If anyone believed the COVID-19 pandemic would harm hotel stays and travel across every segment, they were seriously mistaken.
When the pandemic first started, we all watched occupancy fall through the floor, but as it returned, we saw travel return with all manner of hygiene strategies and offers for complete isolation from one’s fellow — presumably, coronavirus-riddled — humans.
New York City, which often leads in trends, has been the innovator in pampered ultra-exclusivity.
The 83-room Aman New York — located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in the former Crown Building — has created Aman’s first membership entity, the Aman Club. Memberships are priced at a very modest $100,000, plus, of course, annual dues of $15,000.
There appears to be a clamor to be founding members of this initiative.
Then, there might still be room rates to be paid on each stay, which if a guest wants one of the corner studios requires also booking an adjoining room.
Really, this might be the world’s most-exclusive staycation option, but there still seems to be plenty of cash stuck behind sofas for the very top end to continuing enjoying.
Owners and executives at energy companies seem to be doing very well at this very moment.
In New York City last month, I went for a Sunday afternoon walk to Central Park, essentially to see if fall bird migration had started.
It had, albeit quietly, with my finding American redstart, Northern waterthrush, Yellow-rumped warbler and Canada warbler in the park’s Rambles section.
Most likely, there was more activity at the Aman, which had opened 19 days before I stood in front if its entrance. It is not a demure portal, although it is not on 5th Avenue, as its address suggests. It is on 57th Street, not too far from the Argonaut Building, which is where I had my first role at a magazine, working for Hearst Corporation and Cosmopolitan.
According to a news release, its creator, Jean-Michel Gathy, principal designer at architectural and interior design firm, Denniston, said “the muted colors, simplicity of materials and the overall harmony create the feeling of peacefulness throughout Aman New York. We are dealing with a composition and not a juxtaposition of elements.”
I am sure we could all do with a little bit of that, although its rack rates will isolate 99.9% of us.
Just down the road is the 253-room Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park, Club Lounge, which reopened last week. Two street blocks from the Aman New York City but on the same avenue block between Fifth and Sixth avenues, it initially opened following a multi-million-dollar hotel renovation in 2019 but closed very soon thereafter due to the pandemic.
Rates are eye-watering here, too, but I assume the market can bear them.
Interior designers have spared no expense here either. A news release states “the stunning 3,000-plus square-foot space, with seating for 50, combines sophisticated interiors featuring dark wood paneling with contrasting bright shades of green, beige velvet and leather fabrics throughout.”
Admission is complementary, though, if booking a Presidential, Royal, Artist Gate, Ritz-Carlton Suite or Central Park Suite, so that’s handy to know.
Other guests can pay, depending on the season, between "$450 and $750-plus per night if purchased separately," according to the release.
I suppose it is heartening in some way to witness a race to the very top, rather than one to the bottom.
In Liz We Truss
“In Liz We Truss” is a humorous sub-headline but one sadly not invented by me. It has been liberally employed since the ejection of former prime minister Boris Johnson from the top seat in July.
Liz Truss, formerly foreign minister, was elected by the membership of the Conservative Party on Sept. 5.
The cost-of-living crisis will be her initial awakening.
The energy price cap has increased in some cases by approximately 180% since April and is putting real pressure on businesses and individuals.
Inflation is growing noticeably, and this is putting pressure on hotels' day-to-day operations and on employees’ real worth. It is also putting strain on guests’ discernible income.
As always, business owners will wish to see clarity, which if it is forthcoming hopefully will not rattle further business sentiment.
There remains division within the Conservative Party as to its direction, and this is another battle Truss will face.
The population will not look kindly on there being too much saber-rattling around internal disputes, so the new prime minister will need to weigh up both these concerns very quickly.
Good luck. I would not want this job.
Also of interest is that such an internal election as this is one of the only public indications of membership of a political party.
It turns out that the Conservative Party currently has 172,437 members, or at least it did when the leadership contest began following Johnson’s exit.
That means that only 0.25% of the population, slightly more if the voting population is taken only into account, has a say in electing the new leader. That is democracy in action, I assume, as there is nothing stopping the remaining 99.75% of the population joining this or any other political party.
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