Wang’s Hotel Talk

Exotic Missions Of Resort Hotels

度假酒店必須棲息在風景絕美的大海湖濱和山林懸崖，必須遠遁于喧囂都市之外，但又必須擁有多條國際航線的機場保送遠方飛來的客人。度假，和旅游不同，不是一日游也不是度周末，離開自己的常駐環(huán)境越遠越好，越遠越是真正的“度假”，而越是遠道而來的客人，就越是度假村最忠實的客人，每次入住在度假酒店的時間也越長。

歐洲人到東南亞島嶼來度假常常是一年前就預訂了，他們渴望體驗亞洲的文化比就近游覽鄰國古建風光的興趣大得多。古羅馬帝國兩千年以前就開始把歐洲各國的城廓房屋打造成一個模子，身邊的風景代代相傳都似曾相識，對大部分歐洲人來說，地中海猶如家鄉(xiāng)的內湖。就像我們去歐洲旅行，最有感觸的不是在國內和港澳早已熟識的高樓大廈和豪華酒店，而是尚未見過的那些古城古堡和文化歷史風情。

度假，不是異域就毫無意義；度假酒店，沒有異域文化就一錢不值。

從城市的家里開車兩個小時之內就能到達的深山密林湖濱小鎮(zhèn)固然很美，固然可以深呼吸，固然可以打造很有情調的民宿，但不是度假之地，也難以催生真正的度假經(jīng)濟。

東南亞的巴厘島和南亞印度洋的馬爾代夫是亞洲最大的熱帶島嶼和珊瑚島環(huán)礁度假酒店群，從度假酒店的集中數(shù)量、級別與特色，以及發(fā)展速度上看，在世界上任何度假勝地中無出其右，無可比擬。但兩者之間又有區(qū)別，前一個是陸地大島更多熱鬧，后一個是海上孤島更多私密。

在亞洲，泰國、馬來西亞和菲律賓有不少相當成熟的著名度假村，日本有無數(shù)優(yōu)質的溫泉度假山莊，越南、斯里蘭卡、老撾、柬埔寨也有數(shù)家很有水準的海濱和山林度假酒店近來初露頭角，這些酒店目前接待的多為短期客人，和馬爾代夫的四天短假客有些近似。巴厘島則不同，不少新近開業(yè)的頂級度假村正在吸引真正的發(fā)燒級度假粉絲族。

工作原因所致，十幾年來已很多次去巴厘島，從本世紀初的幾十家到現(xiàn)在的數(shù)百家，這個熱帶度假島已成世界著名品牌，每一家新酒店都會給人新的驚喜，每次訪問都體會到這塊信奉巴厘島印度教的獨特天地中那種百年不變處世不驚的強大文化力量。這個龐大的，永久性的世界頂級度假酒店博覽會，至今終年無休，數(shù)百家度假村爭相斗艷，數(shù)十家全球頂級酒店品牌輪番登場，而且不斷翻新出彩，令人欣喜，實為世界度假勝地中的鮮艷奇葩。

今年4月和幾位好友先在斯里蘭卡首都科隆坡最新最好的傳承尼甘布酒店小息兩天，再飛馬爾代夫上島四天，一次六晚的體驗旅程對我們這種忙碌人看來比較合適。而斯里蘭卡尼甘布海濱的美麗，酒店周邊環(huán)境的成功治理和保護，澳大利亞建筑師獨特的度假酒店設計作品，甚至酒店員工給人的種種好感，都使人有些驚喜。這種感覺，是給予度假回頭客的禮贈，也是度假酒店必有的本錢。

度假酒店身在異域，滿足著現(xiàn)代人對新鮮境界的精神需求，這和城市酒店善于滿足人的功用性需求十分不同。這一點，挺值得思考。

Resort hotels have to nestle along the inviting seashore or lakeshore， far from the crowd. Also， it must boast several international flight routes for easy transport. Unlike travelling， vacationing is not about one-day tour or spending a weekend. Vacationers had best escape from their routine setting as much as possible， to embrace an authentic vacation far-off. Only these escapers are the most loyal and will stay the longest each and every time.

Often， the Europeans， longing to savor Asian culture more than their neighbor countries' ancient architecture， plan their holiday in Southeast Asia one year earlier. The reason for their preference is that the Ancient Roman Empire patternized all the old castles all across Europe 2，000 years ago， thus producing scenery similar from age to age， no longer a catch for most Europeans. It is the same with us that if we go to Europe， what intrigues us most is the historical castles and culture that are new to us.

A vacation not taken on foreign lands is meaningless， just as a resort hotel without exotic culture values nothing.

A two-hour drive can lead us to a dense forest or a lakeside town， where we can deep breathe or create stylish homestays. Even so， this is not what a vacation looks like， and unable to boost vacation-related economy.

Bali in Southeast Asia and Maldives in the Indian Ocean of South Asia， both of which are tropical islands and rich in coral reef， show off the largest resort hotel group， whose number of hotels， level， feature and growth are beyond comparison. It can be observed that Bali focuses on family bond while Maldives emphasizes privacy.

In Asia， Thailand， Malaysia and Philippines are home to full-fledged resorts； numerous quality hot spring resorts can be found in Japan； these recent years， several high-level beach and mountain resorts have popped out in Vietnam， Sri Lanka， Laos， Kampuchea. Their guests， however， usually stay short， similar to Maldives' four-day visitors； Bali， though， is often crowded with fans that travel from afar.

I have travelled to Bali for business the past more than ten years， each year more frequently than the last. Almost each time I am pampered by the surprises that go with newly born hotels for my accommodation. Bali's powerful culture， unchangeable with time， captures me. Such a \"Top Resort Expo\" that operates all year round！ Hundreds of resorts compete with each other， while tens of top hotel brands come on stage one after another. Their innovative highlights delight all comers， therefore eye-catching globally.

In April this year， we chose Heritance Negombo， the best hotel of Colombo， as our first stop for two nights， and fly to Maldives for another four days. Altogether six-night experience is best for us， neither too tight nor too loose. The memorable parts shall stay with me lifetime： the beautiful beach of Negombo； the periphery fully gets protected； unique resort hotels designed by Australian architects； hotel staff impressed us with their warm smiles... Such parts， exactly gifts to frequenters， are what resort hotels are based on.

Exotic resorts cater to some emotional needs of mankind living in an era of inhabitation； urban hotels must be functional， though. Their difference is really worth reflection.