Tellerwaescher

In another thread a user complained about the "mediocre crowd" at the Ritz Carlton Berlin due to the comparatively cheap rates. This raises the question about the characteristics of a mediocre crowd at luxury hotels.

What kind of guests do you expect at luxury hotels? And is the quality of guests dependent on the price? Does the quality of guests matter at all while staying at a luxury hotel?

scented

"Quality of guests" is a term that sounds very pretentious to begin with.
I think the crowd is usually determined by many factors, beginning with the feeder markets for certain locales. Take Dubai for example: Big feeder markets are Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, UK, Germany. Combine that with the rates the hotel commands and you can paint a pretty clear picture of who might stay. Also take brand positioning into consideration - guests at an Amanresort are typically (well, under former ownership at least) more low-key/understated than at Bulgari. Certain hotels cater to certain industries and try to find niches: Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome courts the bloggers these days after many stars switched to FS George V, One&Only Reethi Rah is a long-standing favorite of the fashion industry (tons of models swear by it, including Natasha Poly), as is Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc (Karl did Chanel shows and photo shoots there) or Four Seasons Bora Bora, which became a Tinseltown hotspot. Then, the new kids on the block always attract part of the jet set / money no object types and those who stay at the newest/best/latest hotel (Peninsula Paris), as well as the occasional celebrity (Michael Buble at FS Dubai). If that translates into future business, depends on the quality of the hotel - or the crowd moves on. MICE tends to influence visitors or repeat business from time to time, too. There's another topic mentioned on this forum: seasons. The very same hotel could potentially have a completely different clientele, depending on the season. Example: Amanpuri. Relatively low rates during rainy season in Phuket, vastly different situation during Christmas and NYE, when the entire resort is taken over by Aman royalty, high rollers and their invited friends. So it comes down to the rates after all...
I'm not in the industry, so those are just personal observations and thoughts. While I do have to say that I met some incredibly interesting people at luxury hotels at times, I'm okay with everyone, as long as they don't disturb me and other guests.
For the hotels, different crowds tend to be a challenge as well: honeymooners have different requirements than large families. Someone who stays at a luxury hotel for the first time finds everything exciting, while return guests, who stay all the time, could be more demanding..

pricesquire

I think it's a pretentious, stupid idea. ... Although, at heart, I somewhat know where you're coming from.

I don't go to the Ritz San Juan because I know there will be hundreds of cruise ship pax by the pool. I don't care if they're millionaires or paupers, I just don't like that scene.

There is a flip side to this...

At uber nice resorts/hotels, where the clientele is "put together"//"quiet"//supposedly "interesting"...I hate it just as much.

People told me the clientele at Tented Camp and Amanpuri would be soooo interesting because, well....(the implication is - because they have money, they earned it in some fashion that should be interesting).

I find the clientele at some of these nicer places to be mind-numbingly boring or so self-centered it makes my head hurt. Constant questions of "what do you do for a living" or wealth-speak - i hate it.

Pierre&Cédric

I guess this is the main point.
To be pragmatic it means families or couples (I prefer quiet & romantic places to hordes of shouting children ) and vodka fans or good wine amateurs.

trickless

The implication is that money creates interesting and/or courteous people. My experience doesn't align with this theory. I'd argue there's little to no correlation.

Raffles

No, that's not it.

We did 9 nights at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai over Easter followed by a night at the nominally 5 star but 80 per cent cheaper Jumeirah Creekside.

The crowd at the latter were substantially fatter, more tattood and less glamorous than Madinat, which starts at $1,000 a night over Easter. The vibe was definitely different, the wardrobe was certainly not the same. But that is logical given the price gap and the guests were no less friendly or courteous.

NYBanker

I jogged by the Creekside property when I stayed at Madinat and shared similar observations.

NYBanker

I also share the same view of the Ritz San Juan. That property shouldn't even be flagged as a Marriott!

While high prices doesn't assure of a sophisticated crowd, low prices pretty much insures against it.

Aventine

I'll take no crowds. Thank you very much.

MikeFromTokyo

As long as other guests do not disturb me or make me feel uncomfortable, I don't really care who else is staying, especially at city hotels.

The type of crowd is more important to me at remote resorts, as it can affect the quality of my stay. I definitely prefer resorts that provide a low key, but sophisticated atmosphere where I feel close to nature. Casual elegance is desirable for me, while glitz and "bling" are not.

Soneva resorts, for example, are ideal for me. I also love Aman and Four Seasons resorts. While I do not have children, I like family friendly resorts because adult only resorts can be too serious or romantic sometimes. Provided that children are well behaved, I experience vicarious joy when I see them playing and enjoying vacations with their families.

offerendum

That´s not the case! A good examples are bus-tours or conferences. Nothing against the people, but it´s often loud and I don´t like to arrive at a hotel and see a crowd of 50 smoking people in front of the entrance.

It´s hard to describe you must see it.

@ Berlin: I had once a guy at the RC Club-Lounge who talked very loudly about his alcohol ecesses and how you should have sex with different types of women (trust me, very plastic). Simply disgusting. I complained about him, but of course they could do nothing. Not a matter of money, more a matter of bad breeding. Riff raff remains riff raff no matter how much money it gets.

Another example from Montreux Palace: A guy with Flip Flops, unshaved, not very clean (straight out of the bed) and Le Meridien Shirt and his wife attended breakfast. He once tooked a bread roll, looked at it and replaced it on the buffet!

MikeFromTokyo

Exactly, that is a potential negative about club lounges even at otherwise nice hotels. The same problem can be especially bad at hotel bars that attract a certain affluent clientele that behave very crassly, which is made even worse because alcohol is involved. The worst are the "high-end" hotel bars that allow obvious, rampant prostitution to take place on their premises with impunity.

I hate to stereotype, but newly affluent guests from certain countries where standards of behavior and values are different and/or less developed can detract from the experiences of other guests.

EuropeanPete

There are probably three types of guest who you might complain about, with different levels of justification in doing so:
Guests who disturb your visit: People who are loud, mess up facilities, exhibit extreme inappropriate behaviour which spoils your time, etc. There have been quite a few comments on here from Chinese tourists in beach resorts
Guests who come across as sleazy: Typically fat men of a certain age, often either with or talking about prostitutes. I remember as a child having to miss the pool for a day after two Dutch men spent 30 minutes talking about the different prostitutes they'd nailed that week in Cuba. I'd call out Germans, Italians and Russians as the main culprits that I've come across on this
Guests who come across as unsophisticated: This is the most subjective and something which I don't think you should really let worry you. Having said that, if you're paying upwards of $1,000 dollars a night for a luxury retreat you might not want 3rd division football players and D-list celebrities not knowing how to properly handle a knife and fork and drinking magnums of Ace of Spades making up the majority of your fellow hotel guests. British, Americans and Russians come to mind here

MikeFromTokyo

For me the guests who come accross as sleazy (as described above) are the most vile. It is easier for me to forgive people who really don't know any better (the first and third groups described above).

Pickles

Sartre put it best: L'enfer, c'est les autres.