Orient Express afloat, with five-star luxury liners to set sail

Ultra-exclusive cruise ships are the latest must-have for prestige hotels these days – Aman, Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton are among the brands swapping bricks and mortar for ever-changing horizons. Orient Express is another.

“But the Orient Express is a train, not a hotel”, we hear you say – and that’s true, but not for much longer.

The rebooted 140-year-old brand from French hotel group Accor will spread its five-star wings to grace hotels and ships.

Debuting in 2026, Orient Express Silenseas is the first taste of Accor’s maritime ambition: a striking, 220 metre-long yacht boasting three rigid sails, 54 suites, two swimming pools and restaurants, and even a speakeasy bar. 

Orient Express Silenseas will chart the globe using a hybrid LNG and rigid sail propulsion.

Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) is also on board as a strategic partner for the Silenseas and the wider Orient Express project.

The Silenseas will join the soon-to-debut La Dolce Vita Orient Express train, which is on track to pull out of the station in early 2025, together with the group’s first hotels in Venice and Rome.

Though founded in fashion, LVMH is no stranger to hospitality, with hotels under its Belmond and Cheval Blanc banners attracting a discerning crowd with a taste for the finer side of life.

Together, Accor and LVMH say they will “accelerate the development of Orient Express” – a legendary brand which the duo describes as “a symbol of elegance and audacity”.

La Dolce Vita Orient Express.

That development includes Silenseas, which is under construction in France, together with the La Dolce Vita Orient Express (pulling out of the station in 2025) and its first hotels in Venice and Rome, both of which are set to open later this year.

Interestingly, LVMH is the owner of the other Orient Express – the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express by Belmond, which is currently weaving its way along the rail lines of Europe.

Sébastien Bazin, Accor Group Chairman and CEO, describes Orient Express as “a legend ever since its creation 140 years ago,” while adding Accor is “reinventing the art of travel, discovery and great odysseys” through the brand.

“By contributing to the revival of this iconic brand, LVMH will add its unique expertise in high-quality products and services, illustrated in particular, in the world of travel, by the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express train and the five other trains also operated by Belmond around the world.”

A suite on the new La Dolce Vita.

How this fresh partnership will impact the projects is yet to be revealed – and will no doubt attract a great deal of attention. However, it does cast doubt on the rumoured Louis Vuitton hotel, which was expected to open on Paris’ iconic Champs-Élysées.

Accor purchased the historic Orient Express name in 2022, adding to its already impressive stable of more than 40 brands including Banyan Tree, Sofitel, and Raffles.