News and notes from around the interweb:
- 50,000 mile signup bonus for Hawaiian Airlines co-brand card
- Air France Issues Video Asking Passengers to Ignore Violence
- A Singapore Airlines A330 collapsed at the gate in Singapore this morning. The nose gear retracted, causing the plane to tilt forward, while the aircraft was undergoing a check of the landing gear.
- Is it time for Thailand to do away with the dual pricing ‘farang tax’?
- I’m convinced that people who write articles like this (HT: Alan H.) haven’t been to any of the hotels they’re ‘ranking’. They’re including properties in Utah, Wyoming, and Montana as among the best hotels in the world.. but don’t mention Amangiri, or any Aman resort property at all in their top 30. And as much as I value the Park Hyatt Vendome in Paris (as a nice place to stay made accessible with points) it is neither one of the 30 best hotels in the world nor the best hotel in Paris.. let alone all of France.
- Seen on my Facebook feed, via Will
The hotel article says that they used 5 other lists and a formula, to compose their list. The lists are Jetsetter, Fodor’s, Conde Nast Traveler, Travel&Leisure, and of all things….Trip Advisor’s Top 25 Hotels in the World. Readers vote for the Conde Nast list and it has one Aman Resort. Fodor’s had one Aman Resort. The other 3 lists did not contain any Aman resorts, I know I checked them. I can only guess the reason for a poor showing on Aman resorts, is that their total room count is very small. So Aman’s total annual guests is small as well.
But criticizing the author for not staying at the lists’ hotels isn’t fair when the article states the list is compilation.
I hear you on the hotels list, sort of. While I’m as miles and points obsessed as the next guy,I think PH Vendome is incredibly overrated (and I’ve stayed half a dozen times) so I agree with you there. Still, Brush Creek Ranch is pretty spectacular – I’ll never forget my stay there. Being in Wyoming shouldn’t preclude it from a list of the best. It’s up there.
In addition to the poor showing of Aman hotels, which may be explained by their size, Four Seasons showed terribly. No size excuse there.
I have stayed at Brush Creek four times in the last five years. It is a spectacular place. The pricing included all meals and booze and on site activities. Next year pricing on the satellite property is to be ala carte and no kids. A god send for those who want to vacation with no kids around. So happy for them to be so highly ranked.