last minute luxury Christmas vacation

picture yourself here (c) 2016 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Have you waited too long to book a luxury Christmas vacation at the beach? Possibly not! All of the following hotels show current availability for a 7 night stay, Dec. 25 - Jan. 1. If you can find the air, the rooms are currently available in my system for each of the following, and as an added value-added bonus, we can provide Virtuoso or Preferred Partner amenities that include free daily breakfasts, hotel credits, and more.

Four Seasons Palm Beach (Florida)
Eau Palm Beach (Florida)
Dorado Beach Ritz Carlton (Puerto Rico)
Ritz Carlton San Juan (Puerto Rico)
Condado Vanderbilt Hotel (San Juan)
Fairmont Kea Lani (Maui)
Banyan Tree Mayakoba (Mexico
Grand Velas Riviera Maya (Mexico)
Capella Ixtapa (Mexico)

Be aware that you'll be within the cancel deadline. While our typical Festive booking fee is $350, if you book one of these nine hotels for these dates by 5 p.m. EST on Friday, we will discount that fee to $150. The value of your free daily breakfast for two is worth far more than the fee, and the additional resort credit will add even more to your savings. Just complete our Travel Request Form to get things started!

copyright (c) 2016 by Ourisman Travel 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.

100 Best Hotels in the World?

doormen at The Goring, #71 on T+L's list of the world's 100 best hotels

Travel + Leisure has just listed its readers poll of the 100 best hotels of the world. I've personally stayed at or visited twenty-one of the hotels on their list. My bottom line? While there are some beautiful hotels, resorts, and safari camps on the list, I have to question the survey's methodology, as the results are screwy.

Here's what I look for in a top hotel:

1. Location. Is the hotel or resort where you want to be? Does it provide a setting with great views or convenient access to attractions you want to visit?

2. Quality of the physical product. Is the hotel well maintained, offer an attractive lobby, and clean rooms with updated furnishings?

3. Room size. In my opinion, space is the ultimate luxury. 400 square feet is my minimum standard for a Deluxe Room. Bathrooms should ideally provide dual vanities (when couples are traveling), a large enough counter to hold all your toiletries, separate soaking tub and step-in shower, and ideally a WC (i.e., there's a door between the bathroom and toilet).

4. Scale of property. In general, I prefer boutique hotels and dislike mega-hotels. On the beach, I like low rise buildings that blend into the landscaping; I dislike resorts that look like a big concrete box by the beach. In large cities, a 200 room hotel is large enough to provide full services while boutique hotels may be more personable but lack some facilities.

5. Service. Requests should be handled quickly and accurately. Concierges should provide great advice and services, and there should be adequate staff so that guests are not waiting in a long queue. Bags should come quickly to your room. Room service should be delivered when requested, and food should be hot. Restaurant staff should provide attentive service — no waiting around for a coffee refill, etc.

6. Amenities. Hotels that provide value-added amenities through Virtuoso or our preferred partnership relationships offer a big plus to my clients.


Here's my commentary on the T+L list of the top hotels in the following destinations:

London
43 - Forty One
68 - The Milestone
71 - The Goring
88 - The Lanesborough
89 - Egerton House

Forty One is a boutique hotel occupying the top floor of Rubens at the Palace in London, but I would never consider it the top hotel in London. It's not even the top Red Carnation hotel in London! Is this, as T+L suggests, the best city hotel in Europe. No way! My top three hotel choices in London in no particular order are The Goring, Four Seasons Park Lane, and The Dorchester.


Paris
69 - La Reserve
79 - Le Bristol

La Reserve is a new boutique hotel with a gorgeous physical product (my wife loved seeing it during our site inspection), but FlyerTalk readers have reported that its service is not yet up to speed. My top three hotel choices in Paris are Le Meurice, the Four Seasons George V, and Le Bristol. I also love the newly refurbished Plaza Athenee and the Ritz Paris.


Florida
49 - Gasparilla Inn
55 - Acqualina
67 - The Biltmore, Coral Gables

The thought that Florida would have three of the world's top 100 hotels is frankly a bit bizarre. I'd go for Four Seasons Palm Beach or The Setai South Beach.


New York
64 - The Surrey
91 - Greenwich
92 - Knickerbocker

The Surrey is a nice boutique hotel on the Upper East Side, and the Greenwich is a nice boutique hotel in TriBeCa, but these are not my choices for the top hotels in New York. My top boutique hotel is The Lowell. My top traditional hotel is the Ritz-Carlton Central Park (in a Deluxe Park room with an incredible panoramic view over the park at all of northern Manhattan). My top contemporary hotels are the Four Seasons and the Mandarin Oriental.


San Francisco Bay Area, California
12 - Farmhouse Inn
37 - Rosewood Sand Hill
53 - Brewery Gulch Inn, Mendocino
96 - Inn Above Tide, Sausalito

Don't get me wrong. I love Farmhouse Inn, and I'm astounded that it would be named the #12 hotel in the world (and I'm sure my friends at the Farmhouse are equally astonished). I really don't get the other three hotels on the list, especially Inn Above Tide which is basically a renovated motel. Went in for a short site inspection — tiny, nondescript postage stamp of a lobby. Small breakfast area — not even a restaurant. Nearby Cavallo Point is so superior in every way. And how could they leave Post Ranch Inn off the list?


Hawaii
5 - Montage Kapalua

Montage Kapalua has gotten rave reviews from clients who have stayed. All residential units, this resort is next door to the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua. But never in a thousand years would I rate this hotel #5 in the world, tied with Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island, Australia. Nor would I rate this the top resort in Hawaii — that would be Four Seasons Hualalai on the Big Island.

copyright (c) 2016 by Ourisman Travel 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.

tropical winter escape | Hawaii, anyone?

a cold, damp winter's day in the upper midwest

When we flew from San Francisco to Bloomington, IL yesterday, we were spared the disruptions so many endured on Thursday. The winter storms had moved east by Friday morning, and both of our flights left on time and landed early. But the winter weather that greeted us? Not so welcoming! Temperatures were in the 20's — with 40 mph gale force winds — not quite what this northern California resident is accustomed to!

If you're dreaming of a white Christmas, you'll get your wish this year ... but after New Years, take the chance to escape the dreary cold and damp of winter for a week in the tropics: white sand beaches, blue skies, bright sunshine, dressed in shorts and t-shirts.

So where do you want to travel this winter? Hawaii is convenient to west coast residents. Florida and the Caribbean are convenient if you live in the midwest or on the east coast. Mexico is an affordable destination easily reached from all over the country. Call your travel consultant to put together a complete vacation package for your tropical winter escape!

travel consultant (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2012 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.