Best Upscale Hotel Brand 2026

Upscale is the segment most corporate travel spend actually lives in. The numbers are not close: across most major corporate programmes, upper-upscale and upscale brands account for a clear majority of room nights booked, and the segment is where the RFP cycle is fought hardest each year.

It is also the segment most under-covered by industry awards, which is why the Best Upscale Hotel Brand category sits here, judged at the same weight as its luxury sibling.

The Best Upscale Hotel Brand award, part of the Travelling for Business Awards 2026, recognises the global or regional brand winning the segment on the metrics buyers actually buy on: network breadth in the cities corporate programmes need, consistency of the product across that network, RFP and dynamic-rate performance, and loyalty integration that actually delivers status recognition at the front desk.

Eligible entrants are upscale and upper-upscale hotel brands operating a marketed corporate programme. The category does not include luxury brands (which enter Best Luxury Hotel Brand) or budget brands (which enter Best Budget Hotel Brand). Brands operating across multiple segments enter each segment separately.

Judging is grounded in STR upper-upscale segment performance data cross-referenced with submitted evidence and panel usage. Buyer-side input from GBTA research informs the assessment of corporate programme strength.

Editorial coverage in Travelling for Business magazine over the last 18 months has tracked the segment closely; the panel draws on this alongside formal entries. The 2026 judging panel includes corporate buyers responsible for upscale programmes at scale.

Sponsorship of the Best Upscale Hotel Brand category remains open – see the sponsorship page.