Critical Success Factors (CSFs) in Luxury Hotels: Insights from a Literature Review

Luxury hospitality represents the third-largest segment of the world luxury market. According to the annual study by Bain & Altagamma (2025), this segment grew by 4% in 2024, reaching an estimated €242 billion. Its growth was in contrast with the overall luxury market. A key trend emerging from the aforementioned report is a shift in luxury consumer spending towards experiences, among which travel and wellness. The luxury hotel market is highly diverse and includes a variety of offerings spanning from opulent resorts and globally recognised branded hotels, to eco-luxury retreats and wellness hotels. Understanding the key attributes of luxury hotels would allow for classifying them and facilitating the identification of key challenges in their operations. However, literature in this regard is scattered, differently from the one on luxury products and brands. This paper’s objective is to identify and define the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) that contribute to the success of luxury hotels and explore whether they differ from those of luxury products. To this aim, a systematic literature review was carried out using Scopus database. Based on 27 papers, the following luxury hotel CSFs were identified and defined: brand prestige, exceptional quality and comfort, distinctive aesthetics and design, exemplary and personalized services, effortless guest experience, enhanced guest experience, exclusive lifestyle cohesion, beautiful and strategic location. The study also discuss the operational challenges associated to each CSF, while showing the key differences with products. The proposed CSFs can help managers to understand what truly differentiates their offer and support future research on service management within the luxury hospitality sector.