Asking what you pay for in luxury hotels?

[Teadrinker11]

This is probably a very stupid question, so I apologise for being an idiot. I am wondering why luxury hotels are able to charge such minted prices? I was looking at the London Savoy recently and it's nice, but why are they so expensive? What are guests paying for other than a bed, shower / bath and toilet and pleasant staff? What the hell validates the crazy prices?

Prestige, quality fixtures/fittings/bedding, premium location, staff/training, food, building upkeep (often historical buildings). It all adds up. I'd imaging the running costs are far far higher than the local Premier Inn.

Quality, standards and service.

The Savoy for example, it was the first luxury hotel built in London, so has a lot history behind it. That’s one USP. I’m sure one of the restaurants has a Michelin star.

I’m sure the guests of who stay there are looking for more than just a “bed, shower/bath and peasant staff” they want a luxury experience.

Priced to keep the riffraff out which preserves the exclusivity.

Price out the riffraff?

The Savoy used to have a great deal for rooms on a Sunday night. The rooms are beautiful, attention to detail perfect - they’ve thought through the tiniest detail like where you would want to place a drink or how many seconds it takes to fill up the bath.

I’m sure one of the restaurants has a Michelin star.

So you pay extra to sleep in a room that's in the same building as a Michelin-starred restaurant?

I think it's also the service.

We stayed somewhere nice for my birthday recently. We wanted to have high tea before we left for the airport to go home, but they didn't start serving it until we were meant to be leaving. Not a problem, they spoke to the kitchen staff and arranged to serve it an hour earlier for us. (I didn't ask them to, just explained when we tried to book that we needed to leave by x time and they offered!).

We also had breakfast included in our room rate but ended up booking a tour that picked us up really early in the morning before breakfast started. Hotel said no problem, we will arrange breakfast for you to take with you (and it was truly fabulous!).

Basically, nothing was too much trouble for them. I've stayed there 3 times now and will keep going back!

@FatOaf

I’m sure one of the restaurants has a Michelin star.

So you pay extra to sleep in a room that's in the same building as a Michelin-starred restaurant?

You pay for the quality of the room, the service you receive, the level of standards and the experience on the whole.

The Savoy having a Michelin starred Restaurant is an indication on the hotels level of luxury. There’s not going to be a bog standard diner or McDonalds in there.

We used to stay at Pennyhill Park & Spa for special Occasions.
Had a look at the prices recently to go in June this year, midweek. I would say they have doubled in price since pre covid.
It is a beautiful Place and very special, but we will not be paying for the over inflated prices now.
Looking to go abroad instead.

What are guests paying for other than a bed, shower / bath and toilet and pleasant staff? What the hell validates the crazy prices?

It's like asking why two three bed houses in the same town are priced at £200k and £400k. They both have 3 beds, 2 baths and a garden after all, why would one be more? Because it's nicer, a higher standard of finish, bigger, more convenient etc.

@violetbunny that sounds fabulous, do share please so I can Google it and love vicariously through you.

I've stayed at a very nice hotel (paid for by someone else) and it's the staff numbers and service.

I think it’s a combination of a few things including:

Staff, far higher staff to guest ratio, probably more training and expected to do more.
Fixtures and fittings, eg pillows, bedding, furniture, bathrooms etc. the highest quality will come at a cost.
Room size, overall larger rooms and some gigantic suites. You could get several eg Premier Inn rooms in one so the cost needs to reflect that it’s space that could be divided and therefore sold several times. Same for large public spaces which could be used for rooms.
Exclusivity, you won’t get a Saudi prince block booking an entire floor if you’ve got drunk hen/stag parties in the hotel.

It’s a whole range of things.

Staff to guest ratios will be higher. Staff are also usually far more experienced and skilled so demand higher wages.

Rooms will be fitted out with higher spec fixtures fittings and furnishings which will be refurbished in a much more frequent basis.

Linens will be much higher quality.

Food will be of better quality and presentation better.

The wine cellar and bar will be well stocked with very expensive drinks and will have expert sommeliers and cocktail bartenders. These elements will be crafted in the same way a chef crafts the food. And served impeccably.

Staff will have all uniforms provided. These will be fresh each shift. Suits will usually be tailored.

The difference between working in a four star and a five star plus is like working in completely different industries. In the former staff are usually running round like blue arsed flies having worked super long, understaffed shifts. Frantically trying to iron the uniform they’ve bought themselves before shift. If you look closely everything is slightly scruffier and rushed unless very top end four star. You don’t get that in five star as staff have time and tools to provide a far better quality of service. Yes it might get busy but it’s not the same as a four star.

At London's Savoy Hotel there is a man with an ill-fitting TOP HAT at the entrance and you get a FREE newspaper in the morning. I think.

@DifficultBloodyWoman Absolutely. The price point for somewhere like the Savoy is inaccessible to the vast majority of people. Even if the room is not “worth” the high cost, the pricing strategy gives it the perception of prestige. They don’t price at in the middle of the range as they only want a select group of clientele.

Apart from everything being beautiful quality, you pay for being made to feel like you're the most important person in the world, rather than an inconvenience

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

At London's Savoy Hotel there is a man with an ill-fitting TOP HAT at the entrance and you get a FREE newspaper in the morning. I think.

I expect there's also a bowl of fruit at the front desk and you can help yourself gratis!

I understand the better quality fittings, bedding, more, and highly trained staff, old buildings, top restaurants etc but I feel there must be a ceiling price of what you are actually buying/paying for and what is just an extra charge because incredibly wealthy people will pay it. I saw a hotel on a TV programme once and it was something like 100k/night. I literally can't compute what can possibly be worth the price of a small house for 1 night

It’s the same reason luxury handbags are so expensive. It does cost more to make them as the materials are the highest quality and they are often made individually by hand. However, 80% of the price is still about the perception of exclusivity. It costs around 800 USD to manufacture a Birkin bag, but they sell for over 20k. People pay that price because they believe that owning one means they are special members of an elite group.

We stayed at the Savoy a couple of summers ago and our room was beautiful. Incredible bed, beautiful furniture, the curtains and drapes around the bed must have cost a fortune. There was a separate, floor to ceiling mirrored dressing room with a Dyson hairdryer. Enormous bathroom with bath and walk in shower, gorgeous tiles. I don't know how much the suite cost to put together but it could easily have been a £100,000 once you include the fittings.

Everything was pristine, so they redecorate regularly.

Then you think about how much space costs in that part of London.

Before you even think about how much they have to pay staff.

When I say how much the suite cost, I mean the suite of rooms not the bathroom suite!

A stay at the Carlton Tower Jumeirah in London Royal Suite gets you silk robes, monogrammed leather card holder, personalised cakes, photos of your kids idols framed on a side table. Many more things I imagine but that's what I got from someone's Facebook photos

We stayed in a really posh hotel skiing once. They came by three times a day to brush the snow off our balcony deck chair, check we had enough sparkling water, free mini bar, folded our clothes, made our eggs exactly as we wanted at breakfast, spoke every language under the sun and were right under the ski lift. Was it worth twice the price of another hotel: probably objectively not because its still just a bed and a shower, but it was nice to be pampered. We don't have staff at home, not even a cleaner, and our whole flat would have fitted in the room so it was a very rare taste of luxury!

Staff and service, mainly.
Simple things like evening turn down & carrying bags, but also the fact that they remember guests' names and are just more visible & reactive.
To be honest, it is like night & day from a "regular" hotel, and well worth the extra money if you can afford it.