The Ultimate Hotel For The Seasoned Traveler

Every time I stay in a hotel, I am annoyed by details which have become to me important issues that most of the hotels I've stayed in haven't tackled yet. So here are my rants, hoping someone will read them:

1) If you promise perks & benefits to guests that hold status with your program, deliver what your promise. For instance, if you promise top-tier status holders that they will be upgraded upon checkin if a higher category room is available, just do it.

I always check room availability on my smartphone minutes before I check in. I just hate it when I see that many rooms are available in higher categories and when I'm told at check-in : "I am sorry we can't upgrade you because we are 100% booked". I'd rather be told: "I'm sorry we're not going to upgrade you because we just don't feel like it". At least, it's not a blatant lie. Otherwise change the list of benefits of your program to "room upgrade depending on availability and mood of the staff member at check-in".

I frequently choose the hotel I'm going to stay at depending on the status I hold with the brand and the benefits that I should receive. When promised benefits aren't delivered, it just feels like I'm being ripped off. This is definitely NOT what you want your frequent guests to feel like.

2) By 2013, all hotels should have easily accessible electrical outlets AND USB ports on BOTH sides of their beds. I just hate it when I have to crawl under the bed to find an electrical outlet or even worse if I have to plug my phone away from my bed because there is no accessible power socket. I don't want to have to get up to get my phone in the morning or before I fall asleep at night.

3) If you charge for wireless internet access then let guests use as many devices as they want. Some hotels still charge on a per device basis and this is not acceptable anymore in this day and age. When I travel with my iPhone, iPad, MacBook & Kindle I just can't fathom being charged $15 X 4 everyday to have internet access. It just kills my mood and makes me never want to go back to that property.

How can you justify charging more for one day than what I pay per month for my cable connection at home?

And Please don't make me go through the trouble of logging in every 24 hours. It just upsets me. I don't want to lose 10 minutes every day to log all my devices back in. If Apple gives away free wireless internet access in all their stores without the need to log in, why can't you?

4) Please provide your guests with decent broadband speeds. 256k isn't acceptable anymore. Every guest should have at least 5Mb/1Mb. I just can't stand it anymore when I update my apps on my iPhone in the morning and it takes me 25 minutes compared to 30 seconds at home. In addition, if I have to restore my iPhone from my iCloud backup, it just shouldn't take me three days (as recently happened to a friend of mine)

5) Get rid of old iPod docks that won't work with most recent iPhones. Get bluetooth speakers a la Jambox that will work with any phone or tablet. You can't imagine how frustrating it can be to see an iPod dock sitting on your bed side table and not being able to use it to charge or listen to music from my iPhone. I just makes me feel like I'm staying in a hotel that was never renovated.

6) Let me open the door to my room with my smartphone so that I don't have to carry a key with me.

7) Let me charge my electronics inside the in-room safe thanks to an integrated electrical outlet.

Any hotel that will comply with these simple suggestions will likely greatly enhance their guest experience. So why not do it right now?

Morgans Hotel Group Global Card Review

Here's a breakdown of the perks that Morgans Hotel Group Global Card holders are supposed to enjoy:

 Dedicated concierge to assist you with all of your needs before and during your stay
· Complimentary night at all of our new hotel openings around the world
· $100 in US Hotels or £100 in UK hotels for a standard room if available after 10PM
· Upgrades to the best available hotel accommodations upon arrival which include specialty suites
· Invitations to exclusive Global Card events, openings and special events throughout the year

· Access to all of our pools and beaches
· 20% discount at our Agua Spas
· Complimentary In Room Internet
· Complimentary Local Phone/Fax
· Late Check out
· Early Check-in
· Priority Check-in
· Direct escort to room
· Express check out
· Pre arrival email for Special Requests
· Customized Room
· Arrival/Welcome Gift
· Morning Newspaper
· Complimentary Gym Access
· Online Profile Management
· Access to Redemption Partners
· Access to Exclusive Offers
· Reservation Guarantee
· Direct Access to CEO

The American Express Centurion Card In France

Finding accurate information about the American Express Centurion card (aka The Black Card) is not easy. Localized information is even harder to find, so as a follow-up to my Luxury Travel 101 post, here's some detailed information about the American Express Centurion card in France.

- By invitation only: unknown spending  threshold but likely less than the American threshold (US$ 250,000 charged on one Amex account in 12 months).
- Annual fee: € 3000 (with an initiation fee of €3000) as of March, 31st, 2012. No fee for additional cardholder (as opposed to the US).
- What you get: 1 main Titanium Centurion card, 1 supplemental Titanium Centurion card (for Business expenses which will however be debited from the same bank account than the main card), 1 additional Titanium Centurion card (for spouse for instance), 4 additional Platinum cards (for family members who will benefit from the same service and insurance than the main cardholder).
- Priority Pass: 2 top-tier Priority Pass memberships for both the main and supplemental cardholders. The Priority Pass program comes in handy when flying economy or domestic in the US as both cardholders will have unlimited free access to Priority Pass lounges worldwide. Both Priority Pass cardholders can invite a guest at no additional cost every time they use a lounge.
- American Airlines Admirals Club, Delta & US Airways Lounges: Access the lounge by showing the Centurion Card even when booked on a flight with the corresponding airline.
- Complimentary dedicated service to accompany you in Charles-De-Gaulle or Orly Paris airport when flying to or from these aforementioned airports if flight is non-domestic and was booked through American Express Travel Services
- Mandarin Oriental Hotels: Stay one night, get one night free once per property per year per Centurion cardholder (it usually works to use this benefit for both the main and supplemental cardholders).
- Airline status: Cathay Pacific (CX) Diamond status. This translates into One World alliance top-tier Emerald status
- Hotel status (only for main cardholder): Hilton Diamond, Starwood Gold, Priority Club Platinum, A Club Gold. Centurion cardholders will keep their hotel status for as long as they spend at least one night per year in one of the properties associated with each program.
- Eurostar lounge: access to the lounge regardless of class of travel
- Relais & Chateaux: Top-tier Club 5C membership. Although most Relais & Chateaux properties don't qualify as luxury properties in my book, there are some nice exceptions to the rule and service as well as recognition for Club 5C members is top notch.
- Car rental status (only for main cardholder): Avis President's Club (great deal!), Hertz #1 Club Gold President's Circle
- Great travel insurance: you will, for instance, get € 500 per person for emergency purchases if your bags get to your destination later than four hours after you when flying a commercial airline.
- Access to the Fine Hotels and Resorts (FHR) American Express program (same than for Platinum cardholders): this program is great as Amex has special agreements for almost all the best hotels in the world. They sometimes have preferred rates but not always. Most of the time, they will match the best available rate with special FHR perks: Late checkout, upgrade at check-in upon availability, free breakfast and a special amenity (depending on the property it can for instance be US$ 100 food & beverage credit, or US$ 100 Spa credit or free afternoon tea...).
- The Amex Companion Airline program: Buy 1 business class ticket, get the second one free. This is basically useless as most the time the initial ticket is at least twice as expensive as what you can find anywhere else.
- Centurion Travel Service: you will have to book through them if you want to take advantage of the FHR program. They aren't top notch in France and their English is less than average. Every reservation they make should be double checked as they are error-prone (which is a shame when you think that they advertise themselves as the best of the best).
- Centurion Concierge Service: once again, they're supposed to make the impossible possible but they can't be compared to top of the line private concierge services such as Mint or Preferred. Basically they're good if you want a last minute table reservation at a restaurant with which they have an agreement or if you want last-minute tickets to a show. Bear in mind, that most of the restaurants in France that are part of their fine dining program are located in Paris. Other requests are hit and miss.
- Special gifs and promotion: in 2011, they, for instance sent cardholders a €1000 gift certificate to be used at the Arije jewelry stores in Paris as well as a US$ 500 gift certificate to be used at a an Orient Express Hotel & a US$1000 gift certificate to be used for an Orient Express cruise or train ticket.
- Cruise perks: with some cruiselines, you'll get onboard credit and an upgrade.

There's a lot of controversy as to the value of this card. The FHR program & travel insurance can pay for the fee depending on your travel pattern. If you're looking for more information, visit the Flyertalk American Express forum.