The post-hotel future

A deep look into the evolving terminology, future predictions, and formats of hotels in the next five years.

Have you noticed the term 'post-hotel era' emerging in conversations? Is it true? Will the hotels we've known since the 1500s even continue to exist? Or is it the whole industry changing into something completely unexpected? We’re not suggesting that hospitality will disappear, far from it. But we are questioning how far the concept of a 'hotel' can stretch before it becomes something else entirely.

One thing is for sure, the future will force us to choose how each accommodation will be transformed. All of us will have to evolve and change, and we will either have to be conscious of our decisions or pushed into the mess of quick fixes.

The new “average” will be much different. The “average” right now, when thinking about the hotel, is selling a room or, in some more advanced cases, a beautifully designed experience. There is still very little extra thought put into the wholesomeness of that experience. The understanding of the idea of regeneration which is the core part of travel is still barely out of the womb.

How do we define the term “hotel”, and what can history teach us about the future?

Let’s have a quick look into the history of hospitality, since it carries a lot of the missing answers. The origins of each phenomenon can be very effective anchors when the industry is undergoing massive transformation like hospitality surely is!

A quick glimpse into the past

Hospitality as Sacred Duty: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece (~3000 BCE–500 BCE)

In ancient Greece, hospitality was sacred—“xenia,” the divine code of guest-friendship. Early travelers were hosted in private homes or temples. Small inns and guesthouses started appearing along trade routes.

Rise of Roadside Inns: Roman Empire (~100 BCE–400 CE)

With extensive road systems, official lodging stations and inns for commoners were built across the empire. Services were basic: bed, food, and a place to tie up your horse, but this laid the groundwork for structured accommodations.

Religious Hospitality: Medieval Times (500–1500)

Christian monasteries and abbeys offered lodging to pilgrims for free. Hospitality was a blend of religion, community duty, and commerce.

Commerce and Comfort: Early Modern Period (1500–1800)

With trade booming and cities growing, purpose-built hotels began to appear. In France, “hôtel” originally meant a noble's town residence, but the term evolved into today’s meaning.

The Birth of the Modern Hotel: Industrial Revolution (1800s)

Steam trains and later automobiles changed everything. Hotels became symbols of luxury, status, and architecture. Tremont House (Boston, 1829) was the first hotel with indoor plumbing and private rooms. Savoy Hotel (London, 1889) was considered a cutting-edge luxury since the hotel offered electricity, elevators, and en-suite bathrooms.

20th Century: Global Expansion + Differentiation

There was a boom in urbanization, travel, and tourism after the World Wars. New formats started to emerge: motels, resorts, boutique hotels, and business hotels. The rise of hotel chains with standardized service and global presence appeared, and we met names like Hilton, Marriott, and InterContinental.

21st Century: Digital, Sustainable & Experiential Shift

The online world changes the whole industry! Online booking and user reviews (Booking.com, Airbnb, TripAdvisor) democratized choices. Guests seek experience over status: local culture, connection, design, and well-being. Rise of eco-hotels, regenerative hospitality, hybrid spaces (co-living, digital nomad hubs, wellness retreats).

Where to next?

We have come a long way—from sacred hospitality to ultra-modern, tech-driven buildings. How will hotels transform now, and what kind of future can we predict? This is the topic of today’s article.

The Post-Hotel Question: What defines a "hotel" if it's no longer just a place to sleep?

Today’s travelers no longer just want to sleep. They want to be awakened - sensory, imaginatively - and they want to arrive. In its evolving form, a hotel is a curated space of presence, a temporary world designed to hold, reflect, and elevate human experience in unfamiliar surroundings.

Hotels also reflect who we think we are and who we aspire to be. A design hotel in Mexico City, a wellness retreat in the Alps, or a smart capsule in Tokyo - all reveal different dreams of living. Hotels are becoming a mirror of cultural imagination.

Hotels are becoming a living interface between guests and the world

A hotel is no longer just a neutral space in the background or an aesthetically furnished building. Hotels today are mindfully designed settings where people connect—with themselves, with others, and with the world around them.

Hotels now serve as:

• Creative ecosystems. This is not just for digital nomads or designers but also for anyone curious enough to experiment with ideas, aesthetics, and new ways of expressing themselves across languages, disciplines, and values.
• Healing environments. Here, restoration isn’t just an individual luxury but a response to collective burnout. Sleep, silence, nature, nourishment, and regeneration aren’t trends, they are acts of repair in a fractured world.
• Social nodes. Consider hotels as vibrant crossroads of exchange where people, perspectives, and ideas intertwine. A hotel lounge can spark an unexpected business collaboration, a creative partnership, or a conversation that shifts one’s worldview. These are spaces designed for serendipity and synchronicity, not just productivity.
• Cultural mediators. Hotels can invite us into real stories, messy histories, and nuanced contexts, not just offer a “local flavor.” Through architecture, food, design, gestures, and people, they help guests feel the texture of a place, not just consume it.

Still questioning if this is just a reverie or an actual reality?

There’s a notable rise in hotels prioritizing unique, immersive experiences over traditional luxury. This trend is strongly influenced by social media and the ways we communicate and position ourselves in society's landscape. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok have amplified the desire for “story-worthy” experiences. Travelers are drawn to hotels offering visually appealing and narrative-driven adventures that they can share with their online networks. The focus is now on storytelling, design, and cultural integration, creating market differentiation.

Emerging terminology in hospitality explains where we are headed

Language. Language carries all the cues to where we are headed and what’s happening beneath the surface of society. You’d be surprised how much terminology in hospitality has changed! The trendsetters are no longer speaking about “hotels” but something completely different.

New phrases are emerging, and words that used to sound strange (like a ritual, for example) are now to be found even amongst the most prestigious players like Jumeirah Hotels (writes on their website: “Our experiences and rituals are carefully curated to nurture you as an individual and celebrate the beauty of mind and body.”)

Six hot phrases in hospitality right now

Let’s look at six hot talks in hospitality and hotelier language.

1. Experience Economy

Core Idea: People no longer want to buy things they want to buy meaningful experiences. In hospitality, this means the stay itself becomes a story, a memory, or a transformation.

Hospitality Context: A hotel isn’t just a place to sleep; it’s part of the guest’s identity performance. Every detail, from the scent in the room to the music in the lobby contributes to the emotional arc of their journey.

Real-World Example:

• Six Senses: Offers “Integrated Wellness” stays where guests begin with biometric scans and leave with an upgraded sleep cycle, gut health, and mental clarity.
• The Hoxton: Hosts neighborhood events, pop-up stores, and artist collaborations that make the hotel a social hub, not just a room-for-rent.

2. Lifestyle Hospitality

Core Idea: Design-driven, culturally tuned, experience-focused brands that attract travelers by vibe, not price or prestige.

Hospitality Context: It’s about curating a lifestyle people aspire to. Design, community, music, food, and art all merge to reflect the brand’s identity—and attract like-minded guests.

Real-World Example:

• Mama Shelter: A funky brand where rooms come with iMacs, karaoke nights, and graffiti on the walls. It’s not luxury—it’s attitude.
• Zoku (Amsterdam): A hybrid hotel offering loft-style rooms, coworking spaces, and communal kitchens for modern nomads and creatives.

3. Bleisure Travel

Core Idea: Blending business and leisure travel into a seamless experience.

Hospitality Context: As work becomes more remote and flexible, travelers want to extend business trips into pleasure time or bring their jobs along on vacation.

Real-World Example:

• citizenM: Focuses on mobile citizens who need fast Wi-Fi, smart tech, and stylish rooms they can actually work in.
• Accor’s “Wojo” spaces: Co-working lounges built inside hotel lobbies for guests (and locals) to work during the day and chill in the evening.

4. Regenerative Travel

Core Idea: Go beyond sustainability. Don’t just “do no harm” - actively heal the environment and the community.

Hospitality Context: This model asks: How can a guest’s stay improve the local ecosystem, culture, and economy? This is the bleeding edge of purpose-driven travel.

Real-World Example:

• Regenerative Travel (the platform): Certifies hotels that restore landscapes, support local economies, and offer culture-based learning experiences.
• Finca Luna Nueva (Costa Rica): A regenerative farm lodge that invites guests to plant trees, harvest food, and participate in biodiversity preservation.

5. Human-Centric Design

Core Idea: Design spaces, services, and systems around how people actually feel, behave, and need to rest or connect.

Hospitality Context: Every touchpoint, digital or physical, is reimagined through empathy, psychology, and behavior science. Technology is not “in your face” anymore but becomes invisibly integrated into the experience.

Real-World Example:

• 1 Hotels: Uses biophilic design (living walls, reclaimed materials, nature sounds) to create calm, intuitive spaces that lower cortisol.
• Aman: Known for spatial silence and architecture that directs the guest inward. Rooms feel like sanctuaries, not staged experiences.

6. Hospitality Ecosystems

Core Idea: A hotel isn’t an island, it’s part of a connected ecosystem of offerings, services, and touchpoints, both physical and digital.

Hospitality Context: Think of a property that’s also a wellness center, a coworking space, a restaurant brand, a digital platform, and a local community hub. It’s a layered web, not a siloed building.

Real-World Example:

• Habitas: Calls itself a global home for a community of changemakers. Guests return to different Habitas locations worldwide and feel part of the same cultural family.
• Ennismore (by Accor): An umbrella for brands like The Hoxton, 25hours, and Mondrian—designed as a lifestyle “ecosystem” with interconnected experiences, memberships, and design continuity.

Identity Evolution. The change of paradigms in hospitality

As the hospitality industry evolves, so does its very identity. We’re witnessing a profound shift—from hotels as passive places of service to living, breathing entities with a soul, a story, and a role to play in the transformation of their guests. This is a big theme, and it goes far beyond marketing. It’s about what kind of “being” the hotel becomes.

What is a hotel when it’s no longer just a building but a host of change, a stage for becoming, a container for meaning?

The language we use to describe these spaces reflects a new paradigm. Hotels are now curating identities, not just experiences. They are becoming platforms, not just properties. Movements, not just brands. Archetypes, not just logos. In this new era, hospitality is not a stay, it’s a state. A state of mind, of body, of being. As these identities mature, hotels are no longer asking what we offer. They’re asking who we are becoming alongside our guests.

Identity evolution includes these essential shifts:

1. From service to soul: Hotels are repositioning from being service providers to hosts of transformation.
2. From place to platform: A hotel is not a place anymore, it’s a platform for regeneration, coworking, cultural immersion, or spiritual growth.
3. From brand to movement: Think Habitas, Zoku, or Six Senses: they don’t just sell rooms, they stand for a worldview (wellness, connection, localism, etc.).
4. From role to archetype: More advanced hotel brands are adopting archetypes in branding - healer, mentor, explorer, artist - to position themselves as characters in the guest’s story.
5. From state to stay: It’s no longer about square meters. It’s about what happens to a guest's body, brain, and soul in those hours.

Why does this identity shift matter?

What we’ve just described aren’t just brand moves, they’re cultural shifts. They reflect something much more profound - a collective hunger for depth over polish. They also show the rising trend of a generation that seeks purpose over prestige. So, the future of hospitality is less about what you do for guests and more about how you transform their lives and who you become with them.

Hospitality on a spectrum: Who will you become?

There’s a whole spectrum of diverse possibilities and ideas for what kind of ecosystem or space your hotel could evolve into. We are sharing just a couple of options to spark your imagination.

Also, let’s not forget about the importance of technological innovation, which can make all of this even possible. Without clear systems in place, a transformation into the next version of your hotel will never be possible.

Start thinking today and implementing new technologies tomorrow—otherwise, you will be left behind sooner than you might think.

Tech Temples

Definition:

Hyper-futuristic properties designed to push the limits of what a hotel can do, be, and sense. These are not just spaces, they're sentient environments, neural interfaces, and immersive containers for advanced experience design.

Key features:

• AI-powered room adaptation (lighting, music, scent, temperature)
• VR-enhanced experiences and metaverse extensions
• Touchless tech and neuro-linked personalization
• NFT-based access and guest identity protection systems

Narrative role:

They serve as portals into a new world—where the line between human and machine blurs, and guests become part of the technology.

Real examples:

Henn na Hotel, Tokyo, Japan

• Overview: Known as the "Strange Hotel," Henn na Hotel is renowned for its use of robots and AI to manage front desk services, room cleaning, and even concierge tasks.
• Highlights: Guests are greeted by multilingual robots, and facial recognition technology is used for room access, enhancing efficiency and novelty.

YOTEL, Various Locations

• Overview: YOTEL integrates technology to provide a seamless guest experience, featuring self-service kiosks, smart TVs, and adjustable mood lighting.
• Highlights: The brand focuses on "smart design," maximizing space, and incorporating tech-savvy solutions for modern travelers.

Retreat sanctuaries

Definition: Soulful, sensory-centered escapes rooted in natural rhythms, ancient practices, and deep listening. The experience isn’t just about wellness—it’s about coming back into coherence.

Key features:

• Biophilic design and natural materials
• Embodied rituals, from sound healing to forest bathing
• Slow-living ethos: offline zones, circadian lighting, grounding menus
• Regenerative travel principles—give back to the local ecosystem and self

Narrative role:

These are the new monasteries—spaces to shed roles, rest deeply, and realign from the inside out.

Real examples:

COMO Shambhala Estate, Bali, Indonesia

• Overview: Set amidst the lush Balinese jungle, this wellness retreat offers holistic programs combining yoga, nutrition, and Ayurvedic treatments.
• Highlights: Guests can engage in personalized wellness plans, including spa treatments and outdoor activities that promote physical and mental well-being.

Broughton Sanctuary, Yorkshire, UK

• Overview: Recognized as the UK's only accredited Healing Hotel, Broughton Sanctuary emphasizes holistic well-being through nature-based activities and sustainable practices.
• Highlights: The estate offers rewilding experiences, meditation sessions, and wellness retreats aimed at fostering personal growth and ecological awareness.

Adaptive Hybrids

Definition:

Highly agile, future-ready spaces designed to respond to context. They flex between functions (coworking, community, hospitality), between cultures, and between individual and collective needs.

Key features:

• Modular spaces: one room becomes a pod, a meeting room, or a sanctuary
• Community integration: makers’ markets, local artisans, pop-up chefs
• Smart tech for ease, but not excess
• Often, urban or travel hubs designed for longer stays

Narrative role:

These are cultural shapeshifters, urban sanctuaries for modern life where guests can live, create, work, and gather.

Real examples:

Locke Hotels, Europe

• Overview: Locke Hotels blends the comforts of home with the amenities of a hotel, featuring fully equipped kitchens, coworking spaces, and cultural programs.
• Highlights: Each property hosts events and workshops, fostering a sense of community among guests and locals alike.

Zoku, Amsterdam, Netherlands

• Overview: Zoku offers hybrid living and working spaces designed for global nomads, combining private lofts with shared social spaces.
• Highlights: The concept encourages interaction through communal kitchens, coworking areas, and curated events, catering to both short and extended stays.

The Split: Tech temples vs regenerative retreats

This world is not black and white and neither is hospitality. Two extreme futures are emerging, but a whole hybrid spectrum exists between them. Most hotels fall somewhere in the middle some with more tech-enriched options, others might feel like the time has stopped.

The split consists of two poles which are part of the same stick. On one end: hyperconnected tech temples: data-driven, AI-enhanced, frictionless to the point of invisibility. On the other: regenerative retreats - slow, sensory, rooted in nature and soul. These two poles represent radically different responses to the same question: what does the modern traveler truly need?

Curious about what’s shaping this evolution? I'm writing an article on the top influences redefining hospitality in the next 5 years. Subscribe to my newsletter so you see it when it's published.

How to navigate your own becoming?

You’ve just glimpsed a deeper truth of who you, as a hotel or brand, might become in the near future. The question now is: how do you navigate this evolution? There’s no universal roadmap this journey is as unique as your soulprint. While a full MasterMind could be devoted to this transition alone, the first step is simple: begin where you are.

Ask yourself:

• Who are we really serving and what do they seek beneath the surface?
• How much do we rely on technology and to what end?
• What kind of transformation (not just experience) are we inviting?
• Are we a place or a platform for something larger?
• How do we balance technology and human touch in our spaces?
• What archetype do we embody in our guest’s journey?
• Do we design for the senses or for the soul?
• What kind of community are we cultivating, intentionally or by default?
• Are we a brand, or are we becoming a movement?

These questions won’t yield quick answers, but they will help you find your place on the evolving hospitality spectrum and guide you toward strategic clarity.

Want to explore your next steps? I am writing the article on strategic adaptation in hospitality. Subscribe to my newsletter so you see it when it's published.

The future is already here. It just needs to be chosen!

The evolution of hospitality isn’t waiting for permission.

It’s already unfolding in the architecture of presence, in the rituals of care, in the platforms that connect us across borders and experiences. Whether you find yourself leaning toward regeneration, innovation, or a soulful synthesis of both, the real work lies in choosing your direction with intention.

At Nevron, we believe technology should serve the human spirit not replace it. That’s why we build tools that empower hotels to design immersive, guest-centered ecosystems without losing the essence of hospitality.

You don’t have to choose between meaning and modernization.

You can design both.

And you can begin now.