And why vast sums of money go on seafood...
We often talk about American billionaires who love to spend money on unusual things - whether it be apocalypse-ready bunkers, massive superyachts, or stunning villas. However, it seems that their Eastern counterparts are winning in the big spending battle...
In luxury hospitality, understanding the whims of the ultra-rich is an art form that decides whether your business will succeed or fail. Butlers at top resorts like Raffles Singapore are trained to observe and anticipate the needs of their guests, often before the guests themselves realize what they want…
Before guests even step into the building, the staff conducts extensive research to tailor their offering to the desires of wealthy clients. Whether this means acquiring a book on indigenous plants for gardening enthusiasts or setting up a banana and orange juice for healthy lifestyle lovers, every detail, no matter how small, is crucial to make their stay as personalized as possible.
What caught our eye, however, is the fact that the self-proclaimed “crazy rich” Asians take this to a whole new level, often surpassing their American counterparts.
It's not surprising that the ladies of wealthy Asians visit shopping malls and spend over $300,000 in one day on shopping. Yet, the extravagance doesn’t stop at shopping. Additional status symbols sought by the ultra-rich in Singapore range from expensive cars to exotic seafood. A Toyota Camry hybrid costs about $193,870 in the small city-state, due to high taxes and certificates of entitlement. However, this apparently means little to visitors who buy cars moments before driving to top seafood restaurants where they can easily spend tens of thousands on dishes like shark fin soup or rare edible bird's nests.
VVIP guests (not a typing error, they are “very very important”) often have personal butlers assigned, responsible for everything from monitoring the aforementioned shopping to setting up private cinemas in their spacious suites. Requests can be as specific as the need for a certain brand of Coca-Cola bottled in Indonesia or brightly red PiqaBoo pears from New Zealand.
You'll be glad to hear that even this seemingly limitless spending has its limits. Butlers at Raffles draw the line at illegal requests or anything against the hotel's extensive policy. However, they sometimes fulfill unimaginable but legally feasible wishes, as one butler said.
It seems that, as in many industries, personalization is truly the keyword. Whether you find such spending inspiring or excessive, it cannot be denied that the American elite might have something to learn.
