FIVE STAR GUEST.

Five star hotels.  What is it about five star hotels?  They are a social construct, so we have expectations, but it is a judgement, a grading system of what we should expect.  I visited two five star hotels recently, and it was like a Tale of Two Cities, in that one felt like a home, the other nothing like one, yet architecturally, they were not dissimilar. Standing around mountains, surrounded by nature, and providing a level of luxury only a nth of the world's population are able to afford.  Both offered skiing and spas and yoga.  They balanced each other out.  The bedrooms were on the small side, but they both had huge foyers as though they had been told to do that by a Feng shui expert. 'Make it big'.  So picture windows were in evidence in both.  One was modern throughout, one was more old fashioned. One wore a crown of gold (literally), the other had a farm with deer with antlers and everything.   One had an infinity pool which stretched out overhanging a piste where skiers schlooosed past, occasionally falling. Both had a Michelin star restaurant and extensive wine cellars. One had a superb child's creche, the other had a spa for children which looked like something out of Harry Potter.  One had a Art Deco bar straight out of The Shining, and antique furniture everywhere. The other had incredible modernist art - some made out of antlers from the farm deer.   One had sweetie jars; the other wooden cut out bunnies.   The staff were friendly and efficient in one, the other had staff who were coolly efficient. The massage therapist in one was spiritual and a healer, the other... and then that was it. One was more spiritual.  One had spirit, while the other had style.  And style without spirit is the difference, between a five star hotel where one feels at home and where one does not.  To be fair the other made me feel like a five star person. But hey, that's just a social construct, a judgment, a grading system, of what one should expect, and I've never been that...