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LUX* Collective hotels

Bright island resorts loosen formality with coffee bars, ice-cream parlours and playful beach life.

LUX* brings a playful, informal spirit to resort life, with bright interiors, good coffee, ice-cream parlors, and beach clubs among its familiar touches. The Mauritius-born flagship of The Lux Collective carries its “Lighter. Brighter.” philosophy through the Indian Ocean and beyond, with Café LUX* and LUX* Me Spa adapted to each setting.

7 LUX* Collective hotels in 4 countries on the Luxury Hotels Atlas, each placed on the six LHA Tiers.

• Part of Mauritius's IBL group
• Worldwide: 16 LUX*-branded hotels operating across six countries (Mauritius, Maldives, Réunion, Tanzania, China, and — from mid-2026 — Rwanda) as of mid-2026, with a further LUX*-branded pipeline stretching into Vietnam, additional Chinese cities, the UAE, and Botswana.
• On the atlas: 2 Grand Luxury, 2 High Luxury, 3 Core Luxury

History

Paul Jones helped transform the Mauritian group into LUX in 2010 and 2011, giving the resorts a brighter design language and a more informal rhythm. A later separation of ownership and hotel management supported growth beyond the original islands. Existing hotels and occasional new developments gave the brand different ways to reach China, East Africa, and other destinations.

Timeline

• 1985 — A group of Mauritian investors founds Naïade Resorts, the predecessor to LUX*, built around an emphasis on innovation, flexibility, and a welcoming atmosphere at hotels across Mauritius and the wider Indian Ocean.
• Late 2010 — Paul Jones, previously a key figure in launching the One&Only brand, is appointed CEO of the financially struggling Naïade Resorts, which had lost the confidence of the tour operators it depended on for business.
• Early 2011 — Jones hires UK strategy consultancy Luxury Partners to help devise a turnaround, working with the leadership team to rebuild a demoralised 3,500-person workforce around a new vision, purpose, and values.
• 2014 — LUX* Tea Horse Road opens its first hotel, in Lijiang, a UNESCO World Heritage town in Yunnan, the cornerstone of the group's first venture outside the Indian Ocean and into mainland China. Six further Tea Horse Road retreats (Benzilan, Sangushui, Peach Valley, Daju Village, Stone Town, and Shangri-La) open across the following decade.
• September 2015 — The Lux Resorts Group creates SALT, its second brand, aimed at "cultural purists", modern explorers who want to connect with people and places rather than simply relax; Paul Jones spearheads the concept.
• 1 July 2016 — GML Investissement Ltée and Ireland Blyth Limited amalgamate to form IBL Ltd, the Mauritian conglomerate of which LUX*'s ownership structure remains an affiliate today.
• 2017 (December) — LUX* Grand Gaube reopens after a full Kelly Hoppen-led "1970s retro-chic" redesign, having operated under the intervening name "The Legends" since around 2000.
• 30 November 2018 — Shareholders of Lux Island Resorts Ltd receive shares in a new, separately listed entity as part of a corporate restructuring, effective 1 January 2019.
• 2019 — The Lux Collective Ltd formally separates from Lux Island Resorts Ltd (the real-estate owner) to become a standalone hotel-management company, owning a portfolio of five brands, LUX*, SALT, Tamassa, SOCIO, and Café LUX*, and earning its income from management and brand fees rather than hotel ownership. The former Merville Beach Hotel, Grand Baie (operating since 1970), closes for what becomes a full site redevelopment.
• 2020 — LUX* South Ari Atoll, in its current form, continues operating in the Maldives following its September 2016 reopening (after a prior history as White Sands Resort and Diva Maldives).
• 1 September 2021 — LUX* Le Morne reopens after a 17-month closure spanning COVID-19 and a full renovation led by Mauritian architect and creative director Jean-Marc Tang, relaunching the former Les Pavillons site with a minimalist, nature-led redesign.
• 2021 — LUX* Grand Baie Resort & Residences opens as an entirely new build on the demolished former Merville Beach Hotel site, the group's newest Mauritius flagship.
• 2022 — A fire severely damages LUX* Belle Mare, forcing a full closure for rebuilding.
• 2023 — LUX* Marijani, Zanzibar opens, The Lux Collective's first hotel on the African continent, extending the Mauritian group's Indian Ocean portfolio into Tanzania.
• 1 October 2023 — LUX* Belle Mare reopens after the 2022 fire, rebuilt to 186 keys including 12 villas.
• 2024–2025 — Olivier Chavy is named CEO of The Lux Collective, steering a new expansion phase: SALT's debut in China, a "futuristic, opulent" LUX* safari camp in Botswana, LUX* entries in Sharjah (UAE), and the brand's first venture into Vietnam.
• January 2025 — The Lux Collective publicly unveils its "Visionary Global Expansion Plans for 2025 and Beyond," naming LUXNAM* Phu Quoc (Vietnam), LUX* Al Jabal and LUX* Al Bridi (Sharjah, UAE), and LUX* Xinii Mababe (Botswana) as forthcoming projects.
• 2026 — LUX* Tea Horse Road marks a ten-year partnership with Lijiang Yulong Tourism Ltd and unveils its eighth Yunnan property, LUX* Lashi Lake. The Lux Collective also enters Rwanda through a partnership with Cleo Capital Group, rebranding an existing lodge as LUX* Lake Kivu (Phase 1, from mid-2026) ahead of further greenfield Rwanda builds planned for 2028.

The houses to know

1. LUX* South Ari Atoll, Dhidhoofinolhu, Maldives — The resort sits beside a Maldivian site where whale sharks gather throughout the year.
2. LUX* Belle Mare, Belle Mare, Mauritius — Kelly Hoppen’s design shaped the east-coast resort’s rebuilding after its 2022 fire.
3. LUX* Grand Baie Resort & Residences, Grand Baie, Mauritius — The group's newest ground-up Mauritius flagship, built on the site of a demolished 1970s icon.
4. LUX* Grand Gaube, Grand Gaube, Mauritius — Kelly Hoppen's 1970s retro-chic reinvention of a resort that had already changed names twice.
5. LUX* Marijani Zanzibar, Zanzibar, Tanzania — The Lux Collective's first hotel on the African continent.
6. LUX Tea Horse Road Lijiang, Lijiang, China — The cornerstone hotel of LUX*'s entire mainland China expansion, opened in a UNESCO World Heritage town.
7. LUX Tea Horse Road Benzilan, Benzilan, China — A mountain-corridor lodge on the historic route between Lijiang and Shangri-La.

Newest openings

• LUX* Lake Kivu — Lake Kivu, Rwanda — launching from mid-2026 — The Lux Collective's entry into Rwanda, via a landmark partnership with Cleo Capital Group Ltd formalised at the Africa CEO Forum 2026 in Kigali. Phase 1 rebrands the existing Cleo Lake Kivu lodge into LUX* Lake Kivu, alongside a parallel rebrand of Akagera Game Lodge into sister brand SALT of Akagera (a 60-key safari lodge in Akagera National Park). The partnership's Phase 2, targeted for 2028, adds three greenfield LUX* builds across Rwanda's Volcanoes, Nyungwe, and Akagera national parks.
• LUX* Marijani, Zanzibar — Zanzibar, Tanzania — opened 2023 — The Lux Collective's first hotel on the African continent, a 140-key beachfront resort extending the group's Indian Ocean portfolio into East Africa with locally inspired design, a beach club, and spice-island excursion programming. Named Tanzania's Leading Beach Resort at the 2025 World Travel Awards and ranked No. 13 in Condé Nast Traveller's 2025 Readers' Choice Awards.

Opening next

• LUXNAM* Phu Quoc — Phu Quoc Island, Kien Giang, Vietnam — expected date under revision — The Lux Collective's Vietnam debut and the country's first overwater-villa resort, sited in the Kien Giang Biosphere Reserve on the island's northern tip. Announced villa counts have varied across press materials (116 villas with 99 overwater in the group's own January 2025 release; 126 villas with 109 overwater in later trade coverage), and the opening date has slipped from an original Q4 2025 target to Q2 2026 in the January 2025 announcement to a 2028 date currently listed on LUX*'s own booking site, flagged here as a moving target rather than a confirmed year.
• LUX* Al Jabal — Sharjah, UAE — opening date unconfirmed — Announced January 2025 as part of LUX*'s Middle East debut; no confirmed opening year.
• LUX* Al Bridi — Sharjah, UAE — opening date unconfirmed — Announced alongside LUX* Al Jabal as the brand's second Sharjah property; no confirmed opening year.
• LUX* Xinii Mababe — Mababe, Botswana — opening date unconfirmed — Announced January 2025 as a "futuristic, opulent" safari camp, extending LUX*'s African footprint beyond Zanzibar; no confirmed opening year.

Every LUX* Collective hotel on the atlas

Mauritius

• LUX* Belle Mare — Belle Mare · Grand Luxury
• LUX* Grand Baie Resort & Residences — Grand Baie · High Luxury
• LUX* Grand Gaube — Grand Gaube · High Luxury

China

• LUX Tea Horse Road Benzilan — Benzilan · Core Luxury
• LUX Tea Horse Road Lijiang — Lijiang · Core Luxury

Maldives

• LUX* South Ari Atoll — Dhidhoofinolhu · Grand Luxury

Tanzania

• LUX* Marijani Zanzibar — Zanzibar · Core Luxury

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