MikeFromTokyo

I can't remember the last time I had to wait to check in to a hotel, that is if I even need to go to the front desk. I am accustomed to in room check-in. Things like that, or the absence of turndown service are very noticeable if staying at a large chain hotel.

aa213bb

In short, no.

Like others here, I know many people who are highly uncomfortable spending even $300/night for a hotel, much less $2k+. Sometimes it's not even matter of finances, but more mentality (think "Child of the Depression").

I love staying in nice hotels. Love it. BUT … I'm not going to miss out on by limiting myself to luxury properties. I'd be like Gallivanters, and only returning to the same 15 locations (though, at least Lyn and David have something of an excuse, given it is their livelihood).

Like Pausanias, I choose the destination(s), and then plan the hotels … 90% of the time. I admit there are times when I will travel specifically to visit a particular property.

Unlike Pausanias, I cannot bear flying long-haul in Y.

MikeFromTokyo

I doubt that returning to the world's best hotels on a regular basis is much of a hardship. Furthermore, to assert that they do not cover new hotels would be inaccurate. They do so all the time.

aa213bb

1) I never said, nor even implied, it's a hardship.

2) I realize I wasn't as clear as I intended; I meant returning to the same, roughly, 15 geographic locations, not hotels.

3) As I said, it is their livelihood - I did not intend that as a criticism at all. But that would not work for me. There is far too much of the world to see, most places having nothing resembling a luxury property.

MikeFromTokyo

You never said it was a hardship. Saying that it was not a hardship was my comment. I fail to see why anyone would need an excuse to visit the world's best hotels, even if it is not one's livelihood to do so.

Mind you, I completely agree that it is important to see the world. I also do not limit my travels to locations where there are luxury hotels.

aa213bb

Of course no excuse is needed. And as I said, I absolutely love staying in some of the best hotels in the world.

Again, my point is that if one ONLY stays in the world's best hotels, there are large swaths of the globe that one misses out on - and that would not work for me.

MikeFromTokyo

I totally agree. I enjoy traveling to all kinds of places. If there are no high-end hotels, I just choose the best available option, or whatever appeals to me most.

KatW

It's a skewed discussion. I would not avoid a part of the world I wish to see because it lacked a luxury hotel. We holiday routinely in and around Point Reyes which lacks a luxury option and that's just fine by us since the environs constitute bucolic magnificence.

Yet, oddly perhaps, many of the areas of interest to me do, in fact, have one or two luxe accommodations.

It's not uncommon for the notion of luxury to be somewhat mutable, especially when taking into account location. I often resort (so to speak) to the best available in some locales where environs and opportunities are so glorious as to render insignificant the lack of someone to carry my bags and spritz Evian.

Nevertheless, in Paris I am in Le Bristol, in LA I am in the Peninsula, in London I am in the Savoy. Also favor Gravetye Manor, Twin Farms, etc.

Places yet to visit: Peru, Chile, Norway, Amazon. Also want to return to Panama where I was born and raised.

MikeFromTokyo

Very well said. I think just being where I want to be, with the people I want to be with - and preferably with good food and wine - is "luxury" in a way, even in the absence of a high-end hotel.

SanDiego1K

There are lots of reasons luxury hotels aren't for everyone:

- budget is insufficient
- value is in the eye of the beholder
- uneducated palete, simply doesn't appreciate the difference that can lead to a 2x to 10x price differential
- minimal time on property
- destination does not offer luxury

Some of my best stories are where we stayed on early trips. 5th floor walkup on Isle de Cite, Paris, grotty room? Check. YMCA in marginal neighborhood in Chicago? check. But we were traveling, and thrilled to be doing so. The 5th floor walkup was just $12 a night in a fantastic location in central Paris. Now, I wouldn't think of staying in those places. But then, I couldn't have gone if I hadn't done so.

Now, I skew more luxury though it rarely drives the trip. We're going to Uzbekistan in 2015. I'm fascinated by the cultural wealth of the old Silk Road route. I'm unaware of a single luxury choice in the country. I'm a bit apprehensive as to what our lodgings will be, but I'm not going to be so much a princess I don't go.

MikeFromTokyo

Uzbekistan sounds very interesting. I love reading about the Silk Roads, and would love to see that part of the world someday.

In some locations I want to visit a homestay with an hospitable family might even be a great experience if I can arrange it. Friends of mine have done this in rural parts of China and Southeast Asia.

Minimal time on property is also a good point. It makes no sense to pay a huge premium if one only needs a place to sleep.

KatW

A book for both of you (I loved it): Silk Roads: The Asian Adventures of Clara and André Malraux. Also there's quite a good and thorough history available, The Silk Road: A New History.

pricesquire

No, they're not for everyone.

And I think it less to do with budget than most assume.

My dad and grandfather, both extremely wealthy in their own right, just aren't comfortable spending over $250 for a night in a hotel room. I often ask my grandfather: "you're about to turn 90, you have all the money in the world, and you travel 12 times a year....why do you refuse to stay at a five star joint" - to which he responds something along the lines of: "I'm a child of the depression and it just doesn't feel right" and/or "if I paid $1k to stay one night in a room, I wouldn't be able to sleep!"

My dad, on the other hand, can fully appreciate what luxury means (just took him to two Four Seasons, a Shangri-La, and a St. Regis)...and he still refuses to stay there, even though he can afford it. In other words: he has the palate, and still just isn't comfortable doing it.

Some people call that cheap. Some call it smart. I don't know really, other than to say: value is in the eye of the beholder (famous quote from SanDiego1K).

To me, personally...I'm not one of those people who travels for luxury. For instance, I'm dying to visit the Silk Road/STAN countries, and I could give a damn if there's a luxury hotel there. I also spent two months driving across the USA staying in Super8's and Holiday Inns...and I tend to think those kind of stays keep me grounded in reality...how the other 99% lives...

That said, on the flip side, I also have been known to travel for the sake of visiting a luxury hotel. Where the hotel is (or can be) the destination.

Two months ago, after my 20th straight stay at a really nice place....I swiped the key in the door (something that used to give me butterflies in the stomach - true excitement!), and I realized "where did that fun, exciting feeling go?'...walked into an objectively beautiful, luxurious room and i felt NOTHING. Really scary.

So, I try to mix it up. Travel to non-luxury destinations with no luxury hotels. Then, go to places because they have a luxury hotel I've been meaning to visit.

I think it's more complicated than many think

EDIT: for those interested in Silk Road and/or STAN countries (I'm a fanatic in the process of planning my first trip that way), check out this FT trip report: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...yrgyzstan.html

One more thing (this thread really got me thinking!): sometimes I really feel like a bad person staying at a really lux place in a really bad area of the world. You know, driving out of the pearly gates of your hotel (or leaving the front door), just to see people starving, barely getting by. It's a gut wrenching feeling that is only exacerbated knowing I'm spending $500+/night - an amount these people don't see in 2 years. I'm not making a moral statement other than: sometimes it just doesn't feel too good. And depending on the destination, I try to keep where i"m going to stay in perspective.

MikeFromTokyo

Wow, thank you for this. I will be sure to check those out.

Incidentally, I am in the middle of a great book: In Search of Southeast Asia by William Roff et al. I will check out the books you have recommended when I have finished this one.

hannisen

Apart from being an interesting and accurate point of view, thank you for teaching me the word bucolic.