Carina Chorengel, senior vice president commercial Asia Pacific at Hyatt, reflects on the brand’s evolution and future, following in the footsteps of her father, former Hyatt leader Bernd Chorengel
What has Hyatt done to remain a top brand and how has the chain evolved?
Earlier this year, we announced the evolution of Hyatt’s brands into five distinct portfolios that reflect greater focus and differentiation – Luxury, Lifestyle, Inclusive, Classics and Essentials – to ensure we are better positioned to serve the needs of guests, customers, and owners.
Today, luxury is about authenticity and unique experiences. At Hyatt, this means delivering personalised and immersive experiential offerings. Alongside iconic brands like Park Hyatt as part of our Luxury Portfolio, the Alila brand is emblematic of how we’re meeting the evolving needs of high-end travellers – whether in wellness, cultural exploration, or enriching experiences.
Part of its DNA is expressed through our seeking out locations of awe-inspiring beauty to create places that clear the mind, rejuvenate the body and uplift the spirit, creating experiences that intertwine nature, local cultures, mindful design, and ecological consciousness.
Share some examples of what Alila offers.
Alila Dong’ao Island Zhuhai, the brand’s first island resort in China, exemplifies this with its location atop dramatic cliffs, sweeping sea views, and peaceful atmosphere. Every facet of the design shows a deep respect for nature, blending seamlessly with the landscape so that the hotel and its surroundings are truly in harmony.
Similarly, Alila Shanghai, the brand’s first urban resort that opened last year, demonstrates our continued brand evolution.
Located next to the beautifully restored Zhengyuan Heritage Site, the project centred on a vision of creating an intentional and enriching experience that embraces both the energy of Shanghai and the tranquillity of Alila, including early-morning gong sound therapy sessions and therapeutic incense-making workshops at a traditional local incense atelier.
How is Hyatt catering to changing traveller profiles?
Our lifestyle hotels are tapping into the rise of multigenerational travel and groups of friends seeking to make memories together. That means curating the best possible experience through every single touchpoint you can imagine to consistently deliver a high level of engagement – immersive experiences, dynamic programming, and service creativity.
The recent acquisition of The Standard was a fantastic addition to our portfolio given its strong, distinct brand identity that has built a loyal following. We continue to expand our lifestyle offering with the debut of the Thompson brand in Asia Pacific – Thompson Shanghai Expo, this year, an exciting new addition to the region’s travel landscape.
What about Hyatt’s established brands?
Across our portfolio, we also strive to elevate our premium offerings through brands like Grand Hyatt.
The iconic Grand Hyatt Singapore highlights our commitment to holistic well-being with its revamped features, including an integrated wellness hub, Damai, featuring a wellness pool and dual therapy sauna, as well as a Terrace Wing transformed into a garden oasis.
In this way, we aim to offer elevated, distinctive, personalised wellness and luxury experiences tailored to the modern traveller’s desires, fostering growing loyalty and preference for Hyatt.
Where are the opportunities for Hyatt and its expanded portfolio?
In the rapidly evolving Asia-Pacific region, we see significant growth opportunities, especially in China and India.
Alila Dong’ao Island Zhuhai demonstrates how we connect travellers with lesser-known locales, while the debut of Thompson Shanghai Expo will introduce the brand’s first hotel in Asia-Pacific to serve culturally curious travellers in a vibrant urban setting.
In India, we are witnessing a major shift toward meaningful and mindful travel. Domestic travellers are increasingly exploring Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, favouring slow, experiential travel. This represents a tremendous opportunity to grow our luxury and lifestyle portfolio.
We are excited about our brands resonating with these emerging needs as we plan to introduce seven new hotels in 2025, including pilgrimage sites such as Bodh Gaya and Amritsar.
Alila is closely aligned with these emerging needs with the brand’s focus on wellness, unique experiences, and sustainability. We have great confidence in the market, having recently announced a target of 100 hotels in India by 2030.
What does the future hold?
Overall, we’re cautiously optimistic about the outlook for Asia-Pacific.
Our pipeline of over 350 hotels means we’re continuing to bring new offerings to market that will further strengthen our position as a leader in luxury and lifestyle in the region.
This year, we will introduce exciting additions to expand our luxury and lifestyle portfolio. Aside from the Asia-Pacific debut of the Thompson by Hyatt brand with Thompson Shanghai Expo, we’re also set to introduce Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur and the much-anticipated reopening of the iconic Park Hyatt Tokyo.
Next year has even more in store, such as Park Hyatt Phu Quoc, Andaz One Bangkok, as well as Andaz Gold Coast – the Andaz brand’s debut in Australia.
