Hyatt Taps Mr & Mrs Smith Co‑Founder Tamara Lohan to Lead Luxury Brands, Previews 2026 Global Expansion

CHICAGO / CANNES – December 4, 2025 — Hyatt Hotels Corporation is sharpening its focus on the top end of the market with a major leadership move and an ambitious slate of luxury hotel openings for 2026.

At the International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM) in Cannes, Hyatt unveiled what it calls the “next chapter” of its luxury journey: the appointment of Tamara Lohan as interim Global Brand Leader – Luxury, alongside a robust pipeline of new Park Hyatt, Miraval, Alila and Unbound Collection properties scheduled to open from early 2026. ^[1]

As of late 2025, Hyatt’s dedicated luxury portfolio comprises nearly 125 hotels with more than 21,000 rooms worldwide across brands such as Park Hyatt, Alila, Miraval, Impression by Secrets and The Unbound Collection by Hyatt. ^[2]

A Clear Luxury Push from Hyatt

Hyatt’s December 3 newsroom announcement, titled “Hyatt Advances Luxury Brand Focus with New Leadership and Planned Global Expansion in 2026,” sets out a coordinated push in the luxury segment rather than a one‑off leadership change. ^[3]

In the release, the company positions luxury as a primary growth engine for the group. CEO Mark Hoplamazian highlights accelerating momentum in Hyatt’s high‑end business, attributing it to a data‑led development strategy and a focus on “deeply resonant” guest experiences. He frames Tamara Lohan’s appointment as a way to further differentiate Hyatt’s luxury brands and grow “with intent” in markets that matter most to guests and owners. ^[4]

Luxury trade outlet Luxury Daily characterises the move as Hyatt “solidifying its commitment to the high‑end market,” underscoring that this is a strategic repositioning of the portfolio rather than a tactical hire. ^[5]

The announcement has been amplified across the hotel trade press over December 3–4, with Hotel Business, Hotel Management, Lodging, Hospitality Net, Hotel News Resource and others all running versions of the story that spotlight both the leadership change and the expansion pipeline. ^[6]

Who Is Tamara Lohan?

Tamara Lohan is best known as the co‑founder of Mr & Mrs Smith, the boutique and luxury hotel platform built around highly curated, design‑led independent properties. She ran the business for more than two decades before Hyatt acquired Mr & Mrs Smith in 2023, at which point she joined Hyatt. ^[7]

Through that platform, Lohan built deep experience in:

Curation of independent, design‑driven hotels
Experience‑rich travel with a focus on storytelling and sense of place
Personalisation and consumer insight, especially in the high‑net‑worth and “affluent explorer” segments ^[8]

Hyatt and multiple trade outlets note that she brings an unusually strong blend of entrepreneurial, digital and brand‑building skills into a corporate hospitality environment. ^[9]

In remarks shared via Hyatt’s newsroom and repeated by several media, Lohan says the acquisition of Mr & Mrs Smith showed her how seriously Hyatt takes independent spirit, design integrity and the “craft of luxury.” She describes her new mandate as an opportunity to help shape what luxury means for Hyatt and to create more personal, tailored experiences while “thoughtfully” growing the collection. ^[10]

What the Global Brand Leader – Luxury Role Covers

The new position of Global Brand Leader – Luxury is interim, a point underlined by Hotel News Resource, which notes that Hyatt is still assessing its long‑term leadership structure in the luxury category. ^[11]

Across Hyatt’s own materials and industry coverage, Lohan’s remit includes:

Global brand strategy for Hyatt’s luxury portfolio (Park Hyatt, Alila, Miraval, Impression by Secrets and The Unbound Collection by Hyatt) ^[12]
Elevating brand consistency – ensuring standards and brand promises are aligned across very different geographies and property types ^[13]
Guest‑experience leadership, focusing on high‑touch personalisation and experience design in a segment where rate premiums must be justified night after night ^[14]
Owner and development partner alignment, helping to position new luxury projects so they fit Hyatt’s brand architecture and guest expectations

Hotel News Resource notes that the appointment is part of a broader strategy to expand Hyatt’s luxury offerings, supported by a pipeline of openings slated for 2026 in key global markets. ^[15]

Miraval The Red Sea: Flagship of the 2026 Wave

The clearest symbol of Hyatt’s luxury ambitions is Miraval The Red Sea, set to open in the first quarter of 2026 on Saudi Arabia’s Shura Island.

According to Hyatt’s release and subsequent coverage:

The property will be adults‑only, with around 180 guestrooms and suites.
It will be the first Miraval resort outside the United States, marking the brand’s international debut.
The resort will anchor itself firmly in wellness, featuring one of the largest spas in the destination at about 40,000 square feet with 39 treatment rooms, set along more than 3 million square feet of coastline. ^[16]

Hyatt positions Miraval The Red Sea as a “defining moment” for luxury wellbeing in the EAME region (Europe, Africa, Middle East), and as a showcase for the brand’s emphasis on spiritual, emotional and physical renewal. ^[17]

The company also cites external research—linked in its release via a 2025 Flywire luxury travel report—pointing out that nearly half of travellers now define luxury as deeply personalised experiences, rather than simply opulence or price point. ^[18]

Miraval’s expansion into the Red Sea is explicitly framed as a response to that shift.

Park Hyatt, Alila and The Unbound Collection: Global Openings in 2026

Beyond Miraval, Hyatt’s 2026 luxury roadmap reads like a world tour of key gateway and resort markets.

Park Hyatt: Tokyo, Mexico, Canada, Vietnam

Hyatt says Park Hyatt will both reopen and expand:

Park Hyatt Tokyo is slated to reopen after a major transformation, reasserting its position as a flagship urban icon.
New Park Hyatt hotels are planned for Cabo del Sol, Cancun, Mexico City, Vancouver and Phu Quoc, all expected to come online over the coming year. ^[19]

Collectively, this cluster reinforces Park Hyatt’s presence in North America and Asia‑Pacific, especially in high‑spending beach and city destinations that are central to luxury leisure and bleisure demand.

Alila: Deepening Roots in Mexico

The Alila brand, known for nature‑immersive luxury, will add Alila Mayakoba in Mexico’s Riviera Maya. The property will bring Alila’s boutique, eco‑sensitive style into one of the Caribbean’s most competitive luxury strips and further strengthen Hyatt’s Mexican luxury footprint. ^[20]

The Unbound Collection by Hyatt: Europe’s Story‑Driven Hotels

Within EAME, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt will grow with:

Kennedy 89 in Frankfurt, Germany – positioned as a design‑forward city property
A new coastal hotel in Nice, France, promising a more resort‑style Unbound experience on the Côte d’Azur ^[21]

These launches are designed to reinforce The Unbound Collection’s focus on “one‑of‑a‑kind” hotels with strong narratives and local character.

A 170‑Hotel Luxury Pipeline

Taken together, Miraval, Park Hyatt, Alila and Unbound openings feed into what Hyatt describes as a “strong luxury chain‑scale pipeline” of more than 170 hotels, representing around 141,000 rooms globally. ^[22]

That level of future supply underlines that Hyatt’s luxury ambition is structural, not opportunistic.

How the Industry Is Framing the Move

Trade publications have been quick to interpret the announcement as a coordinated luxury strategy:

Hotel Business stresses the combination of Lohan’s appointment and the 2026 openings, highlighting Miraval The Red Sea and the Park Hyatt and Alila projects as the core of Hyatt’s next luxury phase. ^[23]
Hotel Management places the news in a broader “luxury growth” narrative, emphasising that Hyatt’s luxury portfolio already numbers nearly 125 properties and that the company is using ILTM Cannes as a platform to showcase what comes next. ^[24]
Hotel News Resource frames the role as interim but strategic, noting that Hyatt’s goal is to sharpen its luxury positioning while it evaluates longer‑term leadership structures in the category. ^[25]
Hospitality Net and several regional B2B titles echo Hyatt’s description of Lohan’s background—particularly her experience curating independent, design‑driven hotels and her expertise in personalisation and global luxury trends. ^[26]

This tight clustering of coverage across specialist outlets on December 3–4 underscores how closely the hotel investment and development community is watching Hyatt’s luxury play.

Why Now? Reading the Strategic Context

Several factors help explain the timing and tone of Hyatt’s announcement:

Shifting Definition of Luxury
Hyatt’s own reference to third‑party research—that almost 50% of travellers now equate luxury with deeply personalised experiences—captures a broader industry trend. Guests are seeking meaning, wellbeing and connection, not just marble and thread counts. ^[27]
Critical Mass in the Portfolio
With more than 1,450 hotels and all‑inclusive properties across 82 countries, Hyatt now operates multiple brand “portfolios” (Luxury, Lifestyle, Inclusive, Classics and Essentials) under one corporate roof. Its luxury segment, anchored by Park Hyatt, Alila, Miraval, Impression by Secrets and The Unbound Collection, has reached a scale where tighter, centralised brand leadership can materially impact both guest experience and owner returns. ^[28]
Competitive Positioning
Marriott, Hilton, Accor and other global players have been aggressively building out luxury and lifestyle brands. By installing a high‑profile, boutique‑heritage leader over its luxury brands, Hyatt signals that it intends to compete not only on footprint, but on differentiation, design and depth of experience.
ILTM Cannes as a Global Stage
Announcing the move at ILTM Cannes, the industry’s flagship luxury travel marketplace, ensures that the message reaches top‑producing travel advisors, tour operators and media simultaneously. ^[29]

What It Means for Travellers and Owners

For travellers, the headline is simple: more high‑end Hyatt choices in key destinations—from Tokyo and the Red Sea to Mexico, Canada, Vietnam, Frankfurt and the French Riviera—under a more tightly defined luxury vision.

Guests can expect:

Stronger brand clarity between Park Hyatt, Alila, Miraval, Unbound and Impression by Secrets
A continued push into wellbeing‑centric stays, with Miraval The Red Sea as a flagship
More personalisable experiences, driven by Lohan’s background in curation and Hyatt’s data‑rich World of Hyatt ecosystem

For owners and developers, the message is that Hyatt is:

Investing in dedicated leadership for the luxury vertical
Committing to intentional growth in markets “guests and owners value most,” rather than chasing keys for their own sake ^[30]
Backing luxury projects with a clear, research‑informed understanding of how affluent travellers define value today

Key Facts at a Glance

New role: Tamara Lohan appointed interim Global Brand Leader – Luxury for Hyatt. ^[31]
Background: Co‑founded boutique and luxury hotel platform Mr & Mrs Smith; joined Hyatt in 2023 via acquisition. ^[32]
Current luxury portfolio: Nearly 125 hotels and 21,000+ rooms across Park Hyatt, Alila, Miraval, Impression by Secrets and The Unbound Collection by Hyatt. ^[33]
Luxury pipeline: More than 170 hotels representing around 141,000 rooms globally. ^[34]
Flagship opening:Miraval The Red Sea in Q1 2026 – 180‑key adults‑only wellbeing resort on Saudi Arabia’s Shura Island, with a 40,000‑square‑foot spa and 39 treatment rooms. ^[35]