Originally Posted by vuittonsofstyle

I don't think there is a single high-end hotel brand that consistently gets every property right. Even Aman has had its turkeys (Amanwella?) and Four Seasons certainly has had a few that make my hair curl (Mumbai, Scottsdale, Sydney..), but compared to others, these two seem to get it right more than most.

R-C, in my view, has been going downhill since Marriott took over and even once justifiably famous properties are now dumbed down, especially on the restaurant side of things.

St Regis is Starwood and part of the world's largest hotel group and unfortunately, with one or two exceptions, it shows. Seems to me that they often fail to understand local culture when they venture outside North America. Again, I am invariably disappointed with the food and I often find that staff is not trained properly.

Rosewood is probably less discriminating these days now Caroline Rose Hunt is not involved and the brand has grown. They seem to lose an awful lot of management contracts, sometimes even before the property opens. I also find that service is very patchy at times. This is also true these days of GHM, who seem to lose the management contract before the hotel/resort opens, or not long after.

Peninsula is a little patchy in my experience. New York is a horror compared to the Pens in Asia, although Chicago is very accomplished. Manila is so-so, but then everything is so-so there. I am a big fan of Pen in the right location - HK, BK, Tokyo - but it's such a small brand and city-only that it is hard to make comparisons between it and FS.

MO charms the socks off me in some locations - Prague, Barcelona, Munich, Geneva - yet irritates me to distraction in others - London, New York, Singapore. But I do think it is getting better and more discriminating in its choice of management contracts these days. It has also started to hire some really good people. I think sometimes that it has too great an emphasis on marketing, so gets a wee bit tricksy in the F&B department, but otherwise, I am a fan, as they say.

For me, the service aspects of Aman and Four Seasons put them ahead. They have some great people who really care about what they do and this makes a massive difference in guest experience.