Spain, Dominican Republic and More Countries Inspire a New Generation of Global Holidays as Meliá Zel, Hilton Garden Inn Gen A and Marriott StudioRes Revolutionize Wellness Tourism, Bleisure Travel, Digital Nomad Living and Extended-Stay Experiences

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Spain, the Dominican Republic, and other countries are introducing innovative concepts to Lifestyle Hotels, in line with the expansion of Meliá Zel, Hilton Garden Inn Gen A, and Marriott StudioRes. These concepts integrate wellness tourism, bleisure, digital nomadism, and extended stay into their frameworks. This evolution will be even more prominent in 2026. The major hotel groups will have designed the first hospitality frameworks to meet the functional demands of the customers of the 2020s. This evolution will benefit holiday, business, and remote travelers, digital nomads, and long-stay travelers as the new hospitality frameworks will favor flexibility, wellbeing, and immersive experiences.

Lifestyle Hotels – the Most Rapidly Expanding Sector in Hospitality

Flexible and diversified approaches to travel and accommodating guests are rapidly evolving. Traditional hotels have been structured to offer almost identical solutions to guest needs. This has resulted in hotel groups developing specialty brands that cater to specific travel styles and serve specific travel purposes.

Modern travel has disrupted traditional travel as hotel guests seek functional space to accommodate them when and where they want throughout their travel, versus traditional lodging that has been structured to focus on overnight guests.

The following factors are rapidly driving growth in the hospitality industry:

• Wellness tourism
• Bleisure travel
• Remote working
• Digital nomad lifestyles
• Extended holidays
• Experience-led tourism

With this in mind, hotels are changing guest rooms and public spaces and revising the services they provide.

Spain Exports Mediterranean Lifestyle Tourism Through Zel

Spain is the home of Zel, Meliá Hotels International’s and tennis star Rafael Nadal’s lifestyle hotels.

Zel does not offer regular Mediterranean beach stays, but rather an immersive Mediterranean lifestyle with:

• Outdoor living
• Wellness programmes
• Healthy gastronomy
• Fitness experiences
• Relaxed social spaces
• Contemporary Mediterranean design

Zel has opened in Mallorca and Costa Brava and, after their success, is the first Dominican Republic hotel to go Caribbean and continues to expand the Mediterranean.

Dominican Republic Strengthens Lifestyle Tourism in the Caribbean

Zel is now in the Dominican Republic and the first Caribbean country (outside Europe).

Punta Cana is attractive to visitors from:

• High-end beach resorts
• Yearlong tropical weather
• North American tourism
• International flights
• Luxury wellness trips

Punta Cana has all the components for a Mediterranean healing stay and can make the Dominican Republic a leader in high-end Caribbean tourism.

Canada has been a growing market in Marriott’s long-term StudioRes expansion strategy. Business investment, infrastructure, seasonal business employment, and business mobility have created a growing demand for the construction of affordable hotels designed for extended stays. Canadian cities outside of Toronto are predicted to be major business markets as long business assignments and relocation travel grow.

Meliá is still expanding Zel into Mediterranean and resort destinations in line with the lifestyle philosophy of the brand. They currently are developing hotels in Crete (Greece), Cozumel (Mexico) and Albanian resorts. These areas attract tourism for coastal vacation, wellness, outdoor tourism, gastronomy and culture. The wellness and lifestyle modern hospitality tourism that Zel is bringing to these areas fits with tourism that these areas are known for.

Travellers today care more for how hotels fit with their lifestyle than the category the hotel is in. Modern travellers care for hotels having work and wellness spaces and community areas that have healthy cuisine and facilitate locating authentic local experiences. Hotel companies are putting the needs of the modern traveller into consideration by having flexible public concepts that differentiate personal preference from travel purpose.

China’s Lead Hilton Garden Inn Gen A’s Next Gen Hotel Strategy

China has made a hospitality innovation leader for Hilton with Gen A. Gen A is Hilton’s first focused product on the Chinese traveler and provides greater flexibility and community centric design while balancing Hilton’s traditional service standards.

Some of the innovative features this concept includes are:

• Nature themed interior finishes
• Four-in-one multifunction social spaces
• Relaxation and work flexibility
• Contemporary communal spaces
• Improved business functions

The first three hotels were opened in Chongqing, Sanya and Harbin. There are multiple development agreements Hilton is using to expand this brand. Hilton currently has over 115 Hilton Garden Inn’s in Greater China and an additional 185 in the pipeline. Recent agreements accelerated the expansion by adding 2000 hotel rooms in targeted growing areas of China.

U.S. Driving Extended Stay Revolution by Marriott

Another rapidly growing segment is the longer stay hospitality segment and to meet this trend, Marriott specializes their hotel product, StudioRes, for longer stays.

StudioRes is a hospitality product designed to accommodate guests with stays of 20 nights or longer.

The brand welcomes:

• Remote workers
• Digital nomads
• Corporate project teams
• Relocating families
• Healthcare travellers
• Infrastructure and construction professionals

The first StudioRes opened in Fort Myers, Florida.

Every property has convenient features like:

• Complete kitchens
• Large studios
• Fast internet
• Exercise facilities
• Laundry
• Housekeeping

As a demand for budget long-term hotel stays rises, so will others across the U.S. and Canada, predicts Marriott.

Country Travel Snapshot

Travel Trends Reshaping Hotel Design and Functionality

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Travel trends are making a huge impact on how hotels are designed, managed, and marketed. Previously, hotels focused on either being luxury or budget. Now, hotels are designed to cater to the needs of various travel lifestyles and purposes.

Changes in Work Travel

More people are blending leisure and business travel. Business travelers are engaging in activities and sightseeing in new cities after work obligations.

To accommodate this trend, hotels are providing:

• Spaces to complete work
• Communal spaces
• Comfortable connectivity
• Wellness services
• Dining options

These features provide travelers the ability to work and unwind during their trip.

Remote Work and Travel

The design of hotels is beginning to change due to the rise of long term nomadic travelers. These travelers spend weeks, if not months, on the move.

Nomadic travelers will find hotels that now include:

• Kitchens
• A place to work
• High-speed Wi-Fi
• Laundry services
• Flexible spaces

This design also offers long term stay rates.

Impact of Wellness Travel

Wellness is becoming one of the main concerns when travelers are looking for trips.

To remedy this hotels are including

• Spas
• Fitness Centers
• Dining Options
• Outdoor Activities

Wellness travel is en vogue and hotels like Zel are making this an enticement for booking as they become lifestyle hotels.

Experience-Focused Hospitality Is Displacing Conventional Hotel Offerings

Hotel selection is no longer determined by a hotel’s location, convenience, or star designation.

Visitors have begun to seek accommodations that provide:

• Opportunities to experience the local culture
• Spaces for social engagement
• Community areas
• Local food offerings
• Activities that take place outdoors
• Experiences that provide a satisfying level of engagement

Hotels have to provide experiences and services that make them attractions, not just places to stay.

The Demand for Longer, More Flexible Travel

The trend for longer travel and flexible work schedules is expanding the need for hotels that target extended stays.

More hotel guests demand:

• Larger guest rooms
• In-room kitchens
• More flexible reservations
• In-House Laundry
• Living Room-type guest spaces

The greater demand for these services is helping make extended stay hotels one of the most rapidly growing sectors of hospitality.

The Travel Customer’s Job Is To Make Travel A Satisfying Experience

Customers should think about their accommodations and the travel services that cater to their travel preferences, before making reservations.

Customers should do the following for each travel service or accommodation they want to use to satisfy a travel need:

• Form shop-by-travel-purpose hotel brand comparisons, instead of a price comparison.
• Use extended stay accommodations for trips over several weeks.
• Use lifestyle hotels for wellness and gastronomy-focused trips.
• Sign up for the hotel loyalty club prior to booking.
• Make reservations directly through hotel websites, to gain the member rate.
• Follow the hotel’s social media to stay up to date on their latest openings and expansions.

The travel customer that wants to make travel a satisfying experience has every opportunity to do so.

Why Travellers Want to Know This

Travel habits have evolved drastically in recent years.

These days, more and more travellers blend their work and leisure trips, take longer vacations, focus on their wellness, skip tourist hotspots, avoid traditional hotel lodging, and instead opt for homestays and other local and authentic travel offerings.

Travelers are finding that their hotel choice is critical to their productivity and comfort and flexibility during their travel, as well as to their overall travel experience.

Also, for travelers, purpose-built lifestyle hotels have improved options and allow travelers the accommodation choice that best fits their travel needs, as opposed to the typical hotel experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are lifestyle hotels?

These types of hotels create exceptional experiences for their customers by combining design and wellness with the local culture and community as well as gastronomy and the latest technology.

What is the reason for the popularity of extended-stay hotels?

There is a need for more accommodation that is specifically designed for travelers that are going to stay several weeks or even several months due to the rise of remote work, corporate travel, family relocation, healthcare travel, and the digital nomad lifestyle. These hotels have larger living spaces and kitchens.

What countries are at the forefront of this hotel trend?

China is at the forefront of this hotel trend with the Hilton Garden Inn Gen A. The U.S. is expanding their extended stay hotels with the Marriott StudioRes. Mediterranean style lifestyle hospitality is being propelled by Spain and the Dominican Republic with Meliá Zel. The special hotel concepts are also found in Greece, Canada, Mexico, and Albania as part of their international expansion.

Author’s Observation

The hospitality industry is abandoning traditional hotel classifications in favor of purpose-built accommodations based around modern traveler behavior. Specific to those trends is the booming interest in investing in accommodations focused on wellness tourism, digital nomad facilities, hybrid leisure business travel, and extended vacations. Companies that build specialized offerings will build and retain stronger customer loyalty in a highly, continuously competitive environment. For travelers, that results in a wider variety of choices, more customized stays, and accommodations which reflect lifestyle and work tourism trends.