The most expensive hotels are frequently the smallest. Room count is not incidental to the category; it is the variable that makes the service model arithmetically possible.
Service level is a ratio, not a policy
What distinguishes high-end hospitality is response time and attention, both of which depend on how many staff are available per occupied room.
At the top of the market that ratio can exceed one member of staff per room across all departments, counted over the full staffing roster rather than a single shift.
Adding rooms without adding staff dilutes the ratio immediately, and the guest experiences it as slower service rather than as a smaller number.
Recognition does not scale
A defining feature of these properties is that staff know who guests are, what they asked for yesterday and what they are likely to want.
That knowledge is held by people and passed between shifts, and it degrades as the number of guests exceeds what a team can hold.
Beyond a certain size the hotel must substitute systems for memory, which works but produces a different and more procedural experience.
Space per guest is part of the product
Luxury properties allocate unusual amounts of floor area to circulation, lounges, terraces and gardens relative to sellable rooms.
Those areas generate little direct revenue, so their cost is carried by a small number of keys, which is one reason rates are high.
Quiet is the same trade. Low density is what prevents the corridors, pool and restaurant from feeling busy at any hour.
The economics work differently
A large hotel earns through volume, conferences and events, filling rooms at varying rates and relying on ancillary spend.
A small luxury property earns through rate rather than volume, which requires very high average rates and tight cost control everywhere except service.
This makes such properties sensitive to occupancy swings, and it is why many close entirely during their low season rather than operating half full.
What it means when choosing
A large resort branded as luxury and a thirty-room lodge are selling different things, and the correct comparison is facilities against attention.
Families and groups often prefer the larger property, since small properties may lack children's provision, multiple restaurants and connecting rooms.
Booking a small property means booking early, because a handful of rooms sells out in peak weeks long before a large hotel does.