The Hotel That Changed My Life
When you work in the travel industry, hotel stays are part of the job description. Sometimes, it takes a lot to knock our socks off, partly because those knee-high compression pairs are like tiny straight jackets after a long flight, and partly, because, well, we’ve seen every impressive amenity in the book. When it comes to really exceptional stays, service, sense of place, and a starry-eyed sense of discovery seem to be the hallmarks of our most memorable hotel stays.
Amanoi
Ninh Thuan, Vietnam
While aesthetics are important to me, I have to say I’m a stickler for service, and Amanoi was one of the most mind-blowing service experiences I’ve had anywhere. Service there is over the top in every way. It’s truly anticipatory – I was being handed things I didn’t even know I needed but then couldn’t live without. When I visited, I was traveling alone for work, so it felt especially nice to feel so comfortable and so well taken care of being so far away from home.
Alex Erdman
Le Bristol
Paris, France
One of my first and most memorable hotel stays as a travel specialist was at Le Bristol. It was the first time I thought, this is the place. This might sound strange, but I was immediately struck by the way the property was run -- the doormen remember your name, the bartenders remember your drink. It feels like your home, but in the most magical way possible. Everything is so beautiful, yet also so approachable: the architecture, the décor, the breakfast in the morning (how can eggs be that perfect?), the house cat, even the indoor pool feels special. I never get tired of recommending it to clients because everyone should have the opportunity to experience a hotel stay like this.
Missy Weil
The Peninsula Hong Kong
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Hard to say which hotel changed my life the most, but I would probably have to give first place to the Peninsula Hong Kong. I visited for the first time in 1993, having joined Travel + Leisure as the new Editor in Chief the previous summer. Their tower with its sweeping views of Victoria Harbour was under construction. I remember standing outside the just-completed indoor pool and breakfast area and being entirely swept away. Bamboo scaffolding seemed entirely exotic to me—I saw it on the 30th floor outside what would become the Clipper Lounge, named after the Pan Am Clipper which had been so critical for trans-Pacific travel from the U.S. to Hong Kong, where the helipad was being finished. I eventually experienced a couple of these helicopter flights past Victoria Peak, along the coastline, and over Hong Kong’s many islands, which I will never forget.
Nancy Novogrod
La Mamounia
Marrakech, Morocco
My first year out of college I was working at an entry-level position at Tiffany & Co. and I was so new that somehow I qualified for overtime pay. By working until 9:00 PM every night I racked up a ton of hours and all of a sudden I was “rich” and eligible for one whole week off! For reasons which I can’t remember now, I decided to put all of my earnings into a trip to Marrakech, staying at the iconic La Mamounia. Since this was a gazillion years ago I truly can’t remember how I heard about La Mamounia, but I think that I was given a brochure with about seven grainy photos in it. And that folks, was all it took! This was the first trip that I had booked and paid for on my own, and I felt very proud of my choice: adventurous yet classic, luxurious yet educational. I went by myself (Why? probably because Marrakech was a tough sell among my friends) and entering those massive doors for the first time I wished I had brought someone with me. Literally no one would believe the magic of the world that I had stepped into - it was impossible to describe! My room overlooked the gardens so with the windows open I could smell the orange blossoms and hear the sounds of the city. I think that La Mamounia sensed the strangeness of a 20-year-old traveling alone and arriving with zero clue, so they got to work and planned my entire week for me. Dinner reservations were made, guides were procured and lunch was delivered poolside. I didn’t have to think, I just came downstairs and asked the Concierge what was next. The magical beauty of that place has stayed with me, and I think about La Mamounia every time I walk through hotel doors.
Camilla Catlin
My favorite Hotel Stay was at La Mamounia in Marrakech when I was just shy of 8 months pregnant with my first son. What was meant to be a 4-night stay turned into a 10-night stay on account of a certain Volcano in Iceland erupting and wreaking havoc across Continental Europe's aviation systems. Since I was living in Amsterdam at the time I was rendered stuck, and given my physical state, the hotel was kind enough to indulge me, complete with daily rides in the famous Rolls Royce Daimler to the airport to check the status of my flight. The signature scent of the hotel always brings me back to that surreal time when I was captive in one of the world's most beautiful palace hotels, not unlike the princess I once fantasized I'd become. I guess fairytales do come true.
Meg Nolan
The Inn of the Five Graces
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Let’s be real – I will spend my life chasing the high of a group stay at the Embassy Suites with my community theater group when I was 8, because for a 3rd grader, what could possibly beat a 6-story atrium and an indoor pool that makes the whole first floor smell like chlorine? But as a grown-up, I have to give the nod to the Inn of Five Graces, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Luxury travel can be huge and sweeping and epic, or it can be a wildly eclectic 24-room passion project, tucked away in a series of adobe buildings on the oldest street in the United States, visited in off season. It can be margaritas at the restaurant next door while it snows and Christmas lights twinkle, coming home in the early dark to a fire in your in-room stone fireplace, and waking up for chilaquiles with red and green chile, because you don’t want to decide. I love the big and the weird and the distant, but there’s something about the small and cozy and under-the-radar that I think is thrilling, indoor pool or not.
Jordy Lievers-Eaton
Lion Sands Narina Lodge
Kurger National Park, South Africa
The hotel/trip that changed my life was my first-ever safari at Lion Sands Narina Lodge in Kruger National Park. I had always dreamed of safari without really knowing what it would be like. After all, I didn’t even know a single person in my life at that time who had been on one. When I arrived, all my expectations were completely blown out of the water. The open-air lodge and immersion into the bush, the proximity to the animals, the amazing food and warm, impeccable service, and the seamless transitions during our transit just opened up my mind to a type of high-touch, experiential travel I had never known. When my plane departed out of Cape Town, I remember staring out the window with a sense of indescribable knowing that I would be back. I couldn’t shake what I felt on safari, and within one year I had left my job as a dietitian and joined the luxury travel industry. I have been fortunate to travel back to Africa three times since, and there is certainly no end in sight!
Kelly Brennan
Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo
Taormina, Sicily
Sicily changed the game for me. The food, the culture, the scenery – it made me see Italy in an entirely new light. I’ve been chasing that rush ever since, but there’s nowhere in the world quite like this island. I loved every minute of my trip to Sicily, but there is something incredibly special about the Grand Hotel Timeo. I dream about the Literary Bar’s olives (okay, and martinis and sunset views), strolling around Taormina, eating porcini at every meal, visiting Mt. Etna for a wine tasting and private lunch, taking a boat out on the coast…everything about my stay was so perfect, I’ll never forget it!
Liz Walsh
Claridge’s
London, United Kingdom
Sometime around my 30th birthday, I watched “Inside Claridge’s,” a BBC documentary that portrays life behind the scenes of this illustrious Mayfair hotel. I was totally captivated by the series, and awestruck by the special kind of care that went into making each hotel stay exceptional. I then made it my mission to experience Claridge’s, and ended up treating myself as a birthday present. I actually checked in on my 30th birthday, and of course, they knew that and had a cake waiting for me in my room. I remember everything about the day perfectly: the scent, the floral displays, the way the restaurant host greeted me by name. At every point during my stay, I kept thinking…what is this magic?!