Anantara Hotels & Resorts celebrates 50 property milestone with brand refresh

Anantara Hotels & Resorts, a pioneering force in luxury hospitality, is marking a significant milestone with a reimagined brand identity. The visual refresh takes an elegant, pared-back approach that enables each hotel’s unique character to shine – an increasingly important consideration as a run of recent openings across Europe, Middle East, and Asia propelled the brand portfolio beyond 50 properties for the first time.

This milestone is a remarkable journey for the company, which opened its first international resort in the Maldives in 2005. Since then, Anantara has expanded its footprint globally, establishing itself as a leader in experiential luxury hospitality.

The new-look branding builds upon Anantara’s 23-year legacy and has been designed to capture the imagination of today’s travellers while honouring the brand’s roots in experiential luxury.

Ian Di Tullio, Chief Commercial Officer of Minor Hotels, the parent company of Anantara, said: “Anantara’s new visual identity and evolved experiences and concepts will redefine how guests see and interact with the brand and will elevate us to a space less cluttered by other luxury hotel brands. This will be underpinned by an increased focus on deeply embedded sustainability, both in terms of how we help the environment and local communities, and how guests experience our hotels and resorts.”

The reimagined Anantara identity introduces several key updates and enhancements:

• Simplified Name: Transitioning from ‘Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas’ to ‘Anantara Hotels & Resorts’, reinforcing the brand’s commitment to luxury accommodation worldwide. Anantara Spa will continue to exist as a standalone brand.
• Updated Logo: A contemporary evolution of the Anantara logo retains its distinctive icon – the ‘Naam Jai’ water jar and traditional triangular cushions – symbolising its roots in Thai hospitality, with a revised typographic treatment designed to balance elegance, modernity, and heritage.
• New Tagline: ‘Unforgettable Journeys’ embodies Anantara’s promise to create lasting memories for guests, no matter where their journey takes them.
• Modernised Design Elements: A refined colour palette and elegant typography have been developed to give the brand a more editorial look and feel, creating a simplified visual identity that enables the brand to more effectively communicate its core experiential luxury positioning.
• Enhanced Brand Signatures: New identities for Anantara Spa, Designer Dining, and Spice Spoons by Anantara will elevate guest experiences and enable a more cohesive Anantara brand ecosystem.
• Refined Service Culture: Enhanced service delivery standards and team member training programmes will elevate the Anantara guest experience.

AnaMarija Raickovic, Minor Hotels Global Head of Corporate, Luxury, and Lifestyle Brands, said: “The evolution of Anantara’s brand identity has been a journey of continuous refinement, with the last major update completed in 2015. Now, in 2024, the brand takes another significant step forward, refreshing its visual identity to better connect with the discerning modern traveller.”

Since its inception in 2001 with the opening of its first resort in Hua Hin, Thailand, Anantara has grown to become a global leader in experiential luxury hospitality, with a portfolio spanning Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Indian Ocean, and Africa. In recent years, it has evolved rapidly from its resort-focused roots to boast a presence in the heart of some of the world’s most vibrant cities, including Rome, Vienna, Dubai, and Bangkok.

Anantara has also demonstrated the ability to create distinctive experiences outside the traditional hotel space, necessitating the creation of a brand identity that is adaptable across a wider range of experiential offerings. These include luxury rail journeys through Vietnam on The Vietage by Anantara, intimate tented safari experiences at the upcoming Anantara Kafue River Tented Camp in Zambia, and a growing suite of international wellbeing and F&B experiences.

Anantara recently passed the 50 property milestone off the back of a run of new openings – including Anantara Koh Yao Yai Resort & Villas in Thailand, Anantara Mina Al Arab Ras Al Khaimah Resort and Anantara Santorini Abu Dhabi Retreat in UAE, and Anantara Palais Hansen Vienna Hotel.

The Anantara portfolio will continue its global expansion in the coming months, with the brand set to make its India debut with Anantara Jaipur Hotel later in 2024, on top of new openings in Bali (Q4) and Zambia (early 2025) and beyond.

The evolution of Anantara’s brand identity reflects this journey of growth and evolution, capturing the essence of Anantara’s 23-year legacy while embracing its expanding global footprint.

The rebranding initiative has commenced with the rollout of the new logo and visual identity across all Anantara digital assets, with guests set to experience more tangible changes in service delivery and on-property experiences in the coming months.