Thing is, with those Hawaii places at 1 to 2 thousand a night to start, you read the reviews and they don't deliver the 5 star experience they promise. Due to staff things.
I have no problem affording the price but want value. Park Hyatts in Paris and Japan deliver value.

Yes I noticed this with a resort I have been meaning to go to. I was fine with 800 a night last year but now prices are closer to 2000 a night and over 6000 a night at peak times...guess they are going after the millionaires now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When did hotels start charging 2k a night????!!!! I know these are luxury brand names but this seems excessive. Some of the normal brands are charging 1000-1500???!!! What is happening to the travel industry? It’s not like the amenities have improved. Is there a hotel worth these crazy prices?

What is a "normal" brand in your mind?

In my mind, normal would be JW or an Opal brand. Not Ritz or Four Seasons. I find Hilton to be a tier below JW/Opal. Rosewood is an entirely different league.

JW Marriott is not normal. It is considered and is marketed as a luxury brand.

Perhaps the problem isn't the price. Perhaps the problem is one of what you consider "normal".

PSA: Normal to rich people is NOT normal.

completely agree. a hilton or marriott is a regular hotel.

agree x2. A Hilton is a nice hotel for us, but our usual is a Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites. There is a caveat for Hiltons. While it's the brands namesake property, they are all over the place in terms of upkeep, cleanliness and service. Some of them are really nice and others are actually below a Hampton Inn. Nobody will ever confuse a Hampton or Homewood Suites for a luxury property, but the thing they get right is consistency, which I value.

If you're complaining about the cost of a JW Marriott or Ritz Carlton, you might be like me and unable to afford those brands and/or the value just isn't there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When did hotels start charging 2k a night????!!!! I know these are luxury brand names but this seems excessive. Some of the normal brands are charging 1000-1500???!!! What is happening to the travel industry? It’s not like the amenities have improved. Is there a hotel worth these crazy prices?

What is a "normal" brand in your mind?

In my mind, normal would be JW or an Opal brand. Not Ritz or Four Seasons. I find Hilton to be a tier below JW/Opal. Rosewood is an entirely different league.

JW Marriott is not normal. It is considered and is marketed as a luxury brand.

Perhaps the problem isn't the price. Perhaps the problem is one of what you consider "normal".

PSA: Normal to rich people is NOT normal.

completely agree. a hilton or marriott is a regular hotel.

Good example of this.

https://onemileatatime.com/insights/andaz-scottsdale-resort/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s the points. So many people use points to “pay” our sense of prices is totally skewed. I found myself going up to $400+ per night for a basic room (but points make it almost free?!) and questioned everything.

Maybe once we all start downgrading our CSRs things will normalize a little? My new $795 annual fee just hit and I can’t justify it.

We never use points for hotels anymore because they inflate prices. Got conned into a $450 (free with points) room at a hotel which looked gorgeous on the Amex site. Once there it was motel-level, gross, crumbling and had roaches (saw two within one hour). It was so bad we didn't stay the night.

Maybe try joining Hilton Honors or Marriott Bonvoy? They have devalued the points a bit, but you know what you’re getting- for the most part, when you book.

As for hotels getting expensive, yes they are. We are mostly loyal to Hilton and usually stay in Hamptons, Doubletrees, Homewood Suites or Hiltons. Our preference is a nice room, but these are all mid-tier properties, so other than a clean and quiet room, expectations are kept in check. I have stayed at nicer properties like Conrad, Waldorf Astoria and Mandarin Oriental and don’t find it worth the money. When traveling, we don’t actually spend that much time in the room and can’t justify staying in higher end properties. As most know, luxury properties get you not just on the room, but the resort fee, $10 cup of coffee and $20 fruit bowl.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My gripe is $1000 for motel like rooms and upkeep and $2000 for bad service and housekeeping. Looking at you, Auberge Mauna Lani.

For Hawaii?

I would expect cheap conditions and bad service in Hawaii for those prices. Yes, it's possible, possible to find reasonable, but Hawaii it's expected to be outrageous.

Same place used to have great housekeeping staff before it was an Auberge. Cheap management and unhappy workers now. And on that island, $2000 is not middle of the road.

What was once possible for you is not guaranteed. Especially with locations like Hawaii.

These are the first places to raise prices and reduce quality, because they'll get it, because demand, because Hawaii.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My gripe is $1000 for motel like rooms and upkeep and $2000 for bad service and housekeeping. Looking at you, Auberge Mauna Lani.

For Hawaii?

I would expect cheap conditions and bad service in Hawaii for those prices. Yes, it's possible, possible to find reasonable, but Hawaii it's expected to be outrageous.

Same place used to have great housekeeping staff before it was an Auberge. Cheap management and unhappy workers now. And on that island, $2000 is not middle of the road.

Anonymous wrote:My gripe is $1000 for motel like rooms and upkeep and $2000 for bad service and housekeeping. Looking at you, Auberge Mauna Lani.

For Hawaii?

I would expect cheap conditions and bad service in Hawaii for those prices. Yes, it's possible, possible to find reasonable, but Hawaii it's expected to be outrageous.

My gripe is $1000 for motel like rooms and upkeep and $2000 for bad service and housekeeping. Looking at you, Auberge Mauna Lani.

Anonymous wrote:I agree it's insane. And I wonder how there are that many people that can pay $2500+ a night to stay at all of these luxury resorts.

You can find cheaper options that are still amazing, but they are usually in less touristy areas. We've found amazing hotels in Europe for way less, but you have to be creative about where you are going.

I have had decent luck finding non-chain hotels through Expedia. The days of amazing hotels for cheap seem to be over though. Decent hotels for a moderate price are also harder to find.

Anonymous wrote:It’s the points. So many people use points to “pay” our sense of prices is totally skewed. I found myself going up to $400+ per night for a basic room (but points make it almost free?!) and questioned everything.

Maybe once we all start downgrading our CSRs things will normalize a little? My new $795 annual fee just hit and I can’t justify it.

We never use points for hotels anymore because they inflate prices. Got conned into a $450 (free with points) room at a hotel which looked gorgeous on the Amex site. Once there it was motel-level, gross, crumbling and had roaches (saw two within one hour). It was so bad we didn't stay the night.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When did hotels start charging 2k a night????!!!! I know these are luxury brand names but this seems excessive. Some of the normal brands are charging 1000-1500???!!! What is happening to the travel industry? It’s not like the amenities have improved. Is there a hotel worth these crazy prices?

What is a "normal" brand in your mind?

In my mind, normal would be JW or an Opal brand. Not Ritz or Four Seasons. I find Hilton to be a tier below JW/Opal. Rosewood is an entirely different league.

JW and Opal are considered luxury tier, as much as RC and St Regis. Marriott Bonvoy puts JW, RC and SR as luxury

Are Ritz and JW the same luxury? Just looked at Breakers which is a place DH and I used to go prekids. It's $2k-$3k a night for spring break.

FYA Breakers usually has a great Amex points redemption value

I agree it's insane. And I wonder how there are that many people that can pay $2500+ a night to stay at all of these luxury resorts.

You can find cheaper options that are still amazing, but they are usually in less touristy areas. We've found amazing hotels in Europe for way less, but you have to be creative about where you are going.

Also, hotels charge what people will pay. It’s called Dynamic Pricing for a reason.

It’s low prices during low demand and high prices during high demand.

People are always shocked that prices are high during Spring Break, New Year’s Eve, the Super Bowl, college football game days etc but that is when everyone wants a room.