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Yet problems soon became apparent.
然而，問題很快就顯現出來了。
The first is price.
首先是價格。
An overnight stay at Birch sets you—or, if you are lucky like Bartleby, your employer—back 160 pounds ($192).
在樺木酒店住一晚就要花掉你160英鎊(192美元)，但如果你像巴托比一樣幸運的話，這筆錢就由你的老板出。
The Shangri-La charges 350 pounds for a standard room.
香格里拉酒店標間的價格則是350英鎊。
Cities have plenty of cheaper “third spaces” these days; a co-working space costs a fraction of that.
如今，各個城市有很多更便宜的“第三空間”；聯合辦公空間的價格只是上述價格的零頭。
The second problem is: how productive can workers be with all the distractions that are designed to make work not feel like work?
第二個問題是：在所有旨在讓辦公變得不像辦公的干擾下，員工的工作效率能有多高？
The spectacular view from the Shard is less conducive to dreaming up a sales pitch (or a column) than it is to daydreaming.
比起幫助顧客構思推銷口號(或專欄)，從碎片大廈看到的壯觀景色反而更有利于白日做夢。
At Birch, boardgames occupy every horizontal surface, ready to draw out the procrastinator in you.
樺木酒店的每一個臺面上都占據著棋盤游戲，隨時準備誘發你的拖延癥。
And once you are done stretching, that sourdough-baking class is a recipe to keep putting work on the back burner.
一旦你做完拉伸運動，面包烘焙課就會接著讓你擱置工作。
Third, if you resist the temptation to temporise and get down to business, you may as well be at home or the office.
第三個問題是，如果你能抵抗住拖延的誘惑，開始認真工作，你還不如居家或在辦公室里辦公。
The kibbutz-like camaraderie which Birch (and other places like it cropping up everywhere) try so hard to evoke is, ironically, the very thing you miss by staying away from your office mates.
諷刺的是，樺木酒店(以及其他隨處可見的類似場所)如此努力地想要喚起的集體農場式的友情，正是你遠離辦公室同事所避開的東西。
While you are updating that spreadsheet or answering emails, luxury hotels’ creature comforts scarcely register.
當你在更新電子表格或回復電子郵件時，幾乎不會注意到豪華酒店的物質享受。
As with most material indulgences, a sense of vacuity descends once the novelty of the marble floors and stacks of fluffy towels wears off.
就像大多數物質享受一樣，一旦大理石地板和成堆的蓬松毛巾帶來的新鮮感消失，一種空虛感就會襲來。
The millennials and Gen-Zs meandering around Birch suggest that demand for its hip offerings exists.
樺木酒店周圍有千禧一代和Z世代在閑逛，這表明對其新潮服務的需求是存在的。
And hoteliers are wise to work their assets in new ways as they cope with changes to their industry: business travel is, after all, unlikely to return to pre-pandemic patterns for a while, if ever.
酒店經營者在應對行業變化時，明智的做法是以新的方式利用自己的資產：畢竟商務旅行一段時間內不太可能回到疫情前的模式。
Just do not expect white-collar types to flock to hotels en masse for a hard day’s work.
只是別指望白領們會為了一天的辛苦工作而蜂擁至酒店。
Most of the Shangri-La’s daytime residents seemed to be couples seeking privacy, not executives keen to inspire and invigorate their pitches.
香格里拉的大多數日間住客似乎都是尋求隱私的情侶，而不是熱衷于在構思推銷口號時受到啟發并精神煥發的高管。
As for Bartleby, you will find her at The Economist’s London head office or, failing that, her kitchen table.
至于巴托比，你會在《經濟學人》倫敦總部找到她，如果找不到，去她家的廚房餐桌那里一定能找到。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
