Hotels In Our Global World

Television was only invented mid-way through the twentieth century, but Marshal McLuhan foresaw immediately that such technology would shrink the world to the size of a village. When he wrote the Internet, Facebook and Twitter had not even seen the light of day yet he was correct. Modern hotels reflect just one aspect of what McLuhan foresaw.

Travellers and tourists will probably find a familiar hotel in whichever city of the world they find themselves. International chains have established nets that span the Globe so that whether one is in Beijing or New York there will be a familiar room with the sort of furniture and services that one expects.

The sameness that one finds in hotels across the world owes much to the Internet. Drafters of regulation and legislation use information that is shared globally in order to align their own country's tourist industry with world norms. Thus, the criteria applied in awarding stars to particular establishments will not vary much from one country to another. There may be individual differences between hotels in different parts of the village but they will conform to similar general standards.

General conformity does not necessarily imply sameness of character or ambiance. Many small decisions regarding furnishing, and many tiny sights, sounds and scents make up the individuality of any establishment, even one that belongs in a chain of conformity. A four star establishment in Muscat may equate with a similar establishment in Mumbai and attract a similar class of patronage. Yet fortunately, as in the case of individual human beings, there will always be infinite shades of singularity.

The tourist industry in most countries is self regulatory. Establishments comply with criteria set by an industry body, knowing that compliance is the best business policy. Usually national regulatory bodies take their cues from similar bodies in other countries knowing that tourists need to be able to recognize applicable standards.

Throughout the world hotels are public places, open twenty four hours of each day of the year. They have a public reception area, en suite rooms with bathing and toilet facilities and rooms are serviced. Although cheap places that specialize in budget sleeping facilities often have minimal dining facilities, more upmarket hotels have their own restaurants or allow private eateries within their complex of buildings. Other facilities such as gyms and saunas distinguish establishments that have more stars and higher tariffs.

In the Global Village, as in a remote community perched on a mountain ledge, 'what great ones do lesser ones prattle of'. Privacy has to be very closely guarded from the prying eyes of village gossips, or in the case of the global variety of village, the Media. Hotels have always been places where individuals bring their private lives into a public domain, if only temporarily.

The relationships between the public and the private was thrown into relief in a big city hotel when a celebrity financier was accused of attacking a hotel worker. The shocking, highly implausible and salacious incident was seized upon by the village gossip, in this case the international media. Around the Global Village gossips whispered intently to each other about what happens in hotels. The line between what is private and what is public was erased.

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