When three national magazines— U.S. News & World Report, Food & Wineand Travel + Leisure— give you glowing reviews, you must be doing something right. Such is the case with Hotel Emma, a 146-room luxury hotel that’s one of the numerous fascinating facets of San Antonio’s mixed-use Pearl complex, which rose from the historic but neglected Pearl Brewery.

Most hotels in the United States operate under the umbrella of large hospitality chains such as Hilton or Marriott. But today’s hotel owners and investors are increasingly flying solo, eschewing big-brand affiliations to create their own independent identities.

A Denver developer activates an alley to tie together a hotel, offices, food, and “maker” retail on the site of a former dairy.

Europe is a divided continent in many ways. While markets like Spain, Portugal, and Croatia are experiencing a surge in visitors, France, Belgium, and Turkey face a tourism crisis. Performance varies from country to country.

Resort developers are coming up with new ways to create allure in urban locations—where they can’t rely on beaches, golf, or skiing to attract fickle travelers.

The long-predicted generational shift in the hotel industry is starting to happen, according to speakers at ULI’s recent “Hotel and Resort Development: Next Wave of Innovation” conference in La Costa, California. Baby boomers are growing older and millennials are developing as a buying group, forcing developers and operators to rethink developments. Everyone is racing to determine what works—and what doesn’t—as projects look to adjust to the latest trends, speakers said.

The efficiency strategies being researched by Disney Research China can be applied not only in Disney resorts—which are basically miniature cities with accommodations, attractions, transportation, and commerce—but also in communities of all shapes and sizes.