Buyers of a hotel-branded residence pay, on average, a third more than for a comparable home. Above all, what they are buying is a service they have not yet seen.

Picture this: a couple from Singapore view two almost identical apartments in Marbella, five hundred metres apart. One carries the name of a luxury hotel group and costs about a third more. They ask what exactly they are paying for with the difference. The answer is “the service”. They ask again: which service, how much it costs each year and who provides it. The answer turns vague. That evening, at their hotel, they look up the project’s website. They find renderings, an infinity pool and the word “exclusive” six times.

A branded residence sells something you cannot see on a viewing: what will happen after the purchase. That is why its website cannot stop at showing the apartment.

What you pay for a name.

According to the Savills Branded Residences 2025-26 report, the sector expected to reach around 910 schemes worldwide by the end of 2025, 19% more than a year earlier. The global average premium over comparable unbranded homes is 33%. In cities, established or emerging, it is around 30%. Resort locations command the most: 39%.

These are global averages, and the trade press itself points out that the premium varies considerably by location, brand and project. But the order of magnitude is clear: on an apartment worth several million, a third of the price is a great deal of money to pay for a name and what that name promises.

Why it matters to the developer and the hotel.

According to an analysis published in September 2026 by Hotel Management Network, Knight Frank says the premium can make the difference between a scheme going ahead and staying on the drawing board. The same analysis cites The Peninsula London, whose owner said in 2023 that expected residential proceeds were being taken into account when assessing its capital commitments. And it adds a warning worth reading twice: this does not mean residential presales simply pay for the hotel. If sales slow or prices disappoint, the developer can be left with unsold residences while the hotel still needs capital.

What I do not know.

I do not know how the comparison with unbranded homes is calculated in each market, and I have not found figures specific to Spain or Switzerland in those sources. Nor do I know what the contracts between each developer, each owner and each brand say: how long they last, which services they guarantee and what happens if they end. Only each contract can tell you that, and it should be read by your legal counsel and by the buyer’s.

The blind spot: the premium is a promise.

The same analysis notes two risks that are rarely named. The first is that residents can face ongoing management and service charges. The second is that the brand faces reputational exposure if the project fails to deliver the promised experience. The buyer pays the premium once, at the start. The service is lived every week, for years. If the website describes that service with adjectives, the gap between what was promised and what is lived appears later, and everyone’s reputation pays for it.

With a branded residence, you pay up front for a service you will live with for years.

Where I stand.

I think a branded residence’s website should be the most concrete document in the project, not the most lyrical. Which services the brand includes and which are paid separately, who provides them, how to request them and in which languages. That service charges exist, and where their structure can be consulted. And separate journeys for someone booking a night and someone buying a home, because they are not looking for the same thing. Automation has a clear role here: handling owners’ requests at any hour and in their language, and keeping a record of each one. A 39% premium is not justified by photos. It is justified by what happens on a Tuesday in November, when an owner calls and someone answers.

What I would check.

• What the brand includes. A list of services written with verbs and hours, not adjectives.
• Service charges. Whether the website says they exist, how they are calculated and whom to ask about them.
• Who provides the service. Whether it is the hotel team, an operator or a third party, and how to reach them.
• The two journeys. Whether someone booking a stay and someone buying a home each find their own path on the same website.
• Languages. Whether the purchase information exists in the languages of the buyers who actually come.

Where to start.

1. This week

   Answer the question from the scene

   Write one paragraph on exactly what a buyer pays for with the brand.

2. This month

   Separate the journeys

   Review the website through a guest’s eyes and through a buyer’s, and note where they cross.

3. This quarter

   Spell out the service

   Publish the services, how to request them and the structure of charges, reviewed first by your legal counsel.

4. After each handover

   Measure the promise

   Log owners’ requests and response times, and compare them with what the website says.

Put yourself in the place of someone paying a third more for a name. Before signing, they ask your website a single question, even if they never type it: what exactly happens on a Tuesday in November, when they get home at eleven at night and need something?

If your website answers with adjectives, the premium is a promise. If it answers with names, hours and specific services, it starts to become a service. Which of the two are you selling today?

If you would like me to review whether your website explains what is really being paid for with the brand, in every language, start with the Strategic Diagnostic. Which brand to choose and which contract to sign is for the owners and their advisers to decide, not a designer.