{"id":552,"date":"2026-10-28T17:08:21","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T17:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/petrahm.com\/?p=552"},"modified":"2026-10-28T17:14:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T17:14:13","slug":"smart-luxury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/petrahm.com\/tr\/hospitality\/smart-luxury\/","title":{"rendered":"Smart Luxury"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Smart Luxury<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Welcome to the April issue of Petra Bulletin, where we discuss the latest trends in the hospitality sector, market outlook, and news from Petra Hospitality Management. This issue’s theme is “Smart Luxury”.

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In today’s world, where the definition of luxury is continually evolving, consumers are more knowledgeable, tech-savvy, and environmentally conscious than ever. As a result, they are not only looking for opulent or luxurious experiences but also for smart, intuitive, innovative, and value-aligned experiences. The rise of the “Smart Luxury” concept responds to these evolving preferences, offering sophisticated experiences.

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In recent years, Smart Luxury has emerged as a style distinguishing between traditional luxury consumers and the new generation, gaining popularity across various sectors from fashion to decoration and being embraced by leading brands. Not only it is a growing trend among consumers, but it’s also gaining popularity among brands and investors due to its sustainability and cost benefits.

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The hospitality sector is among the pioneers of this transformation. Smart Luxury is a distinctive trend reshaping the expectations and experiences of privileged travellers worldwide, moving away from the richness and grandeur of traditional luxury towards a smarter, more personalized, and sustainable approach.

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Traditional resorts used to attract guests with pools, buffet spreads, an abundance of activities, and a sense of showiness, framing their services around entertainment. However, the new generation of branded resorts has transformed this concept around unique pursuits. They guarantee service and product quality through brand standards while combining hotel services with stylish comfort and authentic experiences.

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As hotel designs evolve from coastal areas to mountains, ski destinations, and tropical forests, concepts like environmental harmony, use of local materials and aesthetics integrated with the landscape are becoming prominent. Each property develops its uniqueness by harmonising with its surroundings. In doing so, they strive to make two main themes integral to their identity in all circumstances: “Experience” and “Wellbeing”.

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\u201cExperience\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/div>

In the new era, travel is no longer merely about relaxation and entertainment; it revolves around experiences. The core product of branded resorts is now “experience”. Brands focus on creating lifelong memories for their guests through unique landscapes, cultural activities, and striking moments. These resort products also enhance their services with offerings that reflect and enrich the local culture, incorporating seamlessly with their surroundings.

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\u201cWellbeing\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/div>

Another significant theme emerging alongside experience is “wellbeing”. Branded resorts have transformed into health centres, offering diverse spa treatments, mindfulness activities, and natural foods. The “wellbeing” theme stands out as a concept that rejuvenates guests with unique and exclusive experiences, meeting the expectations of travellers who wish to renew themselves while enjoying their stay.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Smart Luxury can be defined as luxury products, services, and experiences that maintain high-quality and exclusivity while integrating advanced technology, innovation, sustainability, and unique design. Generally, it is a lifestyle built on conscious choices based on a socially and ecologically sustainable aesthetic perspective. It might sound complex, but it focuses on the details. Smart Luxury adopts “intelligent design” parameters, merging “contemporary chic” aesthetics with technology seamlessly while maintaining environmental awareness. As a result, hotels and resorts are no longer just places to stay; they become destinations offering unique, technologically advanced, and personalized experiences.<\/span><\/p><\/div>

This evolution sets new standards for luxury and forces hotel operators and investors to develop strategies that meet the demands of modern travellers. For hotel developers and managers, Smart Luxury transcends the physical conditions of the services offered beyond mere ornamentation and extravagance, addressing guests’ ethical values, aesthetic preferences, and travel or leisure habits.<\/span><\/p><\/div>

The New Luxury Traveller<\/span><\/h3><\/div>

While traditional luxury accommodation focuses on opulence and grandeur, smart luxury is more nuanced. The new luxury consumer is gravitating towards services that offer meaningful experiences tailored to them, smartly integrating technology with sustainability. This shift requires hotels to provide a deeper and more sophisticated understanding. Hotels embracing this change, should not only be flashy but also design and deliver experiences that are both exclusive and meaningful.

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The target audience for this new luxury trend primarily includes business travellers, affluent millennials, wealthy young professionals, privileged guests, and investors.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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One of the first chains to embrace this trend was Hilton, developing its \u201cCanopy\u201d brand. Canopy, with its innovative luxury concept, positions itself at the intersection of \u201cSmart Luxury\u201d and \u201cLifestyle.\u201d The brand, which opened its first property in 2016, has expanded to 40 locations with 7,577 rooms by 2024. Despite being a more compact concept, in 2023 Canopy achieved one of the highest occupancy rates within the Hilton group, alongside Conrad, and followed Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, and LXR in terms of highest RevPAR performance.

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Hilton has announced the acquisition of the “NoMad Hotels,” known for the NoMad Hotel London, within the “Luxury Lifestyle” segment in April 2024. This acquisition not only enhances Hilton’s diversity in this segment but also signals the brand’s intention to incorporate 100 new hotels under this banner in the near future.

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Marriott has also distinguished itself, particularly with three luxury brands that go beyond the traditional definition of luxury offering an exceptional guest experience. The EDITION brand increased its hotel count from 4 in 2013 to 16, adopting a sophisticated boutique-scale design. Additionally, W Hotels, a leading luxury segment with 69 luxury lifestyle hotels worldwide, positioned itself as a pioneer of the Smart Luxury concept with its distinctive \u201ccontemporary chic\u201d aesthetic. The Luxury Collection, with 113 hotels and 4 residences globally, is among the most widespread Marriott\u2019s brands, continually developing an innovative and contemporary chic concept.

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Beyond global hotel chains, the concept has also found its way into numerous independent hotel brands including 1 Hotels, starting in 2015, and The Standard, operational since 1999. 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay in Kauai, Hawaii, was highlighted as one of the top 10 holiday hotels by Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveller in 2024, and 1 Hotel Mayfair in London was listed among London’s coolest hotels by The Times. The Standard, with 10 hotels worldwide from New York to the Maldives, is planning to open three new hotels in Europe in the coming years.<\/span><\/p><\/div>

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The Core of Smart Luxury<\/span><\/h3><\/div>

Technological Integration:<\/span><\/p><\/div>

At the heart of Smart Luxury lies the integration of technology, which goes beyond having the latest devices in rooms. It’s about using technology to enhance the guest experience in a seamless and understated way. From smart room controls for lighting and temperature to AI-powered concierge services, technology is employed to anticipate and meet guests’ needs.

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Customized Experiences:<\/span><\/p><\/div>

For luxury hotels, traditional approaches are no longer sufficient. Smart Luxury emphasizes personalized experiences that reflect guests’ individual preferences and lifestyles. This personalization extends from in-room amenities to customized itinerary planning, focusing on making each guest’s stay unique.

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Sustainability and Ethical Practices:<\/span><\/p><\/div>

Smart Luxury is closely related to sustainability, aiming to offer luxury experiences that are sensitive to both the environment and society. This goal encompasses using eco-friendly building materials and energy-efficient systems, as well as supporting efforts to preserve local values. ESG goals, defined through programs like Hilton\u2019s \u201cTravel with Purpose\u201d and Marriott\u2019s \u201cServe 360,\u201d are transforming both the services and corporate structures of hotels in this context.

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Contemporary Chic:<\/span><\/p><\/div>

This design language, steering clear of flashiness, adopts the motto of “Understated Elegance.” Focused on nuances, it’s a refined design language that aims to enrich services while creating a unique character for each hotel. The design embraces modern aesthetics and clean lines, reflecting contemporary art and minimalist interiors.

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Eco-Conscious Elegance:<\/span><\/p><\/div>

In Smart Luxury hotels, the expectation is to realize a sustainable interpretation of luxury. The promise of luxury, from the interior materials to the operation of the hotel, being eco-friendly is a primary expectation of the new generation of luxury hotel guests.

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Intelligent Design:<\/span><\/p><\/div>

Design intelligence combines elegance, functionality, and technological integrations that enhance guest experiences. Besides each hotel having a unique character and promising an original experience, the aim is to provide personalized services that cater to individual guest preferences, thereby increasing guest loyalty and repeat bookings.<\/span><\/p><\/div>

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News from Petra<\/span><\/h2><\/div>

Petra HM portfolio is rapidly expanding: We are thrilled to announce that we have surpassed 1,000 keys.<\/span><\/p><\/div>

Joining as the 8th hotel in <\/span>Petra portfolio,<\/a><\/span> “Radisson Hotel Mersin” has become a part of our family, for which we provide development consulting, pre-opening consulting, and white-label operational services.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Turkey Market Outlook<\/span><\/h2><\/div>

In 2023, hotel performances were impacted by the earthquake and general elections, however they started to recover from June onwards. Overall, the performance in 2023, compared to the previous year, showed lower occupancy rates while ADRs rose modestly, thus hotels managed to maintain their average revenues. Rising room prices affected the Middle Eastern market in particular.

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Petra HM identified trends for Q1 2024 similar to those observed during the same period in 2023, highlighting the influence of elections during the January-March period. Petra HM notes that the relatively subdued hotel performances during this period are expected to improve in the coming months, with increases anticipated in both occupancy rates and room prices from April onwards. Early signs of this expected upward trend in hotel performance are already visible in the reservations being made.

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In 2023, the number of overnight stays increased by 21%.<\/span><\/p><\/div>

According to the annual statistics published by the <\/span>Ministry of Culture and Tourism<\/a><\/span>, in 2023, approximately 200 million overnight stays were recorded in establishments registered with the ministry which was around 180 million last year. It is noteworthy that the share of domestic guests increased from 33% to 35%. The total number of overnight stays by foreign guests increased from approximately 120 million in the previous year to 130 million in 2023. The negative impacts of elections and earthquakes on tourism seem to have been minimal, with an rise in domestic market demand.

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In 2023, the ADR increased by 10%<\/span><\/p><\/div>

Based on STR Global data published by <\/span>T\u00dcROB<\/a><\/span>, which primarily focuses on 5-star hotels affiliated with international chains, hotel occupancy rates in Turkey decreased in 2023, but revenues were maintained due to rising room prices. While the average occupancy rate was 66.6% in 2022, it dropped to 59.1% in 2023, and the Average Daily Rate (ADR) increased from \u20ac117.34 to \u20ac129.17.

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Interest in tourism investments is growing<\/span><\/p><\/div>

The Turkish tourism sector, showing a rapid recovery after the pandemic, draws attention with an increasing trend in facility investments that had been slowing down since 2016. With the accelerating supply of hotels from 2021, the total number of establishments with operational certification reached 5,228 in 2023. While the number of facilities receiving investment certificates was decreasing annually until 2021, it rose to 654 in 2022 and reached 720 in 2023.

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Brands continue to grow<\/span><\/p><\/div>

In 2023, the supply of branded hotels affiliated with global brands continued to increase worldwide. The number of hotels under Marriott increased by 6%, reaching 8,785; Hilton’s hotel count rose by 5%, totalling 7,530; and IHG’s number of hotels grew by 3%, amounting to 6,363. In Turkey, there are currently 43 hotels affiliated with Marriott, 83 with Hilton, 43 with IHG, and 72 with Accor.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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