We don’t talk about Fairmont.
Which is strange, because it should be one of the loudest names in luxury.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has iconic assets, extraordinary locations, and a heritage most brands would trade their pipeline for.
Yet in 2026, it feels oddly absent from the conversation.
Not criticised.
Not celebrated.
Just… quieter than it should be.
That kind of silence is more dangerous than failure.
—
Here’s what changed.
After scale, standardisation, and asset-light logic entered the picture, the central question subtly shifted.
From:
“Does this build the guest’s world?”
To:
“Does this improve the model?”
That change rarely appears in brand decks.
But guests feel it quickly.
Fairmont’s superpower was once world-building.
Belonging. Identity. Teams who felt like agents on your side.
Over time, loyalty became rationalised.
Emotion was translated into points, tiers, and mechanics.
Strategically logical.
Emotionally different.
You stop staying because this is my hotel.
You start staying because the maths works.
Then come the small frictions guests notice more than brands expect.
Mandatory fees. Charges for basics. Policies that reduce flexibility.
Danny Meyer distinction is useful here:
are teams agents, helping guests, or gatekeepers, protecting rules?
When efficiency becomes the dominant incentive, latitude disappears.
And when latitude disappears, the spirit leaks out.
This is what happens when soul is traded for spreadsheets.
At first, everything looks fine.
Then the brand becomes correct, but no longer compelling.
—
What Fairmont could do to feel relevant again in 2026.
1. Re-establish a clear True North: world-building over compliance
2. Give GMs permission to interpret the brand, not just enforce it
3. Remove the most insulting frictions: mandatory fees and basic-need charges
4. Rebuild emotional loyalty inside the loyalty system: identity, recognition, belonging
5. Train teams to solve for guests, not quote SOPs
6. Create a distinctive guests experience that only they could deliver
—
Fairmont isn’t broken.
And it isn’t going anywhere.
But it does need to look up.
Choose its North Star again.
And stop steering only by the dashboard.
I’m curious….
Where have you seen a great brand lose magic because scale changed the incentives?
#LuxuryHospitality #BrandStrategy #GuestExperience #HospitalityLeadership #HotelBrands