| Popis: |
What attributes define a luxury hotel? What makes someone spend $1000 at the Ritz Paris, or $9,000 at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai? For many, being utterly pampered in an extravagant environment with a distinguished and personalized service is what defines luxury. The new millennium has brought a whole new perspective on luxury hotels; who knows what trends will be next. At luxury hotels, there are guests who return again to hotels that resemble their own opulent residences. Some stay to experience the luxury that others take for granted. There are business travelers who enjoy the residential setting with state-of-the-art technology, and there are others who don't feel comfortable staying in a traditional setting. Therefore, catering to the needs of returning guests or new guests, business or leisure travelers, and young or old travelers is challenging. There are certain factors, that if balanced, will influence the perception of luxury and will therefore satisfy travelers' various needs. What creates the appealing atmosphere, what makes the stay memorable and what are the essential criteria of designing luxury hotels are explored in this thesis. The outcome of this research is intended to inform architects and planners about some of the evolving conditions they can control in order to provide guests with a satisfactory stay. An analysis of the evolving concept of luxury in hotels is presented. The thesis illuminates the guidelines used to rate luxury hotels around the world. In brief, the thesis attempted to be an effort to link both quantifiable and non-quantifiable attributes through research, literature reviews, two case studies, observations, and guests' surveys. |
