This discussion entertained me. Lixury hotels have all manner of guests of all styles, all levels of preferred dress, and all manners of expectations. The fact that one might be able to afford the room rate has little to do with the average customer...and that is increasingly true as more and more people from different places and customs visit luxury hotels.
I agree with a previous poster that any luxury hotel guest should be respectful to fellow guests and hotel staff, but that's just as true in budget hotels IMO.
For those who love dress codes at restaurants, I'm sorry to tell you that the world is changing--and I'm thankful for that. I've always wondered about how a less or better dressed group of diners at another table has any bearing on my experience at my table. To me, it's just pretension. It is Old World, and the old World still exists, of course. But far more restaurants and luxury hotels are evolving into the New World where jackets and ties are no longer the norm nor in any way needed for everyone who can afford such places. In the Old World, keeping up appearances was part of the class experience and a way to manage class distinction; in the New World, those distinctions are frowned upon, thankfully.
There will always be differences of opinion, of course...but I'm delighted that more and more diversity exists of all kinds in the luxury hotel and restaurant sector. The entire idea of "mediocre" guests makes me laugh...at those who would use such terms.
My Danish friend told me when I asked about the dress code for Noma that "if you pay the bill in Denmark, you can wear a bikini." I loved it. I still wore a jacket, since it was quite cold, but I didn't need it once seated. But it was the meal and service that concerned me--not the dress of other diners.
We now rarely wear a jacket for fine dining--going so far as to make the request of jacket requiring establishments. Most readily comply. Some don't. That's their right. But I now generally avoid jacket reqt restaurants unless it's a restaurant I'm dying to try. If I can get away without a jacket at Guy Savoy in Paris, I should be able to get away with it in most places. The Ledbury in London is my favorite in that city for exactly that reason. And Meadowood's "dark denim preference" for those who wish to wear jeans is one part of the many reasons I far prefer it to the French Laundry. I wore a jacket at Daniel two years ago, and I was warm and uncomfortable. I didn't wear a jacket at Alinea and the chef applauded my outfit--despite their reqt.
Sometimes, people are sheep and/or do what is generally regarded as "appropriate" to better fit in and feel more comfortable. Fair enough! But I'm not sheep. I push boundaries and I have my own style and comfort levels, and I am more than happy doing that. I have to put up with the other view occasionally, and the other view has to occasionally put up with me.
