Belmond Hotels: Every Property, Trains & How to Book

LVMH's "slow luxury" estate: 28 hotels that read like a Grand Tour, the Orient-Express's spiritual heirs, and barges through Burgundy.

By Biirdee Travel. Updated 2026-06-10.

Belmond collects the kind of properties guidebooks were invented for: the Cipriani across the lagoon from San Marco, the Splendido above Portofino harbour, Rio's Copacabana Palace, the only hotel at the gates of Machu Picchu. LVMH bought the group in 2019 and has run a deliberate "slow luxury" strategy since — selling the outliers (the Laos and Cambodia hotels left in 2024, Napasai in 2025) and pouring money into the icons, including a Peter Marino reimagining of the Cipriani with Venice's first Dior Spa arriving in 2026.

Uniquely, half the brand isn't hotels at all: the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, the new Britannic Explorer (England & Wales's first luxury sleeper, launched July 2025), Peru's Andean Explorer, the Eastern & Oriental in Malaysia, seven canal barges in France, and two Botswana safari lodges. No other luxury brand owns a travel ecosystem like it.

Belmond in Brief

Italy — the Heartland

Rest of Europe & Africa

Americas

Trains, Barges and Lodges — the Other Half of Belmond

The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express remains the most famous train on earth (London/Paris–Venice and seasonal routes, cabins from ~£3,500 per person, suites far beyond), and 2025's Britannic Explorer brought the format to England and Wales with Simon Rogan dining. Peru's Andean Explorer sleeps you across the altiplano, and the Hiram Bingham day train is the grand way up to Machu Picchu. In France, seven Belmond barges drift through Burgundy, Champagne and Provence at walking pace — the purest "slow luxury" product LVMH owns. Botswana's Savute Elephant and Eagle Island lodges complete the set.

Strategy note: Belmond pairs hotels and journeys deliberately — Venice via VSOE into the Cipriani, Cusco's Monasterio onto the Hiram Bingham, Timeo after a Sicily circuit. Booked as one itinerary through Biirdee, the hotel legs carry Bellini Club-grade benefits (breakfast, credits, upgrade priority at the same rate), and the train cabins are secured early — festive VSOE departures and Machu Picchu's Sanctuary Lodge are the two hardest reservations in the portfolio.

Belmond FAQs

How many Belmond hotels are there?

28 hotels as of June 2026, plus six trains, seven French river barges and two Botswana safari lodges. Asia is down to one hotel (Bali) after the brand's "slow luxury" pruning.

Does Belmond have a loyalty program?

No — LVMH runs no hotel points scheme (same answer as Cheval Blanc). The Bellini Club is for travel advisors; book through an affiliated concierge and the benefits attach at the same rate as direct.

What is Belmond's best hotel?

The Cipriani by consensus, especially post-renovation. The Splendido is the most glamorous; Sanctuary Lodge the most irreplaceable (the location cannot be duplicated); Copacabana Palace the greatest legend.

Is the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express worth it?

As a once-in-a-life theatre piece, yes — it's a moving Agatha Christie set with black-tie dinners. Book 9–12 months out, pair it with the Cipriani, and treat the cabin class decision seriously: suites transform the experience.

The Grand Tour, Properly Sequenced

Cipriani nights, Orient-Express cabins, Machu Picchu at dawn — Biirdee books the whole Belmond ecosystem with benefits attached and the hard reservations secured early.

Plan My Belmond Journey

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