Guest psychology · 4 min read · September 2025
What Premium Travellers Actually Want in 2026 (And Why Your Property Doesn't Have It Yet)
Six things the top of the travel market is paying for right now. Almost none of them are physical. All of them can be designed into a property. If the owner knows what they are looking at.
I spend a lot of time on the operator side of this industry. Which means I spend a lot of time inside conversations the marketing decks never see. Here is what the top of the market is actually paying for in 2026. And why most properties are still chasing the wrong thing.
1. The other guests
The single most under-priced asset in hospitality. Premium travellers are no longer paying for a room. They are paying for who they will share a dinner table with. The vetting is the product.
2. A founder who is actually there
Not a general manager. Not a brand. A real person whose name they remember, whose values they trust, and whose taste they assume runs through every decision in the house. The branded hotel industry literally cannot offer this.
3. A reason to slow down
The wealthiest travellers have time but no permission. They want a property that gives them permission to stay still. Through pace, through culture, through what is on the table at dinner, and through what is not happening in the building at 11pm.
4. A clean environment
Sober-friendly. Quiet at night. Not chaotic. Not party-coded. There is a serious, growing premium market for environments that protect focus, recovery, and clarity. And almost no supply at the high end. This is one of the most under-served categories in lifestyle hospitality right now.
5. A point of view
Premium guests are choosing properties the way they choose magazines. They want an editorial position. A clear taste. A clear philosophy. A clear no. A property that tries to please everyone reads as a property without identity. And prices accordingly.
6. A small amount of friction
Counter-intuitive but real. Application processes. Curated arrivals. Limited availability. Brief waitlists. Premium guests do not want frictionless. They want signal that the place is selective. Because the people inside are the product, and they want to know who is being let in.
Why your property does not have it yet
Because most properties were designed by architects, not operators. The building is beautiful and the operating model is missing.
All six of these can be designed in. Not retrofitted. Designed in. From the application form to the dinner rhythm to the threshold experience to the way the host writes the first message back. That layer is the actual business. The advisory exists to help you build it.
About the author
Steve Haynes
Founder of The Coliving Advisor and Savi Coliving. Twenty years across hotel start-ups, restaurant openings, retreat centres, and coliving. Now advising premium property owners and investors worldwide. Worldpackers Sustainable Development Goals winner, 2025.