Hence the last sentence in my post just above. The two hotels i mentioned have brought in outside staff who have most of the direct interaction with the clients. I encountered several Asians, a very nice French/Egyptian woman who I chatted with a bit, and a woman from Spain at the front desk at the Hilton who was one of the best front desk staffers I've seen any any hotel north of Paris.

That's not to say that Swedes are incapable of good intuitive service. The Swedish woman in charge of the Sheraton Club lounge was exactly that.