Experts Agree, 'Resort-Core' Is Here to Stay — A Slower, Intentional, and Expressive Way of Life, "It's Where Desire Meets Design"

To say that this deep dive into the intoxicating world of resort-core has been long in the making would be a euphemism. It was still winter, early February, to be precise, when my colleagues and I began to spot the ever-apparent convergence between the world of travel and all things living. I say "began" as, before we knew it, much like the rest of the trends that shaped globetrotters' movements in 2025 so far, it was ubiquitous. Omnipresent. And, frankly, quite contagious. It all started when Singapore Airlines decided to make guests' in-flight time extra nourishing with an exclusive amenity kit released in partnership with New York cult beauty brand Le Labo in time for Christmas Eve last year. It is a collaboration that made one thing clear: in a world where city-hopping has become easier than ever, with low-fare tickets making getaways accessible to most, how we cruise — what we can't leave without as we get on the move or wear while doing it — has become the real status symbol, even more than where we are heading to.

Only a couple of months later, Kristina Romanova, CEO and Creative Director of the (uber-)luxurious Aman Resorts' skincare, fragrance, and accessories leg, Aman Essentials, and its more recently launched immersive retail concept, Aman Cabana, confirmed it in confessing her aspirations to transform the hotel brand into "a lifestyle" while speaking with Vogue's Elise Taylor. A vision she is already pursuing thanks to the all-encompassing approach to hospitality on offer at the group's Utah wellness sanctuary, Amangiri, and beyond. "I want to just be taken care of when it comes to even clothes that I wear here," she said in that interview, hinting at how, should they brave doing so, visitors could rock up to the desert retreat baggage-less, only to find the house's exquisitely crafted, custom apparel offering waiting for them.

It continued with the countless The White Lotus-themed homeware and travel collections that marked the anticipated return to the small screen of Mike White's HBO hit success in mid-February — richly ornate, lavish accessories inspired by Thailand's sandy beaches, its aura of spiritualness interspersed with indulgent escapism. Ready to reach its highest, most natural peak yet with the arrival of summer, the rise of resort-core is ongoing even today. As I type this think piece, the drop of H&M Home's latest collaboration, a pattern and color-packed line of decor essentials conceived by New York-based Creative Director Gabriella Khalil, the founding designer behind the global style set favorite that is Grand Cayman's Palm Heights, is imminent. Scheduled for June 12, the release brings the 1970s-inspired, golden-hued fantasy of the glamorous stay — one of the best design hotels for vintage-addicted travelers, endorsed by the likes of Chloë Sevigny and the Hadid sisters — into everyone's home through self-care, interior, and leisure objects that uplift and inspire.

Live Life Like You're on Holiday, Year-Round

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Despite recent evidence suggesting the opposite, the truth is resort-core, or our inclination to collect items and experiences that either remind us of or find ways to prolong the regenerating atmosphere of our days OOO (bonus point if spent at some paradisiac idyll), has always been here in one way or another. Emirates' travel pouch collaboration in partnership with legendary Italian Maison Bvlgari, for example, landed already in 2009, quickly followed by similar launches by Turkish Airlines x Lanvin (2013), Qatar Airways x Diptyque (2022), and an aviation-fit Etihad Airways x Armani/Casa serveware collection (2022), only topped by even more sophisticated merch, in the following years. Stemming from a desire "to elevate the everyday," as Sean Breuner, CEO and Founder of group holiday rental provider AvantStay, whose meticulously catered US stays range from pool-equipped, sprawling hideaways in the Great Smoky Mountains to desert modernism marvels with unobstructed Joshua Tree views and Bond villain lairs carved into the hilltops of the Colorado River, tells me, it isn't going anywhere.

More than simply raising the bar for how vacationers want to travel by prompting hospitality moguls to incorporate layered design details, hotel-grade comforts, and communal spaces built for anecdotes you'll retell long after checkout into their properties, or allowing us "to slip into something indulgent without flying halfway around the world," like Breuner adds, "resort-core is a tectonic shift in how people engage with space, memory, and aesthetics," Anthologist founder and Creative Director Andria Mitsakos says. "It's about crafting a version of the world we wish we lived in: slower, softer, more intentional. A return to the senses, it gives people the feeling of owning a moment in time." As for how it actually unfolds, there are manifold forms.

The Hotel Gift Shop, Reinvented

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Remember the good old hotel gift shops? Well, Aman Essentials' Romanova, it turns out, isn't the only one to have given these nostalgic hotspots a full style makeover. From Marie-Louise Sciò, CEO and Founder of Pellicano Hotels — arguably the most "fabled" of Italy's luxury stays, with sumptuous palazzos adorning the coasts of Tuscany's Porto Ercole, Rome, and Ischia, and soon, also gracing the rolling hills around Siena — and the watercolored extravaganza of her lifestyle platform, Issimo, a curated selection of the finest Italian artisan goods, delivering an immersive shopping experience online as well as on-site, to the country-chic, 100% British, crafty ambience of the food, home, and garden emporium at The Newt in Somerset, and the groovy, music culture-led setup and offerings of Ace Hotels' boutiques across the globe, stocking up on holiday inspiration has never been more of a design affair.

"I did my first resort boutique in the mid-1990s in Antigua. I did it again in the mid-aughts in the last great days of Mykonos, and in 2021, I romanced the resort boutique one step further when Paros was on the edge of becoming the hottest destination in Greece," Anthologist's mastermind, Mitsakos, tells me of the hotel shops curation that took her vibrant artistic vision to different corners of the world, partly influenced by her Greek and Armenian roots. Approaching travel as "a form of personal archaeology", she sources and handcrafts pieces that feel like emotional souvenirs. Pareos, throws, charms, bags, belts, beachwear, artworks — "things people didn't know they needed until they saw them in a place that felt like a dream," the founder adds. Occasionally, the effort goes as far as coming up with a full resortwear line, including guest robes, and even staff uniforms, as Mitsakos did for St. Lucia's couple getaway East Winds and Moskito, a 125-acre village estate set in the British Virgin Islands, respectively.

At The Rockaway Hotel in Queens, NY, The Supply Shop was inaugurated in summer 2023 as an on-site extension of the hotel itself. Selling anything from tote bags, sweatshirts, and printed matter to artist-designed accessories "that reflect our values of community, environment, and experience, it aims to leave people a reminder of how they felt in that moment," Michi Jigarjian, Managing Partner and Chief Social Impact Officer at the sojourn, tells me. While part of it has to do with escapism, "it's not about checking out. It's about returning to a version of yourself that feels more open, more inspired, more present".

Instead of granting travelers the opportunity to merely fantasize about some place else, resort-core provides them with the tools to actively and authentically engage "with a new location, as a new person, as a local," Bunkhouse Hotels & JdV by Hyatt's VP of Brand & Community, Erin Lindsey, adds. One of the latter group's properties, the Mission Pacific Beach Resort, is home to a boutique that exemplifies that mission. "The JdV by Hyatt portfolio features vibrant hotels that are true reflections of their neighborhoods, and The Ozone Shop carries a variety of sought-after labels, lifestyle must-haves, and vintage collectibles that perfectly embody the spirit of Oceanside and California surf culture," she explains, stressing how the retro-fueled hotspot is rooted in the zeitgeist of the stay's location.

Bring on the Age of Multi-Brand Collaborations

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Nothing has been more instrumental to the advent of resort-core than intersectional collaborations, a previously overlooked aspect of travel that, today, is literally driving the tourism movement forward. Again, to some, this will sound like old news. After all, LVMH's debut Cheval Blanc Maison, the jewel of craftsmanship that kick-started the one-of-a-kind boutique hospitality circuit of the world-leading luxury conglomerate, opened its doors to the public in Courchevel, in the French Alps, as early as 2006, putting standout artisanry, creativity, and art de recevoir at the heart of its identity. But letting contemporary tastemakers, however regional or global, burgeoning or firmly established, help shape the sensory and cultural dimension of a holiday stay is yet another way of anchoring it in the territory. Of turning it into a positive addition to it, and into a stop worth adding to your maps.

Some, like AvantStay's Breuner, like to do that by tapping into the unique perspective of local artisans, like they did for The Gilmore in Nashville, TN, the firm's "first full-service hotel". Pairing radiant, Mediterranean-inspired plush interiors with southern charm and flavors, and easy access to beloved country music institutions, it isn't just a place to stay: it's a thought-through rendition of the city's heritage. Entrusting the local hospitality interior disruptors at Mesa with custom lobby millwork, Red Rocks Tileworks with hand-painted signage, and Zion Botanica with eye-catching plant installations, besides platforming native businesses like Five Daughters Bakery, Frothy Monkey, alongside a rotating selection of must-try boutiques, restaurants, and fitness studios, the result is an aesthetic journey that puts Nashville's character at your fingertips.

While the more subtle collaborations are the ones that allow every hotel and resort to exude a strong sense of place by spotlighting the genius of craftsmen active in the area, the most immediately tangible (and, perhaps, most popular) ones remain product-based. One of such winning synergies is the recurring pop-up menswear shop brought by British fashion label CHÈ Studios, known for its effortlessly elegant, sustainable resort- and swimwear, to The Bodrum EDITION, a sandy, Aegean sea escape sited on the dramatic coast of the Turkish Riviera. "By aligning with CHÈ, The Bodrum EDITION enhances its appeal to fashion-conscious guests who value convenience and elegance during their stay," Sinan Aksoy, Director of Culture & Entertainment at the hotel, tells me. "Vacationers are not just traveling for rest; they are curating their look as part of the journey. What we're seeing is a growing appetite for leisure where style, setting, and experience are seamlessly connected. That, to me, is the heart of resort-core right now, and this type of collaboration caters directly to the expectations of the modern traveler."

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For Royal Expression Travels' founder and Lead Luxury Lifestyle Travel Designer LaDell Carter, these partnerships play a game of their own. "Travel has become a lifestyle, and resort-core is how we wear that lifestyle on our sleeves," she says. "Hotel-branded merchandise like the FRAME x Ritz Paris sweatshirt is surging, and not because it's trendy, but because it transports: it evokes a destination, a moment, a mood." As the mind behind the boutique tour operator's experiences, Carter knows that every detail counts. "From the moment their trip begins, at Royal Expression Travels, globetrotters don't just leave with an itinerary; they leave with a feeling," she tells me. "Maybe it's the handwritten welcome note tucked beside a monogrammed TUMI travel kit. Or an engraved Away suitcase paired with a silk eye mask from LUNYA, our favorite sleep ritual brand. These are more than keepsakes," the founder adds. "They're emotional anchors that remind our clients: you were seen, you were celebrated, and this moment was designed for you."

These, I learn, are tricks of the trade she picked up on her own travels. At Grand Hotel Timeo, a Belmond Hotel in Taormina, a Dior spa pop-up, perched on the edge of a cliff and overlooking the Ionian Sea, enabled her to revel in the surrounding Mediterranean scrub. Anticipated by an open-air corridor patterned with signature Dior motifs, the treatment "wasn't just skincare. It was a storytelling full immersion that spoke to who I became through that sojourn," Carter recounts. Elsewhere, like at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, she made the most of the lavender wellness sleep patch she received while there. "Tailored, soothing, and unforgettable, I wore it on the plane and felt cared for in a way that stayed with me long after check-out," the founder adds. The ROMEO Hotel in Naples gathered her beauty items into a custom satin makeup bag with designer-level hardware that, Carter laughs, "still sparks conversation everywhere I go." From the hormone-safe tracksuit she got gifted at the premium medical wellness retreat that is Palazzo Fiuggi, one of the best spas in Europe, to the weighted gel eye mask found upon arrival at Four Seasons New Orleans, "every object became a memento of meaning".

The Vacation Feel, But Out of the Room

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But resort-core isn't confined to hotel lobbies, spas, and gift shops. Increasingly, hospitality is steering toward an out-of-the-box (and out-of-the-room) approach to culture and entertainment, one that strives to surprise visitors by reuniting seemingly disparate disciplines and personalities into concepts that have us daydream year-round. During the Paris Olympics, for example, Carter attended a private LVMH-hosted club experience envisioned for an exclusive crowd. Tucked into a hidden garden, flanked by curated installations, and surrounded by the brand’s most iconic partners, "it was more than hospitality, it was a statement," she recalls. "Awaiting guests upstairs was an invite-only, museum-level experience with rare Louis Vuitton pieces. At the center of it all, Michelin-level dining, personalized service, and entry through gates that whispered, 'you belong here.'"

Something similar just happened at The Bodrum EDITION, where the 2025 season launch saw over 500 guests, including KOLs, local and international celebrities, descend onto the lined-in-trees, panoramic resort for a weekend in the sign of gastronomy, music-fueled nightlife, creativity, and relaxation. Or, to put it in the words of the group's Aksoy, "for a summer cultural reset." And at NY's The Rockaway Hotel, whose Art Arena™ Summit has only just seen arts and athletic icons of the likes of Megan Rapinoe, Mickalene Thomas, Marilyn Minter, and Cari Champion share the stage for a two day of panels, public art, and community events. "From Glossier pool cabana takeovers to a youth mural unveiling and sustainable art installations, the Summit transforms the hotel into a living, breathing example of resort-core at its most thoughtful and expressive," Michi Jigarjian, Managing Partner and Chief Social Impact Officer at the buzzy hotspot, tells me.

Meanwhile, JdV by Hyatt's The Barnett, located in New Orleans, "is leading the way with its music collaborations, offering fresh, live performances on most nights, and serving as a vibrant hub for local talent and cultural connection," says the portfolio's VP of Brand & Community, Erin Lindsey. "Featuring jazz, DJs, dance, rap, avant-garde harpists, Louisiana natives, and local New Orleans artists, these sessions make the stay into a living link to NOLA's rich musical past, present, and future." Understanding the value that contemporary creatives can bring to the table is something that La Residencia, Belmond's Mallorca outpost, first established in 1984 in a 16th-century villa and only just revamped by the award-winning Studio Ashby, excels at, having welcomed countless artists as part of its residency program over the years. Today, the legacy of Deià, the bohemian enclave it is set in, is eternally revived, reinvented, and expanded by a new generation of arts, crafts, and food epicureans, whose offspring bring the hotel to life.

If, on the one hand, resort-core is prompting "today's traveler to pay greater attention to every aspect of their journey, from hotel choice to what they pack," as Niklas Oppermann, co-founder of trailblazing luggage manufacturer Carl Friedrik, tells me, leading to a higher demand for "design-forward baggage that feels like an extension of their personal aesthetic — something that mirrors the elegance of a five-star suite but is durable enough for real-world travel", gadgets and gifts aside, it's the more rarefied, emotional side of the trend to make it so powerful.

More than anything else, its growing popularity lies in its resonance. "Resort-core is about preserving that lingering air of excitement, the way travel makes you feel different in your body," concludes Royal Expression Travels' LaDell Carter. "I sleep better, move differently, and breathe deeper when I travel. Rather than escapism, that's embodiment."