Originally Posted by
jkirk
Agree completely. We didn't have any grief about shorts in public areas. I think the staff is discretely tuned in, however, to who is a registered guest and who isn't ... I suspect that if you aren't recognized as someone who is staying there you are more likely to get stopped by security over wardrobe issues.
Correct. I have sympathy with the previous poster's poor experience with simply asking about accomodation when in shorts, and it is a very strange policy. I think part of the reason is that the Oriental still gets many tourists (clad in many different ways) who want to check the place out - and so the dress code, which is really only applied to non-guests, is a way to keep this flow manageable. There are probably other better ways to restrict access to a hotel's public spaces, I suppose - but as a guest (often wearing shorts - and many guests stroll down to the pool in robes, incidentally), I actually like the policy (though as a non-guest in shorts, I would obviously hate it).