Do you notice the small things in an ultra-luxury hotel?
 

I'm quite a sticker for detail and tend to notice the small things that distinguish a luxury hotel from an ultra-luxury one. Things like

• Water and a glass on the side of the bed I sleep on
• Pillows to my preference
• Staff addressing me by name

Frankly I think the small things are what you're paying for. For me it includes

- Being able to get a paper copy of the newspaper with my morning coffee
- Staff addressing me by name
- Pumped in fragrances to make the lobbies smell good
- Always having the front door opened for me

That's frankly standard for me. But yes, I mention little details.

What is the difference between “luxury” and “ultra luxury”?

(Edited as OP asked for “small” things and I listed biggies)
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Yes and it's unnecessary and unhealthy. If you are into photography you know there's a phrase called 'pixel peeping'. That's when photography pedants zoom in so much to photos to critique the image at a pixel level when pragmatically no one will ever notice because no one ever zooms in that much at photos. Same here. I love being treated nicely and feeling like home/like a king at a hotel, but consciously looking for it and giving a hotel points because staff addressed me by name is mentally unhealthy.

Luxury amenities I prefer:

flowers in room/suite
sparkling water in room
flowers with room service
ice water with room service
water and glass bedside
small slippers for small feet
welcome treats and champagne
late afternoon ice bucket
top sheet
Reading pillow
paper newspaper, a selection
house cat

A lot of this makes me thing of a “stay list” that a guest or TA would convey to the hotel.

Is this something you all do?

Willingness to honor/assist with special dietary requirements or make off-menu requests. Surprisingly, not every ultra luxury property will make the effort in my experience.

I don’t do that entire list but I DO order flowers. The best hotels include ice water with room service, welcome treats and champagne/wine, ice, top sheet, and hard copy newspaper. I never get small slippers but I should ask.

In a former life, I worked briefly at the Peninsula BH. Part of the employee manual was that an employee, if he/she were in an elevator with a guest, the employee should not stop the elevator to inconvenience the guest. Meaning, if both people got in on the lobby and the guest was going to the 4th floor, the employee had to go to the 5th floor and then go back down to a lower floor. I always thought that was a nice touch.

Another thing I liked was that if an employee and guest were walking towards each other in the hallway, the employee was supposed to stop, hug the wall on the right and greet the guest.

Little things like this I still look for when staying at city hotels.

For me, it's pretty simple and basic. Just two things. One, Champagne and NOT wine. Two, take away shoe shine service where it's returned impeccably done in the old world tradition.

It is a great feeling being addressed by name. As a child, traveling was never done leisurely, so initially, I was easy to please and often felt undeserving of exceptional service. After staying at many hotels, working in the industry, and now as a travel agent, my expectations have significantly changed. It's interesting how my family will not notice small opportunities, but I will.

I really love when my electric cords are neatly wrapped.
Hotel branded bookmarks are placed inside of my books.
International Power Converters in the room.

what?

Some luxe hotels also house a pet, sometimes a cat. The Oetker Collection favors cats so I will re-acquaint myself with Lilibet at The Lanesborough in London on my return trip to London later this month. Le Bristol, sister hotel in Paris, hosts Socrate.

https://www.oetkercollection.com/hot...libet-the-cat/

https://www.oetkercollection.com/hot...hotel/socrate/

Luxury (or not) = who are the other guest.

Not being nickled and dimed.