The Set Collection emerged in 2021 as an affiliation for independent luxury hotels seeking global reach without surrendering their names, ownership or operating identity. The public-facing brand has since shortened to The Set, while LHL retains The Set Collection for code continuity. By August 2026 the official hotel page lists 17 member hotels across 12 countries.
The brand
The Set is not a conventional chain and does not operate member hotels as one system. It is a luxury affiliation and representation platform run by The Set Hotels Management Company Limited in the United Kingdom. Members remain independently owned and managed, while The Set provides visibility, sales, distribution, marketing, partnerships and loyalty access. UK Companies House identifies Alrov Properties and Lodgings Limited as a person with significant control.
The current list spans Hotel Café Royal in London, The Siam in Bangkok, Round Hill in Jamaica, Nay Palad Hideaway in the Philippines, Shinta Mani in Cambodia, Chedi properties in the Middle East, Jerusalem hotels, Greek islands and Upper House properties in China. The official 2026 site lists 17 member hotels in 12 countries; private residences are not added separately to the hotel count.
Brand philosophy
The Set defines itself through four values: Independently Spirited, Sense of Place, Individuals. Not systems, and Quiet Luxury. Affiliation should strengthen a hotel without flattening it. Properties are selected for character, design, local relevance and service culture, while the corporate platform remains less visible than the hotel itself.
The 2026 language adds connected stories, cinematic escapes, creative expression and emotional resonance. This makes The Set more consumer-facing than a back-office representation company, but the principle remains: collaboration should increase reach while preserving independence.
What distinguishes it
Affiliation without surrender. Member owners retain their hotel name, identity and day-to-day operation. The Set is designed to add commercial reach without requiring a rebrand or a standard operating template.
Non-competing membership. The original model was built around hand-picked, non-competing partners. That makes destination coverage more curated than a large soft brand whose primary objective is scale.
Consumer brand plus B2B platform. The Set is not only a representation company: it now has its own booking presence, editorial voice, partnerships and The Set DISCOVERY rewards programme, giving the affiliation a visible guest-facing layer.
GHA extends the loyalty reach. The Set DISCOVERY connects participating member hotels to Global Hotel Alliance’s wider DISCOVERY ecosystem, allowing independent properties to offer a shared rewards currency without joining a major hotel corporation.
The portfolio can change without changing the hotels. Because membership is contractual rather than ownership-based, the collection can evolve as hotels join or leave while the properties themselves continue under their original identities. The Set therefore curates a moving network rather than a fixed owner portfolio.
WHO IT IS NOT FOR
The Set is a weak fit for travellers who want one operator controlling every hotel, identical service standards or a uniform room product. Membership signals curation, but each property remains operationally independent. The Siam, Hotel Café Royal, Shinta Mani Wild and Round Hill differ substantially in service rhythm, architecture and facilities. Travellers prioritising chain-level consistency may prefer a global operator; those valuing independent identity with a common booking and loyalty layer are closer to The Set’s audience.
Signature houses
2021Hotel Café RoyalLondon, United Kingdom
One of the founding member hotels, Hotel Café Royal illustrates the original model: a famous independent address keeps its own name and heritage while using The Set as an affiliation, distribution and commercial platform.
2021MamillaJerusalem, Israel
Mamilla was also among the founding member hotels and shows the collection’s preference for strong local identity. Its location beside Jerusalem’s Old City gives the affiliation a property whose appeal depends more on destination context than on a replicated brand aesthetic.
2023The SiamBangkok, Thailand
The Siam joined as one of the collection’s most distinctive Asian members. Its privately owned, design-led riverside character demonstrates why The Set emphasises individuals rather than systems and avoids conventional chain standardisation.
2025Round Hill Hotel & VillasMontego Bay, Jamaica
Round Hill expanded The Set into classic Caribbean resort territory. Independent ownership, villas and a long-standing identity fit an affiliation built around preserving house-level character.
2026Andronis ConceptSantorini, Greece
Announced as a new member in April 2026, the 28-suite-and-villa wellness resort strengthened The Set’s Greek island presence and showed continued expansion into contemporary independent resorts.
Editorial note — Code and book number checked against the current LHL register. Brand history, legal identity and member model were checked against official The Set materials; ownership against UK Companies House; member count against the official hotel page, reviewed August 2026. LHL retains The Set Collection as the code name; the current consumer-facing identity is The Set. Portfolio count: 17 listed member hotels in 12 countries, excluding private residences.
⚑ It owns nothing, and that is stated in its own founding announcement. The Set Hotels began with the Conservatorium in Amsterdam in 2011, grew to three European houses by 2018 with Café Royal and the Lutetia, and in 2021 rebranded as The Set Collection — described by the company as a luxury brand representation company of like-minded independent hotels, run by hoteliers for hoteliers. Owners keep their own brand, identity and day-to-day operation. Mamilla in Jerusalem joined the founding four. This is the same object as LHL-303 Leading and LHL-306 Preferred and it is smaller and later: what it sells is a short list of services instead of a long one.
⚑ The concrete thing it supplies is two letters. It partnered with Sabre for distribution and a booking engine, and secured the GDS chain code TS, made available exclusively to its members. No other entry in this register records a chain code as the asset — but that is what a representation company actually hands an independent house: the two characters by which a travel agent’s terminal finds it beside the chains. The Library records it because it is the mechanism, and because no brochure explains it.
Swire brought four in 2022. The House Collective — The Opposite House in Beijing, The Upper House in Hong Kong, The Temple House in Chengdu and The Middle House in Shanghai — joined the founding four. Swire is LHL-098 in this register, and its Hong Kong podium houses stand at LHL-S-236 and LHL-S-237. A representation company signing a developer’s own hotel brand is the arrangement working as intended: the houses stay Swire’s and the distribution is rented.
⚑ And then two of the three founders were sold out from under it. Mandarin Oriental announced the option to sign Hôtel Lutetia in Paris and the Conservatorium in Amsterdam from early 2025, with the Conservatorium to be rebranded Mandarin Oriental Conservatorium, Amsterdam in January 2026. The house the collection began with in 2011 now carries another company’s name. The Library records this because it is the risk written into the model: a body that owns nothing can lose its founders to anyone who does, and Missoni at LHL-008 is the same lesson from the licensing side.
Candour. ⚑ Dates disagree: Café Royal is given as joining in 2012 by one account and as arriving with the Lutetia by 2018 in four others; the Library carries both. The WWF partnership with an initial £10,000 donation on behalf of the three founding hotels is the company’s own announcement. ⚑ Not established here: who owns The Set Collection, what its members pay, how many houses it now represents, or whether Café Royal and Mamilla remain.
⚑ Sources added September 2026, one of 140 entries the Library’s own audit found published without them.