Last fall, I spent a few days on Dunia Baru. It’s the all-wood phinisi that’s the ultimate ultra-luxury ship for a voyage around Raja Ampat and its environs, a world-class superyacht bobbing among the liveaboards. Perched jauntily on its uppermost deck was a strange afterthought, one that looked like an outdoor tub. It was an ice bath, bolted on the ship in response to repeated charter guest requests, according to the team there.
I had a similar conversation a few weeks ago, touring lavish homes for rent on the island of Mustique: next to the al fresco jacuzzi was an ice bath. “Everyone expects one now,” shrugged one butler. And on the Brando in the Pacific, a genre-defining private island, there’s one too. It was installed thanks to nudging from cold-plunge advocate Jack Dorsey, who took up semi-permanent residence there during COVID’s peak lockdowns.
Ice baths are a subtle, simple signal in any hotel or rental home: a reassuring feature, tacitly telegraphing an understanding of the UHNWI. May five-star piles can claim competency for the HNWI, but what does it take to speak to the UHNW or Elite Traveler audience? Ice baths are just one thing I’d expect.
Discretion is another – but not in the way you might assume. Take menus: they should always feature allergens and annotations instead of staffers asking loudly about dietary needs at the table. That information allows the guest to make the choice themselves, without discussion or broadcast.
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For much the same reason, resort properties which unilaterally decide to pipe Wi-Fi only into common areas, while keeping rooms connection-free have misunderstood their target market. It’s a recurrent issue across even the toniest safari lodges. Don’t tell guests that such a system is intended to help them relax, instead recognize that the wealthiest globetrotters will relax far easier once they’ve spent the first 15 minutes of the day checking on email emergencies.
The curse of the welcome drink persists, too: no-one relishes a tray full of mysterious, unsolicited mocktails. Offer, instead, an in-room mini bar that’s part of the rate, even if that’s simply soft drinks, like the oasis-like, standard-setting Upper House in Hong Kong or de Niro’s Greenwich Hotel in New York. Gratis mini bars are a given in this upper echelon; nickel and diming on a five-figure suite will misfire. A mindset of generosity will help guests forget that the room they’ve booked might cost twice the price it was before the pandemic. Everyone notices rates, regardless of their ability to pay. Bravo, then, to Oetker Collection: at its hotels, expect to come back to the suite each evening and find gifts, rather than chocolates on the pillow. Who doesn’t like a rubber duck in the signature scarlet colorway of Eden Rock St Barths?
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Sizing is another issue that only the best properties understand – and not just the font on a menu or the bottles in a shower (though recognizing that most guests at a certain level might likely require reading glasses is a smart move). Whether it’s waders that fit on a fly-fishing trip or a robe that is enveloping rather than scanty, making sure that anything is sized appropriately is another step beyond the five-star mainstream.
More than anything, though, it doesn’t start with the built environment, the food or even the service. It starts long before that. Elite properties will expect a rider from a guest’s travel specialist, one that isn’t a simple questionnaire burped out by its reservation system. Riders speak to how we want to experience the property, rather than what the property itself wants to offer us. I have a travel specialist friend who’s devised his own comprehensive briefing document that’s completed for every traveler. What temperature should the room’s thermostat be on, for example, or what books might they want to read? He’ll regularly remind hotels never to call a room or ring the bell – most travelers at this level prefer a note slipped under the door. Top hotels will now ask for the rider instead of issuing their own.
It isn’t easy to remember all these details, I know. But no one ever said that catering to discerning – demanding, even – travelers shouldn’t come with its own set of challenges.
