The travel trade represents 80% of Small Luxury Hotels of the World's global business
Representing a collection of over 700 independent, luxury boutique hotels across more than 100 countries around the world, there’s nothing cookie cutter about Small Luxury Hotels of the World. In fact, some guests will find themselves checking into a stateroom on water instead of on land.
“We’ve now got four ships that are part of SLH. We know our travellers want that intimate experience. We’ve got two in South America, both nine staterooms only, so really intimate experiences,” Anna Cooke, global communications director at SLH, tells Travel Courier. “Then we have two on the Nile as well so they’ve been going really well for us, different destinations and different intimate experiences.”
Over the past year, the collection has had a lot of growth.
“Last year we added 100 hotels to the SLH brand, this year we’ve already added 29 in Q1. Separate to that we also have 20 plus new openings for 2026 that will be launching with the brand. All independent properties, the majority are family owned,” she adds. “The SLH network is all about individuality. What really makes an SLH hotel special is its character and that’s brought to life by our wonderful independently minded hoteliers.”
Notably, Cooke pointed out that the travel trade represents 80% of its global business.
“It’s massive for us and it has been. We’re celebrating our 35th anniversary and the trade and our relationship with the trade has been a foundation of that for all those 35 years,” she said.
The portfolio features a mix of city-centre stays, resort retreats and country houses. The newest opening includes ONE | GT Grand Cayman, a luxury hotel and residential development in George Town.
SLH also has a partnership in place with Hilton across 500 participating member properties for Hilton Honours members to redeem points for hotel stays.
“It’s a really unique offering that enables some 220 million members to earn and redeem points for SLH stays while the properties retain their full independence,” she said.
For the travel trade, SLH offers withIN, an exclusive, invite-only preferred partner program for top-tier travel agencies. Its hotels are also available on GDS through the code LX.
“More than half of our portfolio is in Europe. In Italy, we have 93 properties because it really is so synonymous with what the SLH ethos is all about and that’s the number one booked destination by SLH guests from Canada,” she added.
