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Even As Your Cash Flows, Luxury Hotel's Shower Might Not

By Mike Grasso

Travelers accustomed to being pampered at four and five star properties are familiar with the luxurious amenities and impeccable customer service often absent from two or three star hotels. But too many high-tech and high-cost ammenities are bound to leave some guests a little unhappy.

This past Sunday in the SF Chronicle, Executive editor John Flinn wrote about how the higher end hotels often confuse needless complexity with sophistication. In his article, "Even as your cash flows, luxury hotel's shower might not," He uses several in-room examples such as lighting and the shower head to explain how overengineered room technology can lead to an irritating and tiresome experience for the guest. He concludes the article by describing the back-to-the-basics, uncomplicated amenities budget hotels offer, such as free Internet and free local calls, as a sort of reality check for the big name hotels.

I personally believe that while luxury hotels are constantly finding ways to improve the guest experience, they risk alienating a segment of the population with the means to choose between budget and luxury hotels. The race to offer the latest and greatest in technological advancements, and their associated cost to the hotel, means elaborate restaurants - but no free breakfast, WiFi throughout the property, for a steep fee, and, my personal favorite, sensored "honor bars" where as soon as you remove a beverage from the small in-room refrigerator, you are automatically charged - regardless if you put the drink back.

So while the four and five star hotels overall offer a wonderful experience to guests, sometimes the quest to deliver that perfect experience can go a little overboard. Adding steep price tags to advanced and sometimes complicated technology are bound to turn away some guests who seek a property offering good amenities at fair prices. Even luxury travelers don't want to be ripped off.

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Emirates Airlines: Shower facilities onboard flights by October

Environmental Impact Yields to Luxury Travel

One of the most luxurious airlines in the world, Emirates, is taking luxury and service to an even higher level. Beginning this October, Emirates will offer onboard shower facilities to first class passengers. The showers will be available on their Airbus A380 aircraft, operating a New York to Dubai route.

But talk about working against eco-friendly travel solutions. The London Times estimates aircraft will need to haul around an extra ton of water per flight, and the extra fuel to move it.

This results in a “carbon cost” of 48,455 pounds for every round trip flight.

It's fantastic technology has evolved to a point which permits people to bath themselves at 40,000 feet...and I suppose passengers paying $15,000+ for a first class flight have a right to it. And of course it would be great to try it and say, "wow!" But hopefully this doesn't become a standard for the que of other Airbus 380 aircraft on wait lists and assembly lines. There are other methods of "wowing" first class passengers that result in less harm on the environment.