Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pre-covid, I guess they kind of made sense. But these days, with limited housekeeping, spas still closed, limited room service, etc. - I don't understand. You're paying, say $800 for a room with a bed at the Ritz Amelia Island when you could paying $180 up the road at the Residence Inn. What am I missing?

Didn’t read the whole thread, but Residence Inn in Amelia Island isn’t going for $180. Mid-Range Marriott and Hilton Properties in Ocean City, MD are 5
$400 - $700 in season.

As for luxury properties, they are, of course, nicer. Typically they are out of our price range. Not only are the rooms more expensive, but usually the nicer the hotel, the less you get- ex. Hampton Inn has complimentary coffee all day. At the Four Seasons a cup of coffee is $5.

But the coffee with be illy or another higher end brand not some cheap generic coffee.

One of the reasons I stay in luxury hotels is because I can’t stand when I ask for tea and am shown a box of different tea bags. Tea means whole tea leaves, not bags of dust.

If you aren't bringing your own, you truly don't care.

Same. I stay budget but still being my own tea. Non-negotiable!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pre-covid, I guess they kind of made sense. But these days, with limited housekeeping, spas still closed, limited room service, etc. - I don't understand. You're paying, say $800 for a room with a bed at the Ritz Amelia Island when you could paying $180 up the road at the Residence Inn. What am I missing?

Didn’t read the whole thread, but Residence Inn in Amelia Island isn’t going for $180. Mid-Range Marriott and Hilton Properties in Ocean City, MD are 5
$400 - $700 in season.

As for luxury properties, they are, of course, nicer. Typically they are out of our price range. Not only are the rooms more expensive, but usually the nicer the hotel, the less you get- ex. Hampton Inn has complimentary coffee all day. At the Four Seasons a cup of coffee is $5.

But the coffee with be illy or another higher end brand not some cheap generic coffee.

One of the reasons I stay in luxury hotels is because I can’t stand when I ask for tea and am shown a box of different tea bags. Tea means whole tea leaves, not bags of dust.

If you aren't bringing your own, you truly don't care.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love luxury hotels but do feel like hotel prices lately are not consistent with their quality. I could totally understand paying 180 for the Hampton inn vs 350 for a JWMarriott or something but now the JW is like 800 and the really unique non-chain high end hotel is 1300. It’s hard for me to find any room no matter how fabulous to be worth 800 plus a night.

It's the new trend as the wealth gap grows bigger. The price between a moderate Hampton Inn vs. a luxury high end JWMarriott will only grow.

JW Marriott isn’t really luxury or high end. Perhaps compared to the Hampton Inn but pales in comparison to true high end luxury properties.

Anonymous wrote:I love luxury hotels but do feel like hotel prices lately are not consistent with their quality. I could totally understand paying 180 for the Hampton inn vs 350 for a JWMarriott or something but now the JW is like 800 and the really unique non-chain high end hotel is 1300. It’s hard for me to find any room no matter how fabulous to be worth 800 plus a night.

It's the new trend as the wealth gap grows bigger. The price between a moderate Hampton Inn vs. a luxury high end JWMarriott will only grow.

I travel a lot for work and because of my position, I get to stay at nicer hotels/resorts.

All of the luxury hotels I've stayed in have 100% of their services operating again. My room gets cleaned daily without asking and there are no limits on the number of people who can use the gym/spa/pool.

Now, as a regular joe traveler with my family, I'm cheap af and routinely stay in 3-& 4-star hotels. I want my money to go towards doing experiences while on vacation, not into the room where I'll spend little time. The budget hotels are the ones that still have limited services like no housekeeping, spa/sauna not operating, limited pool time, etc.

The hotel we stayed in over winter break still only allowed 12 guests at a time in the pool and you had to schedule pool time in blocks of 90 minutes with the front desk. They also didn't clean our room at all. We were instructed to place dirty towels and full trash bags outside of our door for collection. We then had to call the front desk to let them know how many clean towels were needed & when we'd be out of our room for a cleaner to drop them off. By day 3 with kids, there was sand in the bed, the tub, and on the bathroom floor. It was very annoying but all the hotel would do is drop off a broom or fresh linens for me to sweep or change the beds. We paid $325/night so it wasn't some $80/night motel type place.

The concierge team at the Four Seasons somehow works magic. I adore them! They have made a real difference vacations.

Anonymous wrote:I worked for the Four Seasons for a long time and following that did consulting in luxury hotels. I am perfectly happy staying in luxury down to the Hampton Inn if needed, depending on the type of trip and price. Hands down the biggest difference (universally) between luxury hotels/resorts and standard properties is the time and money spent on employee training and the property itself - location, facilities, maintenance, amenities. If you focus on both of those the rest of the items that have been listed above will follow.

PP - Also working in luxury hotels has prepared me for almost anything in life with a simple mantra "anticipating needs."

I worked for the Four Seasons for a long time and following that did consulting in luxury hotels. I am perfectly happy staying in luxury down to the Hampton Inn if needed, depending on the type of trip and price. Hands down the biggest difference (universally) between luxury hotels/resorts and standard properties is the time and money spent on employee training and the property itself - location, facilities, maintenance, amenities. If you focus on both of those the rest of the items that have been listed above will follow.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pre-covid, I guess they kind of made sense. But these days, with limited housekeeping, spas still closed, limited room service, etc. - I don't understand. You're paying, say $800 for a room with a bed at the Ritz Amelia Island when you could paying $180 up the road at the Residence Inn. What am I missing?

Didn’t read the whole thread, but Residence Inn in Amelia Island isn’t going for $180. Mid-Range Marriott and Hilton Properties in Ocean City, MD are 5
$400 - $700 in season.

As for luxury properties, they are, of course, nicer. Typically they are out of our price range. Not only are the rooms more expensive, but usually the nicer the hotel, the less you get- ex. Hampton Inn has complimentary coffee all day. At the Four Seasons a cup of coffee is $5.

But the coffee with be illy or another higher end brand not some cheap generic coffee.

One of the reasons I stay in luxury hotels is because I can’t stand when I ask for tea and am shown a box of different tea bags. Tea means whole tea leaves, not bags of dust.

Anonymous wrote:I hate to sound like a snob, but one reason I opt for luxury hotels is because I’m less likely to be irritated by the types of people who gravitate toward cheaper ones… young people crashing into a room and partying all night; unsupervised children running amok in the hallways or hotel restaurant; etc.

+1

We’re not interested in shenanigans on vacation. You can tell when a group is there but it’s paid by their company or someone else. They are bringing their own food and drinks to the pool, not treating the service staff well, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get people who don’t get liking luxury hotels. If I’m taking precious time off I want a great experience, not a utilitarian one.

A great experience requires you to leave the hotel grounds. Sitting on a hotel's beach and eating in their restaurant is so dumb.

What is dumb about it? You don’t get to dictate how others relax.

We fly to Miami all the time and do two or three nights at the St. Regis Bal Harbor and don’t leave the property, except may to walk across the st to go shopping grab a glass of wine.

I posted on another similar thread about some of the pros of staying at a luxury property. Hands down makes your stay a better experience. A good chunk of what makes things better are the little things you don’t even think about that they pick up on or handle with ease. On example I gave was being in Venice and running into a hotel manager on her day off. She noticed that we had done some shopping. Introduced to the owner of a great small restaurant while she arranged for hotel staff to come grab our shopping bags and take them to our room. Or getting food poising in Paris and hotel staff arranging for medical care and not allowing me to pay extra to clean up the vomit or the extra nights in the room or the private car they arranged to take me to the airport or the for them coordinating with the airline to have an airline host meet me at the curb and stay with me until I boarded.
There are about 50 other instances I could list.

Agree with this on so many levels now. But I used to be like that other poster in my previous life. Now with life, so stressful, and I am typically taking those vacations to relax, and not necessarily to explore. I want high-end food that I will not get sick from that is creative and well executed. Heading to a hotel Saturday for four nights to celebrate my 20th anniversary. Doubt we will leave the hotel or it’s beach.

20 years ago (and with a lot less $$$) I was all about experiencing & finding tiny little dive spots. And didn’t care if I wasted a night or meal on shitty food. Today, time is so valuable, there’s no reason to “waste” a night.
Now that type of thing holds little interest bc with my crazy job - I have 0 time to research those things (or desire) and want an exquisite well executed vacation.

Last point - I don’t want to vacation in a place that is not at least as nice as my home/bed. As our HHI and wealth has increased, certain creature comforts are worth it.

If you are really curious. Check out the FATTravel subreddit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get people who don’t get liking luxury hotels. If I’m taking precious time off I want a great experience, not a utilitarian one.

A great experience requires you to leave the hotel grounds. Sitting on a hotel's beach and eating in their restaurant is so dumb.

What is dumb about it? You don’t get to dictate how others relax.

We fly to Miami all the time and do two or three nights at the St. Regis Bal Harbor and don’t leave the property, except may to walk across the st to go shopping grab a glass of wine.

I posted on another similar thread about some of the pros of staying at a luxury property. Hands down makes your stay a better experience. A good chunk of what makes things better are the little things you don’t even think about that they pick up on or handle with ease. On example I gave was being in Venice and running into a hotel manager on her day off. She noticed that we had done some shopping. Introduced to the owner of a great small restaurant while she arranged for hotel staff to come grab our shopping bags and take them to our room. Or getting food poising in Paris and hotel staff arranging for medical care and not allowing me to pay extra to clean up the vomit or the extra nights in the room or the private car they arranged to take me to the airport or the for them coordinating with the airline to have an airline host meet me at the curb and stay with me until I boarded.
There are about 50 other instances I could list.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get people who don’t get liking luxury hotels. If I’m taking precious time off I want a great experience, not a utilitarian one.

A great experience requires you to leave the hotel grounds. Sitting on a hotel's beach and eating in their restaurant is so dumb.

You have obviously never stayed in a truly luxurious beach resort.

I have. I was bored.

I agree with you but with small kids it can be as close to a relaxing vacation as it comes, especially if we add aging grandparents. As a childless adult I probably wouldn’t.

I cant answer this in the abstract but re: the OP's question of Ritz Amelia:

Is the spa really closed? Covid is over and it's Florida so I doubt it. At this spa, you just have to get one service (eg pedi) to get all day access. The facilities are fantastic. They bring you free wine and chex mix.

Service is insanely top notch. I filled out some forms about what I like after a hot day outside, etc before I got there. And they did it! Chilled Chardonnay in my room. Milk and cookies with a pirate theme for the kids. I never asked for a thing, they just did this based on my survey questions.

The restaurant has great seafood.

The beach is lowkey.

Like all Ritz,. Smores.

Anonymous wrote:I hate to sound like a snob, but one reason I opt for luxury hotels is because I’m less likely to be irritated by the types of people who gravitate toward cheaper ones… young people crashing into a room and partying all night; unsupervised children running amok in the hallways or hotel restaurant; etc.

*eight to a room, not “into”