Why you SHOULDN'T stay at luxury hotels and fly first class... - ORD

Why you SHOULDN'T stay at luxury hotels and fly first class...

Ben Schlappig — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 23:05:15 +0000

In a recent installment of my UAE trip report I wrote a review of the InterContinental Abu Dhabi, which can be found here. Reader ORD-TGU left the following comment: I am afraid that too much exposure to premium properties has you desensitized and numb! You state “On the whole I had a pleasant stay”. pleasant?…

Continue reading: Why you SHOULDN’T stay at luxury hotels and fly first class…

Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.

Ben Schlappig — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 02:00:28 +0000

@ Jack -- I paid cash, painful as it was... though it was worth it.

Jack Attack — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 00:33:38 +0000

Ben, how did you stay at the Aman Resorts with points? Their properties all look incredible but I'm not aware of any way to book a stay there without paying full price–or is that what you d...

Faith Case — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:46:04 +0000

Ben you write a great blog hence your following. I think the reader comment is from jealously. I love hearing about all your adventures. I think we are all at different places in life and can learn from each other. I don't believe you have children but if you do someday your hotel redemption strategy might change a bit. For me I save those luxury hotel stays for me & the hubby. I love to stretch the points out for vacations with the kids. They don't care and we hardly spend anytime at the hotel. Just really just a crash pad. So I think you should enjoy the luxury stays since you can afford it. Why in the world would you want to stay at Motel 6. Sounds crazy to me!!

steve64 — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:47:37 +0000

Love your blog ... keep it up !! I'm one of the folks that believe the journey is half the trip. As cranking it down a notch or so to keep things in perspective, didn't you recently fly/review Southwest :)

sfobuddy — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 05:11:58 +0000

For me the big difference is this - Did I 'earn' the spot up front or in this room or did I somehow 'cheat' to get up there. I'm as jaded as you when it comes to 'blowing me away' and throughout the past year I found that I viewed trips I 'pay' for very differently than the trips I don't. My expectations for service, quality and value in which I'm shelling out serious coin are far different from my expectations of experiences I'm having from shelling out serious points/miles. This may fly in the face of what all of these travel bloggers are writing about, but in the end when I use my own money I EXPECT to be blown away. When I use points I realize how lucky am I to have this experience when so many others will NEVER be in the same place as I - regardless of how may credit card offers they complete.

InsaneTravel — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:20:24 +0000

@Reader, I must be reading a different blog than you are. I don't see Lucky as arrogant. He mentions constantly that he is "blessed" or "Lucky" that he could do this. He is passionate about his hobby, in fact he turned it into a Career. and @PanAm I appreciate that you would have different vacation patterns than Lucky, but a lot of us (based on the RTW threads) love the journey more than the destination. Perhaps the type of reviews you are looking for could be found on Tripadvisor.com and Tripwolf.com (Which I use all the time to book hotels) I can afford to fly on points but I can't afford to pay full price for 5 Star and I do not have any hotel rewards.

Reader — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 03:37:59 +0000

Your arrogance is off putting.

Will — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:05:27 +0000

I usually look at the pictures and skim the text, so can't say it makes much difference to me.

PanAm — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:17:19 +0000

I think part of your problem is that you travel to and experience these things - hotels, airlines - just for their own sake. I know you do a small bit of sightseeing but you aren't reviewing the luxury hotel in the context of your vacation with the girlfriend/wife; you aren't reviewing your F seat and flight in the context of having to walk in to the client's office first thing that morning and give a make-or-break sales presentation, etc. So you just end up comparing ammenities X,Y, and Z among various luxury chains. It sometimes comes off as, well, artificial and forced - to me anyway. Like the "3 Perfect Days" series in Hemispheres. I'd like to know what someone's impression of the place is in the context of an experience I might actually have, but that's just me. I also prefer to stay, overseas anyway, in non-chain local hotels. I want to experience what's different about a Japanese business hotel in Tokyo, instead of (essentially) the same InterContinental that I would see in any other city. Or even a small, mid-range boutique type hotel in Paris rather than the Hyatt or whatever. I often have experiences and meet people that I probably wouldn't in the sterile luxury behemoth hotel. Plus, it's human nature that what you experience routinely becomes the baseline for what you then expect. I know many readers want your luxury reviews. But try some things that are still nice but off the beaten path. You're young but sooner or later, you will have hit every major luxury hotel in most popular destinations...what then?