Hard pass. Having done yacht cruises on a branded line before, at this price point, charters are far more attractive.
Hey guys, long-time reader here… over the years I’ve been noticing something that keeps making me curious. A lot of the hotels featured on OMAAT cost, like, $1,000–$2,000 a night. As a European, I usually spend €100–€200 for a nice hotel anywhere in the world, sometimes even less in Asia.
So I have to ask… is it actually common to spend $1,000 or $2,000 for just one night? It just blows my mind that people in the US often pay as much for one night as I would for a whole week of vacation and accommodation.
Is this normal for you guys, or is this blog mostly showing the top 0.1%?
"It just blows my mind that people in the US often pay as much for one night as I would for a whole week of vacation and accommodation"
Prices are definitely on the higher side in the US (as well as cost of living) compared to most countries, but "often" is not the case. The vast majority of fiscally responsible people will not spend this kind of money on vacation
There are 3.5 million US households with a net worth of 5M+, so this article is relèvent to a lot of people
Tevdten, as someone who resides on the right side of the pond too, you might well be interested in my response to your comment. I’m speaking generally here, there are arguably many who might choose to disagree ….
Most U.S. travellers are only one nighters. They tend to arrive at a destination, wizzing around like demented demons, spend one night in any given location and then move on the next day. I come across this ‘thick list tourist’ all over the world.
Another thing to note is that the vast majority appear to be points and status obsessed. In so much that their domestic spending, etc, is geared to collecting points which can be exchanged for hotel accommodation, etc. This obsession can lead to much reduced flights, accommodation and restaurant bills, etc. Therefore, your $1000/night room will be cash charged at a much lower rate when points are exchanged. Alternatively, or, as well as, status earned ‘free’ upgrades come into play too.
You may have noticed that there are constant reminders of the airlines and hotel fanboy rivalry. This being from those who become locked into points for credit card use customers. It is my opinion that some limit themselves to some of most uninteresting holiday scenarios by being tied to their credit card points programs. These dictate which airline to travel on, which hotel to stay in and so no …. sad!
The author's husband is a luxury travel agent. So some of the stays at high-end hotels, like Four Seasons, are reduced rate or even free because the hotels want travel agents to experience the property and bring their clients there. Some chains, like Park Hyatt or St. Regis, are bookable with points. A lot of the blog's readership and target audience probably come from a narrow and affluent group of professions, like law, finance, tech, and consulting, which can have high salaries and generous travel policies. Most Americans though are booking Hampton Inns, Best Westerns, Airbnbs etc and flying coach and budget airlines like Southwest and Spirit when they travel.
For €100 to €200 per night, you certainly won't get a nice hotel in Europe, and even in many Asian cities, you won't get a halfway decent hotel for that price.
"and for most of us, that’s not only completely out of budget, but seems ridiculous."
I'm not convinced your use of "us" was more appropriate than using "you".
Are you getting comped on Ritz and FS or a very good discount?
Wow, I wasn't expecting Aman to attempt to position themselves even higher than Orient (with overlap). At the current trajectory, we only need a handful of more hotel chains to jump in before we get a cruising yacht that's literally just a mega yacht for one customer 😀
Very interesting how this is all shaking out though. Ritz-Carlton really isn't even in the same category. Starting at $1K-$1.5K a night, they really aren't competitors with the others.
Four Seasons is starting to seem like the "budget" ultra-luxury cruise line. Starts at $3K-$5K per night, but includes barely anything. The Spirit Airlines of the ultra-luxury crowd, if you will. You can "save" money for an Instagram worthy cruise, but only if you pack a load of granola bars. Also, service apparently leaves a lot to be desired.
Orient starts at $4K-$6K per night, so there's overlap with Four Seasons. Starts to look like the actual better value when you look at what's included.
Aman starts at $6K-$8K, so no real overlap with Four Seasons, and it butts up against the Orient. However, the real cost is quite a bit higher due to lack of inclusions. The Orient Express has an amazing looking yacht, so Aman really has no room for error if they want to convince people to pay more for theirs.
I'm with you, Ben, in that this whole situation is fascinating to me in a way that I can't really explain. Will be entertaining to see who succeeds and who fails.
I think it's time to call "yacht top". I can't see how there's a big enough market for this experience at the price point the high end brands are all trying to compete at. It was a great first mover idea but just so easily replicated with zero real differentiation between the products. It's not like a physical location - anyone can come dock and get high end passengers from the port you want to operate from. I can see this becoming an economic bloodbath. It's not like these are low cost to operate and you can send a cruise out half empty and it work out okay. Maintenance, fuel, crew levels - it's all playing the game on hard mode. Will be very interesting to see how this shakes out. Would love to know the occupancy assumptions for the economics to work.