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WHY ULTRA- LUXURY HOTELS ARE BUILT FOR THIS MOMENT.
By DAN PEEK, AMERICAS PRESIDENT, JLL’ S HOTELS & HOSPITALITY GROUP, AND CHRISTINE BANG, MANAGER, JLL HOTEL CAPITAL MARKETS RESEARCH
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S carcity. It’ s the oldest driver of value there is, and right now it’ s working squarely in favor of ultraluxury hotels. Global wealth has compounded at 9.6 % a year since 2015, according to UBS data reviewed by JLL Research. Ultra-luxury hotel supply has grown at just 2.3 %. In 2025 alone, 287 new billionaires added $ 684 billion
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in wealth, more than nine times the $ 75 billion created in 2022. The entry threshold for Forbes’ annual list of the 400 wealthiest Americans rose from $ 2.1 billion in 2020 to $ 3.8 billion in 2025. The result? Roughly 500 U. S. billionaires left off the list. When the list was first published in 1982, it included just 13 billionaires.
Americans 70 and older now
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hold more than $ 60 trillion in net worth, according to the Federal Reserve. This wealth concentration comes at a moment when this cohort is living longer, having more active lives and can afford to put a premium on their time.
Resonance’ s“ Future of Luxury Travel” report puts spending at $ 7,900 per trip for the top 10 % of income brackets
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38 hotelsmag. com Oct / Nov 2026 |