pinniped

SwissCircle, have you thought about buying or leasing a jet? I don't mean this in a snarky way...it just sounds like you do a lot of int'l F travel and aren't happy with it or any aspect of mass-transit air travel. Seems like there are enough of those fractional-ownership programs out there that one of them might fit your needs better.

As far as the hotels, it sounds like you'd be better off selecting properties outside of the major chains - places where your desired level of service is personally delivered to every guest in the hotel. Frankly, none of MR/HH/SPG can really deliver what you are asking for - except perhaps the St. Regises and perhaps the private towers inside select Hilton/Waldorfs. If I were you, I'd avoid the places where people like me get all the benefits simply because I stay in a bunch of Marriotts and Residence Inns. Look for smaller, luxe boutiques - or perhaps the Mandarin, Ritz, or Pan Pacific brands for big-city hotels.

I don't think your desired experiences are gone forever - I just think they're gone from the mainstream brands because they now seek to appeal to a much broader market than, say, 30-40 years ago. Airlines and hotels are commodities to most people, so the service has become somewhat bland.

As for me, I rarely flew before about 1990 or so, so I don't know what it was like. Maybe that's a good thing: I flew primarily coach for many years, and only now do I fly a mix of premium cabin and economy for int'l travel. So I still look forward to a J trip to Europe - and I'm really looking forward to LH F and the FCT this fall. Whatever it is now, it'll be far better than what I'm used to.