For decades, location defined the value of hospitality brands.
Today, something else is taking over.
Sea view, iconic address, remote paradise…
👉 The better the location, the stronger the demand. But that logic is starting to crack.
Today, the most desirable hospitality brands are no longer competing primarily on geography. They are competing on meaning, memory and identity,
long before a guest even looks at a map.
This is the shift:
👉 Branding is slowly becoming more valuable than location. Not because location doesn’t matter anymore, but because it’s no longer enough.
What does this look like in practice?
1) Reschio
Reschio is located in a remote part of Umbria. No “must-see” landmark nearby.
Yet people travel across continents to experience it.
Why?
👉 Because Reschio isn’t sold as a place, It’s sold as a world.
Everything they do contributes to a very clear identity. You don’t book a stay. You enter a narrative, and the location supports the brand.
The brand creates the desire.
2) Aman
Aman has properties in extraordinary locations, but that’s not what people remember first.
What people remember is:
👉 calm
👉 discretion
👉 slowness
👉 space
👉 emotional distance from the world
You could move an Aman to a less obvious destination, and the desire would remain. Because the brand experience is portable. The location is a canvas, not the value proposition.
Many Soho Houses are not in postcard locations. Some are even intentionally discreet. Yet members don’t join for the view.
They join for:
👉 belonging
👉 culture
👉 familiarity
👉 recognition
The address is secondary. The feeling of being “inside” is everything.
Across hotels, private clubs and restaurants, the same pattern is emerging:
Location attracts attention. Branding creates attachment.
In 2026, hospitality brands that rely only on where they are will struggle to stand out.
So tell me:
In the years ahead, should hospitality brands invest first in real estate, or in identity?