Luxury Hotels Atlas / The Maison / Orient Express
Orient Express hotels
A railway name brings the romance of the journey into restored palaces and new sleeper trains.
Orient Express brings the atmosphere of its historic rail name into hotels, sleeper trains, and sailing journeys developed by Accor with LVMH as an investor. Its hotel chapter began with La Minerva in Rome in 2025; the collection is separate from Belmond’s Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, which operates under a different trademark arrangement.
2 Orient Express hotels in 1 country on the Luxury Hotels Atlas, each placed on the six LHA Tiers.
- Owned by Accor
- Worldwide: 2 hotels operating as of mid-2026 (Rome; Venice), plus La Dolce Vita Orient Express luxury train (Italy, launched April 2025) and Orient Express Corinthian sailing yacht (launched May 2026); pipeline includes the original Orient Express train (2027) and Orient Express Diriyah Gate, Riyadh (2027).
- On the atlas: 2 Grand Luxury
History
Georges Nagelmackers made the journey itself a substantial part of the original Orient Express experience. The name outlived the historic service and later passed through SNCF to Accor, with LVMH joining as an investor in 2024. New Italian hotels and rail journeys carry that travel tradition into a different hospitality chapter.
Timeline
- 1867 — Belgian engineer Georges Nagelmackers travels to the United States, discovers sleeping-car railroads, and conceives a European luxury-train network.
- 1876 — Nagelmackers founds the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL), offering unprecedented comfort, dining, and service on European rail.
- 1883 — June 5: First Express d'Orient departs Paris for Vienna. October 4: Inaugural full service Paris to Constantinople with 40 passengers; the round trip takes 7 days and rewrites the geography of European travel.
- 1891 — Service formally renamed "Orient Express."
- 1894 — Nagelmackers founds the Compagnie Internationale des Grands Hôtels, establishing palace hotels along the Paris-to-Peking and Istanbul-to-Cairo routes, the original link between the train and luxury hotel stays.
- 1926–1929 — New Pullman lounge cars designed by René Prou with René Lalique glasswork define the Art Deco golden age of the service, the aesthetic that all subsequent Orient Express design references.
- 1934 — Agatha Christie publishes Murder on the Orient Express, cementing the train's cultural immortality and establishing its mythology as shorthand for intrigue, elegance, and the exotic East.
- 1977 — May 20: Last direct Paris-to-Istanbul service departs; CIWL is forced to auction its carriages. SNCF (France's national railway) acquires the Orient Express trademark and becomes sole owner. American entrepreneur James B. Sherwood simultaneously buys two original CIWL carriages at the Monte Carlo auction.
- 1982 — Sherwood's Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE) relaunches with 35 restored carriages, operating under a trademark licence from SNCF, not as the Accor-owned Orient Express brand.
- 2009 — Last regular SNCF-operated Orient Express passenger service (Paris–Vienna–Budapest) ceases, ending the public rail chapter of the name.
- 2014 — Sherwood's Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. rebrands as Belmond after SNCF tightens trademark licensing terms. VSOE continues under licence.
- 2017 — Accor acquires a 50% stake in the Orient Express brand from SNCF; plans announced for 10 Orient Express hotels by 2030 and restoration of 17 vintage CIWL carriages from the defunct Nostalgie Istanbul Orient Express. (Wikipedia / Accor))
- 2018 — LVMH acquires Belmond (owner of the VSOE licence), making LVMH simultaneously an operator of the competing luxury train and, from 2024, a strategic investor in Accor's Orient Express brand.
- 2022 — Accor acquires full ownership of the Orient Express trademark. Arsenale Group acquires Grand Hotel de la Minerva, Rome; Orient Express hotel partnership announced. Palazzo Donà Giovannelli, Venice, also announced as second property. (Wikipedia / Accor))
- June 2024 — LVMH enters strategic partnership with Accor, investing in the Orient Express brand entity, the hotel-and-train operating company, and the yacht-owning entity. Bernard Arnault: "Orient Express has embodied adventure and elegance since its origins."
- April 2025 — La Dolce Vita Orient Express inaugural journey departs Roma Ostiense, Italy's first private luxury rail fleet, 6 trains, 62 guests each, 8 itineraries, 14 Italian regions; cuisine by 3-Michelin-star Heinz Beck. Orient Express La Minerva, Rome opens, brand's first hotel worldwide; 93 rooms, 36 suites; designer Hugo Toro; Two MICHELIN Keys awarded.
- January 2026 — Orient Express wins Wallpaper\* Design Award for Best Reinvention.
- March 30, 2026 — Orient Express Venezia opens at Palazzo Donà Giovannelli, brand's second hotel; 47 rooms, suites, and residences; architect Aline Asmar d'Amman; chef Heinz Beck.
- May 2026 — Orient Express Corinthian, world's largest sailing yacht, begins inaugural Mediterranean voyages; 54 suites; culinary programme by multi-Michelin-star Yannick Alléno.
The houses to know
- Orient Express La Minerva, Rome, Italy — The brand's global debut, a 17th-century palazzo steps from the Pantheon, where the sleeping-car aesthetic meets neoclassical Rome.
- Orient Express Venezia, Palazzo Donà Giovannelli, Venice, Italy — The restored fifteenth-century palazzo gives Orient Express a richly layered home in Venice’s Cannaregio district.
Opening next
- La Dolce Vita Orient Express (train) — Italy (14 regions) + Rome-to-Istanbul international route — operating since April 2025 — Italy's first private luxury rail fleet; 6 trains of 31 cabins each (12 Deluxe, 18 Suite, 1 La Dolce Vita Suite), capacity 62 guests per train; interiors by Dimorestudio (Milan) referencing Gio Ponti and Gae Aulenti; cuisine by three-Michelin-star Heinz Beck tailored to each regional itinerary; from €3,500 per person per night. International Rome-to-Istanbul route (traversing Venice, Budapest, Brașov, Sinaia, Istanbul) launched 2026.
- Orient Express Corinthian (sailing yacht) — Mediterranean and transatlantic itineraries — operating since May 2026 — World's largest sailing yacht, built at Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire; designed by creative director Maxime d'Angeac; 54 suites including two Penthouse Suites (Agatha Christie and Zephyr, each two bedrooms with terraces over 1,200 ft²); all-inclusive pricing from €17,700 per suite for 3 nights; culinary programme "La Table de l'Orient-Express by Yannick Alléno"; Le SPA by Guerlain; La Bibliothèque (1,500 books, Library Bar). Second yacht, Orient Express Olympian, commissioned.
- Orient Express, original train — Central Europe and Paris to Istanbul — expected 2027 — Seventeen original 1920s and 1930s CIWL carriages are being restored under Maxime d’Angeac. Planned routes cover France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Czechia, as well as the historic journey from Paris to Istanbul.
- Orient Express Diriyah Gate — Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — expected 2027 — 80-room property at Diriyah Gate; pipeline announced following Rome and Venice. (Wikipedia / Accor))
Every Orient Express hotel on the atlas
Italy
- Orient Express La Minerva — Rome · Grand Luxury
- Orient Express Venezia, Palazzo Donà Giovannelli — Venice · Grand Luxury
Open The Maison in the atlas for Orient Express's full dossier, with prices and maps.