3rd night free | can I get free breakfast with that?

If you could get free breakfast AND third night free, that would be a great value. New clients ask us all the time, "Do free night promotions also include Four Seasons Preferred Partner, Virtuoso, Diamond Club, (etc.) amenities?" The answer — for most of our luxury hotel partners — is YES!

There are a few luxury brands that are inconsistent about extending consortial amenities to free-night promotions. I regularly remind my sales reps about keeping up with the competition! But I'm happy to say that partners such as Four Seasons, Dorchester Collection, and Rosewood virtually always extend their amenity programs. You benefit from valuable perks such as free breakfasts, upgrades if available, and hotel credits. It's their customer-friendly policy.

Sometimes a promotion may appear on the consumer website ... but not show up on the preferred partner website or in Sabre. Not to worry! This means the person loading the rates accidentally left off a rate code, but can be solved with a simple phone call.

You can enjoy the best luxury hotel values possible by combining amenities with free night promotions. While I'm not allowed to post the exclusive Four Seasons amenities on a public website,  just drop us an email and we'll let you know.

P.S. — You can't book these deals with amenities online. You'll need to to make the booking through a connected luxury travel advisor ... at the very same price you'd pay online.

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

so much better than booking.com ...

booking.com quote for Le Meurice as of 2:50 p.m. PDT, June 25, 2017

Rick Steves posted a Facebook article yesterday in which he offered his alternative to making hotel bookings through online wholesalers like booking.com and expedia.com. Hotels have to pay a 20-25% commission to OTA's (online travel agencies) in return for having their rooms available online. He advises travelers to contact hotels directly and negotiate:

Those who book direct through a hotel’s website (and not through the booking agency site, thus saving the hotel about 20 percent) can be offered a free breakfast or free upgrade. Or, simply don’t book “online.” Just book by direct email or phone, in which case, hotels are free to give you whatever price they like (usually able to split the difference: charging 10 percent less and making 10 percent more).

You don't need this hassle! Over 1250 luxury hotels around the world already offer an even richer set of value-added amenities through Virtuoso, the world's leading consortium of luxury travel advisors, hotels, cruise lines, and tour companies. And we can often do even better than Virtuoso, thanks to our relationship with all the leading hotel companies in the world — Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Dorchester Collection, Rosewood, Belmond, Peninsula, etc.

Free breakfast is already negotiated, as is an upgrade upon availability (sometimes guaranteed at booking), as is an extra amenity valued at $100, as is free WiFi... and we'll even contact the hotel to VIP your stay.

We can do so much better than booking.com for luxury hotel bookings. Say you want to spend the evening of August 4 at Le Meurice, one of my very favorite hotels in the world.

Booking.com offers the "jackpot deal" seen at the top of this article: Double Room — $963 without breakfast, $1028 with breakfast

Here's what's available to me right now as a Dorchester Diamond Club agent: I can book a Classic Room at 760€ = $850. As a Diamond Club booking, my clients receive a guaranteed upgrade at booking to a Superior Room. And there's more! You get ...

• a 100€ hotel credit that can come right off your bill, so you pay 660€ = $739 with breakfast.
• a full breakfast, in any venue including in-room dining, literally anything on the menu except caviar and alcohol. Tax and gratuity are included.
• full premium internet access for unlimited devices.

Assuming you'll want to have breakfast at the Alain Ducasse restaurant at Le Meurice, you save $289, get personal recognition as a Diamond Club guest, get free internet, and order anything off the breakfast menu, service included!

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

Dorchester Collection | 3rd night free all winter

art deco facade of the Plaza Athenee, Paris

Third night free is almost good as it gets, and when you get to enjoy it at one of the nine Dorchester Collection hotels, that's an unbeatable combination of luxury and value.

But it gets even better! You'll enjoy Diamond Club amenities along staying one night free in one of the world best hotels ... if you make your reservation with a Diamond Club travel advisor.

Book a guest room, and you'll enjoy these perks:

• a guaranteed one-category upgrade, up to Jr. Suite
• a one-time 100 hotel credit in local currency ($, £, €, or CHF)
• full breakfast daily for two in any venue — anything on the menu except caviar and alcohol
• premium internet for unlimited devices

Book a Suite, and you'll enjoy even more:

• an upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
• a daily 100 hotel credit in local currency ($, £, €, or CHF) except for the free night
• full breakfast daily for two in any venue — anything on the menu except caviar and alcohol
• premium internet for unlimited devices

Don't miss out on this exceptional offer. The booking window begins November 1, 2015 and is open until February 29, 2016 for stays from 14DEC-3APR. Blackout dates may apply.

Check out these hotels for your next vacation or trip:
The Dorchester, London 
45 Park Lane, London 
Coworth Park, Ascot 
Le Meurice, Paris 
Plaza Athenee, Paris 
Le Richemond, Geneva 
Principe di Savoia, Milan 
Hotel Eden, Rome - closed for renovations 
Beverly Hills Hotel 
Hotel Bel-Air

copyright (c) 2015 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

Le Week-end and the Plaza Athenee Paris

Went yesterday afternoon to see Le Week-end, because I leave tomorrow for Paris and wanted to further whet my anticipation for my 48 hours in my favorite city in the world.

Though the LA Times critique calls this "a sour and misanthropic film masquerading as an honest and sensitive romance," I actually found the movie fun — but perhaps that's because it's set in Paris, and I love everything Parisian! Without giving away the [thin] plot, the film opens with Nick and Meg on the Eurostar. This unhappily married English couple is headed to Paris to celebrate their anniversary. They arrive at their cheaper-than-cheap hotel in Montmartre and lug their suitcases up the stairs (no elevator here). Their drab, postage stamp room is barely larger than the bed within, and the small balcony looks down onto the nondescript street below. Meg refuses to stay. She drags Nick and their luggage into a cab which careens through Paris with the sunroof open, to better show us the sights.

Passing a stunning art-deco hotel near the Seine, Meg asks the cab to stop. I immediately whispered to Claire, "It's the Plaza Athenee!" They go into the hotel to get a room for the weekend and learn the hotel is totally booked. No rooms to be had. They sit on a sofa in the lobby to rest and are approached, shortly later, with news that a Suite has opened up … so they book the Suite for the weekend.

Its balcony on avenue Montaigne offers a stunning view of the Eiffel Tower. In the course of the film, we also see the ivy-covered courtyard of the hotel, the ivy being home to song birds who fill the courtyard with music. We see the illuminated bartop at Bar 228. We see the Dorchester Collection lapel pin on the front desk agent. Though we are never explicitly told the name of the hotel until the last moments of the final credits, this is indeed the Plaza Athenee Paris.

Currently closed for a complete renovation, the Plaza Athenee Paris will reopen in the summer of 2014. I'll be meeting with its sales manager this Wednesday to learn all about what you can expect when this Parisian palace hotel reopens its doors to welcome guests. In the meantime, know that any Dorchester Diamond Club travel consultant can get you the following amenities at the Plaza Athenee Paris:

• guaranteed upgrade at booking (up to the Jr. Suite category)

• 100€ hotel credit for a guest room (a daily credit if you book a Suite)

• Full Breakfast daily (including room service and anything on the menu except caviar and champagne)

• premium internet for unlimited devices

copyright (c) 2014 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

3rd night free at Dorchester Collection

Third night free at some of my favorite hotels, with free breakfast and more — this is one of the best values that I've seen in a long time. The participating hotels are:

The Dorchester, London
Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles
45 Park Lane, London
Le Meurice, Paris
Coworth Park, Ascot
Le Richemond, Geneva
The Beverly Hills Hotel, Los Angeles
Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan
Hotel Eden, Rome

All Diamond Club amenities apply (with the exception of the 100 unit credit for suites on free nights):

• Full Breakfast for two daily
• Guaranteed upgrade at booking up to Jr. Suite
• hotel credit 100 units of local currency for rooms (can be applied to room rate)
• daily hotel credit of 100 units of local currency for suites (but not on the free night)
• complimentary premium internet for unlimited devices

Valid dates: January 1 - March 31 (Dec. 1 - March 31 for UK hotels). Blackout dates apply.

Valid for stays in any room or suite at any Dorchester Collection hotel (exception — at Le Meurice, 3rd free applies only to Deluxe Room, Deluxe Suite, Executive Suite, or Prestige Suite bookings.)

copyright (c) 2013 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

how to get breakfast for free at luxury hotels

Does the cost of breakfast intimidate you from staying at luxury hotels? The prices on the breakfast menu above are admittedly expensive, but if you think the only alternative is to leave the hotel and have breakfast in a diner, then you don't know the best kept secret in the luxury hotel business: how to get breakfast for free!

Do the math. If two guests order a continental breakfast every day at the New York City luxury hotel whose menu is pictured above, they will spend $56 per day, plus 8.75% tax — nearly $183 for a typical 3-day hotel stay. The continental breakfast includes a selection of pastries, fruit and berries, a glass of juice, and a cup of coffee or tea (and probably free refills).

Here's the secret to free breakfast: stay at a luxury hotel that's affiliated with a consortium like Virtuoso, and then use the services of a luxury travel consultant whose agency is affiliated with that consortium. There are also luxury hotel families — Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Mandarin Oriental, Dorchester Collection, and others — that offer breakfast for free when you book through one of their preferred partner travel partners. You pay the same rate you're likely to find right on the hotel's own website, but you get additional value-enhancing amenities that include a complimentary daily breakfast for two, a room upgrade if available, and an extra amenity typically valued at $100 (such as a food and beverage or spa credit).

Want eggs and bacon instead of a continental breakfast? Some of my preferred partners will give you complimentary Full American breakfasts for two every day, including the breakfast buffet ... or the ultimate luxury of in-room dining. Or even if the amenity is a complimentary continental breakfast, you'll only pay the $4 supplement for a full breakfast.

copyright (c) 2013 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

Coworth Park | weekend getaway outside London

the beautiful grounds of Coworth Park

I had the opportunity to spend an evening at Coworth Park for an overnight layover at Heathrow. The hotel is ideally suited for this purpose, being just a twenty minute drive from the airport (and infinitely more luxurious than any of the airport hotels on the perimeter of Heathrow). But you should also consider this property for a weekend leisure stay (for a corporate meeting or retreat).

One of ten hotels comprising the Dorchester Collection, Coworth Park offers the attentive service of a boutique hotel (just 71 rooms and suites) set on an expansive and picturesque country estate with two restaurants, a spa, gym, exercise room, horseback riding, tennis court, biking, croquet lawn, and a children's program. Just three years old in September, 2013, Dorchester Collection completed an extensive renovation of the original mansion and constructed new accommodations in the Stable and Cottage sections of the estate. Click here for pictures I took at Coworth Park.

We stayed in a Cottage Executive Suite, a large, two storied accommodation. The ground floor provided a substantial living area, small dining area, powder room, kitchenette, and work desk with desktop international power outlets, two Ethernet ports, as well as various output ports. Internet is fast and free for one device; Diamond Club guests receive free premium internet for unlimited devices. Upstairs was our large King bedroom with a second desk, a small bathroom with vanity and rain shower, a second small bathroom with a vanity, and a copper bathtub in the bedroom area. While I'm not a fan of duplex suites (why climb stairs?), the accommodations were spacious and the bedding on the four poster King bed was extraordinarily comfortable. The custom Muhldorfer down pillows were so perfect I looked for the label to order some myself (model 2010, 60/80 cm with 550 grams of 90% goose down, 10% goose feather filling).

The interiors at Coworth Park have a fresh contemporary style that blended some traditional elements, employed soft, restful colors, and displayed very good original art. Because the hotel was nearly full, I was unable to see many rooms. I did see a Superior Mansion room — sized as one would expect from a Superior — but Diamond Club guests receive a guaranteed upgrade at booking to a Deluxe. The high-ceiling end room felt spacious with a four poster bed. The bathroom was large with dual vanities, copper soaking tub, step-in rainshower, and WC. Ask to be blocked into "The Bothy," a small standalone cottage that is classified as a Deluxe room.

Diamond Club guests enjoy a guaranteed upgrade at booking, 100£ hotel credit, full breakfast for two daily (including room service), and the free unlimited internet previously mentioned. Coworth Park is a winner and highly recommended for locals seeking a weekend getaway or visitors wanting to stay in beautiful parklands outside of London.

Coworth Park (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2013 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

Alain Ducasse coming to Le Meurice

the restaurant at Le Meurice

Alain Ducasse, famed Michelin-honored French chef, has long been the head chef at the Plaza Athenee, one of two Dorchester Collection hotels in the city of Paris. It has just been announced that Ducasse will also take over the kitchens at Paris's other Dorchester Collection hotel, Le Meurice.

Le Meurice has the best location in Paris for tourists who want to walk everywhere in the center of Paris. Step out the front door, cross the street, and you're in the Jardin des Tuileries. Cross the gardens to visit the Musee d'Orsay with its world-class collection of Impressionist paintings. Turn left, and you'll shortly be at the Louvre. Turn right, and in several minutes you'll be at the Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elysees. A true luxury hotel, I especially enjoy the classic yet updated style of the guestrooms; they are exactly my style.

Being a Dorchester Collection Diamond Club agent, I am able to offer an exclusive set of amenities at both Le Meurice and the Plaza Athenee. These are guaranteed to save you money and make your stay more comfortable.

when booking guestrooms

• Guaranteed room upgrades, up to the Junior Suite category
• Full American breakfast for two daily
• 100€ hotel credit that can be applied to the room rate
• (or exchange the 100€ credit for a one-way airport transfer through Dec. 31)
• Complimentary premium internet for unlimited devices

when booking suites

• Full American breakfast for two daily
• Daily 100€ hotel credits that can be applied to the room rate
• (or exchange two 100€ credits to get round-trip airport transfers through Dec. 31)
• Complimentary premium internet for unlimited devices

Don't even think about using an OTA like Expedia, Priceline, Travelocity, or Orbitz. I can get you a better value at any Dorchester Collection hotel every day of the year.


Le Meurice (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2013 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

Diamond Club | Dorchester Collection

I'm presently staying at the Hotel Bel-Air near Beverly Hills for the unveiling of Dorchester Collection's new Preferred Partner program, to be called Diamond Club. Brownell is one of a very few luxury travel agencies invited into this exclusive club, and this translates into substantial value for any of our guests staying at one of nine Dorchester Collection hotels around the world. The following information was provided at an official briefing at lunch today at the Beverly Hills Hotel):

• Guaranteed upgrade at booking to the next room category with maximum guaranteed upgrade into a Jr. Suite
• Full breakfast for two daily, including in-room dining. Tax and gratuity are included.
• $100, 100€, or 100£ one-time credit for room bookings, applicable to final bill
• $100, 100€, or 100£ daily credit for suite bookings, applicable to final bill
• Daily unlimited internet for unlimited number of devices
• No walk policy for Diamond Club bookings

Airport transfers — a special amenity offer through 31DEC, 2013

• the 100 unit credit for a room or suite booking can be exchanged for a one-way airport transfer
• with 2+ nights in a suite, exchange 200 units of currency for round-trip airport transfers

Please note the following: 

(1) Because 45 Park Lane is so small (just 45 rooms), is being treated as an all-suite property. No guaranteed upgrades, but you will receive a daily 100£ credit toward your final bill in all room categories.

(2) Diamond Club are in place of Virtuoso or FHR bookings but provide richer benefits, when booked under the Diamond Club rate code (only available to Diamond Club agencies) - which is equal to the Best Available Rate (but not promotional rates).

(3) The guaranteed upgrade at booking is a great amenity. Book a Deluxe at The Dorchester in London and be upgraded to an Executive Deluxe - a fabulous, WOW room category. Book an Executive at Le Meurice in Paris and be upgraded to a Tuileries view Executive.

(4) No other preferred partner program provides a hotel credit in the local currency, and 100€ or 100£ are worth more than $100 when staying in England, France, or Italy. Even in Switzerland, 100 CHF is currently worth about $108.

(5) Daily 100 credit for suites means that upselling to a Suite may be your best value at a Dorchester Collection hotel.

These are the nine member hotels at which you can receive the Diamond Club Dorchester Collection amenities:

England: The Dorchester, 45 Park Lane, Coworth Park

Paris: Le Meurice, Plaza Athenee

Milan: Principe di Savioa

Geneva: Le Richemond

Los Angeles: Hotel Bel-Air, Beverly Hills Hotel

Diamond Club Dorchester Collection (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2013 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.