Asia’s Top Hotel Groups and Their Imprints on the Luxury Hospitality Sector

I love a good hotel. At the top strata of the 5-star echelon are the rapturous beauties that disconnect us from mundane realities, however temporary the escape may be.

I love a good floral expression, the fine lines of architecture, the rich and surprising details of luxury and the grandiosity of rarefied service. If there were no luxury hotels in our world, joy would depart from the plane. Our memory turns bleak and existence becomes tedious and dim.

Nobody knows who designed the first luxury hotel. In fact, it is historically impossible to determine when and where the first luxury hotel was raised. With over four thousand years of recorded human history and innumerable prosperous epochs over that time, what is certain is that luxury hospitality is definitely not a modern concept. Travel is as fundamental for human civilisations to grow as trade and war, and if there were already inns at Bethlehem at the birth of Christendom, there might very well be an ancient Hyatt chain that history simply forgot.

A history of hotels

The oldest hotel that is still in operation today is widely believed to be Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, an ancient establishment from Japan’s Yamanashi Prefecture. Founded in 705CE by Fujiwara Mahito, it is perhaps the longest-operating hospitality entity in the world. A close second is the Hoshi Ryokan standing in Kanazawa prefecture, purportedly founded just years later in 718CE.

A couple of European inns from the middle ages also survived the ravages of time into the present day, but none of these relics can really offer a glimpse into the hotel business as we know it in 2025CE. The European Kempinski chain claims to be the oldest luxury hospitality chain in the world. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, it was founded in Berlin in 1897 as the Hotelbetriebs-Aktiengesellschaft and the group currently operates 77 five-star hotels and residences in 35 countries.

It is still a relevant purveyor of luxury hospitality around the world but in Asia, its impressive shine is somewhat dimmed by the current titans of the trade. To spell out the state of modern hospitality concisely, independently owned and managed entities are a rarity; it is a realm ruled by the big guns in an age of acquisitions and shadow plays.

The East is renowned for its imperial standards of service and unparalleled luxury, so it’s unsurprising that many top luxury hotels and hospitality brands have sprung from Asia and are still in the hands of independent players, refining and redefining their take on what constitutes luxury for the current age. Here is an introduction to some of the biggest names with Asian roots and how they have been propagating luxury hospitality with their steadfast global expansion.

Top Asian hospitality groups and luxury hotels

The Peninsula Hotels

The grande dame of the East, the first Peninsula hotel opened in Hong Kong in 1928, marketed as ‘the finest hotel east of the Suez’. Almost a century later, that slogan still holds true not just for The Peninsula Hong Kong, but also for a string of impressive replicas the brand has spawned globally. The group’s latest opening was in 2023 with The Peninsula London, a stately 190-key abode housed within the upmarket Belgravia enclave overlooking Hyde Park Corner and Wellington Arch.

Well known for its penchant for Western refinements like afternoon tea and continental cuisine, Peninsula Hotels has also successfully incorporated technology (it was the first to offer free wifi and champion one-touch control panels in rooms), wellness (fabulous spas at each property) and grand service into its brand DNA, and its properties are currently amongst the most popular destination hotels frequented by celebrities and discerning luxe-lappers.

“The Peninsula brand stands as a beacon of Asian luxury hospitality, seamlessly blending timeless tradition with pioneering innovation. Rooted in the legacy of our flagship, The Peninsula Hong Kong, our hotels embody the essence of bespoke service where discretion, cultural authenticity, and meticulous craftsmanship converge,” says Joseph W.Y. Chong, Regional Executive Vice President, Asia and Managing Director, The Peninsula Hong Kong.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group was formed when two renowned Asian hotels, The Mandarin Hong Kong and Oriental Bangkok, were merged as a single entity in 1985. The Oriental Bangkok predates its HK sibling by close to 80 years and is a storied grande dame widely revered as Asia’s best heritage hotel. Still undergoing extensive renovations at press time, MO Bangkok will be celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2026 and plans to unveil a resplendently updated flagship by the advent of its centennial celebrations.

In the meantime, the group has firmly established itself as a global purveyor of top-notch luxury with 43 properties worldwide. Mandarin Oriental Qianmen is the brand’s latest Asian installation — a lush, lyrical hideaway percolating with a muted grandeur carved from the quaint and secretive alleys of Beijing’s last surviving Hutongs. These are the most expensive hideaways of China du jour, and offer pensive glimpses into the inner mechanisation of the MO allure.

Capella Hotels

The Capella brand was but an abstract notion of ultra luxury when it was dreamed up by the former head of the Ritz Carlton, Horst Schulze, in 2001. His vision began to take shape only after the brand was sold to the Kwee Family of Pontiac Land Group in 2017, and the rest they say is history. At press time, the Capella brand has a looming presence in eight Asian destinations, the latest being Taipei, with two more openings (Macau and Kyoto) expected in 2025. The brand is moving at its own pace, curating from the very best the destinations can offer.

No Capella properties are ever alike; Hanoi is whimsical and dramatic — courtesy of designer extraordinaire Bill Benseley — Bangkok is subtle and safe in a sea of beige, while Singapore straddles a new-old divide within a futuristic Norman Forster bulwark fronted by a colonial edifice. The breathtaking service orientation (thoughtful, anticipatory and genuine) and superb design accents seem to be the common ground amongst Capella hotels.

“At Capella, our colleagues are masters in the craft of hospitality, curating experiences that authentically connect our guests to the destination, often in a way that is unique only to us. So every destination has its own curated moments and experiences, and we try not to do too many to ensure the uniqueness and authenticity of it,” says Cristiano Rinaldi, Capella Hotel Group.

Centara Hotels and Resorts

Centara Hotels, a business unit of the behemoth Central Group, is Thailand’s leading hotel operator with 87 properties spanning Asia (mostly Thailand) and the Middle East. The group has a portfolio of six brands which caters to different market segments. The group moved out of its comfort zone by opening a few hotels in uncharted territories in recent years. Centara Grand Osaka, a 33-floor high-rise imbued with edgy, modish accents, debuted in 2023 in the boisterous Namba district. The group also solidified its presence in the Middle East and Maldives, with luxury-centric Centara Grand Lagoon its latest opening this summer.

The crown jewel on the Centara portfolio is nonetheless Centara Reserve Koh Samui — a beach-front hideaway with 184 rooms, suites and villas cocooned in tropical splendour and minimalistic overtones. The next Centara Reserve property with similar distinctions will open in Krabi a few years down the road.

Banyan Group

Banyan Tree is the flagship brand under the Banyan Group, which includes a diversity of splinter brands like Angsana and Garrya that cater to different strata of the hospitality market besides the luxury segment. The brand was started by Singaporean power duo Ho Kwon Ping and Claire Chiang when they opened the first Banyan Tree property in Phuket in 1994. There are currently 36 Banyan Tree properties strewn across Asia and the Middle East, with a particularly strong presence in China.

Its Kengo Kuma designed Kyoto outcrop is one of its most notable openings in recent years. Another property that is signalling the brand’s ascendency up the luxury orbit is its Banyan Tree Escape nestled amongst the verdant valleys of Buahan in Bali’s Gianyar region. A sensational hideaway set amidst unspoilt wilderness, the property features 16 private pool bales devoid of walls and doors. With unobstructed views of the foliage in an expanse demarcated by rivers, waterfalls and sacred shrines, Buahan’s Escape concept is possibly the ticket for the brand’s foray into the ultra-luxe league.

This story contains an excerpt from Cedric Tan’s new book Homeless at the Four Seasons

By Cedric Tan