The Excelsior is a cathedral to modern tourism and business travel
Luxury hotels are not all about marble bathrooms and art in the corridors: without perfect service and functionality, a luxury hotel is not worth the title. Darius Sanai holds up Mandarin Oriental’s Hong Kong behemoth as a case study – technically, it’s not a luxury hotel, but the experience should be an example for all hoteliers on how it’s done.
The idea of staying at a Mandarin Oriental hotel conjures up a dreamy vision, a blend of eastern exoticism and richness of service. And this dream is generally an accurate predictor of what you?ll receive in the only luxury city hotel group that, for me, perfectly combines the style and individuality of a boutique private resort group with the functionality of a major luxury chain. ?Functionality? is probably not a word that appears in Mandarin?s, or any group?s staff manual, but it?s a key element of a top hotel and one that is overlooked too easily. I have stayed in boutique hotels whose bar staff don?t know what a cigar cutter is; design hotels where room service breakfast looks like something on a second-class train carriage; style hotels where the concierge forgets your restaurant reservation and today?s front office staff have no idea about the detailed conversation you had about your needs with yesterday?s front office staff. An adaptor for your European plug" Sorry, the guest who borrowed it last week didn?t bring ours back.
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