Originally Posted by
bhrubin
I’m afraid that is a red herring, my friend. One can’t compare the solid but unremarkable and clearly not luxurious Marriott Marquis to the St Regis SF because for a few weeks a year a city wide convention makes their rates a bit more comparable. Those few times a city wide convention is in town does not aspirational make, I’m afraid. The StR SF is never below $500 a night standard rates; the Marriott Marquis can be had for much, much less for most of the year.
As if the much better hard and soft product and the brand standard butler service aren’t enough, the St Regis SF is pretty aspirational for most. It’s fine that that might not be true for you. Since most cannot ever afford to pay the cash rate, I’d say the St Regis SF award redemption is highly aspirational for most.
The StR SF is often below $500 on typical weekends when nothing is going on. I think the more telling metric is the price of the StR compared to other SF hotels, since SF is such a ridiculously expensive hotel market. The nearby Marriott Marquis or W can be close to $1000/night (heck, even the Westin SFO is often over $500/night). But that doesn't make those properties "aspirational" in the sense that I think that word is being used here.
Ultimately, I think the word "aspirational" is such a nebulous term—and to a large extent a matter of taste. What is "aspirational" to one may well be mundane to another.