Originally Posted by jaejaez

What I would prefer from an expanding St. Regis is stricter adherence to consistency.

Individual hotels can retain its unique charm and character while still being consistent to the standard key St. Regis elements. What I don’t want is the St. Regis to become another W, where the only global consistency left are the bathroom amenities and the lobby scent.

Particularly around two points (can’t think of any more right now…):

1. Butler service. Some St. Regis’ butlers provide coffee throughout the day free of charge while others only upon check-in and morning-call. Some offer espressos and lattes and cappuccinos while others restrict it only to black coffee and charge $ for any others. Some properties have butlers inspect housekeeping & turndown service whereas others don’t involve butlers in any housekeeping matters. Some St. Regis’ butlers make it a point to meet with you upon check-in (some at the check-in counter to escort to your room, others soon after you arrive in your room), while others you can have a five night stay without seeing your butler once. Some St. Regis’ have butler service across all room types while others limit butler service to suites & up… etc etc

The point is, I don’t want to have to spend time ‘researching’ on what the butler service includes/doesn’t include prior to booking a hotel for a particular property. This is actually the reason to why many choose branded hotels over independent hotels – for consistency. Don’t loosen it with the expanding portfolio please.

2. Evening Champagne sabering. Not a deal breaker as I hardly have time to participate in most of my stays anyway... but if the brand is going to advertise this as one of the signature St. Regis rituals, make it consistent throughout. Some hotels charge $ for this while others don’t. Some hotels do it daily while others do it sporadically. Some hotels have staff (butlers) advertise this actively whilst others keep it a ‘secret’ hoping that nobody would ask about it so they can skip it(?).