The Set CEO Robin Stangroom has a theory: Luxury hotels getting ahead are the ones willing to take a real risk.
Take Nay Palad Hideaway, a 10-villa property on Siargao Island in the Philippines. It's one of 17 member properties in The Set, the boutique collection Stangroom has spent nine years help building. Guests arrive to an experience that transcends what one might expect from even the most attentive of posh getaways. There are no menus, no restaurants, and no check-in desk. A chef arrives daily to ask what you want to eat, builds the menu around your answer and what the local market offers that morning. One night you might dine in a treehouse; the next evening meal could be on your private beach.
"That spirit of collaboration is everything for us," Stangroom told Luxury Travel Advisor of The Set’s approach to hospitality. "It's our North Star."
The property has been incredibly successful, winning awards and accolades along the way. The model is also the opposite of how the luxury hotel industry increasingly works in the era of big brand takeovers.
"I really believe that's where the luxury consumer is going," Stangroom said. "They want something more authentic, more personal — less off the shelf."
Stangroom joined The Set in 2016 (back when it still went by its original moniker of The Set Hotels) and became CEO in May 2024. The brand affiliation now counts 17 properties across Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Middle East, from The Siam in Bangkok to Hotel Café Royal in London. Additions in recent years include Upper House properties in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Chengdu, and the newly announced The Chedi properties in the Middle East.
While there’s certainly growth underway, Stangroom isn't about chasing scale, enforcing standardization, or treating hotels as units in a global machine.
"We don't have a checklist," he said. "We spend a lot of time getting to know the people behind it, making sure we share the same DNA and the same values."
The Independent Hotel's False Choice
Before The Set, Stangroom spent years at Jumeirah, InterContinental, and Le Méridien, arguably inside the machine he now challenges. He watched independent luxury hotels face a brutal binary: Remain invisible on the global stage, or join a massive portfolio and become commoditized.
"You're instantly one of 700 hotels," he said of going the latter path. "You're a number rather than a real shining example."
In sprawling collections, properties compete with each other. If a destination has 10 hotels in the same affiliation, there's no incentive to collaborate or share data. You're fighting for the same guest.
The Set was founded in 2011 as an owner-operator of independent hotels. But by the time Stangroom joined in 2016, the company was pivoting to a brand affiliation model of one exceptional property per destination and avoiding competing hotels and the headaches associated with growth targets.
"The moment we start chasing a number is when we start compromising," he said.
That discipline extends to expansion within the portfolio. When a Set member opens a second property, The Set evaluates it individually; no brand contract locks it in. A hotel that executes brilliantly in one city doesn't automatically earn membership in another.
To stay accountable, Stangroom created an external development board: travel advisors, media figures, no internal staff. They vet every new opportunity.
Curation requires saying no far more often than yes, Stangroom notes.
What Boldness Actually Looks Like
At Nay Palad Hideaway, boldness translates to commercial success. The property eliminated menus, removed traditional service rituals, and forces genuine daily personalization. The strategy has generated press, awards, and repeat clientele who feel they've discovered something genuine.
The Siam in Bangkok proves the point differently. Owned by a family of musicians and artists, the property houses more than 11,000 pieces of art. Walking through it, you encounter the family’s taste and passion.
"It's not just about putting in clichéd items to prove you're in the location," Stangroom said. "It's about connecting to the people that own and run that property and put all their passion into it."
At a time when it can seem like so much in luxury travel is becoming safe, The Set pushes in the other direction.
"When one hotel does something really well, the other hotel thinks, 'Oh, well, we'll do that as well,'" he said. "Or if something was successful last year: 'Let's do it again this year.' That's the real risk: not trying something bold but copying what already exists."
So, how does one strike the right balance between curation and growth? The Set wants to stay small enough that every property matters but large enough that travelers can recommend these getaways confidently across continents.
For advisors selling to UHNW clients, this distinction is everything. These clients are drowning in loyalty points. They've stayed in hundreds of hotel rooms that look disturbingly similar. They want to feel like they're discovering something new and not consuming a predictable product.
The Set's model says you don't sacrifice global reach to deliver that.
"There's no bad brand affiliation," Stangroom said. "There's just the right one for every hotel. And probably 9.5 out of every 10 conversations we have, we end up saying: beautiful hotel, just not right for the Set."
In an industry obsessed with scale, selectivity is the actual luxury.
Nay Palad Hideaway’s dinner in a treehouse suggests the model works.
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