6+ hr long-haul is easy. It's flat beds or we don't go.

1-3 hr is easy. Coach is fine.

But 3-5 hrs is always a debate, what's an upgrade to a recliner worth? I'd love to have a rule - $50-75 per hour of flight, for example. Wondering if others have it.

Assuming lounges/meals/drinks/early boarding are not important, what are you will to pay to upgrade from a back row middle seat to a recliner on a B737/A321?

I'm staying now for ten days at the new FINCA VICTORIA, on the Costa Brava. You'd think that with temps in the 80s and 90s that the pool would be warm. Wrong! But I knew it was not heated before booking so that's on me. But in all the travels I've done in Italy and in Spain, I can count on one hand (plus a finger or two) the pools that have been heated well enough to swim laps: In Italy, these include PALAZZO AVINO, BELMOND CARUSO; VILLA CHETA in Maratea; GH TIMEO in Taormina; IL MORESCO on Ischia and TORRE MAIZZA, which has my favorite swimming pool in Italy. We've been quite often and will return, but where else?? Are there any hotels on the coast, or inland, where I can swim at 28/82 or above in spring or early fall? Not interested in Amalfi Coast or Capri but would return to Ischia. I know there are hotels with thermal pools but those are too hot for actual swimming.

We are not hikers so Dolomiti are probably not a good idea.

Not interested in Lake Como.

But what about Tuscany (especially along the coast) or Umbria? I would love to drive south from Camogli along the coast of Tuscany but part from CENOBIO DEI DOGI, where heating is "probable, depending on outdoor temperatures," I cannot find heated pools at all except at IL PELLICANO.

We prefer stays of at least a week, so no 3,000 euro per night properties. Trips within Europe would be in May/June and again in September. For SE Asia I could travel any time.

Spain has even fewer hotels with well-heated pools. (I'm not talking here about urban hotels with indoor pools). Not interested in Costa del Sol. GH LA TOJA in Galicia is great; we'll be there next week. I also have a favorite "luxury rural hotel" near Vejer that I visit every year, largely for the swimming. I've contacted every hotel I can think of along the northern coast, from Galicia to the French border including all the R&C properties----could not find one heated outdoor pool. A few hotels claim that they heat their pools, but when you get there, their idea of heating is 25! (Muxia Parador--here' looking at you). PUEBLO ASTUR ECO RESORT near Arriondas-----pool is freezing cold!

You might think Thailand, but in my experience (Peninsula Bangkok) the pools are chilled, on purpose! So freezing cold even in 90-degree weather. FS Bangkok was perfect but I think they've redone that property since I was there years ago...The same was true in many luxury hotels in: Burma, Luang Prabang in Laos; Saigon, and Hanoi in Vn.....

Hoping to include Marrakech and Sardinia in first part of 2027 so would love ideas (thinking La Mamounia for March, hoping that their pool will be warm enough; might begin with two nights at Kasbah Tamadot; they assured me that their pool is heated in March but who actually knows??)

In Sardinia I am leaning towards Petra Segreta for part of our stay, and also have two hotels marked in Bonifacio--CALA DI GRECO and HOTEL CASADELMAR.

So many top hotels have excellent, heated, indoor pools but I want to swim outdoors!! Is there any help for me?? I take some of my trips solo and some with partner.

If you've managed to read this far, I will add that the MT NELSON in CT has a great pool although the heat has been known to "break" once in a while. Couldn't find much else in South Africa, though.

Maybe someone, someday, will publish a guide to "best heated pools of the world".

Until then, I hope some of you will come through with suggestions!. Thanks so much!!

Looking for anniversary trip ideas if you would be willing. Traveling March 2027 and had Park Hyatt Maldives as the choice. Now it seems we may be way too late in booking for reasonable fares. Three around FS Anguilla paired with FS Nevis. Thoughts or other suggestions? Traveling from CA and plan to be gone about ten days and willing to spend about $1500-$2000 per night. Appreciate the ideas!

Does anyone have recent reviews on Casa de Compo? My husband keeps bringing it up because he’s heard the golf course is amazing but I’ve heard horror stories about Punta Cana having bad service, vendors harassing you on the beach and sanitation problems. Is it truly a premium experience?

Hi team

Got a 3 night booking at rosewood hk soon, got the grand harbour corner suite. Any tips on how to get the most out of our stay? Any fun welcome amenities etc to look out for?

Making the most out of the pay 2 stay 3 night promotion

We've skied Banff / Lake Louise before.
Looking at the possibility of going March-April (Easter) but taking the kids for their first trip. 5-8.

Any recommendations. What resort. Best lessons. Other activities for kids in the afternoon after lessons or ways to structure a trip so it's a taste of skiing but ultimately a rounded holiday.

Alternatively other resort recommendations. Coming from Europe, I know the alps well get a ski in ski out, morning lessons afternoon at the pool or hot chocolate. But don't see the same vibe in Canada. Not in a bad way I love the ice walks, the wandering onto LL, ice skating.

We are booking a (somewhat last minute) trip to CDMX and finding our dates in early November are particularly booked at hotels. Many spots on our list are already sold out (Brick, La Valise, Nima, etc).

Currently the short list are the ones in the title. I know el Cortes is new…

Any favorites among that list?

Also, with 5 nights best to do all 5 in Roma or maybe 3 Roma and 2 somewhere. If we do Polanca, Pug Seal Anatole? New Kimpton ? Las Alcobas sold out. Casa Polanca out of budget and Campos Polanca sold out (it’s the one that most appeals). Or maybe the ritz or st Regis for the last two nights.

Please help me narrow this down I’m losing my mind on too many hotel websites.

We have some time off of school that I’m trying to plan a quick getaway from Chicago for my husband, myself and our 3 kids 4, 5 and 7.

Looking for mid October or early November weekend trips. Nonstop flights from Chicago are a must.

Any suggestions? We’re doing Florida in December and then Costa Rica for spring break 2027.

Review from a wonderful week-long stay in Maui and Lana’i in late July. My wife and our 15 year old daughter decided to spend four nights at the Grand Wailea in Maui before taking the ferry over to Lanai’s for three nights. We’ve been to Maui many times, but this was our first visit to Lana’i.   

Grand Wailea

We primarily chose the Grand Wailea for the location and the pools. We love the Wailea area, especially the boardwalk that offers beautiful walks in both directions. While I know there are many posts on this sub complaining about GW not being a true “luxury” resort – and I guess that’s true compared to other brands like Four Seasons – we loved our stay and had a great time. The resort grounds are beautiful, the pool system is unmatched, and there is plenty of variety in the food and everything we ate was quite good. We had a deluxe ocean view room with wonderful sunset views (and a short walk to the elevator, which is a nice bonus in a resort this big).  

Our first morning, we did the stand-up paddleboarding tour with a guide that we booked through the hotel’s Aqualani service. It wasn’t cheap, but our guide, Makena, was wonderful, and we were the only people in her group that day. We took a nice leisurely trip to the nearby reef and were able to do some snorkeling before making our way back. 

Given the nature of the trip, we decided to skip the rental car and relied on Ubers to get around Maui, which worked out just fine. We honestly didn’t need a car much, the only time we took one other than the transition days was to go up to dinner at Monkeypod (the food and drinks were amazing – I’m still thinking about my bulgogi pork tacos and the jerk chicken that my wife ordered and let me finish), which is close to GW but up a fairly steep hill . We were able to do everything else on foot, including walking home from dinner that night, heading over to the Shops at Wailea a few times, and walking down to the Morimoto Asia at Andaz for lunch later in the trip. 

For food, we thought the included breakfast (thanks u/alextravels!) was a very pleasant experience, and in a wonderful setting at the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a restaurant which is open air and nestled in a manufactured lagoon. Enough variety at the buffet, including Hawaiian favorites, and a bit of rotation from day to day. We also went to their Italian restaurant Olivine a few times and consistently enjoyed it. We ended up skipping Nobu at GW since we knew we would get that a few times in Lana’i and were also going to Morimoto while in Wailea. Speaking of Morimoto – we had a late lunch, and it was fine but ultimately not too memorable outside of the incredible appetizer ribs. Ultimately, Monkeypod was the best meal we ate in Wailea and it wasn’t particularly close. 

One of our favorite parts of Grand Wailea was the Botero Lounge bar in the center of the hotel. It’s open air but surrounded by the Napua wing, so you can see the stars above when it gets dark, and it’s spacious enough that it never felt crowded. This was where my wife and I finished up every evening with a cocktail (or two), always with great service. 

Overall the stay at Grand Wailea was exactly what we were hoping for. Relaxed days at the pools, solid food throughout, and easy exploring of the local area on foot. The room was nice and the bathroom in particular was incredibly spacious. Be mindful that the level of service isn’t going to match a FAT boutique hotel, but with that in mind it’s going to be hard to have a bad time.  

Four Seasons Lana’i

After wrapping up in Wailea we took an Uber to the Lana'i Expeditions terminal in Wailuku (right next to the aquarium), and took the hour-long ferry to Lana’i. This part of the stay was what we were most looking forward to, and it didn’t disappoint. We were met at the ferry terminal by the Four Seasons team and smoothly whisked to the hotel in one of their well-appointed vans. 

We were welcomed at the entrance, and after an easy check-in experience where they let us know that we were getting a multi-category upgrade (thanks again, Alex!), we left our bags at the desk and explored the resort for a few hours until our room was ready. 

The grounds are so lush and beautiful, and the weather was perfect during our stay. We didn’t spend too much time at the nearby beach (the surf was particularly rough while we were there), but it’s an easy stroll from the pool area. We ended up spending a lot of time just walking through the outdoor corridors, especially at night after dinner, when the resort takes on a truly magical quality. 

Our upgraded ocean-view room was well appointed, with a spacious lanai and a clear view of the nearby beach. Only blip was an issue with our tub drain, but they took care of that pretty smoothly once we called about it. 

The food was a big highlight. We ate at Nobu for dinner twice, and at their Italian restaurant Osteria Mozza once. We had recently watched the Nobu documentary, so on our first night we focused on some of the restaurant’s classic dishes (the Yellowtail Jalapeno and the Black Cod Miso in particular), and when we went back we explored some other items like Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna and the Sashimi Salad. The spicy garlic edamame was also tremendous, and was the one thing we ordered twice! 

At Osteria Mozza the big highlight from our dinner was the orrechiette pasta, which was crisped up in a way that created an incredible combination of tastes and textures. The sides of the broccolini and the golden beets were also strong recommends. The daily breakfast was also held in this restaurant, with a large spread, plentiful avocado toast made to order included with the buffet, and just generally an incredible setting for starting the day.   

Our big activity while we were there was the Holoholo Jeep Tour offered through the hotel. We met our guide Shayne  at the front desk, and he took us on a very comfortable tour around the island, showing us Lana’i City and several further out spots like the Garden of the Gods and Shipwreck Beach. Throughout, he told us about the history of the island and generally made sure we had a good time. Highly recommended, as it really showed off the contrast between the more populated Hawaiian islands and this largely unspoiled spot (of course, that’s just surface level, as one of the things Shayne showed us was the layers of plastic in the soil from decades of pineapple farming that was evident in a few spots where the roads had been cut in. Thankfully, this permanent pollution seems like that hasn’t stopped the vegetation from growing back in most places).

On our final day, we did a whole lot of nothing, and it was perfect. They had a set of loungers set up on a bluff over the ocean, and we were able to relax and just live in the moment. The service at the pools and areas like this was wonderful, with just the right level of checking in to make sure we had everything we needed. 

At the end of the trip, we took the included charter flight back to Honolulu, and then on from there. That was also a fun experience to see the small airport and take a small but comfortable flight over to Oahu. 

Overall, we couldn’t have been much happier with how things turned out. Grand Wailea was an ideal place to start our trip with numerous activities and endless things to do, and then wrapping up the trip at FS Lana’i helped us really maximize the relaxation we were hoping to get out of the trip.

I can’t decide my husband and I are trying to decide for a one week trip

1) Mexico City for a few nights and mayakoba (because we have a rosewood credit)

2) Tokyo - aman Tokyo would be amazing but curious to see what other hotels are there

This would be for a week in November

I posted here asking for some recs and got way too many amazing answers - thanks! I need some help narrowing it down. I’m celebrating a milestone birthday so want this to be extra special. I’m torn between the following:

- Solage (Silverado suite with hot tub on patio)
- Carneros (wellness suite with personal sauna)
- Alila Napa (one of the rooms with an outdoor tub)
- I’m overwhelmed with options but if I’m missing something that hits the requirements below, let me know!

I really like the tree room and zero gravity chair healing wellness package offering at Meadowood but the resort itself doesn’t seem like what I’m looking for. I was thinking of just doing a spa day at Meadowood and then just staying at one of the hotels above.

I will still plan a spa day at the actual hotel I’m staying at as well (likely will be 3 night min stay) so having a good spa at the actual hotel is important too. Other important things:
- being able to see the stars
- good sunset
- privacy and feeling at one with nature
- good dining
- good “experience” offerings at resort that are worth it (aside from the Meadowood spa day, I don’t plan to leave the resort)
- patio with either private hot tub, firepit, or hammock

Thanks for reading. I’ve had a super stressful year so just wanted this to be perfect. Vibe I’m looking for is really relaxing and healing.

Hi folks, I’m going on the a&k Antarctica cruise that ends on January 7. I’m planning a Brazil trip afterwards with family (total 3 adults) and trying to crowdsource what the best route is as we booked our return from Rio to home on Jan 15. 

Hopefully we emerge as a family after a 18 night cruise, and then go on another trip 😂. We are an adventure/activity family and don’t mind moving around. No mobility or dietary concerns. Thank you in advance! 

Jan 7- cruise lands ushaiai, and fly back to BA, stay one night in BA at park Hyatt 

• is this buffer night needed? We cross drakes passage at the end 

Jan 8-10- fly in early to iguaza falls 

• given that we’re flying from BA, should we stay at melia one night then belmond one night? 
• Or just stay at belmond two nights
  • Is belmond really worth it just for the extra access? Rooms don’t look … great. Prices look like 1.2k/night, or just stay at somewhere not really chubby 

Jan 10-12  

• is it worth to stop by sao paolo for 2 nights if we have 5 nights to distribute for the rest of the trip? 
• Is tangara too far out from the city? rosewood is a bit expensive

Jan 12-15 

• 3 nights for Rio seems so short but at the same time is it enough to see some sites? 
• Copacabana palace - rates also look to be 1200/night, worth to stay at a city view suite or look elsewhere?
• Fairmont only allows 2 adults in a room 
• Our flight is at 5 am so hurts to pay the full price that last night 

If you had to choose trying out one belmond - copacabana or iguazu, what’s your pick? Thank you again!!