superior customer care was typical of many luxury Asian hotels and was definitely a standard at Shangri-La and to deliver a consistent experience of Asian grace, warmth, and care --- what Shangri-La called "Shangri-La Hospitality" --- all of its hotels maintained a high staff-to-guest ratio. In Hong Kong and singapore, for example, this ratio was close to 1.25 to 1.5 staff per guest. In developing countries it could be as high as 2.5 to 3.0 staff per guest. Keeping a high ratio of staff-to-guests, which ensured better service and attention to detail, had never been an issue for Shangri-La in low-wage countries like Malaysia or china; however, the practice was not easily transferable to high-wage countries such as the U.S., Australia, or Canada --- at least not without creating unacceptably high payroll costs.