Originally Posted by
Musken
I agree that the description should be rewritten to include also - at least - Amanresorts, but I am not sure that this will really be of help to the ones that asks questions without knowing which hotels we discuss here. That is more a matter of how we choose to answer them. Regulars here tend to search for, stay in and discuss only the best 2-3 very top hotels in each destination, but I do not feel that it would be correct to limit ourselves to only those. An interest for luxury hotels most often start a bit below the very best ones and then grow slowly, dependent on experiences, priorities and financial situation. A forum like this would have been extremely helpful for me also before I was able to stay in the real luxury hotels. I would have loved to find someone that could tell me that my choices might not be the very best ones, but that they would be the best in the "great hotel, but not top of the class-group", if you know what I mean, and I feel that many of us can offer useful experiences also for such hotels and compare them to the top ones. I would feel that it was a pity if we would lose feedback on great boutique hotels just because there would be a better FS close to it, for example.
I suspect I fall into the catagory of sometimes asking about a hotel that is decent, but perhaps not the best of the best. Mainly because there really isn't anywhere else to ask those knowledgable about hotels for feedback. If the hotel is not part of a chain loyalty scheme (like Intercontinentals etc), isn't budget, there isn't really anywhere other than here to put it, other than in the destination section (and there just isn't the traffic in some of those subforums). I've found posters really helpful when asking about specific hotels in various cities, they may say 'the MO is better' or 'consider these hotels as well' but they have given good feedback about the ones I ask about, leading me to book, or to explore other suggested options further. Especially as my mother far prefers non chain hotels, and will take a lower thread count, do without a dedicated butler etc. if it means she stays in a beautiful historic building, with unusual rooms, interesting decor, staff willing to make her morning cups of tea exactly how she likes rather than an in room nespresso machine, etc. For her, that is her idea of luxurious far more than all white modern furniture rooms. Each to their own.