Hari Hotels is making a calculated move into the orbit of one of hospitality’s biggest global operators, with The Hari London, The Hari Hong Kong and the forthcoming The Hari Singapore set to join IHG Hotels & Resorts’ Vignette Collection.
The arrangement gives the family-owned luxury brand access to IHG’s distribution muscle and loyalty network while allowing its hotels to keep The Hari name, design language and personality.
In luxury hospitality, where “individual” can sometimes mean the same beige chair in a different postcode, that distinction matters.
A soft-brand move with hard commercial logic
The appeal of Vignette Collection is easy to spot. Independent hotels retain their identity while plugging into the machinery behind IHG: global reservations, sales reach and a large loyalty ecosystem.
The hotel gets scale; the guest is still meant to feel as though somebody chose the artwork rather than ordered it by the hectare.
For the Harilela Group, this is not a first date. Its relationship with IHG stretches back more than five decades and, with the latest agreement, spans six hotels across Asia and Europe.
The deal looks less like a change of direction than an attempt to put more horsepower behind a brand the family has spent years shaping.
The London and Hong Kong properties are due to join Vignette Collection this year. IHG identifies them as 85-room and 210-room hotels respectively, while Singapore will add a much larger 324-room property to The Hari portfolio.
Singapore gives the deal its sharpest edge
The most interesting part of the story sits in Singapore. The Hari Singapore will not emerge from an empty plot and a mood board; it will be created through the conversion of Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre, with Tara Bernerd overseeing the transformation ahead of a 2027 opening.
That makes the project more than a new flag on the map. It is a repositioning exercise, taking an established city-centre hotel into the luxury and lifestyle category while making Singapore the first Vignette Collection market for the brand.
There is neat corporate symmetry here. The Harilela Group gets to expand its luxury identity using an asset already embedded in the IHG system, while IHG gains a distinctive address without asking The Hari to disappear behind another name. Everybody keeps their monogram.
The Hari’s real asset is its sense of place
The risk with any collection brand is that “independence” becomes a line in the brochure rather than something a guest can feel. The Hari has built its proposition around details that are difficult to standardise.
British interior designer Tara Bernerd has shaped the existing hotels, using layered residential styling rather than the polished anonymity that can infect international luxury properties.
Rotating art collections feature established and emerging local artists, while The Hari Art Prize gives the cultural positioning a more tangible purpose.
The Hari’s own material confirms Bernerd’s continuing design involvement in London and her work on the 210-room Hong Kong property.
“The Hari expresses these ideals through genuine, heartfelt hospitality and impeccable service steeped in my family’s decades-long hospitality legacy,” said Dr Aron Harilela, Chairman and CEO of Harilela Group and founder of The Hari brand.
“Our design-led hotels serve as gateways to the art, culture and communities that define their destinations.”
That local emphasis extends beyond the walls. The Hari Neighbourhood Guide Audio Tour is designed to push guests into the surrounding streets rather than leave them marooned between the lobby and the minibar.
The Hong Kong version explores Wan Chai through locally rooted stops and experiences. For city hotels, that is where the argument for individuality ought to be won.
Independence, with a very large booking engine behind it
The phrase “best of both worlds” has been worked to death by hotel marketing departments, so it can remain peacefully buried. Still, the commercial logic is close to that idea.
The Hari wants to remain recognisable as The Hari. IHG wants distinctive luxury properties that can benefit from its global platform.
Vignette Collection exists in that gap between a fully independent hotel and a tightly standardised chain brand. IHG describes the collection as independently distinctive properties sharing common standards and access to its wider infrastructure.
“After decades of owning and developing hotels, we distilled the Harilela Group’s collective experience into a brand that reflects the qualities we always sought in a great hotel,” said Dr Harilela.
“The Hari embodies relaxed elegance punctuated by eccentricity, wit, culture and intuitive, heartfelt hospitality. Joining the Vignette Collection preserves The Hari’s character while connecting our brand to a global community of travellers who value individuality and authenticity.”
There is also a practical guest argument. Travellers may enjoy discovering a hotel that does not feel mass-produced, but many still value familiar booking channels and loyalty benefits. Soft brands remove much of the need to choose between the two.
Art and community face the credibility test
The Hari’s community credentials are part of its identity. The annual Hari Art Prize supports emerging talent, with the Hong Kong hotel currently displaying work from its 2026 competition. The wider programme also includes sustainability and charity initiatives.
That aligns neatly with Vignette Collection’s “Memorable Rituals” and “A Means For Good”. The fit looks logical on paper. The real test comes after integration, when brand systems and commercial targets begin rubbing shoulders with the idiosyncrasies that made an independent hotel interesting.
If The Hari can keep the odd corners, local voices and personal service intact while gaining IHG’s reach, the partnership will have done its job. Luxury travellers are rather good at spotting expensive sameness.
IHG gets three addresses; The Hari gets reach
For IHG, the deal brings three strategically useful city hotels into a collection that is expanding quickly. Its August 2026 announcement puts Vignette Collection at more than 80 open and pipeline hotels worldwide.
“With more than 80 open and pipeline hotels, Vignette Collection is tracking ahead of its ambition to reach more than 100 hotels within its first decade,” said Rajit Sukumaran, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, East Asia & Pacific, IHG Hotels & Resorts.
“Welcoming The Hari’s portfolio marks Vignette Collection’s debut in Singapore and strengthens our presence in London and Hong Kong.”
For the Harilela Group, the prize is broader distribution without surrendering the brand it has built around design, art and a family hospitality legacy.
The Hari is becoming easier to find. Its next job is to make sure it does not become easier to forget.
For more information, visit https://www.vignettecollectionhotels.com/
