The west Edmonton mall inn…. you had your own air conditioning and was walking distance to the mall and restaurants.

I’d say probably the Ritz -Carlton in San Francisco. Both for elegance and service.

The Pan Pacific in Vancouver. Such a beautiful city. The hotel is right on the water. You see the cruiseships, mountains, and the sea planes are taking off and landing all the time. The hotel leaves sweets on your pillow for turn down service along with a card for what the weather will be like the next day. Maybe they don’t do that last bit anymore since almost everyone has a smartphone now.

I love Turnberry in Aventura, FL. We always had a room with a balcony that looked over the pool. It isn’t on the water though. There was just something about that hotel I really liked. I always felt so rested there.

Also, the Rihga Royal in NYC. A suite overlooking central park; the view was amazing. Fantastic location. The one negative was they had Pepsi products. Now it is called The London. I think it was completely renovated and I have a feeling the prices must be astronomical now.

I stayed at the Fairmont in San Fran many years ago and didn’t love it, but maybe I would appreciate it more now.

I’ve stayed in some great hotels in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. But the one I remember best for its beauty and elegant service was in Hamburg, Germany. It was probably the most expensive, too, but fortunately my company paid for it.

The finest hotels I’ve stayed in have all been overseas, strangely enough.

I once stayed at a hotel in Milan, Italy, where the woodwork was so exquisite that if you were in the bathroom with the door closed it felt as if you were in a bank vault, because the door closed so completely. (Opening the door would cause a detectable pressure differential, as the seal was broken. I almost suspect that you could drown in the room if the tub overflowed and you didn’t control the input of water; it wouldn’t run out under the door.) In fact, in that room – where I stayed until mid-morning on a Saturday – had some construction work going on outside my window on that Saturday morning: a crew of guys jackhammering concrete just four stories beneath my room… and I didn’t even know about it until I looked out my window. There was no sound of the work inside my room.

The Westin in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is wonderful. I always wish that I had more than an overnight stop there, because that bed is like sleeping in a cloud.

And I stayed at a hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia that had cotton sheets that felt like satin, and a Kobe beef entreé on the menu that was the most tender that I’ve ever had in my life. (Though I’d still prefer a New York strip steak on my own grill.)

The Inn at Spanish Bay (Pebble Beach).

The Peninsula in Hong Kong.

The Plaza in New York.

But the best ever, far better than all the five stars I’ve ever stayed in was, La Residence du Cap in Cap d’Antibes in the South of France. We had three staff for our room alone, when you left a wake up call, they came in and gently shook you awake. And your coffee was there by your bed when they woke you.

El Camino Real, next to the Americana in Cancun. They messed up on our booking, so they made up for it by giving us the honeymoon suite for the week. There were two hot tubs in my room, both overlooking the ocean.
The Woldorf Astoria in New York City. It was just classy, and I never wanted to get out of that bed.

I don’t know that I would want such a personalized wake up call by a random Frenchman, but it sounds pretty special!

I went to a convention in Denver several years ago, and decided that since part of the expenses were covered by my employer, I’d make an extended stay for a vacation and splurge and pay a little extra out-of-pocket for a luxury hotel and spend an extra day for a spa treatment. I stayed at The Brown Palace, which is a historic luxury hotel. After that, my friends who live outside Denver came and picked me up and I stayed at their place for a few days, so the cost of my vacation wasn’t too bad overall.

@hearkat I’ve stayed there, too. That hotel was awesome!

My favorite hotel in the world is not necessarily the nicest I’ve ever stayed in. It’s Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, New York – A Quaker family owned Victorian palace in the Shawumgunk Mountains. My family went there for years and I have wonderful memories of it.

@janbb – I have heard great things about that place.

It’s been magical for me.

@janbb I’d love to stay there. Hubby and I went for a few hours on our way to NYC. It was around Christmas. I thought it would be so cool to have family all meet there from around the country and celebrate the holidays at the Mountain House.

But I’d also love to visit in the spring or fall and really enjoy the grounds.

@Cupcake The first time I went there we arrived at night in the winter. There was snow on the ground. When I went on the balcony of our room, I looked out on skaters on the lake. It was truly a magical moment!

I’ve been there in every season except for Fall and each season had its delights. I am hoping to take my kids again someday if they come back to the States at some point.

@janbb I just looked at their website. Looks wonderful. I have wanted to take my husband upstate. This is in the running now.

@janbb: We used to have Quaker Headmasters’ Association yearly meetings at Mohunk Mt. House. There were signs on the public pianos asking for certain quiet times. Have you been to visit the greenhouses? I love that the founders were the Smiley brothers. Our room was the size of my first floor, with a fireplace, cut logs, sofas, club chairs, and a balcony overlooking the lake and the lookout. There is a perfecf little exercise unit…hiking up to the lookout.

@gailcalled Mohonk.

Mohonk was recently closed due to outbreak of illness from their restaurants. It’s been reopened, but it had to have thorough cleaning and inspection from Health Dept before it could reopen.

Yes, I read that.

Oy. So does that mean it is now the safest place to go to eat? Or, they still are a nightmare? I went to tripadvisor and there are mixed reviews.

@JLeslie I think that kind of outbreak can happen anywhere and it would not deter me from going to Mohonk again.

@janbb I googled it a few days ago actually and saw it was not a “health” inspection of the kitchen type thing, but rather a stomach virus that ran through the hotel. I agree with you. Thanks for coming back to answer though.

@JLeslie Yes, that was my impression too.

Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego.

Millennium Hotel, NYC. (sadly it was destroyed on 9/11)

I’ve stayed at the Brown Palace. If you’re in the main building (with the atrium), it’s wonderful. If you are put across the street in the Annex, not so much.

Copley Plaza, at least as of a year ago, was getting run down. I stayed there – not impressed.