Luxury and the Hotel Brand

Abstract

Focus groups conducted by Canada's nascent Metropolitan hotel chain found that business travelers viewed many hotel attributes as merely matters of convenience or good value, rather than true luxury. The study also found that experienced travelers have become blase about many hotel amenities, even those that are luxurious. On the other hand, young travelers remained excited about the prospect of luxury on their trips, but many recognized only intrinsic luxuries (e.g., windows that open), as against extrinsic luxury (e.g., over-the-top food service). The focus-group study leads to the conclusion that luxury is in the eye of the beholder, and hotels need to give their guests clues about what is luxury, so that they will approach their stay with the appropriate mind-set. Metropolitan trains its guest-contact employees at its two properties to discuss with guests their purpose of travel, the better to mesh hotel services with guests' desires.