更多客人想要享受 酒店豪華套房迎來繁榮期
It used to be enough for luxury hotels to offer one spectacular presidential suite. Now, they're finding too many guests who want to play president.
在過去，豪華酒店有一套富麗堂皇的總統套房就夠了。而現在，它們發現有更多客人想要享受總統待遇。Suites are booming. With occupancy levels and room rates rising, luxury hotels are doing quite well. A growing number of wealthy, globe-trotting visitors and the increasing popularity of multigenerational travel are spurring a flurry of activity in the most spacious and swankiest spaces.
豪華套房正逐漸興盛起來。隨着入住率和房費不斷上升，豪華酒店的業績表現也非常不俗。由於跑遍全球的闊綽旅客越來越多，而且幾代人一同出行變得更加流行，最寬敞最奢華的客房的入住水平受到了大力提振。Rosewood Hotels & Resorts is increasing the percentage of suites at its resort properties to more than 40% of total rooms, up from around 30%, because of strong demand, company president Radha Arora says. At Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona, the suites have an occupancy rate of about 80%, higher than the hotel's regular rooms. Now the property is adding a building next door: 17 of the 22 new rooms there will be suites. Peninsula Hotels and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.'s luxury St. Regis brand are upping the number of suites as they build new hotels and renovate existing ones.
瑰麗酒店集團(Rosewood Hotels & Resorts)總裁拉達・阿羅拉(Radha Arora)稱，由於需求強勁，該公司逐步將其度假酒店中的套房比例從佔客房總數的30%左右提高到40%以上。在巴塞羅那文華東方酒店(Mandarin Oriental)內，套房的入住率大約達到80%，高於普通客房的入住率。目前該酒店正在隔壁增建一棟客房樓：該樓的22間新客房中將有17間建爲套房。此外，半島酒店(Peninsula Hotels)、喜達屋賓館及度假酒店國際集團(Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.)旗下的豪華酒店瑞吉(St. Regis)也在新建酒店或翻新現有酒店時增加套房的數量。
There's also activity at the very top of the suite food chain. Having just one grand suite with a range of much smaller ones just doesn't cut it anymore. After the Maybourne Hotel Group built the Apartment, a 3,000-square-foot, two-bedroom suite with a wraparound terrace and views of London's Mayfair neighborhood, at the Connaught hotel, it couldn't keep up with demand for the $23,900-a-night space.
此外，各大酒店也開始增加最頂級的奢華套房。只擁有一套豪華大套房外加一系列小很多的套房已不再能夠滿足客人的需求。梅伯恩酒店集團(Maybourne Hotel Group)在凱萊德酒店(Connaught Hotel)建了一套面積爲3,000平方英尺（約合278平米）的兩臥公寓套房。它擁有全景露臺，可欣賞倫敦梅費爾區的景緻，但是這套23,900美元一晚的套房還是滿足不了需求。'We found ourselves having to disappoint people' because it was full, Maybourne chief executive Stephen Alden says. Some guests jumped to competitors. So the company soon built two more comparable 'feature' suites, the Library suite and the Terrace suite. 'It is part of sustaining the business over the long term,' Mr. Alden says.
梅伯恩首席執行長斯蒂芬・奧爾登(Stephen Alden)說，由於客房已滿，“我們不得不讓客人失望了”。一些客人轉而入住競品酒店，於是該公司迅速推出了另外兩套檔次相當的“特色”套房――圖書館套房和走廊套房。奧爾登說：“它是維持長遠業務的舉措之一。”Even though suites don't tend to be booked as often as regular rooms, they are usually very profitable. Besides the sometimes eye-popping rates, suite guests tend to stay longer at a property, return more frequently and spend a lot of money on everything from spa treatments to room service and catered parties.
即使套房的預訂率不如普通客房那麼高，但它們的利潤通常十分豐厚。除了有時令人瞠目的房費之外，入住套房的客人往往入住時間更長，再次入住的頻率更高，而且花在水療、送餐服務和宴會等各類服務上的開銷也非常可觀。And people now generally pay the listed rates. In the past, hotels often used their top suites as a special giveaway to groups that booked big meetings or as an upgrade to loyal customers. Hotels would rarely charge full price for their presidential suites, says Robert Mandelbaum, director of research information services at PKF Hospitality Research. 'The opposite is true now because of the high occupancy of the hotels,' he says.
如今，入住套房的客人一般付的是掛牌價。在過去，酒店常常把入住頂級套房當作特別贈禮送給預訂大型會議的團體，或者是爲忠誠客戶升級至此類套房。酒店業研究機構PKF Hospitality Research調研信息部總監羅伯特・曼德爾鮑姆(Robert Mandelbaum)稱，以前酒店極少會全額收取總統套房的房費，“現在的真實情況正好相反，因爲酒店的入住率高了。”Indeed, hotels say they want to keep those top suites exclusive.
實際上，各大酒店也說，它們希望保持頂級套房的專屬性。'These suites need to be your sacred cow,' says Thomas Steinhauer, general manager of the new Four Seasons in Orlando, Fla. The hotel, slated to open in August, will have 68 suites among its 444 abodes, including a royal suite that can expand into a nine-bedroom space.
佛羅里達奧蘭多新四季酒店(Four Seasons)的總經理托馬斯・施泰因豪爾(Thomas Steinhauer)說：“得讓這些套房成爲你的神 之物。”該酒店預定於8月份開業，其444間客房將有68間爲套房，其中還包括一套可擴展爲九間臥室的皇家套房。Luxury hotels overall have rebounded from the depths of the recession. The occupancy rate at luxury hotels reached 74.6% in 2013, up from 63.7% in 2009. The average daily rate was $290.64 in 2013, up from $243.88 in 2009, according to data from STR Inc.
總的來看，豪華酒店已經走出了經濟衰退的深淵。STR公司的數據顯示，2013年豪華酒店的入住率從2009年的63.7%回升至74.6%；2013年的平均房費也從2009年的243.88美元升至290.64美元。Hotel companies say the demand for suites is being fueled in part by rising concerns about privacy. Increasingly, hotels are creating entire wings or floors that can be locked off and accessed by a separate entrance. These are coveted by everyone from Hollywood A-listers trying to avoid paparazzi to families traveling with large entourages.
酒店企業指出，對套房的需求之所以增加，一部分原因是因爲人們越來越擔憂隱私問題。酒店開始逐漸興建可整棟或整層被隔開並擁有單獨入口的配樓或樓層。此類套房得到了試圖躲開狗仔隊的好萊塢一線明星和隨行人員衆多的家庭等羣體的青睞。In February, the Ritz-Carlton, Dallas created a new 'privacy wing,' a 5,500-square-foot space with a private entrance that encompasses the hotel's top suite, two smaller suites and two other regular rooms. (Price tag: $7,500 a night.) 'This gives you the capability of a secure area within the hotel for celebrities, royalty, diplomats that are traveling with a nanny, private chef, security,' general manager Roberto van Geenen says.
今年2月，達拉斯麗思卡爾頓酒店(Ritz-Carlton)打造了一座新的“私密配樓”。它面積約爲5,500平方英尺（約合510平米），擁有私人通道，囊括該酒店的頂級套房、兩套小一些的套房以及另外兩間普通客房（價格爲7,500美元一晚）。該酒店的總經理羅伯託・範格南(Roberto van Geenen)說：“對於攜保姆、私人廚師和保安出行的名流、王室和外交官來說，它讓你能夠在酒店內擁有安全區域。”The top suites are being reimagined, too. The stereotype of the grand suite with vast, empty space and ornate chandeliers is increasingly out of date.
此外，有關頂級套房的構想也發生了變化。豪華大套房那種面積巨大又空蕩蕩、掛着華麗枝形吊燈的模式化形象逐漸過時了。In the past, 'it was almost like a regal waiting room,' says Paul James, global brand leader for Starwood's St. Regis, Luxury Collection and W brands. 'You walked in and you had lots of obvious earmarks of luxury, the gilding, the bronze work, the marble.' Now, the largest suites 'should feel more like a high-end home,' he says. That may mean just as much space, but used more practically, with more connecting rooms, additional bathrooms and larger wardrobes, he says.
喜達屋旗下瑞吉、豪華精選酒店(Luxury Collection)與W品牌的全球品牌主管保羅・詹姆斯(Paul James)說，過去“它基本上就像王室的待客廳。走進去後你會看到大量顯眼的奢華標誌，比如鍍金物、青銅件和大理石等。”現如今，頂級大套房“給人的感覺應該是更像高端住宅”。他說，這或許表明現在的套房雖然還像以前那麼大，但設計得更實用了，擁有更多相連的房間，額外的衛生間和更大的衣櫥。Suites are also being reconfigured with more flexibility, with hotels able to add and subtract bedrooms based on guest demand. That can boost occupancy and protect hotels from too-big or too-small suites lying fallow.
套房的格局如今也重新設計得更具靈活性，酒店能夠根據住客的需求增加或減少臥室。這可以提高入住率，幫助酒店防止過大或過小的套房空置。The Rosewood London actually calls its six top suites House Suites. The largest, the 6,295-square-foot Grand Manor House Wing, has a private street entrance and elevator -- and its own postal code. The suite, with six marble bathrooms, three living rooms and two walk-in closets, features funky materials such as a horsehair ceiling and alpaca wool wall tiles. The suite costs $41,500 a night.
實際上，倫敦瑰麗酒店就把它的六套頂級套房稱爲“House Suite”。其中最大的套房――面積達6,295平方英尺（約合585平米）的Grand Manor House Wing擁有從街道直通的專屬通道和專屬電梯――以及專屬郵編。該套房有六間大理石盥洗室、三間客廳和兩個步入式衣櫥，採用了馬毛天花板和羊駝毛壁磚等時髦新潁的建材。該套房的房費爲41,500美元一晚。Indeed, hotels say they are increasingly competing with lavish private rental homes. The Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto sits near the Air Canada Centre and Rogers Centre, pro sports venues that host large concerts. But the hotel found itself losing celebrities to private homes. The hotel plans in June to launch four residential-style suites on its 36th floor with a private entrance and elevator. 'We're going to make the guest feel like they aren't in a hotel,' general manager Mickael Damelincourt says.
各酒店都表示，它們與豪華租賃私宅之間的競爭越來越激烈。多倫多特朗普國際大廈酒店(Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto)位處加拿大航空中心(Air Canada Centre)與羅傑斯中心(Rogers Centre)附近，這兩個職業體育賽事場館也舉辦大型音樂會。然而，該酒店發現一些租賃私宅搶走了其名人客戶。因此，它計劃於6月份在36層推出四套擁有專屬通道和專屬電梯的住宅式套房。該酒店總經理米凱爾・達梅蘭古(Mickael Damelincourt)說：“我們將會給客人帶來賓至如歸的感覺。”While added perks like butler service and the use of hotel cars have long been offered to suite guests, hotels are adding more distinctive and elaborate services for their suites to further set them apart from regular rooms -- and to make guests feel better about those high prices. Las Ventanas al Paraiso, a Rosewood property in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, opened 12 new stand-alone villas in December with private pools and beaches.
長期以來酒店一直給套房住客提供管家服務和使用酒店車輛之類的額外優惠，現在它們又開始增加更多獨具特色的精心服務，以便進一步將套房與普通客房區分開來――並且讓住客對付出的高價感覺舒心一些。墨西哥 何塞德爾卡沃(San Jose del Cabo)的Las Ventanas al Paraiso爲瑰麗旗下酒店，它推出了12棟帶私人泳池和私人海灘的新獨棟別墅。The $4,500 starting price tag includes a host of extra touches: massages on arrival, a chef-led ceviche class, tequila tastings and s'mores on the beach. When guests arrive, they are introduced to the housekeeper, bartender, pool person and butler in the style of 'Downton Abbey,' hotel manager Daniel Scott says. Guests of the hotel's soon-to-open top suite will also receive a private fireworks show.
該系列別墅起價爲4,500美元，包括一系列額外的特色服務：抵店按摩、主廚授課的酸橙汁醃魚烹飪課以及在海灘上品嚐龍舌蘭和棉花糖夾心餅。酒店經理丹尼爾・斯科特(Daniel Scott)說，在住客抵達時，酒店會向他們介紹唐頓莊園式的客房服務員、調酒師、泳池管理員和管家。該酒店的頂級套房也即將開業，該套房的住客將可欣賞專屬煙花表演。The Las Ventanas villas won over frequent guest Gary Friedman, chairman and chief executive of Restoration Hardware, the furniture and housewares company. He and his girlfriend have stayed in one twice, the last time a weekend getaway recently.
Las Ventanas的別墅爭取到了像加里・弗裏德曼(Gary Friedman)這樣的常客。弗裏德曼是傢俱及家居用品企業Restoration Hardware的董事長兼首席執行長，他與女友曾兩次入住別墅，上一次是前不久的一次週末出遊。They have enjoyed the complimentary massages, pina colada-making lessons and their beach -- personalized each day with a message in the sand. When he stays in a regular room, Mr. Friedman often runs into friends at the pool or restaurant. But on his last villa visit, Mr. Friedman says he only left the villa once. 'Sometimes you don't want to run into friends. You just want to chill,' he says.
他們體驗了免費贈送的按摩，果汁朗姆酒調製課和他們的專屬海灘――海灘的沙地每天都會寫上個性化的句子。以往入住普通客房時，弗裏德曼常常會在泳池或餐廳遇到朋友，他說上一次入住別墅時他只外出了一次。他說：“有時候你不想遇到朋友，你就是想清靜一下。”
