Originally Posted by
WEEBOBBY
I have friends in Ireland who want to Honeymoon in September in New York / Maui and Los Angeles (Santa Monica or Beverly Hills). They are looking at doing about 5 nights in each.
FS Maui is the obvious choice but blows their budget a bit for the rest of the trip.
I think they should leave NY and LA till much closer to the time but perhaps book the entry level room at FS MAUI. I thought they could go for FS Maui for $465 through DavidO and compromise on New York hotel to offset the cost.
I would say their budget for 2 weeks is about $300-350 a night and they have asked for my help.
I stayed in L'Ermitage in April for about $300 a night but that was a deal combined with expensive flights (LHR-LAX-Tahiti).
They seem keen on Santa Monica.
I see the Huntley in SM and The Benjamin in NY on luxurylink.com
I usually use a mix of website deals/hotwire/FHR/DavidO/and hotel programs such as SPG and IHG (the 40,000 cash and points trick for the IC Bora Bora - oh yes) but they are not familar with these methods
I have been looking at options like credit cards AMEX PLAT / SPG AMEX etc etc but dont see any that are available in Ireland (I am based in UK and these cards are available to me) where they could use the points given initially towards stays etc
Any suggestions would be much appreciated ?!!
For NYC :
for 300-350 it's going to be hard to find a luxury hotel. For this price range I would more focus on the hotel location than the luxury part (a central park view would be a must for a honeymoon). The Jumeirah essex house (soon to be rebranded) provides comfortable accomodation within this price range and you get the perfect location (central park south)
For LA:
Given their preference for Santa Monica the huntley will fit just fine and is within price range. The views are to die for and Casa Del Mar/ Shutters on the Beach entry rooms are far from ok, without views and the price difference can be shocking
They could also look at the FS Beverly hills which continuously offers free nights packages (usually stay 3 pay 2 or stay 4 pay 3). Balcony views have a certain charm and pricewise it's a good deal (especially if booked through FS preferred partner)
Though these hotels don't belong to virtuoso, they are maybe part of another program / or have negociated perks when booked through specific sites (you should check the kiwi collection, visa signature and online booking sites such as whatahotel who have, in addition to providing virtuoso bookings, negociated deals with 4 star sup / low 5 star hotels