A relic from the Gilded Age, luxurious grand hotels are being reborn

As wealthy families continue to spend more on luxury travel, an icon of the last Gilded Age is making a return: the grand dame hotel. 

This June, Bless Ibiza The Site opened with 461 rooms, retail, restaurants, a poolside social hub, a speakeasy and a second adults-only hotel within the hotel, the Unexpected Ibiza Hotel.

Sprawling, precise, expensive, it’s a self-conscious vision of a 19th-century grand hotel updated for the 21st century.

“This project is positioned as a new flagship destination for Mediterranean travelers,” said Ana Morillo, corporate managing director at Palladium Hotel Group, the hotel’s developer.

At the same time, existing grand hotels across the globe are seeing new life. 

In Manhattan, the Waldorf Astoria New York on Park Avenue celebrates its 95th anniversary this year, having reopened in 2025 after a massive $2 billion renovation.

“We’re witnessing a renewed appreciation for places with genuine character and enduring legacy,” said Luigi Romaniello, the hotel’s managing director.

New life is also being breathed into the InterContinental Grand Ankara in Ankara, Turkey.

Though it’s a relative newcomer — it opened in 1966 as the Grand Ankara Hotel — it certainly lives up to its moniker with its 342 rooms and position directly across from the Turkish Grand National Assembly.

Reopened this past June for a new generation of travelers while preserving its scale and glamour, the property boasts three ballrooms, a massive spa, indoor and outdoor pools, destination dining and 15 multifunctional meeting rooms for movers and shakers.

In Coronado, the peninsula off San Diego, Hotel del Coronado, which bills itself as the birthplace of the American beach vacation, recently underwent a $550 million overhaul. The renovation was about “striking a balance between honoring our 1888 heritage and reimagining the property for the modern era,” said managing director JP Oliver.

From a business standpoint, Oliver believes that properties like “the Del” — once known as “the Coney Island of the Pacific Coast” — are irreplaceable real estate assets with incredible long-term value when thoughtfully updated.  

Grand hotels like the Del were built specifically “to accommodate a large volume of guests and entertain them onsite for weeks or even months,” explained Gina Petrone, the property’s heritage manager, adding that it had all the luxuries of the time, including electricity and private baths. 

But large-scale hotels like the Del became less common as travel and the economy changed. Transportation shifted from trains to automobiles and airplanes, and vacation durations went from seasons to weekends.

“The Great Depression wiped out 80% of hotels in the US, while World War II also saw grand resorts taken over for hospitals, military housing or offices,” said Petrone.

Grand hotels originated in Europe as the grand tour reached a wider audience in the 19th century and as new railway companies encouraged tourism by building luxury hotels along their routes. The concept quickly spread throughout the world.

“As international travel grew, affluent travelers increasingly expected the comforts of home combined with exceptional luxury,” said Michelle Chaplow, a photographer for Historic Hotels Worldwide and Historic Hotels of America.

She points to the openings of Raffles Singapore in 1887, the Savoy in London in 1889 and the Plaza Hotel in New York in 1907 as prime examples of the genre. 

Still, there’s no one definition of what constitutes a “grand hotel,” then or now, experts say. 

“A lot of it comes down to the scale of the property — as the name suggests, it’s got to feel grand,” said Mark Okrant, an emeritus professor of tourism management and geography at Plymouth State University. “Typically, [it’s] somewhere in the range of 200 to 500 rooms.”

When it comes to the current grand hotel renaissance, experts have several theories. Susan Wilson, the house historian at the Omni Parker House in Boston and the author of “Omni Parker House Heaven, By Hotel Standards,” said that it all boils down to travelers seeking authenticity.

“Guests increasingly want to stay somewhere that reflects the character of the destination rather than somewhere that could exist in any city,” said Wilson.

TV series like “White Lotus” and fashion collabs are also refueling interest.

In 2021, Gucci reimagined the Royal Suite at the Savoy.

“In 1897, Guccio Gucci worked at the Savoy as a luggage porter and lift boy,” said Daria Guristrimba, founder of the London-based luxury travel agency Globe7. “Watching the suitcases of wealthy guests pass through his hands is where the idea that became the house of Gucci first took shape. A guest who chooses to stay in a hotel like this is buying access to a story they couldn’t get anywhere else.”