Everyone's heard of Hilton, Marriott and Four Seasons, but did you know you can stay on a chocolate maker's cocoa farm or book a night at a hotel owned by the people that made your toaster? From fashion houses to furniture stores, these 12 brands have gone beyond their corporate origins and ventured into the hotel business by opening stunning properties around the world.
Read on to discover the surprising companies you never knew had opened hotels...
Set within the grounds of Hotel Chocolat's award-winning cacao estate on the sun-soaked Caribbean island of St Lucia, Rabot Hotel is designed to fit organically within its dramatic rainforest setting. The intimate hotel boasts 25 private lodges, an open-air restaurant and a spa, plus an isolated location where bird calls and the gentle trickle of water will be your constant companions.
The hotel has one of the world's absolute best infinity pools, overlooking one of the two magnificent Piton peaks for which the island is known. Chocolate is unsurprisingly a theme at the hotel, whether it's in the 'cacao-cuisine' menus, the 'cacao-infused' treatments in the spa, chocolate and rum tastings or the Tree to Bar tour that includes making a bar of chocolate yourself.
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Designed by the Italian luxury fashion brand Versace, Palazzo Versace hotels offer unparalleled opulence in two stunning destinations – Australia's Gold Coast (pictured) and Dubai. The Gold Coast hotel was the world's first fashion-brand hotel when it opened in 2000. In 2023, Versace decided against renewing its branding agreement, so the property was renamed Imperial Hotel Gold Coast, but the fashion house's design choices remain on full display.
Both hotels are reminiscent of traditional Neoclassical Italian stately homes. However, the Palazzo Versace in Dubai (pictured) also incorporates recognisable Arabic architectural elements. The hotel has eight restaurants and bars and offers award-winning spa treatments. All rooms are decorated with bespoke Versace Home furnishings and accessories that are available to buy at the on-site boutique.
Everyone's favourite flat-pack furniture brand IKEA has a hotel in Almhult, Sweden – the location of IKEA's very first store in 1958. Naturally the hotel is furnished and accessorised with the brand's most popular products, so spending a night here feels a little like hanging out in one of the stores after closing time. Rooms range from little cabins to family rooms with bunk beds.
The on-site restaurant serves all the much-loved IKEA classics – like Swedish meatballs – as well as an extended lunch menu that features local seasonal produce. The IKEA Museum is found across the street from the hotel, while the nearest store is just a mile away. Once you've had your fill of all things flat-pack, escape to the sandy shores of nearby Bokhult Beach.
Comprising nine properties in major cities across the world, you'll find Bulgari hotels and resorts in Milan, London, Dubai, Bali (pictured), Beijing, Shanghai, Paris, Tokyo and Rome. The luxury fashion house-turned-hotel company will crack America in 2026, with properties in Miami Beach and Los Angeles, while a resort in the Maldives is set to debut next year. As you might expect, all the hotels are lavishly designed.
Located on the man-made Jumeirah Beach (pictured), the rooms at the Dubai hotel overlook the glittering cityscape on one side and the dazzling blue sea on the other. The hotel offers a private marina as well as the world's first Bulgari Yacht Club, which recreates an exclusive slice of the Mediterranean on the Arabian coast. The resort has 101 rooms and suites, as well as 20 villas with private butlers, private pools and private gardens.
A minimalist's dream, MUJI hotels are dedicated to showcasing the brand's extensive products and services. Opened by the Japanese retail brand MUJI, which is renowned for its sleek household goods and consumer items, there are currently three branches – two in China, in Shenzhen and Beijing, and one in the Japanese capital Tokyo.
With wonderful views over Tiananmen Square, MUJI's Beijing hotel (pictured) offers six different types of room, ranging from minimalist doubles up to sprawling living spaces with luxurious bathtubs and storage spaces disguised with elegant panelling. There's a lounge with an impressive book selection, a utility room in case guests need to wash, dry and iron their clothes, and a MUJI Diner which serves dishes made with local ingredients.
Giorgio Armani's signature style of sleek, understated luxury is reflected in the brand's hotels. Milan is famed for its high-end shopping, and Armani's 95-room property there is located near the city's top fashion district. The heated indoor pool (pictured) offers incredible skyline views and a relaxing break from the buzz of the streets outside. The rooms are decorated in cool grey hues and the toiletries are, of course, Armani.
Armani boasts one other luxury hotel, and it's nestled in the Burj Khalifa – the world's tallest building – in the heart of downtown Dubai. Taking up 11 floors of the world-famous skyscraper, the hotel is walking distance from the Dubai Mall and, just like its counterpart in Milan, is decorated in recognisably sleek and sophisticated Armani style. The latest Armani couture collection is on sale at the hotel shop.
Better known for its luxury watches, hip bicycles and smart leather goods, Shinola ventured into the hotel business by opening the Shinola Hotel in Detroit in early 2019. The boutique hotel's 129 rooms are furnished with cosy mid-century pieces, while the soft earthy tones make for a calming atmosphere. The rooms boast stunning loft-style windows, through which guests can enjoy stunning views of the city's historic Woodward shopping district.
The hotel has great dining options with an excellent Italian restaurant run by award-winning chef Andrew Carmellini, a beer hall, a fried chicken joint and a classic American bar all on-site. Works from local artists decorate the walls, while history buffs may be intrigued to know that the hotel is set inside two renovated historic buildings – the old TB Rayl & Co sporting goods store and a former Singer sewing machine store.
An international development, real estate and design brand, it was a shorter hop for YOO into the hotel world than it was for other companies on this list. Its luxury hotel brand, by YOO, has two signature properties – one in Brazil and one in the UK, opened in 2016 and 2022 respectively. The Lakes by YOO (pictured) punctuates a picturesque portion of English countryside just 90 minutes outside London, offering supremely tranquil lakeside retreats on an 850-acre estate.
Its Brazilian counterpart, YOO2, is more energetic – based in the beating heart of downtown Rio. The smartly-designed hotel boasts a rooftop pool with gorgeous views over Sugar Loaf Mountain, best enjoyed with dinner or a cocktail. The brand will soon double its number of hotels to four, with openings in the Australian city of Melbourne and Phuket in Thailand over the next two years.
Giant butterflies, curtained bathrooms and a riot of colour welcome you at Le Bellechasse. Entirely decorated by famous French fashion designer Christian Lacroix, the 33-room boutique hotel is ideally located a stone's throw from the Musee D'Orsay, just across the Seine from the Louvre and the Champs-Elysees.
The compact rooms are all individually designed with Lacroix's whimsical characters adorning the walls and ceilings, creating wonderfully mismatched interiors that are bohemian and classical at the same time. Theatre sets, cruise ship cabins and tarot cards all helped inspire his designs. The hotel has a quiet terrace on which to relax after a busy day of sightseeing and boasts a reputation for excellent service.
Located in Manhattan's Hudson Yards, New York's enormous new building complex, the Equinox Hotel is owned by the luxury fitness company Equinox, which also has gyms across the US, in London and in the Canadian cities of Toronto and Vancouver. The hotel, which opened in 2019, has a heavy lifestyle focus and promises guests restoration and regeneration.
All rooms are designed to offer the best possible night's sleep – think blackout blinds and soundproofing – and come with foam rollers, yoga mats and a king-sized bed with temperature-regulating natural fibres. The hotel also houses the largest-ever Equinox Fitness Club, featuring personal training services, a spa, hot and cold plunge pools and a 25-yard (23m) indoor saltwater pool.
An upmarket French delicatessen, Fauchon is where Parisian high society has been buying its foie gras, perfumed teas, exquisite macarons and other luxury edibles since 1886. So it's no surprise that Fauchon L'Hotel, a stone's throw from the Champs-Elysees and a short walk from the Louvre, offers its guests a delectable escape, decorated with the brand's signature black and pink colours and zig-zag patterns.
Rooms on the top two floors benefit from romantic Juliet balconies and sloping mansard ceilings, while each room welcomes you with an arrival cocktail and a gourmet bar stocked with Fauchon's famous macarons. The Paris location is the brand's clear flagship, but it also maintains hotels in Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh and the historic Japanese city of Kyoto.
Co-owned by actor Robert De Niro and celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa, well-known for his Nobu fine dining brand, Nobu hotels are just as sleek as Nobu restaurants. With 18 properties in various locations around the world, including Ibiza (pictured), Las Vegas, London, Santorini, Marrakech, Barcelona and Chicago, the hotel design blends Japanese influences with local style. The chain's 'coming soon' list is even longer, with upcoming hotels in Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Cairo, Lisbon, New York, Toronto, Sao Paulo and many more.
As you might expect, every hotel houses a Nobu restaurant serving chef Matsuhisa's signature Japanese fusion dishes. Guests enjoy 24-hour room service from the restaurant and priority reservations. The Miami Beach hotel (pictured) offers stunning views of the Atlantic alongside four swimming pools, an 18-treatment-room spa and an exclusive beach area on the city's famous shoreline.
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