Book Auberge for a collection of individually named, place-rooted hotels, Napa wine country, a historic Aspen landmark, a Los Cabos cliff, each with its own design and a growing international reach. Book Montage for one consistent ultra-luxury resort brand: big residential rooms, deep spas, golf and a calm, family-friendly pace across the US and Mexico.
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I have checked guests into both kinds of hotel for years, and the difference shows up before anyone signs the registration card. Walk into an Auberge and the property introduces itself by name, Hotel Jerome, Esperanza, Auberge du Soleil, each with its own front desk ritual and sense of place. Walk into any Montage and the welcome is the same gracious, residential calm you would get at the last one. Neither is better service; they are different promises.
Auberge Resorts Collection, recently restyled Auberge Collection, grew from a single restaurant-and-inn, Auberge du Soleil, which opened above the Napa Valley in 1981. It is now owned by The Friedkin Group under chairman Dan Friedkin, and it runs roughly 30 hotels, resorts and residences across the United States, Mexico and, increasingly, Europe. The model is a collection: every property keeps its own name, architect and character, so no two stays feel alike.
Montage Hotels & Resorts is the opposite by design. Founded as part of Montage International in 2002 by Alan Fuerstman, with its first hotel, Montage Laguna Beach, opening in 2003, it runs around six Montage resorts in the US and Mexico to one consistent ultra-luxury standard, large rooms, deep spas, golf and a family-friendly pace. The honest split: choose Auberge to be surprised by each property; choose Montage to know exactly what you are getting. The full case for each is below.
| Auberge Resorts Collection | Montage Hotels & Resorts | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | A place-rooted collection of individual hotels | One consistent, family-friendly resort brand |
| Founding property | Auberge du Soleil, Napa, 1981 | Montage Laguna Beach, 2003 |
| Owner | The Friedkin Group | Montage International (est. 2002) |
| Model | Collection, each hotel its own identity | Single brand, one residential standard |
| Footprint | ~30 hotels; US, Mexico, Europe, growing | ~6 resorts; US & Mexico |
| Consistency | Varies widely by property | Highly consistent brand-wide |
| Rate tier | $$$-$$$$ (varies by property) | $$$$ |
Signature: A curated set of individually named hotels, a Napa hillside inn, a historic Aspen landmark, a Cabo cliff resort, each with its own architect and identity rather than a single house look.
What Auberge sells is variety with a floor of quality. The collection began with Auberge du Soleil, the terraced Napa Valley inn that opened in 1981, and grew under the Harmon family before The Friedkin Group took ownership. Today it spans Hotel Jerome in Aspen, a genuine 1889 landmark; Esperanza and Chileno Bay on the Los Cabos coast; Mauna Lani on Hawaii's Kohala Coast; Madeline in Telluride; and a widening European chapter that includes Cambridge House in London and Collegio alla Querce in Florence. The arrival experience is tuned to each place, so the wine-country welcome is nothing like the ski-town one.
It is the choice for travelers who want a different, locally distinctive hotel each trip and a portfolio that now reaches beyond North America, something Montage cannot yet offer. Service is warm and personal, but pitched to each property rather than to a single rulebook.
Honest trade-off: The collection model is its own caveat. Because each hotel is run to its own character, consistency varies more than at a single brand, and recognition or perks do not travel from one property to the next the way they do within Montage. The range also means some Auberges are intimate town hotels rather than full resorts, so a family expecting a big pool-and-kids'-club property should check the specific hotel. And the collection is not immune to disruption: Calistoga Ranch, an Auberge property in Napa, has been closed since the 2020 Glass Fire and is not bookable, so always confirm a given hotel is open before you plan around it.
Weighted: Service 25%, Design 20%, Romance / Value / Food 15% each, Location 10%. Scores are HotelsForKings editorial judgments, not guest review averages.
Signature: One ultra-luxury resort brand held to a single standard, generous residential rooms, serious spas, golf and a calm pace, repeated faithfully from California to Mexico.
Montage trades surprise for certainty. Founded within Montage International in 2002 by Alan Fuerstman and opened first as Montage Laguna Beach in 2003, the brand builds large, residential resorts and runs them to a consistent playbook: Spa Montage as a genuine destination, golf at several properties, original American art, and the kind of anticipatory service that makes a multi-generational stay easy. The portfolio, Laguna Beach, Deer Valley, Kapalua Bay, Los Cabos, Palmetto Bluff, Big Sky and Healdsburg, stays inside the US and Mexico, with new resorts in development, including a recently announced project in Egypt.
It is the choice for travelers who want to book on trust: families and groups who value space, pools and kids' programming, and anyone who reads luxury as a known quantity rather than a discovery. You will not be surprised by a Montage, and for many guests that is precisely the point.
Honest trade-off: Consistency cuts both ways. The residential calm that soothes some guests reads as predictable to travelers who want each hotel to feel singular, and the resort scale means properties can feel large and quiet rather than intimate. Rates sit firmly at the top tier with little entry-level relief, the design language is traditional rather than daring, and the footprint is US and Mexico only, so there is no Montage option in Europe or Asia, where Auberge is now headed.
Weighted: Service 25%, Design 20%, Romance / Value / Food 15% each, Location 10%. Scores are HotelsForKings editorial judgments, not guest review averages.
Because Auberge is a collection rather than a single brand, the elite recognition and upgrade habits you build at one hotel rarely carry to the next, so book each Auberge property on its own merits and ask its concierge directly about perks. Montage is the reverse: once you know the brand, you know the drill anywhere. One genuinely worth-it Auberge stop, Hotel Jerome in Aspen, opened in 1889 and its J-Bar is a true town institution, open to non-guests if you only have time for a drink.
Auberge properties run individual suite-upgrade and resort-credit offers that differ hotel by hotel, while Montage shifts its best value by season and resort. Before you book, we will send the upgrade alerts, shoulder-season rate dips and which flagship is worth the splurge across both, one honest email at a time.
Book Auberge when the place matters more than the brand. If you want a hotel that belongs to its setting, a Napa hillside, an Aspen landmark, a Cabo cliff, a London townhouse, and you enjoy a different character each trip, Auberge is the richer, more varied choice, and the only one of the two now reaching into Europe.
Book Montage when you want certainty. If your trip is about a residential resort with a deep spa, golf, space and a calm pace that suits a family or a multi-generational group, Montage delivers the same dependable standard wherever you go. In short: Auberge to be surprised, Montage to be sure.
A ranked shortlist, a special offer worth booking, and the overpriced stay to skip. Straight from the editors.
No, they are competitors, not sister brands. Montage Hotels & Resorts is part of Montage International, founded in 2002 by Alan Fuerstman. Auberge Resorts Collection (recently restyled Auberge Collection) grew out of the 1981 Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley and is now owned by The Friedkin Group, chaired by Dan Friedkin.
Auberge is a collection of individually named, design-distinct hotels rooted in their settings, a wine-country inn, a historic Aspen landmark, a Los Cabos cliff resort, now reaching into Europe. Montage is one consistent ultra-luxury resort brand with a uniform residential style, deep spas and golf, across the United States and Mexico. Auberge varies by property; Montage stays the same.
Montage, in most cases. Its resorts are built around pools, kids' programming, spas, golf and a calm residential layout that suits multi-generational stays. Some Auberge properties are excellent family resorts, such as Mauna Lani in Hawaii and Chileno Bay in Los Cabos, but others are adults-leaning boutique or town hotels, so with Auberge it depends on the specific property.
Both sit at the top ultra-luxury tier with comparable peak rates at their flagship resorts. Montage pricing is predictable brand-wide. Auberge rates vary far more by property, from a small historic town hotel to a flagship cliffside resort, so the entry point depends entirely on which Auberge you book.
Montage operates around six Montage resorts, within Montage International's roughly 14 properties that also include the Pendry brand, all in the United States and Mexico. Auberge has roughly 30 hotels, resorts and residences across the United States, Mexico, Europe and beyond, and is actively expanding internationally.
No. Calistoga Ranch, an Auberge property in Napa Valley, has been closed since the 2020 Glass Fire and is not currently bookable. Auberge's other Napa hotels, Auberge du Soleil and Solage, are open and operating. Always confirm a specific property is open before booking a collection as varied as Auberge.