If you're building a trip around a hotel, you might as well do it right
I plan entire trips around hotels. Here's how I make sure they actually give something back.
Ed. note: The stays mentioned in this article were hosted by the individual properties. As always, I only share experiences that I genuinely love, and all opinions and recommendations are entirely my own.
Some people treat their hotel like a launchpad, a place to drop bags before running out the door to see and do things. I simply cannot relate to this. I am, and have always been, a person who books a hotel and then builds a trip around it. I structure entire itineraries around singular properties. I research the spa menu before I research the flights. I want to know which restaurant is worth the reservation, which suite has the soaking tub, whether the pool situation is actually good or just good on Instagram. A hotel, for me, is not just a place to sleep. It’s often the impetus for an entire trip. Which means that when I book one, I want to make sure I’m maximizing the value of my stay.
I’ve been using my Amex Platinum when booking travel for years (the points accumulation alone makes it worth it, which you know if you read my travel hacking series), but a while back I started booking through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts, which is a curated collection of over 1,600 luxury properties bookable directly through American Express Travel with your Platinum Card. It’s just a smarter way to book hotels you were going to book anyway—no extra step or seperate membership required. The difference is in what you get when you arrive. And in my opinion, it’s a very meaningful difference.
And what you get is consistent across every property in the collection: guaranteed noon check-in when available, a complimentary room upgrade when available, daily breakfast for two, a $100 experience credit to use toward spa or dining, complimentary Wi-Fi, and a guaranteed 4pm late checkout. Once you start getting perks like these consistently, booking any other way starts to feel like leaving something on the table.
Here’s what my experience at FHR properties looked like across three trips at the Waldorf Astoria New York, The Wynn Las Vegas, and The Langham Chicago.