Design Hotels has partnered with Universal Design Studio to launch The Passion Principle: A Framework for Post-Experiential Hospitality, exploring how AI can support hotels in cultivating passion and creativity while refocusing hospitality on co-authorship and meaningful human connection.
As travelers tire of sameness, overconsumption, and digital fatigue, Design Hotels—the community-driven portfolio of 300+ design-led independent hotels—has used its fourth cultural study to create a blueprint for reimagining hospitality. The report examines how hospitality is evolving from experiential—focused on what guests experience—to post-experiential, where moments are co-created by hoteliers and guests. It also explores how artificial intelligence can support this transformation.
“At Design Hotels, we are able to stay at the forefront of travel by listening closely to our community of Originals”, says Stijn Oyen, Managing Director, Design Hotels. “Their insights, combined with our latest Further study, help us understand the changes AI is bringing—and how to shape them. We see AI not as an adversary, but as a thoughtful partner: one that can handle complexity and streamline logistics so hospitality can return to its essence—one human hosting another. This aligns directly with our ethos and with the passions that drive our community of hoteliers”.
Co-authored by acclaimed international architecture and design practice Universal Design Studio, The Passion Principle charts a shift in which experiences are no longer passively consumed but intentionally co-created by the “host” (hotelier), the “hosted” (traveler), and the place itself. It argues that hospitality is uniquely positioned to empower people to reconnect with what it means to feel human—and how AI can act not as a threat, but as an enabler of meaningful human connection.
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Spanning more than 60 pages of analysis, insights, and case studies, Further—The Passion Principle features contributions from global experts, including restaurateur and author Will Guidara, technologist and futurist Crystal Washington, and Yuta Oka, hotelier and co-founder of Naru Developments. It also highlights how the seeds of post-experiential travel are being sewn by forward-thinking brands and Design Hotels’ members across the globe.
As Jason Holley, Principal at Universal Design Studio summarises: “When passions flow, they create space for difference to thrive. This is the art of welcoming: not perfection, but the circulation of care, curiosity, and becoming.”
A Shift in Traveler Mindset
Grounded in fresh insights from the Design Hotels’ Community survey, the report underscores traveler desire to become more actively engaged in their journeys:
- 80% are comfortable participating in co-designing elements of their hotel stay (e.g., room layout, music playlists, menus).
- 88% value experiences that challenge their perspectives.
The data also highlights an unrealized opportunity to nurture spontaneity, giving rise to surprise, participation, and passion:
- 94% believe unexpected moments make a place more memorable, yet only 52% left their planned itineraries open to spontaneity and surprise.
AI as an Enabler of Humanity
According to the 2025 Design Hotels Community Survey, 42% of travelers have used AI for travel planning, most often to get inspired or brainstorm ideas (57%). However, on-property, human connection remains paramount. For leisure trips, 83% prefer hotels where service is guided entirely by human intuition. A majority (91%) value genuine interaction with staff over simply receiving service.
Opinion on AI enhancing service is split (50% Yes vs. 50% No), and comfort with AI using personal data is similarly divided (48% Yes vs. 52% No), highlighting the need for AI to be transparent and explainable—acting as a ‘courteous usher’ rather than replacing human judgment.
The Passion Principle Framework
To help hoteliers navigate this shift, Design Hotels and Universal Design Studio outline
The Passion Principle: a blueprint designed to cultivate co-authorship through hospitality spaces. The framework is structured around three phases—Flows, Invitations, and Becoming—complemented by a guide to how the latest advancements in AI can support each stage of the journey:
- Flows: The rhythms and touchpoints—from design to check-in—that shape how host and guest meet.
Case studies in this chapter include guest house by good neighbor, a new member hotel from Design Hotels, in Baltimore, USA—where every guest room is fully shoppable. Here, hospitality extends beyond a guest house to include a café, shop, and cultural programming that bring locals, travelers, and creators together. By layering these experiences, the hotel invites guests to participate in the life of the community, turning a stay into a shared act of co-creation.
- Invitations: Intentional gestures that spark participation and co-authorship.
A key case study in this chapter is Space Between, an installation by Design Hotels and Universal Design Studio during Milan Design Week 2025 at member hotel, STRAF. Space Between reimagined STRAF’s lobby as a flexible cultural hub, using a modular system that encouraged guests to rearrange, interact, and leave their mark. By turning this “in-between” space into a living record of shared experience, the hotel invited co-creation, dialogue, and micro-community building within the guest environment. Other examples in this chapter include Salt of Palmar’s “Skill Swap” in Mauritius, and Staple—a “soft developer” that cultivates cultural and social conditions through hospitality to help neighbourhoods thrive.
- Becoming: The unpredictable transformations that emerge when host, guest, and place co-create something new.
The final chapter features case studies from Design Hotels member hotel Rastrello in Panicale, Italy, where owner Christiane Wassmann is actively involved in regenerating the community—and created an “olive oil safari” for young children to learn about the EVOO process.
It also draws on examples from Hotel Belmar, a member of Design Hotels in Costa Rica and its artist residency program; plus Haus Gawaling, a collaborative homestay in Switzerland.
