Originally Posted by
FlyingMoose
The problem is that Grand, Bank, Nimb and D'Angleterre aren't in any major chains. They have great potential to join Luxury Hotels or Autograph Collections at Marriott but many frequent travelers will vividly avoid them if there are no program earnings. The Sheraton and Nobis in Stockholm aren't great, small rooms, poor service, subpar amenities at best. The Hilton is pretty sub-par as well. So there is no high end choice for anyone coming in that wants to stay at any of the major chains that would otherwise pick a Conrad, Waldorf, Ritz, St Regis or similar. Usually these people end up slumming in the Sheraton or Hilton as a result and leave disappointed.
Given the excessive cost of living you'd imagine higher end hotels like similar cities have but instead of the city is paved with Scandics, Best Westerns and Quality hotels which I would touch with a 10000 feet pole. Even Berlin has a Ritz and a Waldorf, Budapest has a Ritz, Amsterdam and Edinburgh have Waldorfs etc.
I see three points as to why Ritz, St Regis, Waldorf, Park Hyatt, MO, The Pen, FS, etc. are not in the Scandinavian region. The home market is too small, too few Scandinavians are willing to pay for these hotels. The service mentality in Scandinavia is just not what it needs to be for these kinds of hotels, and they would struggle to recruit. The salary levels means it is way too expensive to staff these hotels the way they need to be staffed to make it work.