Years after being perceived as someone who can identify luxury ( as in hotels and experiences ) and collect them under the bouquet of RARE, I must admit that I still struggle with the word . Let me reiterate, not 'luxury' per se but the word and the myriad connotations derived from it and the numerous products and services attributed to the word. I have taken my time to write this blog and in all probability, there will be a sequel. 

So let's go back to my first encounter with luxury, not surprisingly it was entering a hotel for the first time and a naive 14 year old had her first glimpse of 'luxury' that was mostly a variant from what was home. Expansive, plush couches, marble floors and velvet curtains ( sic ), it definitely looked better than our home. I did not attribute luxury to a differential at this point, that would come later .

The next fifteen years was a period of learning- a virtual deluge of sights, services and senses. An awakening to quality as my horizons expanded. I saw more, travelled extensively and understood better.  What followed was a deeper understanding of things around me and I continued to learn with every hotel I drew on board Rare. Alongside and imperceptibly there was an awakening as I discerned a new connotation to luxury. 

Then came the crucial question. Was I consciously seeking it when hand-picking the RARE portfolio? And what's this elusive but oft quoted term 'luxury' ? 

Large, clean, multi-vanity bathrooms? High ceilinged bedrooms with marshmallow beds and linen smelling of sunshine ? Swishing doors and gently curved windows ? Attentive maître d' to whisk you off to a quite candle lit corner, dine in splendid exclusion on gold tinted platters and dainty cutlery, to be served dishes that did not roll off the tongue with practised ease but varied precisely to your palate…. the possibilities for luxury never seemed to end. Views and visions, art and object d’art, picture windows and light effects, carpets to sink into and chandeliers to look upto and if one looked in the general direction of state-of-the-art, the promise was endless. Ah yes ! and the people, the subtly liveried staff at all the luxurious places were genies… appearing and disappearing at a breathe to do your bidding, as if nothing was impossible !

And now for the disconcerting question, did I like it ? Am I ok with a shallow lap pool in my suite that left a hotel staff wondering at the inequities of life. Would I like to have the fins of a mammal in my soup, whose numbers in the high seas were plummeting alarmingly ? What am I collecting under the RARE umbrella and for who ? And why is the concept of luxury so hardwired to hardware ? What about large expanses of open lands, windows opening to breath-taking vistas of the sea or snow scapes ? What about the exact crumble and flavour of a dish that reminds me of my mom’s version of an apple pie ? Feet that sunk in a carpet of wild grass or hearts that quickened by the rush and chill of melting glaciers…..

And then I stumbled upon it, a collective epiphany from my trysts with luxury. A word called ‘style’.