Born out of the success of the Nobu restaurant empire, Nobu Hotels is headed toward empire status in its own right, with 19 properties open and 28 in various stages of development.
That may sound like a production line, but Nobu has some unique properties in the pipeline, including its first rural hotel.
Since the first Nobu hotel debuted in 2013 within Caesars Palace Las Vegas, most properties have opened in urban locations. Some Nobu properties are beachfront resorts.
A first will be a hotel in the English countryside.
Along with a hotel with lakeview guestrooms and suites, there will be a restaurant and branded residences across 185 acres in Rutland, in England's East Midlands region. The development is in partnership with Woolfox, a wellness-focused private members club and estate.
Rachael Palumbo
"The luxury client really wants something that's a little bit more back to nature, and unplugged," said Rachael Palumbo, Nobu Hospitality's senior vice president of global hotel brand marketing and communications, calling the rural expansion part of a "new direction" for Nobu.
The property is being positioned as an accessible escape, roughly one to two hours away from English cities London, Cambridge, Birmingham and Manchester.
Nobu's urban planning
That said, urban markets continue to make up a significant share of Nobu Hospitality's pipeline.
The Plaza Athenee Nobu Hotel & Spa New York, which will be the brand's first hotel in New York City, is targeting a fall opening following a top-to-bottom renovation of the Plaza Athenee, which has been closed since March 2020.
As part of the revamp, the Upper East Side property plans to debut Nobu's first omakase restaurant — diners leave it to the chef to decide what will be served.
The Plaza Athenee Nobu Hotel & Spa Bangkok, a new development, is expected to be unveiled this year in a historical building along the Chao Phraya River.
At the Bangkok property, Palumbo said the brand plans to offer guests river tours via a Nobu-branded boat, another first for the brand.
Nobu is aiming for a September opening in Madrid, which will be the brand's fifth hotel in Spain. With properties already in Barcelona, San Sebastian, Marbella and Ibiza, Palumbo said guests can piece together a Nobu circuit across the country, with train connections making it easy to move between cities.
"Spain is a big, exciting story for Nobu," she said, adding that each hotel is focused on offering curated local experiences, from a winery tour outside Barcelona to wellness programming and hikes in Ibiza.
"Our brand really is about doing things off the beaten path. We don't want guests doing the typical tourist activities," Palumbo said.
Looking further ahead, two Vietnam hotels, in Danang and Ho Chi Minh City, are slated to begin welcoming guests next year. Japan and China are other Asia markets Nobu is considering for expansion.
"In the next year, you'll start seeing more announcements in that region," said Palumbo. "Asia-Pacific is very important to us."
Despite the Iran war impacting the region, Palumbo said the brand's Middle East developments are moving forward, emphasizing that "many of those projects have been in place for a while."
A hotel in Abu Dhabi is expected to open next year, with new properties in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates and Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia also in the pipeline.