The luxury market is a fickle one, with consumers increasingly on the hunt for the next, the newest, the best, never satisfied with the status quo.
We’ve gotten our hands on new survey from Small Luxury Hotels of the World that showcases exactly that, offering up insider insights into what makes today’s luxury traveler tick.
Here’s what we’ve discovered.
Say ‘Oui’ to Chanel
For the second year running, French brands topped the list of top luxury labels, with Chanel identified as the number one luxury brand. High-end favorite Hermés came in second. Other top brands included Prada, Louis Vuitton and Gucci.
‘Ciao’ to Italy
Italy (SLH’s Centurion Palace Hotel is shown in the image above) still wins as a favorite luxury travel destination, with 13% of all respondents choosing this country. France and destinations within France followed, representing 11.1%, with the Maldives taking third place, selected by 8%.
Australia, Latin America and the USA all opted for Paris as their favorite luxury holiday destination making it the stand-out ‘luxury’ city whereas China, Germany and the UK preferred the Maldives as their number one holiday destination.
Don’t Skimp On the Mini Bar
The in-room bar and coffee service are still an absolute necessity. More than half (58%) of all respondents said that they would like a Nespresso in their room, up from just one in four who requested an iPod docking system. Coca-Cola is still the most requested beverage, but UK respondents wanted Bombay Sapphire gin while Russian visitors wished for Evian and Australians craved Moët & Chandon.
Looking at the consumption of mini bar products, wine, beer and champagne were the top choice across all markets (33.5%) with the exception of Germany. The largest percentage of German respondents (38.7%) opted for soft drinks over spirits, snacks, and wine, beer and champagne.
Must-Have Activities
Michelin-starred restaurants narrowly edge out rooftop bars, 51.5% to 48.5%, with the exception of Germans and Russians.
Across all markets, a knowledgeable hotel guide (or concierge) was selected over in-room destination guides (71.3% vs 28.7%) and adult-only hotels were preferred over child friendly hotels (77.4% vs 22.6%).
Design & Amenities
When booking a hotel, the majority of respondents preferred free Wi-fi access over complimentary breakfast (53.1% vs 46.9%) with the exception of the UK and German respondents who preferred free breakfast over free Wi-fi (55.4% and 58.4% respectively).
When picking a luxury hotel, the most important characteristic was ‘character/charm’ selected by 59.6% of all respondents, followed by ‘five star facilities’ (28%). Respondents from China and Hong Kong however opted for ‘personal experiences’ as their second most important attribute whilst Russian and German respondents chose ‘privacy/intimacy.
Must love Fido and Fifi
Finally when looking at luxury travel with pets, 7.3% of those surveyed said that they would travel with their pet whenever possible. 15.1 % said that they would be willing to pay extra for their pets to be pampered, with the top pet pampering items identified by respondents included luxury bedding and food (14.1% vs 11.2%) and pet grooming (7.9%).
When asked what luxuries their pet might enjoy at a luxury hotel, the responses were varied with one Chinese dog lover suggesting ‘pata negra ham and caviar’. Sounds decadent.
What do you think? Do you agree with these trends?