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A True Luxury Hotel is All About the Details. With enough money, anyone can build a great hard product: the hotel or resort, including well-appointed rooms, suites, swimming pools, restaurants, spa, etc. But that's not what truly distinguishes great luxury hotels from mediocre ones. The soft product, which includes people and service, is what defines true luxury, and part of that service is getting the details right. Here are five of the warning signs a luxury hotel isn't detail-oriented:
1. Concierge Requests are Fumbled
To be fair, as we mentioned in Dear Hotel Concierges: Please Respond Promptly, many of the most popular luxury hotel concierge teams are truly inundated right now, and taking longer than usual to get back to requests. But even apart from longer than usual response times, review the itineraries you receive back for potential errors. All too often, we find that the team hasn't included a requested reservation, made it for the wrong day or time, or messed up the number of participants.
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2. Misspelled Name
I find my own name an apt barometer for a given person's attention to detail. Whenever I see an email that misspells my name with a double ‘l' my confidence in that person's attention to detail immediately drops, because if they can't even pay attention to the correct spelling of my name, what else are they getting wrong?
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3. Room or Suite Not Set Up as Requested
We typically have at least a couple requests for our room or suite: extra pillows and an allergen removed from the room and any welcome amenities. And when celebrating a special occasion, whether a birthday or anniversary, we also advise of that. It's immediately clear upon arrival whether one of those requests has been actioned, with a glance at the bed and pillow situation. And when a special occasion has been advised, it's rather poor form on the part of a luxury hotel not to recognize it in some way, with a celebratory cake, special beverage, or other amenity.
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4. Lack of Follow-Through for Requests
Did the front desk promise to get back to you about a room move or a request for late check-out, but no one got back to you? Did you request an extra bed or extra pillows from Housekeeping but you're still waiting an hour later? Did you call the Concierge asking the team to make a dining or spa reservation, but never received a confirmation, and nothing was reserved? Did you have to ask for a cappuccino three times before it appeared (hello, Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome). Luxury hotels are about more than just the rooms, restaurants and spa; they're about service, and when requests aren't actioned, the whole experience falls apart.
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5. Lack of General Manager Presence
One of the signs of a detail-oriented hotel is a hands-on General Manager, who dedicates part of his or her day to greeting and speaking with guests and circulating amongst hotel staff departments. While extremely advanced luxury hotel departments can function as seamlessly as a professional symphony led by its first violin rather than a conductor, not many hotels, even luxury hotels, are at that level. A strong GM who regularly speaks to both guests and hotel staff is able to lead by example, recruit detail-focused team members, and ensure the team's continued high attention to detail. Conversely, if during a week long stay with significant time on property you have no interaction with the GM or his/her right hand person, the Resort Manager, that often is reflected in the attention to detail, or lack thereof.
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