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Over-The-Top Luxury Hotel Packages- For Real or Positioning Ploys? |
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The word “package” is not often associated with luxury stays---but at a time when every upscale hotel boasts fancy sheets and an array of butlers, a new one-upmanship tactic in packaging for the affluent appears on the marketing scene.
A recent MSNBC piece on what they call “quirky” packages unearthed a few eye-catching examples. Whether guests actually take advantage of these packages or they are used as “positioning statements” has been a longtime question in the business. But creative ones definitely attract attention; consider these:
- When a guest books a $60,000 “engagement dinner” at the James Hotel in Chicago, chef David Burke of davidburke and donatella restaurant fame prepares the meal for the couple while a quartet from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra plays for the duration of the meal, and a 1.5 carat Van Cleef & Arpels diamond comes “at no extra charge.”
- The Hotel Palomar in Washington D.C. offers aspiring ballerinas
a private in-room lesson with a member of the Washington Ballet; the
package also includes accommodations decorated with autographed ballet
shoes and vintage posters; attendance at a rehearsal,; souvenir t-shirt
and CD; and, if available, performance tickets.
- The Art Deco
Hotel Montana in Lucerne Switzerland offers guests a chance to create a
custom watch. Starting at $15,000, guests work directly with a
watchmaker to create a one-of-a-kind timepiece that might include
diamonds and gems
For more go to: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22202378/
Harvey Chipkin
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From the Media 
