Tripgirl, you're going to LOVE Singita! We were there three years ago and stayed three nights in Ebony, and three nights at Lebombo - it was the experience of a lifetime! I belive we paid $1200 per night - the most I have ever paid anywhere - but well worth it! I'm so very envious!

balitrav,

Thanks for your good wishes

We are SO excited we can't stand it!!

6 months to go, but it'll be here before we know it!

I think, although I'm not positive, that our most expensive was the Château d'Esclimont, near Chartres. It was not worth the price.

For a bit less we stayed at the Domaine des Hauts de Loire in Onzain and the Auberge des Templiers, in Les Bezards. Both were more than worth the cost.

$2,100 at the Le Sirenuse in Positano Italy. Yes it was worth it !
Its a stay I will never forget.

I am not known for my budgetary extravagance, but I went significantly beyond my usual budget a few times -- the Tokyo Inter-Continental, the historic Hotel Sevilla in Havana and the Mamounia in Marrakech. All were worth it for me.

But I was even more pleased to stay in some of the glorious palaces of the past <b>before</b> they were renovated -- 3 stays at the Raffles in Singapore, 2 stays at the Strand in Rangoon and a memorable night at the KL Station Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Stayed in several of the CC Africa lodges in Tanzania and Kenya in August:

Bateleur at Kichwa Tembo in the Masai Mara: $1600 per night for 2 adults
Ngorongoro Crater Lodge: $1800 per night for 2 adults
Klein's Camp in the Serengeti: $1600 per night

All were worth EVERY PENNY!! Best trip of our lives. Prices included all food, drinks, game drives, transfers, etc. (everything but gratuities).

Also worth every penny: The Palms on Zanzibar at $1000 per night for 2 adults (all inclusive).

These rooms all greatly exceeded my usual price point of $400 per night. But definitely worth it for a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Yikes stripes! I hope Ngorongo (sp)_ included a visit to Denys Finch-Hatton's gravesite complete with lions.

Four Seasons Istanbul, $250 for a night in spring 2000 (rack rates were $450). It was very much worth it -- great location, lovely room, lovely people and they let us check in early and check out late. I booked it late one night after surfing (and sipping) for hours trying to book something recommended and less expensive and striking out over and over.

el

Well...
We paid about 400 per night for our original reservation at the Atlantis in the Bahamas. It was my 40th birthday. My DH paid some bell hop 400 in cash and we were upgraded to a suite in the Royal Towers for the five nights we were there. So, I would say we paid about 500 per night for one of the most expensive rooms on the property.

We also paid about 550-600 dollars a night in Bermuda, but that included breakfast and dinner. So, I am not sure if that counts.

We have been fortunate to stay in some really swanky hotel rooms compliments of my DH's work or on points.
Paying for hotel rooms ourselves, we
usually don't pay more than $200 per night USDollars. I guess a lot depends on where we are going. The place usually dictates the rates.
When we go to europe this summer, we will be paying a lot more than we are use to per night!

I normally pay $150-$200/nt in Hong Kong but last year I splurged and spent three nights at the Four Seasons Hong Kong for US$700/nt. The gorgeous three-room suite was bigger than my apartment with bouquets of fresh roses everywhere, beautiful furnishings and complementary gourmet treats. Loved the hotel, but the area around it is nothing special. I think if you use the hotel amenities (spa, butler, etc...) and really want to be pampered, then spending a lot of money can be worth it, but I very rarely use any of those services.

I usually stay in decent -- but not five-star -- places. But a few years ago, I decided to stay at the Marco Beach Ocean Resort on Marco Island for five days. I don't remember what I paid, except it was expensive but worth every damn penny. The room was amazing, the service perfect, and I was totally depressed when I had to check out.

In the late 70's I read of a Hotel on the Amalfi Coast at P[ositano in Italy called the San Pietro and never having been to Eroope vowed that when I went I would stay at it . It took me until about 1995 to get to Italy , by myself and I decided to book the San Pietro . It was not easy as initially a room was not available . I persisted and it was booked in mid-June to coincide with my birthday . A single room with dem-pension was then A$400 a night approx. I had never spent so much on a hotel .I was to move on to stay with friends from New York down the coast at a villa they had rented at Vietri Sul Mare. I ended up extending my stay by another 3 days.

I was picked up at Napoli airport after flying from Venice.The lovely Mercedes was running at the kerb .The driver noticed that my watch band was broken and held by a pin.He stopped in Positano and had it repaired. On arrival I was shown to my modest room in comparison to the size of its suites etc .But it had a balcony perched above the Mediterranean which was swathed in bougainvillea in flower .The pillows on the bed were goose down and after a bed of stone in Venice it was heaven .I was shown to the dining terrace where the maitre d'asked what I wanted to eat .Menu ? No signore just tell me what you feel like eating.Grilled fish a la limone , inslata and white wine- la crema Christi the famous white mad eform grapes grown on the slopes of Vesuvius . Glorious .Sign for bill ? No signore , no need .We do not do that here . T shirt laundered - returned in tissue in a box tied with ribbon . Dinner that night chosen while nibbling on pizza slices from the wood fired oven surrounded by masses of roses in full bloom , hibiscus and vines .Unexpectedly the Maitre d' brings the half bottle of wine I left at lunch saying he thought I might like it .Dinner for my birthday with friends as my guests.Roederer Cristal vintage to drink .Cars to drive me to Pompeii .Staff charming , coffee on my terrace each morning and then a trip in the lift cut through the cliff to the beach, pat the owners dogs , plunge in the clear water and aftrwards eat tomato and basil from their garden on bread baked in their ovens .Day after day of idyllic, refined and charming service , comfort and quiet broken by trips to town in their little duck blue open topped Fiat Bambino with its rattan seats .
I could go on and on . Perfect.Money well spent .

Johnfitz, you sound like a mastercard commercial!! Sounds like the best hotel experience yet!

My apologies for my bad spelling and typographical errors.I just looked and realised that typing in dim light at home ,late at night , leads to dyslexic fingers.

If it's a city break I always use Priceline with the &quot;Name your own price&quot; option. I usually get a hotel around $80/100 then I splurge on the last night &amp; book the best hotel in the city, it means I have stayed in some of the best hotels around the world but still keep to a medium budget. I have so far stayed at The Plaza &amp; Waldorf Astoria in New York, The Savoy, Claridges &amp; The Ritz in London, GeorgeV in Paris, Oriental in Bangkok, Raffles in Singapore &amp; the Four Seasons in Prague.
All of them were worth every penny.

$145 a night in Chicago last May. Next highest was $131 a night in Berlin in November 2006. Neither included breakfast. Other than that, we've never paid over $100 a night for accomodations--though with the sinking dollar our next trip to Europe could see us hit a new record if we stay in a large city.

Clark I am impressed that you got the Oriental BKK for $80-$100!!! How long ago was that?

I think Clark meant that he/she gets an inexpensive hotel ($80-100)on Priceline for the trip, but then moves to a fancy place like the Oriental BKK for the last night and pays big bucks for that one night.

We are usually more budget travelers with regards to hotels, as we don't spend much time in them on vacation. With that being said, our most expensive hotel we've stayed at was the Royal Park Hotel in Tokyo last month, where we splurged on an executive floor room and paid around $250 per night. The room was awesome though, as was the view and the huge and wonderful free breakfast buffet. Was it worth it? I'm not sure. But hotels in Tokyo are on the expensive side anyways and it was our first trip to Asia so it was nice to have the added comfort.

Tracy

US$2,500 for a 2-bedroom suite with lake view at the Vila D'este on Lake Como. I had stayed at this hotel several times, but was with my parents on that trip and really wanted to make it a special one. This was absolutely worth every cent, we stayed 3 nights. To top it all, Bruce Springsteen was there for 2 of the nights, and we sat at the table next to him at dinner one night, and had loungers near him at the pool one day. Being a Jersey Girl myself, I was over the moon of course. He took pictures of the hotel just like a regular tourist, it was really cute. (When he subsequently showed up at the Hotel Arts Barcelona where I was staying about a month later I began to suspect he was stalking me.....)

The Regent Cruise I just took to Alaska cost more, that was about US$2,700 a night, but as that included all food and drinks it is hard to compare. We had a 1-bedroom aft cabin with a living room, dining room and huge balcony, but it had a small bathroom and not enough drawer space. While the cruise was fun and it is the best way to see Alaska, I don't think it was worth that much per night.