Sorry this has nothing to do with dating clubs, but what’s the difference between the cars parked right in front of a luxury hotel and the ones taken to the parking garage?

I’m Saito, a columnist♪ If the car is a luxury vehicle—including a classic car—it’s less likely to be messed with and can be left at the front entrance. Some hotels also have contracts with car dealerships, displaying luxury cars to enhance the hotel’s prestige. In Tokyo, the Westin is a rather obvious example. That said, in practice, any car will be treated as a front-entrance vehicle if the owner is registered as a VIP. When I was poor, even my inexpensive car was allowed at the front. An older colleague once told me: “You’re lowering the hotel’s standards. No matter how much of a VIP you are, you need the decency to take your own car down to the underground parking garage.” It was a valuable lesson when I was younger.

Mamami from Universe Tokyo here. I honestly have no idea either (lol) (crying). Maybe it’s because when someone pulls up right outside, it’s easier to stop by a nearby convenience store on the way?

I’m Paper Airplane, a male member. At hotels with front-door valet service, members who stay there can pull up to the entrance and have their car parked there. Even non-members can choose this service if they stay on certain floors. You could technically leave a kei car at the entrance too, but I doubt most people would bother doing that. The convenience really shows when you’ve stayed with a woman and step outside after going out or checking out—the car is already waiting at the entrance with the engine running. It’s especially useful if you’re heading home alone in the middle of the night, since you don’t lose any time walking to the parking lot. When you’re trying to get home even one second sooner, you don’t even have to make that trip to your car. Other than situations like that, either option is probably fine. But if you have a relatively nice car, leaving it at the entrance is likely safer when you consider how difficult parking can be and the risk of hit-and-runs.

I’m Kazu, a male member. I’ve had similar questions myself, so I once tried putting it to the test. I don’t have a hotel where I’m known by the doorman, so I only know this from the perspective of an ordinary guest. Older-model Ferrari: They let me stop out front for a short time. Older-model Mercedes or BMW, and rental Japanese cars: Sometimes they let me stop briefly, while other times they told me to use the parking garage. In every case, I was driving myself. My impression is that it depends on how busy the hotel is and how long you want to leave the car there. I get the feeling that the doorman makes an overall judgment based on factors such as how crowded it is, whether you’re a regular or valued guest, how long you want to stop and why, and the value of the car. Which factors they prioritize probably varies depending on the available space, the atmosphere of the hotel, and the personal views of the manager or doorman. One more thing: Recently, I wanted to make a phone call just as I was arriving at a hotel, so I asked the doorman and was allowed to stop briefly in front of the entrance. After ending the call, I asked the doorman about the actual policy while thanking him. At that hotel, official vehicles and the like often pull up at the entrance, so they apparently allow cars to stop there only if they’ll be there briefly—around 30 minutes or less—or if the driver remains in the vehicle. The doorman specifically referred to it as “stopping,” rather than “parking.” Also, since the parking garage is underground, they’ll allow low-clearance cars to use it as well. However, there’s no doorman or camera at night, so this is limited to people who are willing to accept that. Of course, each hotel has its own rules, so this is simply how that particular hotel operates.

I’m a male member in Seattle. I assume she either has a driver or is waiting in a car that’s only been parked for a relatively short time and that she can be reached in.

Maezawa from the President’s Office here. I honestly have no idea. (LOL) (I assume this was a question that male members might be able to answer.) But if I had to guess, perhaps it depends on whether the hotel considers them a valued regular customer. People who use the hotel frequently, for example. Also, you mention that there are some older-model Mercedes-Benz cars, but unless there are kei cars there as well, I imagine there must be quite a few luxury cars parked there. I wonder if you ever see something like a McLaren F1 parked there? P.S. BMW Alpina… Its gold pinstripes are one of its signature features, but you don’t hear much about them these days. I wondered if they had disappeared, so I looked them up—and they’re still going strong. However, the photos I’m seeing now don’t seem to show the gold stripes. I used to think that if you were going to buy an Alpina, you might as well get an M model, like an M3. But apparently Alpina focuses not only on speed, but also on ride comfort. I mean, what’s that supposed to be? If it were possible to achieve both, every manufacturer would be doing it. It seems like an unusually ambitious company for aiming at that balance. > A Rolls-Royce Phantom, a Porsche Cayenne, a G-Wagen, and an Audi A7 They all sound like they’d offer a pretty comfortable ride. That makes sense for a date, of course. Still, I can’t help thinking that if it’s a Porsche, it should be a 911 GT3, and if it’s an Audi, an R8. But that’s probably the kind of thing women would hate. (LOL) > Ferrari is out because its name contains a dirty joke, too. Hahaha. (LOL) Although it is the founder’s name, after all. I suppose it would be upsetting if someone told you that your real name was disqualified because it contained a dirty joke. (LOL) With Ferrari, it’s less about the car itself and more about the weight of its history. In a sense, you’re buying the history as well. There was once a car called the Ferrari Dino, and it’s well known that the name came from the founder’s son. Honda’s NSX was an incredible car—it was cheaper than the Ferrari 308 yet outperformed it. But Ferrari quickly responded with the 328 and 348, and there’s even an anecdote about how they left the NSX behind in no time. Japanese cars sometimes produce excellent one-off models, but their weakness is that the follow-up models don’t always live up to them. Actually, continuing to produce cars at that level is extremely difficult, which is why so many people have great respect for Ferrari. There’s also a famous story that limited-edition models can only be purchased by people on Cornes’ customer list—meaning people who have bought a new car from them before. No matter how much money you have, you can’t just walk in and buy one out of nowhere. > I like deep green and deep blue♡ People who like green are pretty rare. I also like greens that look almost black, but it’s hard to find cars in that kind of color. Alpina does offer one, apparently. (Though it’s far too expensive for me to buy. LOL) A dark green S13 Silvia would have been much more affordable, though. (LOL) > The Celsior and Cima are a hundred times cooler. I thought they looked cool when they first came out, but looking at them now, I’m not so sure… That said, the Celsior was a car that astonished automakers around the world, so it was truly significant. Unfortunately, the Cima didn’t have quite that kind of impact, but it was popular in the 1990s.