Dear guest,
I am in awe of the way in which you have made tPH your own. Like in a hotel, you are here for a myriad of reasons, some to relax, some to get down to some serious work. Everything is welcome and appreciated.
Since the last edition of the Lobby, we have had some incredible collaborations, on service recovery, enlightened CEOs, and details that elevate a hotel.
In the meanwhile, lots of interesting things have happened in the hospitality scene, not least of them being the more extravagant than ever edition of Watches & Wonders in Geneva. As a special treat, this letter includes the inside scoop of the event.
Enjoy!
(Note for email readers: This post is longer than what displays well in email. For the full reading experience, please view it on the website version.)
Welcome to The Lobby, a roundup of what’s happening in hospitality, served with a point of view.
In this letter (by far the longest and juiciest edition so far): Met Gala hotel politics, the inside scoop on Watches and Wonders 2026, a very hospitality Milan design week, and all things Coachella.
The Met Gala happened, and the getting ready in the hotel room spiel is getting more relevant by the year. 60 celebrities this year got ready at The Mark this week, with the rest staying at properties the likes of the Carlyle and the Lowell, as well as the Surrey, which is now the cool place to stay (thank you to my sources @Mila Stolk and @Seriesandthings for pointing this out). The managing director of the property, which is a Corinthia hotel, told People that the hotel has understood how important the hours leading up to the gala are, and now intentionally focuses on “supporting preparation, creativity, and storytelling”.
Why precisely these hotels are the go-tos for the Gala attendees is largely logistical, as the proximity to the stairs of the Met is convenient. But I would love to see fashion houses choosing the property based on their alignment in storytelling and aesthetics, intentionally using the hotel as an extension of the brand’s world.
Whether the fashion houses are paying rack rate or the hotels are cutting deals for the exposure they’re getting, no one knows (if you do know please share with the class!). But the economics are nonetheless fascinating, and these hotels are reaping the benefits of the cultural capital that comes from being associated with fashion’s big night.
Coachella generated $870 million in media impact value in one weekend, all propelled by the art of hospitality. The festival has essentially turned into a content-churning machine, and the numbers of the 2026 edition are staggering. As 250,000 people headed for the desert, hotel rates in Palm Springs went up by 62%. Music aside, what caught my attention (and many others’, sparking conversation about the ’rich’ and ’poor’ sides of Coachella) was the world-building and brand activations that were again very hospitality-based.
Rhode had touch-up rooms and claw machines, YSL Beauty had a multi-sensory drive-through with burgers, Camp Poosh had massages and a lakeside beach club, and Marc Jacobs orchestrated its eyewear launch with Tao Group Hospitality, a partnership that is going to continue beyond Coachella. The latter makes me especially happy, because while hospitality is an extremely important part of these activations and the cultural capital they generate (and increasingly so), rarely does a hospitality brand get accredited in this way.
🚨Prediction alert (you heard it here first)🚨: Hospitality brands will become more and more visible in festivals like Coachella. Currently it’s very F&B-focused, but I think strategically savvy hotel brands will get in the game. Imagine if we saw a Janu (Aman’s more social sister brand) activation? (And yes, I know that Soho House hosted its own pop-up on the premises, but the members’ club is arguably not currently in the books of cool.)
Fashion brands opened restaurants left and right at Milan Design Week. Marimekko revealed Osteria Fiori di Marimekko with aperitivo bites by Helsinki chef Maud Saddok, jasmine-infused drinks from the garden, bocce tournaments, limited-edition espresso cups… I loved it. Staff obviously wore the brand’s newest floral prints. Meanwhile, Marni took over Pasticceria Cucchi which is a legendary 1930s Milanese café for a three-month residency, where they redesigned everything from the sugar packets to the milk jugs to the staff uniforms. Wallpaper* called it “brand immersion at its finest.”
This is further confirmation on the rising trend of world-building for fashion brands, and hospitality being part of it is becoming standard.
Watches and Wonders just wrapped its biggest edition yet, and hospitality was évidemment the real star. Nearly 60,000 visitors, 50,000 hotel nights in Geneva, and an interesting demographic with a quarter of ticket buyers being under 25. For the Lobby’s first-ever House Guest section, I asked communications strategist and branding enthusiast Baina Eliseeva to tell us what she saw on the ground and the special inside scoop for hospitality people.
According to my Watches and Wonders insider Baina, hospitality has taken center stage at the event, especially at this year’s rendition which was bigger and better than ever.
”Inside Jaeger-LeCoultre’s ‘Valley of Inventions’ booth, I noticed clients trying on novelties at Le Chalet itself, where two-Michelin-star Swiss chef Gilles Varone was serving a cheese dégustation in an alpine-inspired setting built around the dairy heritage of the Vallée de Joux, JLC’s birthplace. Watch in hand, cheese on the palate, at the same table.
JLC had hinted at this in 2025 with the 1931 Café by chocolatier Mathieu Davoine, tucked inside a booth themed around the Reverso‘s polo origins. Four experimental chocolate creations echoed the watch’s Art Deco heritage. Open to public visitors, unusual for a programme of that quality, which normally stays behind the press-and-VIP curtain.
This year, the fair caught up. The Wake Up! Café by Michelin-starred chef Danny Khezzar opened inside Palexpo, and the event extended beyond its walls with a curated restaurant guide via TheFork and an evening Montreux Jazz Club pop-up on the lakefront.”
Baina points out that this same effect is happening in fashion. ”Prada’s Marchesi, Louis Vuitton’s cafés, Tiffany’s Blue Box Café, and others. Luxury is converging on the same idea. A watch catalogue tells you the specs, but a cheese dégustation reveals what to expect once you are inside the brand’s universe.”
The overarching pattern at W&W was that brands are investing into worldbuilding and staging experiences.
”Audemars Piguet, back at the event for the first time in six years opened the House of Wonders, which was more of an exhibition than a booth. TAG Heuer leaned full motorsport, with an F1 car and Steve McQueen’s Porsche 917 parked inside.”
With the conjoined history of watchmaking and timekeeping, sports have an ever-growing presence at Watches & Wonders 🏎️🏎️🏎️
”Last year, they had an Oracle Red Bull Racing simulator for clients to test their lap times, but this year there was a dedicated corner that told the Monaco’s story. Since taking over as F1’s official timekeeper in 2025, the brand reports a 15% jump in boutique footfall and 20% growth in F1 collection sales, and the space is clearly designed to keep that momentum going.”
Overall, the event is a giant case study in experiential retail. Baina mentioned Ulysse Nardin’s very freaky two-metre kinetic sculpture. ”Visually it recalled Gentle Monster’s flagships, where kinetic heads have become a signature. But Gentle Monster’s heads are anonymous while Ulysse Nardin’s had Ludwig Oechslin’s face, the watchmaker who designed the Freak in 2001, a watch so radical it had no dial, no hands, and no crown.”
”Hermès was the most theatrical. Artist Jean-Simon Roch designed a wooden automaton of ropes, pulleys, and counterweights, with movement woven into the architecture itself.”
The main takeaway for brands according to Baina: ”when every competitor has a beautiful product, the space around it becomes the differentiator”.
Preach! I could not agree more with Baina’s sentiment. Hopefully next year we can also have tPH reporting from the ground. Stay tuned!
What I'm reading, watching, or listening to; hospitality-related or not. Consider it a peek into what's influencing my thinking.
As some of you may know, I have a degree in global and comparative philosophy, which happened in my life before hospitality. During my studies I delved into (in addition to the Western philosophical canon) African, Middle Eastern, Chinese, and Indian philosophical traditions.
While I decided not to pursue philosophy further academically (for now), I never stopped researching the topics that interest me, one of them being old Buddhist traditions. Right now, I’m brushing up my knowledge on the chakra system by reading Wheels of Life by Dr. Anodea Judith.
I got very inspired, hence I’m cooking up something fun for tPH.
A hotel that has been on my radar.
Guys, did you really think I was not going to mention the announcement of the Texas Aman? Amansanu is set to open in 2027 with standalone villas, and naturally, branded residences (it seems to be standard now).
I saw someone mention that there will be full-fledged horse stables. I am ready to finally fulfill my cowgirl dreams.
That’s all for this edition of The Lobby. I truly appreciate your presence.
🔑 Emma
Loving the deep dive into 'world-building' through hospitality activations. Whether it's the Met Gala prep or Milan Design Week pop-ups, the most successful brands are the ones that realize their property is an extension of their storytelling.
What do you think of fashion brands investing in hotels, like LVMH investing in the Orient Express brand alongside Accor?