LXR, Hilton's luxury sign, shrinks: goodbye Al Habtoor Palace Dubai

Hotels, understood as facilities, are rarely owned by hotel chains. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that less than 1 in 1,000 hotels belongs to the chain with which it is affiliated. Unlike a Mcdonalds, where the property is owned by the parent company and the restaurant is operated by a franchiser, in hotels are the owners of the property to join a chain.

What is LXR

This is undoubtedly the least famous and most popular luxury sign in the Hilton family together with Conrad and Waldorf Astoria. The idea of this banner was to create a collection of independent hotels and put them under the Hilton banner. A strategy similar to what happens with Marriott's Tribute Collection or Hilton's own Curio.

Things must not have gone as planned at the world's second largest hotel chain, I say this because LXR did not make inroads into the hearts of HHonors loyalty program members and after slow growth the defections began.

The latest defections in the LXR household.

The news these days is very significant for the LXR sign, Leaving the group is the Al Habtoor Palace Dubai, not just another property since it was this Dubai hotel that had been the first hotel to bear the LXR brand. Started as the St. Regis it had then gone from Marriott to Hilton and now, without any notice left the American chain and operates as an independent.

In previous months to come out was the Biltmore Mayfair hotel in London.. First, and only, European facility to join the group's banner and which is now undergoing renovation and it is unclear whether it will still open under the Hilton group or not.

Only 13 LXRs in the world (3 coming soon)

Of course we are talking about a small, and exclusive collection, but 13 hotels in the world is really few for a brand that does not have the charm of, for example, the Ritz Carlton Reserve .

There are, at present, 6 hotels in the United States including one in Hawaii. There are four hotels in the Middle East, three of which are in Qatar. The remaining three are in Turkey, Seychelles and Japan.

There are three hotels opening in the coming months and one of them will open its doors in Italy and will be the only LXR in the old continent. The Grand Hotel Gardone Lago di Garda will open in 2026. The hotel, when renovations are completed will have 160 rooms with private balconies, two restaurants, two bars, and a world-class spa with indoor and outdoor pools.

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