The journey towards Luxury Travel

My parents used to stay in luxury hotels before I was born and had heard stories from them as well as the guests we used to entertain so I grew up knowing that *something* really nice was out there but had no real experience. The first real step towards luxury travel was when on a family trip I got to choose one hotel on a trip to Atlantic Canada. In St. John's, Newfoundland, I had done some research at a travel agency owned by family friends and booked the Radisson. It was by far the nicest hotel I had stayed at and thus started my journey in search of better hotels. I was 10 or 11 at the time.

At 15, I was selected to go to Japan for a 3 week long scholarship from the Japanese Government to meet and interact with other Japanese-speaking foreign nationals. On this trip, I was exposed to International Business class for the very first time on Japan Airlines. There was no turning back after this!! I crossed over to the "Light Side of the Force" during my University years when I started to travel more extensively during my summer breaks and the occasional trip for Conferences. My next encounter was at the then Westin (now Omni) in Montreal where I stayed for a UN Symposium being held in the City and was shocked that they knew my name whenever I phoned downstairs. In retrospect, how naive!! But at the time I was in awe!! New York City was my starting ground whereby I would write to almost every 4 and 5 star hotel and ask for their brochures. I finally settled on the Waldorf Towers as it provided to me the best value for a luxury hotel. To this day, I still make the Waldorf Towers my "home away from home" and was the first luxury hotel experience for me. And there was no turning back.

My sister and I made repeated trips to New York City, Philadelphia and Washington DC trying various hotels, Hiltons, Luxury Collection by Starwood, Inter-Continental, and Westin but then we discovered the Four Seasons. Our first stay at a Four Seasons Hotel was the Four Seasons Philadelphia and this was a true eye opener -- we were hooked. We then tried the Four Seasons New York.

It was when we went to Europe where our education in luxury hotels took another huge leap. For 5 weeks we toured France with short sojourns to Geneva and Brussels. On this trip we experienced top hotels such as the Hotel des Bergues in Geneva (now a Four Seasons Hotel), the Majestic in Cannes, as well as the Crillon, Le Bristol, and the Four Seasons George V in Paris.

Since then we continue to save up both frequent flyer points as well as cash to have the occasional splurge at a top luxury hotel. Through these travels, a few favourite hotels worldwide have emerged. They are: One Aldwych, London; Four Seasons George V, Paris; and the Waldorf Towers, New York City. I will write more about each property in forthcoming blog entries.