As mentioned in another thread, we are back from our great roundtrip in California, the South West US and Vegas. Stayed in a good mix of luxury hotels (for the more-than-one-night-stays) and some good but not great places (which is marked as not luxury) for the rest of the nights. Many travellers would surely consider some of these to be luxury as well, but I have used the definition in this forum. I have written some quick impressions instead of a full TR, but please feel free to ask any questions you might have.

Flights: Virgin Atlantic, Upper Class
Loved the lounge/Club House at Heathrow! Loved the flat beds. Very good food. Hated the chairs when sitting, not possible to recline as far as I would have preferred.

- Four Seasons San Francisco: Executive suite - 4 nights
I would consider this to be a good central choice with comfortable rooms and good concierge service, but more of a business hotel. I was in touch with the GM before arrival, he forwarded me to a woman in reservations who took good care of us pre arrival: Upgrade was promised if available upon arrival, if not we would get a suite that she specially recommended with nice view etc. She also promised to take care of our requests with regards to beds etc. Upon arrival nobody seemed to be aware of anything that had been pre-discussed: The room we got was no upgrade (OK, cannot always expect this), but also had absolutely no view, no extra bed was set up etc. However, the room was spacious and comfortable with separate bedroom/living room and a good bathroom. Beds were the usual very comfortable FS beds so we slept really well. Concierge had been very helpful suggesting and reserving restaurants for us and we appreciated being in such a central location being able to walk to most places. However, we did experience a number of service issues during the stay, so all in all this was below the Four Season standard that we are used to from other hotels in the chain that we have stayed at. I would have preferred to stay in a cheaper, equally central hotel.

- Cypress Inn, Carmel (not luxury) - 1 night
Charming inn with spacious rooms. However, no airconditioning in our room (turned out there was only airconditioning in some of the rooms which we were not aware of) and the room definitely in need of some renovation. Breakfast (included) OK. Personnel very helpful and friendly. Good, central location. More than acceptable for a night, but make sure you get a room with air conditioning. Very dog friendly – lots of the guests travelling with dogs, so if you do not like them, this is not for you!

- Spanish Garden inn, Santa Barbara (not luxury) - 1 night
Comfortable hotel, quite central, spacious rooms. Small pool, but OK. Service good. Breakfast as well.

- Hotel Bel Air, LA - loft room - 4 nights
Great pre arrival service. One of the senior managers personally took care of us, made sure everything in the room was according to our wishes, made lots of great suggestions for activities and restaurants and took care of reservations for us. He personally met us during check and made sure to catch up with us several times during our stay to make sure everything was OK. By check in we got the choice between an upgrade to one of their normal suites or to stay in the loft room we had booked. We saw both and strongly preferred the loft room, so we declined the upgrade, but still much appreciated the offer. The loft room in an open plan suite with living and sleeping areas separated by a fireplace which can also be seen from the beautiful and very spacious bathroom. Lots of storage space including a walk in closet. Balcony outside living/bedroom, no view but quiet and private. One of the better rooms we have ever stayed in. General service across the hotel was very good, and we very much enjoyed the pool. Also visited the spa for a quick polish change (my polish was ruined during a trek in a natural reserve full of sand ;-) and they were very flexible and made sure my feet were looking good again in sandals. We dined one evening at Wolfgang Puck and had one breakfast in the hotel. Food, service and atmosphere very good, but we still preferred the outside restaurants that had been recommended to us.

- ACE Hotel and Swimclub, Palm Springs (not luxury) - 1 night
Cool place but definitely not luxury. Rather odd, retro interior and relaxed atmosphere. Simple and large (but cheap) suite and cool pool. Very good food in their diner restaurant where we had lunch and breakfast. Good drinks service around the pool. More of a place for young people and parties, but fine for a family, at least during the week (more party atmosphere in the week-ends I heard).

- Four Seasons Scottsdale - basic room - 1 night
Some of you did not recommend this hotel, but it was absolutely OK for a one night's stay. We enjoyed our entry level room which was spacious enough for us for one night and had a nice private terrace. Tried to upgrade to a suite, but fully booked. Pool was large and the loungers very comfortable.Service was spotty (slow at pool, several mistakes during in room dining - and we got the dinner for free in the end when we complained). Food very good though, also breakfast.
Large rate change between booking and arrival. We paid 1/3 of the (low) rate that we had booked for originally. In the end this was the cheapest hotel of our stay (139 USD per night) and that was definitely value for money, and for this rate I would definitely recommend the hotel.

- L'auberge de Sedona, Sedona (not luxury) - 1 night
Comfortable spacious cottages, more than OK for a night. Nice terrace and outside shower. Service very good, especially the concierge before arrival made lots of good recommendations. Good dinner at the creek outside. Nice atmosphere and fine dining with great service. Sedona is a beautiful place, well worth a visit and a stop. I wish we would have had at least one more day here.

- Amangiri - Desert view pool suite - 4 nights
Fantastic location and beautiful architecture and accommodation. Once in a lifetime activities: Gran Canyon, Slot canyons, via ferrate climbing, horseback riding and complimentary hikes all very well organised by Dan upon arrival, fully booked though, so need to book early. Great guides all the way! Very good spa as well (beautiful and great massage). I was worried that the room would be small (like Amansara) but was very positively surprised about how spacious it was. Very clever cupboards and wardrobe with sliding doors. And the view!!! Quite enjoyed the private pool, though lack of view and privacy as others have mentioned before. Sky terrace nice, but not used because of the heat.
Hotel was at full occupancy, the first time we have experienced this at an Aman. Quite a number of families, no problem for us, but could be a bit loud for others at times.
Some service mistakes but everyone was just so nice that we were less disturbed by these mistakes than we would normally be so we just enjoyed instead of worrying about it! Food good but not great. Special wishes had to be pre ordered the day before.
Because of full occupancy they asked us to reserve time for dinner. Not a real problem, but unusual for Aman..
GM and wife, plus assistant GM and Dan from activities took personally care of us during our stay.
All in all we loved it.

- MO Las Vegas - APEX suite - 3 nights
We do not gamble and travel with our son, so we wanted a non-casino hotel. It turned out that MO was exactly what we had wanted: A beautiful, central hotel with great service and rooms plus a good pool.
Room was amazing: Never stayed in such a large suite in a city hotel and really loved it. Had our own bar, pantry kitchen, huge living room with dining table in one end and sofa/sitting area in other end, huge hall with desk, separate bedroom and smallish wardrobe and bathroom. All with fantastic view - floor to ceiling windows. All very high tech. Bed very comfortable.
Enjoyed the pool, but a bit full at times. Very good service and food by the pool with little treats and complimentary ice water being constantly offered.
Had excellent full tea in room the day we arrived. Planned it in the tea lounge, but decided to move everything to the suite after check in.
Also excellent dinner at Twist, but given that we had booked shows already, dinner was a bit too late meaning we had to rush a bit since our son was getting tired.

- Shutters on the beach, Santa Monica - partly seaview room in front building- 1 night
Again a choice that some of you warned me about, and unfortunately I have to agree with them. Room was TINY: We could hardly fit our luggage and the extra bed. View was a joke as well. It was the front building, but mostly the view was to the street. Also no balcony to sit at. They say all rooms have a balcony, ours was just a French one. Well maintained room, though, and comfy bed. Room was not ready when we arrived at 1400 hrs, but got it at 1500 hrs at least (not having to wait until check in time which is 1600 hrs). When asking for a late check out, we were told that all they could do was 1230 hrs, instead of the 1200 hrs that is official. Still: Unique location, nice atmosphere and pool and close to airport. But for more than USD 700 for this tiny room (plus taxes etc.) it was not something that I would recommend to others - unless they take a huge suite and say money is no problem. I wish we would have gone back to Bel air for the last night instead.

* * *

Finally I would like to thank all of you fellow FT-ers that helped me in my planning thread or sent PMs to me before this trip. Really appreciated and we ended up doing lots of the things you suggested on our way - and some that we thought of on our own.

Holidays in the US is great - this will not be the last for us!