Investment bankers, management consultants (blue chip firms.... not the garden variety), owners of large businesses, attorneys from top firms, etc.

And people who don't have their priorities straight, people who are incapable of saving any money, or people who lack something else in life

I disagree wholeheartly with the last comment

I work in a bank and my husband works for the government. We are certainly not incapable of saving or have something missing from our lives. We are both in our 30's - have worked hard, saved hard for the last number of years. We decided to treat ourselves to a very special experiece that we will treasure for the rest of our lives .

Its wrong to imply that people who choose to have a 5 star experience have something missing in their lives and are incaple of saving.

Such a ridiculous comment

It's not some exclusive club like owning a D flawless 30ct diamond, I think you're getting a little awestruck over nothing.

Aw, m kingdom2, don't refer to yourself as 'nothing.' I'm sure you have some redeeming qualities!

I had to giggle in Nice when the couple checking out in front of us paid 3 times what we did for the same room. Good ol' Expedia.

>I like to be pampered and enjoy luxury ...<

It makes me uncomfortable.

I'm with you, Ira, and SO is even moreso. I don't need or feel comfortable in all that 'luxury' and I'm sure I'd stick out like a sore thumb in my inexpensive clothes. I'm much happier in a 3-star and that goes a long way towards how much I'm enjoying my vacation.

Yikes, indecisive, I think the poster was saying that out there are people who fit the profile on crazy spenders. I'm sure it wasn't meant for you or any specific group!Your trip sounds like it was fabulous.

Indecisive, Sorry, I wasn't responding to your post but OP's first post. I thought the original poster was asking for people who routinely stay in $1000+ a night hotels, not the once-in-a-lifetime splurge folks. You are in my "etc" category so don't take it personally. If one were to stay in $1000+ a night hotels all the time when one can not afford it (my last comment that you referred to), I think I would be worried about that "one" fellow Won't you?

Have a good weekend, man (or woman).

I don't stay in any myself, and doubt if I ever will, but if the question is who has salaries that high, it's pretty easy to find out that kind of income by occupation information from public sources online (census data or DOL, places like that). However, the people I know who do that are generally lawyers, doctors, management consultants (high end firms), or business people, but very successful ones or who are owning their own companies.

I don't think most companies will pay for typical employees to stay in 5* properties when on business trips, so those kind of comments are rather misleading, to me. I've been on business trips and believe me, my firm would not pay for me to stay in a 5* hotel, nor would they pay for anyone I know to do that on business trips. Most companies have very definite limits on that. So business people who can just do that easily must have high-level jobs within the firm, be VPs, managers of depts or something.

<i>I'm also single (that could change soon)</i>


AHA! AAFF, it seems is in the air for sure. Congratulations!

I also feel uncomfortable with over attentive hotel staff, waiters, etc. I also don't particularly like large modern hotels, however smart they are. I prefer small, hotels with some character and genuinely friendly locals where I can dress casually, feel comfortable and soak up some genuine local culture. With some of the &quot;posh&quot; hotels, you could be anywhere in the world.

Many people stay in 5 star hotels when they travel and they are not &quot;rich&quot;. I know a few myself. They take one or 2 trips a year and save for it the rest of the year. They don't spend, or perhaps waste, money on lots of the things most of us do. These people usually spend a lot more time at the hotel than most of us do. It's just their joy and style.

I love to stay in 5* hotels. If I can get a price that makes sense I book it. I love the room service, the spas and all the various other goodies.

I am not really into the &quot;resorts&quot;.

I also really like the extra pampering that many of the 4 * hotels do for business travellers like me. It's well worth the extra $30 for an executive room when I am alone all week with lots of work all day. Very unstressing to sit in the lounge and relax at the end of the day. Most deliver breakfast to my room for free and/or I can help myself in the exec lounge.

As nice as some hotels can be I also have stayed at many small B&amp;B's &amp; private inns etc that are * &amp; **. Just depends.

What I do not like however is the typical &quot;low -mid&quot; level chain hotels in the US. They are often dirty and uncomfortable. And when I travel alone sometimes even feel unsafe.

In Europe I often stay in similiar class hotels with much better experience. I think there is more pride in keeping a small place up there.

My husband's uncle (by marriage) grew up a poor farm boy in Illinois and is a true, self made multi-millionaire. He is the retired CEO of a publicly traded corp and still sits on the board. When my husband was growing up with his cousins, the uncle's family was not wealthy; they were busy moving around the country with the company, living in normal ranch houses, etc. But at some point (probably when the company went public), the uncle became very very wealthy.

When Uncle and Aunt travel, they stay in ONLY the best hotels. A few years back, they wanted to visit the US National Parks. Uncle &quot;knew&quot; that none of the national park lodges would be nice enough for them, so he bought one of those huge custom motor homes for them to stay in.

Of course, Uncle complains big time when his accomdations or meals are not perfect. A few years back, both Aunt &amp; Uncle and DH &amp; I had gone to Paris within a few months' time of each other. DH and I did the trip on the cheap and had a great time; Uncle and Aunt paid a fortune and complained about everything. (Unclequot;We couldn't find a cab driver who was willing to drive us to Versailles!&quot; Us: &quot;Taking the train worked out great!&quot

Uncle is so intersting to me because he did not grow up with wealth and came into it relatively recently. You'd think that he'd be more down to earth, but he isn't.

So, if any of you who stay in 5 star hotels witness a slightly overweight 65 year old American guy chewing out the staff, it might be DH's uncle!

Who are all the people out there driving $70,000 cars? Or filling restaurants like Per Se and French Laundry and Taillevent every night? Or putting up those huge houses along every shoreline in the US? Or paying $1200 USD for a pocketbook? Maybe even some of your neighbors!!!

ekscrunchy - Your post goes along with mine. It all depends on what people want to spend their money on. Guy with 70,000 car might not have ever even seen a 5 star hotel.

We do!

We usually like 5 star deluxe hotels as I raised in the business and feel very comfortable in plush surroundings. And I disagree wholeheartedly about 5 star people not being able to save.

We make very good incomes and work hard; we deserve it. I set aside a fund soley for travel; the budget is huge, but it's in CASH and all our other money is spent very wisely and we have plenty of investments and are comfortable. So that's the rule, we can spend to high heaven on travel, but it must fit all within the confines of cash and everything else must not suffer in the process.

We've paid up to $950 a night and are planning to spend for the ultimate next year: several nights lodging at Singita in Kruger National Park, South Africa.

BUT

This never rules out if we find a special place that does not happen to be 5 star but has a special quality that is too good to pass up.

All in all though, we &quot;collect' hotels like so many collect other things. It's just what we do.

I too have a friend right some the block who 'd rather put her money into her home; it's gorgeous. My home is lovely as well, but would not even compare to hers on the quality of the furnishings, etc. But she does not travel well. For everything she has in her house I could walk around and say: couch: dinner for two at Louis XV, painting: weekend at Georges V, vase: week in Santorini, etc, etc.

We all have our priorities.

Hi

In Europe I can't afford to stay at 5 star hotels...and if I go to a place like Rome or Paris it is not very likely that I will be spending time at the hotel anyway But when I'm going to Thailand in May I'm going to splurge a bit and go for better hotels...to an affordable rate

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

LOL Missypie! My dad shares a similiar history with your Uncle- BUT he is the exact opposite when it comes to comfort!

He is retired from business now and lives in Tanzania where he owns a safari business. He provides his clients with the best of everything but for himself he keeps several homes all of which are very native - complete with outdoor showers and toilets!

The rougher the better for him. He'd rather not &quot;waste&quot; his $ on trivial things like a comfortable bed. Of course he is a true outdoorsman and thrives by living on an edge I cannot even see normally. He never really enjoyed the &quot;corporate&quot; lifestyle and I'm glad he has time in his life to enjoy himself. The other advantage is that he is very physically fit from all the exersize he gets in the bush on safari.

Tripgirl: i understand what you are saying, please don't feel you have to justify what you spend or not. My attitude is that it is an individual's choice how she spends her money. It's not anyones business how or why I spend or IF I save any of it - it's mine let them worry about their own.