Skift’s Discover Collection

Discover Collection is being pitched as a members-based luxury hotel group built outside the big online travel agencies, with former Six Senses president Bernhard Bohnenberger leading the project. (skift.com) Bohnenberger created Discover Collection with Mike Meldman, founder of Discovery Land Company, and Travel Weekly reported in October 2024 that about 12 properties were already in concept, design or construction. The first opening was slated for Discover Collection R’as Amud in Musandam, Oman, followed by projects in Ireland, Kenya, Botswana, Mexico, Albania, Thailand, Bhutan and Zambia. (travelweekly.com) The company’s own site now describes Discover Collection as a “global Members’ community” offering curated stays and locally rooted experiences, with booking access tied to membership rather than open mass-market distribution. Its community page says members can book overnight stays across properties and use a personal curator for transfers, pre-arrival planning and experiences. (discovercollection.com, discovercollection.com) That setup puts Discover Collection in a different lane from hotel groups that rely heavily on online travel agencies such as Booking.com or Expedia to fill rooms. Skift said the concept is centered on structural changes in distribution and on tighter relationships with high-end sellers rather than broad platform exposure. (skift.com) The timing follows a wider luxury-travel push toward private clubs, branded residences and invitation-style communities that promise access as much as accommodation. Discover Collection’s team page lists a director of membership and a private residences lead, showing that the company is building those functions into the brand from the start. (discovercollection.com) The economics are also aimed at the very top of the market. Travel Weekly said project costs were running about $1 million to $2 million per key, excluding land, and that Bohnenberger was targeting an internal rate of return of at least 20%. (travelweekly.com) Discover Collection is also selling a sustainability story alongside the exclusivity. Its website says the business is built around “conservation and regeneration, community and culture, education and opportunity,” and its foundation page says funding is meant to come from recurring shares of revenue, membership fees and royalties from residence sales. (discovercollection.com, discovercollection.com) That language tracks with Bohnenberger’s Six Senses history. Discover Collection’s team page says he spent 28 years at Six Senses, and Skift previously reported in 2022 that he was already working on eco-resort projects in Kenya after leaving the brand in 2019. (discovercollection.com, skift.com) The open question is whether enough affluent travelers will accept a club-like model before the network is fully built out. Travel Weekly reported the company expected 10,000 to 20,000 members in its initial stages and said it was not yet charging an annual membership fee until more hotels were open. (travelweekly.com) For now, Discover Collection is less a conventional hotel launch than a bet that luxury travelers will book through relationships, membership and curation instead of scrolling through a giant marketplace. The first test is whether those promised openings turn a brand story into an operating portfolio. (skift.com, discovercollection.com)