Design Hotels was founded in 1993 in Sausalito, California in the United States. It is a publicly traded company with over 300 independently owned small boutique and luxury hotel establishments. These properties are scattered in 50 countries worldwide. The main offices of the company are in London, Barcelona, New York City, and Singapore. Its headquarters remain in Berlin. J. Peter Schweitzer and Claus Sendlinger were the founders of the company who decided to start it all as a California Corporation. Claus was a part-owner just like Hans Peter Knodler and Oliver Jamitzky of German travel agency CO-ORDINATES GmbH in Augsburg, Germany. CO-ORDINATES, together with other firms consolidated in 1998 under the lebensart.net GmbH holding company. It was in 1999 when the holding company also known as lebensart Global Networks AG went public in Germany.

In 2001, lebensart Global Networks AG rebranded itself as Design Hotels with 23 initial hotels under its wing. That same year, the brand completed the corporate merger of ResExpress, Inc., Younger Direct Marketing, Inc., and lebensart technology, Inc. The company began trading under the name lebensart technology Arizona, Inc. In 2004, after multiple relocations, the firm settled in Berlin where it still is now. In 2011, Starwood Hotels & Resorts acquired 72% ownership of Design Hotels. It was topped by Marriott International, which currently owns 74% of Design Hotels.