Is devotion the secret to exquisite service?

I'm joining a cult

Welcome to The Reservation, a tPH letter including long-form analysis and cultural criticism of the hospitality industry and relevant trends.

In this letter: why people are addicted to Aman, hospitality memes, the ethics of hospitality, and piping hot industry tea.

I recently spoke to a friend who has worked with a certain, ever-so relevant hospitality brand that has built its reputation and cult-ish fandom on, yes, it’s wonderfully designed properties, but also on its incredible service.

That brand is, of course, none other than Aman.

The fast-expanding hospitality group has built an allure of exclusivity and taste (the most overused word of 2026) around its hotel portfolio, that Aman junkies approach with a gotta-catch-‘em-all attitude.

What these brand devotees (foreshadowing) say on Reddit threads and Google reviews about what keeps bringing them back again and again is the service that contributes to an almost magical atmosphere.

You are transported from the ordinary to a carefully orchestrated alternative world order, not of the Eyes Wide Shut kind, but of harmony and stillness.

The soul of Aman

But what makes the service at Aman stand out from any other luxury property out there?

According to my insider friend, the brand has managed to become such a phenomenon because everyone from housekeepers to corporate managers are devoted to the soul or spirit of Aman, something that seems exist beyond the property. A higher power, if you will.

Me communicating with the spirit of Aman

When I hear this, I envision concierge serving guests from a dignified position of being in service of something larger. They become embodiments of the harmony that arises from attention and care, hospes¹ in action.

If you think this is woo woo, I grant you your opinion. It does feel almost impossible to articulate this sentiment without relying on the world of abstractions and ideas.

Still, this strikes a very specific chord inside me; one of truth, something close to what the philosophy of hospitality truly means.

The ethics of service

I do happen to believe all great creativity comes from being moved by something larger and creating experiences that go beyond a transactional service touch point.

Service is hugely, immensely undervalued in our society, not least made concrete by the fact that most of care-related labor is produced by women in the private sphere, completely unpaid.

Jobs in hospitality, especially in operations are not generally seen as dignified career paths in and of themselves, and are treated more as transitory work (exhibit a: employee turnover is extremely high in the hospitality industry).

This is a structural issue, comprising of many factors, including that we tend to see those serving us as means-to-an-end to fulfill our needs, rather than human beings who are using their precious time to be of service to us (something Kant would note to be a big no-no).

How the Aman concierge finds out what you need before you ask

And it’s not only guests who succumb to this line of thinking, but the hospitality industry itself is a culprit, not paying employees enough, alongside endless cases of general mistreatment and poor management.

I think the mindset of devotion that can make a hotel brand stand out above all others, and that Aman has seemed to master, can only exist when the employees are treated well enough to give a shit. When they are made to feel like their work is one of great dignity and service to a bigger, ethical obligation of being of service to others.

A cautionary tale (and piping hot industry tea!!!🍵)

Many hotel groups are so obsessed with their bottom line and consequently are not happy with how human capital intensive the business is (especially in the luxury segment), flat out complaining about the incurred costs of the salaries of the people that make their product (hospitality) possible.

Spring last year I had the opportunity to meet the area finance director of one of the most iconic hotel brands in the world that, at the time, was a publicly traded company (I will not name names since the company has since gone private and hopefully is changing its strategy going forward).

She presented the financials and growth plans of the group, with an overwhelming amount of properties in the pipeline. Then, she went on to say that the company’s biggest challenge is salaries.

This really did not sit right with me, especially because right after she concluded the presentation, the brand’s bubbly, smiley HR representative gloated about their growing, practically unpaid internship program.

The intern after being told that the salary is $400 but staff housing is $600.

Do not get me wrong, the pressure is understandable, especially for public companies that have to deliver growth and improve results on the quarterly under stakeholder scrutiny.

The options are essentially to either grow revenue or cut costs.

The former happens the quickest through acquisition and expansion, which I think can be a detrimental strategy for an ultra luxury brand. A larger portfolio will almost inevitably bring inconsistency across the portfolio.

The cutting costs route is what leads to the finger pointing to staff expenses.

Neither is a great look for a luxury hotel that’s supposed to be rooted in quality and intentionality, in my opinion.

How to build your own cult and make your staff devoted

Hotels can gain insane and completely deserved advantage by becoming a vessel for something greater; having an ethos that each member of the team can subscribe to and gladly embodies.

However, this is impossible if this philosophy is not made a structural pillar and the employees, who are the ones bringing the vision to life in the day-to-day actually in contact with the guests, do not feel like their work has dignity or grace.

This is absolutely not something you can plaster on, as devotion does not spring from pretty words or motivational quotes in the staff canteen.

Investing in human capital, and caring for the people who care for your guests, is the single most valuable thing you can do in an industry that commodifies human care and attention.

Send memes,

🔑 Emma

1. Hospes is the Latin word that the word hospitality is derived from. It signifies the reciprocal relationship between host and hosted.

More of my thoughts on dignity and the reciprocity of hospitality in this article: