Interior Design’s 2026 Hospitality Giants list, published in August 2026, maps a clear post‑pandemic trajectory: larger studios regaining momentum, a buoyant pipeline for new builds, and a geographic tilt toward the US South and more international commissions. The ranking quantifies that recovery with reported design fees and staff figures that help explain who is winning work and why.
At the summit of the list sits HBA International, retaining its number‑one position with reported design fees far ahead of its nearest competitors and a sizeable roster of staff. The scale of HBA’s practice underlines an enduring advantage in handling global, full‑service hospitality programmes, where integrated teams and deep vendor networks reduce delivery risk for owners. Close behind are long‑established multidisciplinary practices — Rockwell Group and Gensler — whose moves up the chart reflect successful diversification into branded residential, F&B and mixed‑use work that feeds back into hotel briefs.
What the numbers reveal about sector dynamics
The Giants table makes two things explicit. First, hotels remain the dominant sector, constituting roughly a third of work across the surveyed firms, which means design houses that specialise in the operational intricacies of lodging still capture the bulk of fee income. Second, the balance between new construction and renovation appears stable, but there’s a modest uptick in overseas projects. For operators and brands this signals a renewing appetite for flag‑ship openings and international expansion, while also maintaining demand for careful retrofits that extend asset life without the cost of demolition.
Shifts in scale, specialism and regional gravity
The rankings highlight interesting shifts: boutique and experience‑led studios like Meyer Davis and AvroKO remain influential despite the dominance of giants, illustrating that curated creativity and brand sensibility still win premium briefs. Equally notable is the reported strength of firms based outside the traditional coastal hubs — Kansas City’s Populous and Chicago’s Perkins Eastman, for example — suggesting capital is flowing to firms that can marry local market knowledge with hospitality expertise. The data also flags FF&E or FF&C values for certain firms, emphasising how procurement capabilities now sit alongside pure design as a monetisable service.
For hospitality operators and creatives this list matters because it makes market structure tangible: who has capacity, where growth is expected, and what kinds of projects are driving fees. Owners can use the ranking as a short‑hand to assess which firms are structured to deliver complex, cross‑border programmes versus those that will bring distinct brand‑led thinking to smaller, high‑margin openings. For designers and agencies, the implications are practical — invest in robust delivery teams, broaden procurement and technical expertise, and think regionally as well as globally if you want to climb these charts.