While there are other threads discussing service items, and if design hotels are luxury hotels, I'm curious as to what specific design elements people perceive as 'luxury' or that have stood out as interesting and memorable to you?
The large awnings that retract/expand on the suites of the Grand Hotel in Stockholm via remote control in the room are impressive and functional.
Agreed Wurm on the artwork! Quality hardwood is beautiful- however I understand from some friends who have developed hotels that high heels from shoes absolutely destroy them in a short time.
Electrified window treatment and super-uber smart toilet like the one they installed in Park Hyatt Shanghai. I mean, that is one seriously sick (in a good way) toilet!
I agree about original artwork, I loved the parrot paintings in Hotel Botanico in Tenerife! I also love infinity pools and luch tropical landscaping.
While I would not classify it as a luxury hotel, I was impressed by the design features in the Hard Rock - San Diego.
I think it's a Toto, but it's the most advanced kind I've seen. Seat lifts up automatically as one enters the powder room, there is a built-in blue night light, deodorizing, drying features in addition to the usual heated seat and cleansing features (different pressures). I had never thought the most impressive item in PH Shanghai, for me, is the toilet.
and a heated toilet seat. I also like the self-filling bathtubs in the renovated main building rooms at the Imperial in Tokyo. For me, as long as the room/suite and bed itself are good, it's all about the bathroom. I want a large and deep bathtub plus a separate shower that's attractive and not too small. Also a sink--or better, two sinks--with adequate counter space, a big mirror, and a lighted magnifying mirror. The bathroom should have lots of thick soft bath sheets (not the smallish bath towels), medium sized hair towels, good washcloths or terry wash mitts, and endless wonderful toiletries including shower gel/bubble bath. I also want a nice bathrobe (an additional thinner robe or PJs would be a plus) and decent disposable slippers. The swimming pool is also very important. It should be indoor, heated very well to about bathtub temperature, about 1.5 meters or 4-5 feet deep with a good place for laps (no steps or ladders on opposite side walls), uniquely luxurious in appearance, spotlessly clean, and child free.
I agree with this one as well. I normally love hardwood floors but during a stay last year, I had an upstairs neighbor who walked very heavily on hardwoods in very noisy shoes. No fun for me. I kept wondering why in the world they had their shoes on in the first place. Without the neighbors, it would have been a lovely feature.
Of course the fabulous Japanese toilets! Loved the toilets at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo and the Peninsula in Tokyo. Also lately we find that one luxury we also like is the simple fact to have space in our hotel rooms // suites. Space is in our opinion a luxury in itself.
I rented a serviced apartment once in Tokyo that had one of those fabulous Japanese toilets- squirted myself twice in the face prior to figuring out all the controls
Another thing that comes to mind is soundproofing. I find that even the most visually appealing hotel can be ruined by noise of neighbors, people in the hall, slamming doors. If a hotel feels just as peaceful as my home, I'm a happy person.
Only too true, soundproofing should be a definitive feature of a great hotel. I just thought about another great feature which could // does enhance a stay a great hotel, this being a relaxing indoor swimming pool, like this one we encountered at the Hyatt Regency Jeju in South Korea, he is a photo of the pool taken by us in April 2010 there: Calm // Reflections // Inner Peace // @ The Hyatt Regency Hotel Jeju // Jeju-do // The Island of Jeju // South Korea [ Look INSIDE for MORE ] by UggBoy♥UggGirl [ PHOTO // WORLD // SENSE ], on Flickr Hope you like it and think as well that a pool is a great feature in hotels around the world too!
For a resort- yes- great feature. For a city hotel/business hotel I would far prefer they invest in a decent business centre with good staff, great printers, and a decent high speed reasonably priced (per page) photocopier.
Yes, a business centre is indeed a tool very very important and yes, hotels should invest in great ones, as we have encountered at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo, this business centre offers every amenity or service imaginable. But again, prices are high! I agree prices have to come down especially for services like copies // prints and so on. But after all day spent with business on our minds comes the rejuvenation even in city locations and a great investment in a leisure zone with pool // spa // massage // hair salon // barbershop as encountered in the Grand Hyatt Seoul // they have also a great pool indoors and outdoors and have been voted best for business in South Korea. So I vote for a combination of great services which shall encompass business and pleasure.
If I can have both, I absolutely agree with you! Nothing annoys me more than a business centre which is "closed Sunday" or (as recently in Bangkok) 40 BHT per page black and white photocopies (1 EUR per page!!)- when I can walk out of the hotel and get copies made for >1 BHT per page with a better quality machine and real service. Hyatt has actually been very good (to me) with their business centre services- this is an area where they are strong in my experience. And, (strange co-incidence), we end up booking quite a few meetings at Hyatt! In terms of luxury hotels, Hyatt performs quite well in some cities and usually quite consistently with their Park Hyatt brand, however if we discuss chains I think Four Seasons still has the upper hand on service, and Park Hyatt (usually) wins from a design perspective- alas service is more important than deisgn to me.
Indeed, especially the Park Hyatt brand excels in our opinion in combining great design, superior locations and food // drink offerings. Service, yes, some hiccups as recently encountered in Seoul eg. called that they clean up room-service dinner and nobody came to our room on the 18th floor. On the other side have stayed at their Tokyo property and Hamburg property, flawless with only very minor inconsistencies at the Hamburg location eg. at one time we received free after dinner pralines and on the next evening we saw that others received them but not we this time around. Our Four Seasons experience is not of great help here, having only ever stayed in two properties in Europe, the Dublin, Ireland and the London // Canary Wharf location. In London we stayed twice in a short time after the first visit, only the door man remembered us and we where not called by name either. Many other report such miracles like they remember you, offer super services and call you by name. Never happened in our case. Overall we found this three stays in terms of service // luxury encountered and going all the way not better than any Hyatt and this includes the Regency and Grand offerings. Our overall best experiences happen always at Hyatt, friendly treatment, unexpected room upgrades with Lounge Access // I am not a Diamond // and other nice amenities offered in the rooms // suites we booked. .............I am surprised that the Business centre was closed on Sunday in Bangkok! Which hotel was it?
With Four Seasons, book through an FSPP and you will get a ton of unexpected upgrades and amenities. I am not going to mention which hotel in Bangkok (it was NOT Four Seasons or Hyatt) as the manager on duty solved the problem- but I have experienced this all over the world (or it closes at 20:00 which is just as bad as closing Sunday- if my office were open, i wouldn't need to use a business centre....). I do agree with you that Park Hyatt Hamburg is a gorgeous hotel with great service and beautiful rooms.
Thanks for your infos, also glad to know that it was not a Four Seasons or Hyatt in Bangkok. Such hotels seem to find a resolution faster to problems than most others in our experience. Indeed, the Park Hyatt Hamburg is gorgeous and we love the whole Levantehaus set-up and design // services // food and drink offers too. Coming back to best amenities offers in Luxury Hotels, I would also include international adaptors for laptos // phones and other electrical gadgets and in-room safes which let us charge our laptop also while storing it securely.
