Originally Posted by
highupinthesky
I'm pretty sure it's more a question of poor maintenance. If you don't fix a hole in a seat, the next kid will pick at it and make it bigger etc. A good cleaning of the carpet and seats or a polish of scratches can often make a cabin look 5 years younger.
For hotels it is also very much a question of the quality of the original materials and the diligence of the construction workers. I was just at the Ritz Carlton Hong Kong, and while you can see that it has been in use, compared to 2011 when it opened, it still looks great. Though I have been to hotels that looked worn after less than a year, and it was mainly driven by poor construction to begin with.