The White Lotus, Succession – are hotels happy with the publicity that scenes of murder and sex shot on their premises brings them?

‘Set jetters’ – people who visit hotels and locations featured in television shows and movies – seem to see past any negative associations

Hotels used to film The White Lotus have seen footfall increase, as has one in Norway used in Succession – but a Parisian bakery saw the downside of TV exposure

Reading Time:5 minutes

Luxury hotels, like the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea in Hawaii, that have been used in television shows like The White Lotus and Succession have seen increased interest to no great detriment, but some filming locations have felt a less positive effect. Photo: Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea

Published: 7:15pm, 11 Feb 2024Updated: 2:01pm, 13 Feb 2024

Since the rumours that season three of HBO television series The White Lotus would be filmed in Thailand were confirmed, speculation has been rife over which luxury hotels will “star” – there will be more than one this time around.

As the first two series were shot at Four Seasons properties – under the fictitious White Lotus brand – naturally expectations are that the relationship will continue. The Koh Samui resort has been mooted, along with Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas – both hotels declined to comment for this article – while it is thought a different brand has been chosen for Bangkok.

As popular as the dramedy is, on paper it sounds a brave move for the host hotels to stand in for a chain known for having a drug-addicted manager, sex workers running amok, and murderous guests, to name some of the more printable elements that go into The White Lotus’ mix. Not to mention the body count.

Speaking of which, the latest in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Dead Reckoning Part One, features a spectacular, lengthy finale on board the Orient Express involving an undignified ending for the driver and a Tom Cruise fight scene in which the luxurious bar and restaurant carriages are trashed before the train plunges off a cliff.

Coinciding with the film’s cinema release last summer, the Accor-owned brand embraced the association in an emailed newsletter to customers titled “Orient Express Takes to the Big Screen OE x MI7”.

“The Orient Express teams opened their archive to help reconstruct the perfect replica of our historic train where one of the film’s most adrenaline-fuelled action sequence takes place,” the newsletter stated.