Aman Beverly Hills (2028); Aman Niseko (2030).

Soneva

• Owner: Soneva.
• Resorts: three, all in the Maldives: Soneva Fushi, Soneva Jani and Soneva Secret (October 2026). Soneva Kiri, Thailand, listed in 2020, no longer appears on the brand’s site.
• Started: Soneva Fushi opened in 1995.
• Loyalty: no points programme found.
• Recognition: Soneva Fushi is No. 55 in The 50 Best Hotels 2026.
• Opened 2024–2026: Soneva Secret, Haa Dhaalu Atoll, with 13 villas. Forbes reported its opening as imminent in February 2024.

The Ritz-Carlton

• Owner: Marriott International.
• Hotels: 127 hotels, plus 69 Ritz-Carlton Residences and 3 yachts in The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection (30 June 2026).
• Started: The Ritz-Carlton, Boston, the first in America, opened in 1927. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company was formed in 1983. The Ritz Paris, No. 72 in The 50 Best Hotels 2026, is a separate company and not part of Ritz-Carlton.
• Loyalty: Marriott Bonvoy.
• Recognition: no Ritz-Carlton hotel is in The 50 Best Hotels 2026. Average daily rate across comparable US and Canada hotels was $595.47 in April to June 2026, the highest of the brands Marriott reports.
• Opened 2024–2026: The Ritz-Carlton Bangkok at One Bangkok (January 2025). Marriott said in December 2025 that 2026 openings would include Wuhan and San Juan. Emirates and Marriott have announced that Wolgan Valley in Australia, previously a One&Only, will become Emirates Wolgan Valley, a Ritz-Carlton Lodge, the first under that name.
• No longer Ritz-Carlton: The Ritz-Carlton Moscow became The Carlton Moscow in July 2022.

The Luxury Collection

• Owner: Marriott International.
• Hotels: 136, plus 3 residential properties (30 June 2026).
• Started: the brand traces itself to Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi (CIGA), founded in Venice in 1906, which became The Luxury Collection in 1994.
• Loyalty: Marriott Bonvoy.
• Signature hotels: The Gritti Palace, Venice; Hotel Grande Bretagne, Athens; Hotel Imperial, Vienna.
• Planned: Rhodes, Frankfurt and Hakone, per Marriott’s December 2025 outline of 2026 luxury openings.

Park Hyatt

• Owner: Hyatt Hotels Corporation.
• Hotels: 51 (30 June 2026).
• Loyalty: World of Hyatt.
• Recognition: Park Hyatt Kyoto (No. 37) and Park Hyatt Tokyo (No. 53) in The 50 Best Hotels 2026. Average daily rate across comparable hotels worldwide was $456.77 in April to June 2026.
• Signature hotels: Park Hyatt Tokyo, Asia’s first Park Hyatt (1994), which reopened on 9 December 2025 after a 19-month renovation by Jouin Manku; Park Hyatt Kyoto; Park Hyatt Chicago.
• Opened 2024–2026: Park Hyatt Cabo del Sol, the brand’s first hotel in Mexico (December 2025).
• Announced: Park Hyatt Riviera Maya, the first all-inclusive Park Hyatt (by the end of 2026); Park Hyatt Mexico City Polanco, 155 rooms (spring 2027).

Oetker Hotels

• Owner: Oetker Hotel Holding Company GmbH, Bielefeld. The group renamed itself from Oetker Collection to Oetker Hotels in July 2025.
• Hotels: 12 listed in October 2026, of which Le Mas Bellevue Saint-Tropez is still to open: Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa (Baden-Baden), Le Bristol Paris, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc (Antibes), Château Saint-Martin & Spa (Vence), The Lanesborough (London), L’Apogée Courchevel, Hotel La Palma (Capri), Eden Rock – St Barths, Jumby Bay Island (Antigua), Palácio Tangará (São Paulo) and The Vineta Hotel (Palm Beach).
• Loyalty: no points programme found.
• Recognition: Le Bristol Paris (No. 19) and Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc (No. 44) in The 50 Best Hotels 2026.
• Opened 2024–2026: The Vineta Hotel, Palm Beach, the group’s first US hotel, 41 rooms (2 March 2026).
• Announced: Le Mas Bellevue Saint-Tropez, designed as 11 interconnected houses on a hillside.

Hilton Hotels & Resorts

• Owner: Hilton.
• Hotels: 626 (30 June 2026), within a Hilton system of 9,332 hotels.
• Started: Conrad Hilton bought his first hotel, The Mobley in Cisco, Texas, in 1919. The first hotel named Hilton opened in Dallas in 1925.
• Positioning: this is Hilton’s full-service flagship brand. Its average daily rate in April to June 2026 was $200.21, against $488.62 for Waldorf Astoria. Hilton’s luxury brands are Waldorf Astoria (40 hotels), Conrad (51) and LXR (17), all at 30 June 2026.
• Loyalty: Hilton Honors.
• Opened 2026 in Hilton’s luxury tier: Conrad Athens The Ilisian, the brand’s first in Greece (April to June 2026).

Shangri-La

• Owner: Shangri-La Asia, listed in Hong Kong and Singapore. Kuok Hui Kwong is chairman and chief executive.
• Hotels: 91 Shangri-La hotels (30 June 2026). The group runs 107 across five brands: Shangri-La, Shangri-La Signatures, Kerry, JEN and Traders.
• Loyalty: Shangri-La Circle.
• Signature hotel: The Silk Lakehouse, Shangri-La Hangzhou, the flagship of the Shangri-La Signatures brand (opened 2025).
• Opened 2024–2026: Shangri-La Hongqiao Airport, Shanghai (2025); Shangri-La Kunming (April 2026).
• Announced: a Shangri-La in Bodrum, Turkey, and a Shangri-La and Traders pair in Wuxi, China, both signed by June 2026.

Taj

• Owner: The Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), founded by Jamsetji Tata of the Tata Group.
• Hotels: 93 open and 57 in the pipeline, 150 in total (30 June 2026), across 14 countries.
• Started: The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, opened in 1903.
• Loyalty: Taj InnerCircle – NeuPass, which earns NeuCoins on stays and dining.
• Recognition: The Taj Mahal Palace is No. 30 in The 50 Best Hotels 2026. Brand Finance’s Hotels 50 2026 report rated Taj the world’s strongest luxury hotel brand, for the fifth time.
• Opened 2024–2026: Taj Alibaug and Taj Raichak (April to September 2025); Taj Hessischer Hof, Frankfurt, and Taj Bush Lodge, Greater Kruger, South Africa (April to June 2026).

The Peninsula

• Owner: The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited (HSH), incorporated in 1866, which Peninsula calls Asia’s oldest hotel company still in operation. Its chairman, Sir Michael Kadoorie, has an interest in 51.57% of the shares (2026 interim report).
• Hotels: 12 (September 2026): Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Bangkok, Manila, New York, Chicago, Beverly Hills, Paris, Istanbul and London. The Peninsula Yangon is listed as under development.
• Started: The Peninsula Hong Kong opened in 1928.
• Loyalty: no points programme found.
• Recognition: The Peninsula Istanbul (No. 31), The Peninsula Hong Kong (No. 46) and The Peninsula Shanghai (No. 99) in The 50 Best Hotels 2026. The Peninsula Shanghai and The Peninsula Chicago were ranked joint first in La Liste’s World’s Best Hotels 2026.
• 2024–2026: no new hotel. HSH’s board has approved renovations of The Peninsula Hong Kong and The Peninsula Tokyo, budgeted at HK$2.1 billion.

Alila

• Owner: Hyatt Hotels Corporation.
• Hotels: 18 (30 June 2026).
• Loyalty: World of Hyatt.
• Signature hotels: Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali; Alila Fort Bishangarh, Rajasthan; Alila Jabal Akhdar, Oman; Alila Ventana Big Sur, California.
• Opened 2024–2026: Alila Mayakoba, Riviera Maya, 182 rooms, suites and villas (joined the brand in February 2026).

Fairmont

• Owner: Accor.
• Hotels: 97 with 35,957 rooms (30 June 2026).
• Started: 1907.
• Loyalty: ALL Accor.
• Signature hotels: The Plaza, A Fairmont Hotel, New York; The Savoy, A Fairmont Managed Hotel, London; Fairmont Banff Springs; Fairmont Royal York, Toronto.
• Opened 2024–2026: Fairmont Tokyo, 217 rooms, the brand’s first in Japan (1 July 2025); Fairmont Hanoi, the first in Vietnam; Fairmont Bangkok Sukhumvit, the first in Thailand, 416 rooms and 58 suites (August 2026).
• Announced: Fairmont New Orleans, 250 rooms, opening 2 November 2026 as the brand’s 19th US hotel.

Omni Hotels & Resorts

• Owner: TRT Holdings, a private holding company in Dallas.
• Hotels: 50 in the US and Canada (April 2026). Omni describes them as upscale.
• Loyalty: Select Guest.
• Signature hotels: The Omni Homestead Resort & Spa; The Omni Grove Park Inn & Spa; Omni PGA Frisco Resort & Spa.
• Opened 2024–2026: Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel, 801 rooms (December 2025).
• Announced: Omni Pontoque Resort at Punta de Mita, Mexico (early 2027); Omni Midland (late 2027); Omni Raleigh (late 2028).

Other luxury chains not in the 2020 list

Rosewood Hong Kong is No. 1 and Capella Bangkok No. 2 in The 50 Best Hotels 2026.

Points at luxury chains

Brands owned by the big groups earn and redeem points in the group programme: Marriott Bonvoy (Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, EDITION), World of Hyatt (Park Hyatt, Alila), IHG One Rewards (Six Senses), Hilton Honors (Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, LXR) and ALL Accor (Fairmont). Shangri-La, Taj and Omni run their own programmes.

Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Aman, Belmond, Oetker Hotels, The Peninsula, One&Only and Soneva do not offer points. Mandarin Oriental’s Fans of M.O. gives benefits without points. For how the group programmes compare on redemptions at luxury hotels, see our hotel rewards programme guide.

How this list was compiled

The 20 brands are the ones in the original 2020 guide. Hotel counts come from each brand’s or parent company’s own published figures: quarterly results for Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG and Accor (all at 30 June 2026), interim reports for Shangri-La Asia and HSH, and the brand’s own press releases or websites elsewhere, dated in the table. The 50 Best counts are from The 50 Best Hotels 2026 list at the50.com, matched by hotel name. Facts are as of 9 October 2026.