Roaring Forties

While reading through MAS Going Places September 2011 issue’s Hotel Hit List, I can’t help but find the Malaysian hotels listed incongruously in the list to be in poor taste. No disrespect to the listed Malaysian hotels but expectations  from tourists coming into the country would be high from the article which lists some of the world’s truly top hotels, notably;

Houshi Ryokan, the world’s oldest surviving hotel built in 717 and still run by the same family for 46 generations.

Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, the first meeting place for the League of Nations which became the United Nations,

Badrutts Palace Hotel built in 1896, the grand establishment of St Moritz which has long been the playground of the European elite

Ritz Carlton Hotel, Hong Kong, world’s tallest hotel with a world class view

Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai  built in 1903, the icon of India

Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur which is regularly voted as a top 50 hotels in the world. In 2011, Oberoi Udaivilas was voted fifth best hotel in the world by Travel and Leisure Magazine.

Maison Moschino, the Italian mega-brand hotel that showcases haute couture allure with avant-garde decor

Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai, the pride of the Persian Gulf

Treehotel, Sweden

Ecocamp, Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

Pantone Hotel, Brussels

Hotel Silken Puerta America, Madrid

Scholosshotel in Grunewald, Berlin

The list goes on and included in the list are the Malaysian establishments which could not compare with the other listed hotels in terms of history, uniqueness, importance, luxury. Imagine the huge dissappointment the tourist would face when they discover that the Malaysian hotels were just ‘ordinary’.  The idea was to promote the Malaysian hotels but when you try to promote a Proton as a Ferarri, the damage would be irreparable.