u/sarahwlee

TLDR: Virtuoso Week = ~4800 hotel people in Vegas, six days of minimal sleep, and where a whole year of favors quietly gets made.

I think my team is finally recovered, but my Oura ring is still side-eyeing me from the ongoing 4-hour-sleep nights. For everyone who texted last week and got some version of "still at the conference, can't really hop on a call right now," this is what my team and I were buried in, and I figured I owed you guys the full picture. So, AMA.

What Virtuoso Week even is:
Once a year, most of the luxury hotel world (leadership, ownership, sales teams) lands in one place for a week. This year 4800 officially registered, and easily a few hundred more (honestly if not at least 1000 more) were floating around without a badge. It's not like conferences in other industries where you duck into a hallway for a 20 min call. It's back to back from morning into the very late night, and if you're not in the room, you're NOT in the room. That's why we went quiet last week. Not ignoring you, just physically three parties deep at midnight, no joke.

Why we do it with a team, not solo:
Most companies send one person. Maybe two, if they'll spring for it. We brought 14 on the relationship and events side, and 7 of those ran back to back 1-1s, each doing around 100 of the matched "speed dating" appointments (yes, real speed dating, 100 apiece, mostly to get my team in front of as many hotel people as humanly possible). That's 700 meetings between them. The math is simple. More of us in more rooms = more real connections = more favors we can call in when one of you needs a room fixed at 11pm on a Saturday in Tokyo. But how do you build a relationship in 10 minutes? You don't. That's what the whole afternoon and evening are for, tracking down whoever you clicked with earlier and getting real face time. Super valuable for those on my team who are newer to this world.

We kicked it off by renting out a trampoline park:
Saturday we bought out a trampoline park and invited our top hotel partners for a straight up thank you party. Think being 10 years old again, unlimited pizza and ice cream, laser tag, DIY swag, trampolines, except with grown up bodies, so we brought in on-site massages too (necessary). These are the people who say yes for you all year. Once a year we get to just have fun with them, zero agenda, and say TY. We're teasing adding a few clients into it next year, mostly as an excuse to invite even more hoteliers. Stay tuned.

The part nobody sees, the long meetings:
While my team ran the 1-1s, I sat in 1-2 hour meetings with senior management and ownership. Some of what we got into: family-owned vs traditional management models and how that shapes growth, how the best properties pull real emotion out of a trip, kids and how much they drive the whole trip decision now, Middle East money and its influence, GDPR and where guest data is heading, branding across different brands, MAPS and where FDA approval takes wellness travel next, and AMEX FHR and how the blanket 4pm late checkout quietly wrecks a hotel's operations and what they are doing about it. Also a real conversation about community, including this one, and what live events hotels could throw to enhance community.

On the "isn't being that close to the brands a conflict" thing:
Fair question, and I see versions of it in threads online. Doesn't being friendly with the hotels just mean you push whoever wines and dines you? Here's my straight answer. The friendships are the thing that lets me fight HARDER for you, not less. When I text a GM I've known for 13 years and tell them a client's room isn't right, that text gets answered and handled because of the relationship, not in spite of it. You can't fake that, and you def can't network your way into it in a year or two. The stuff that moves the needle for a client gets earned over a decade of showing up. It's a people business. Who you know, your reputation in it, and who you keep company with is the whole game, and that shows up later this year in the rooms my team and I get invited into.

A few takeaways worth passing along:

• One&Only Moonlight Basin (Big Sky) is shifting from seasonal J1 staff to more full time, year round roles with housing and full benefits, specifically to fix service consistency. If you know anyone who wants a hotel job (F&B, front of house, whatever) and would live in Big Sky, send them that way. Those full time + benefits resort jobs are hard to find.
• Airelles Venice: over nightcaps, we decided together that monogramming the slippers just made sense, and kids pajamas are landing by October. So whoever's headed there, you're welcome. PS Etienne (GM) just won Hotelier of the Year. Say congrats if you see him.
• Rosewood Guanahani: the ink is drying on the deal (finally). Reno news should be coming. Stay tuned.
• MagicianSean is still my favorite magician, and I know he's picked up a few bookings off Reddit, so I promise he's worth it, even though r/magictricksrevealed ruined half of it for me. Ha.

Market read for anyone planning next year:
YoY growth is strong and owners are not letting go of rates, so pricing pressure isn't easing. Booking windows are stretching too, people are locking the exact property, suite and season way ahead, because the number of new UHNW households keeps climbing. Overall travel is softer this year, but the UHNW segment is not seeing that softness at all. Spring scared everyone, and by late summer it was back to record rates. So if you've got a big 2027 (or even 28) trip in mind, earlier is better than you think.

That's the download. AMA about Virtuoso Week, how the travel model works, what's worth booking next year, or anything in the travel realm. My team will be on here too, and they might answer faster than me, they're 700 appointments deep between them. lmk.

Finishing up our stay at Airelles Palladio Venice. Never have I ever had a hotel change my mind so much about a city. Yes, Venice is kind of annoying because it’s like 90% tourist traps but it is also insanely beautiful. And doing it this way, (full resort, very leisurely) makes me feel like a 3 night stay isn’t enough and I could stay an entire week.

Will have a full review up later but for now, feel free to ask me anything. Will pop some answers when kiddos are at their masked ball with kids club (they made masks earlier today!).

TLDR: Have already looked multiple times at which sailing to book next. But happy to answer any specific questions.

I have a lot of thoughts about the FS Yacht... and I will give my day to day too but figured it's easiest to either agree so far or disagree with Ryan Walker's youtube review of the FS yacht that got a lot of eyeballs. (I used Google LM for this below summary of his video as honestly, I didn't watch it.. and won't spend an hour of my life doing so). And then also happy to answer any questions.

Complaints and Negative Feedback:

• Check-in and Welcome: The embarkation process was described as confusing and chaotic, with bags tossed around and an empty, underwhelming welcome ceremony.

This is partly true - kind of a mess, not gonna lie. Your car drops you in one spot, they tag and take your luggage there, then you walk through, then you get into their car that drives you down the port to where you actually check in. And the check-in area has no AC. Here's the real issue though - the cruise terminal staff aren't Four Seasons people. They're port employees and they had no clue about the procedure. That's going to be the hard part for FS long-term: they hit so many different ports and almost every itinerary is different, so versus something like Holland America running the same loop every week where the local staff know it cold, these guys were clueless. What saved it was the actual FS crew wandering around, talking to people, befriending everyone, made it way better. Then after check-in you walk AGAIN to the boat. Doesn't look far, but not fun in the heat.

Can I blame FS for it? Not sure they could've done it better. But that's the embarkation, warts and all.

The welcome ceremony = was it the welcome party on the boat? Because on ours, it was nice bites, complimentary drinks, Dom non-stop, kids got slushies, live music. Our crew of kiddos were in the pool the whole time splashing around while some guests were dressed up around the pool. I felt that FS made BOTH groups feel totally welcome, which is the whole trick. Really lovely sail-off - but maybe everyone without kids hated it.

• Pricing and Value: The $26,000 base rate is not all-inclusive; guests must pay extra for lunch, dinner, room service, spa treatments, activities, and excursions. He felt the cruise is missing touchpoints that justify the price.

Everyone in our crew paid $42,200 or $60,300 for Seaview Suite w/Studios or Ocean Suite w/Studios before our group discount. So far, we've found it nice that it's a la carte as you don't feel tied to staying and eating on the boat vs being onshore. Again, my TLDR was that we're already looking for other sailings so we feel the price is pretty good. Also, we even talked about doing it as a charter but we actually like the yacht more due to the additional amenities vs the size of boat we would get for relative $$.

• Pool and Amenities: The main Piscine pool lacks a jacuzzi, running track, or poolside service, making the area feel sterile, cold, and unused.

It doesn't have a jacuzzi but eww - no running track. It's a space to relax and chill and have fun, not have someone sweaty run by you. We've used this space everyday. Should you yacht and try to swim outdoors in April in Europe? No. And also, there is poolside service. It's great. We've ordered tons of drinks, adults and kids.

• Activities and Entertainment: The daily schedule is disappointing and entirely focused on music (like piano, acoustic guitar, and DJ sessions), lacking any trivia, competitions, or varied entertainment.

Maybe if you want to be on a large cruise ship. Why would I want to play trivia or bingo etc? The entertainers have been great... and to give you an example of why FS is amazing, I'm walking my 3yo back to the room after dinner, and earlier the pianist-singer had been doing a song she didn't know. I told her that on the way back, we could ask her for a request. She not only played Golden (a little out there for an acoustic piano set?), she handed my daughter a mic. And because it seemed like she couldn't decide between Frozen and Golden, Thomas - a crew member my daughter has completely befriended - asked for Frozen himself. So they played Frozen too. This is after the singer had already packed up and was getting ready to leave. They added two extra songs just for my daughter. That's the stuff that makes me want to rebook.

• Fitness and Spa Operations: The gym is cramped, packed, and only offers a single 30-minute stretching class at 7:00 AM. The spa failed to offer basic high-end amenities upon check-in, such as a welcome drink, snack, or water.

No idea. Didn't go yet. Will ask others to go for me and report back.

• Medical Center: The facility has highly restrictive hours, only open from 9:00 to 11:00 AM and 4:00 to 6:00 PM.

This is not true. The hours are something else, I don't remember. But we actually had to use this already. My older kiddo woke up in the middle of the first night BLAZING hot, super high fever, and by morning was still saying her brain hurt, her back hurt, she couldn't walk so we went full panic. I'm carrying her to even find the medical center, when a crew member spots me, asks what's going on, and tells me to stay right there. Center's technically closed but they're calling the doctor immediately. There's an after-hours fee and it was very reasonable but if you need a doctor, you're not restricted to whatever hours they have. I walked in scared this was something that needed an airlift and it turned out to be tonsillitis. The medical center was top notch, big big fans, they were amazing.

• Itinerary Execution: The ship's itinerary was heavily rearranged to accommodate an outdoor "Marina Day," which was ultimately ruined by bad weather, leaving guests standing around with confused staff. Some ports felt like uninteresting stopovers.

Don't expect a marina day in April. But ours is tmrw, I can report back tomorrow. I don't know where he stopped. But it's not like the ports are magically announced after you get on. Book a sailing which has interesting ports to you?

• Room Design and Functionality:

  • The $30,000 transparent TV sacrifices picture clarity for design.

• We don't use TVs. Glad the TV isn't blocking my ocean view.

  • The balcony door is exhaustingly heavy to open.

• My bedroom balcony door opens fine. The living room balcony door also is just push of a button which is SOO nice.

  • The air conditioning failed in the middle of the night, and the mattress quality did not match land-based Four Seasons properties.

• Haven't noticed this. We slept on the sofabed to keep the girls separate to quarantine the infection and even the sofabed was fine to sleep in.

  • Room technology is glitchy, with broken drapes and buttons that require extra-long presses.

• I think the extra long presses is on purpose. You dim the lights or brighten the lights until it's 100% or 0%. I like the control. But I have to admit, this was not told to us, so we were pushing random buttons day 1.

  • Turndown service was minimal; lights were barely dimmed and bedside water was not restocked.

• Haven't noticed. Think they've done a good job. My room now has about 25 bottles of sparkling water. The housekeeping turndown team asked if I liked sparkling or still and maybe they just keep adding more to my stash. It looks kind of funny.

• Cleanliness and Health Hazards: The tap and minibar water smelled and tasted like sewage. Water was left stagnant in the espresso machine and kettle from a previous guest, and a clipped toenail was found on the floor.

Haven't noticed. I don't think you're EVER supposed to drink tap water from a cruise / yacht ship. Right?? This is like drinking from an airplane tap. No way. We have tons and tons of bottles of water. And everything in the mini bar is free. What is sewage water from a minibar?

• Plumbing Issues: About 50% of the time, the shower only dispensed cold water.

Not true. I even counted how long it took for me to get hot water - 10 seconds because one of my friends on this trip complained to me how long it took them (they were messing with me due to Ryan Walker video). Everyone has hot water... its very hot water if you want but easy to control and really great shower. Also kids like the bath too. The bathrooms are super luxurious.

• Dining Disappointments:

  • He was served a raspberry with mold inside at the breakfast buffet.

• Haven't had this issue. Only noticed the best yummiest yellow dragonfruit from Mexico. In my room also had Korean grapes, Japanese Mangos... and they are saving me some white strawberries from Japan tomorrow morning :) The fruit that they have secured is absolutely mindblowing. I honestly don't know if they do this all the time - happy to ask for you - or if they just did it for me since they knew I was a fruit fanatic. Also have eaten, amazing Ranier cherries - probably from Pac NW - but I didn't ask - and Japanese watermelons.

  • The breakfast quinoa bowl was unappetizing, and the hotel uses cheap Twinings tea bags instead of high-end options.

• Didn't check. Can check for you. All our breakfasts have been great but we're not very demanding for breakfast.

  • The Sedna amuse-bouche was heavily over-fried, and a parmesan parfait dish featured overwhelming textures that triggered his gag reflex.

• Haven't tried Sedna yet.

  • A room service eggs benedict featured an overcooked yolk and a bizarre pressurized Hollandaise spray bottle that aggressively exploded all over the room.

• No room service breakfast yet but no one has complained about the room service ordered.

• Service and Staff Polish:

  • Despite noting a severe bean allergy, he was served dishes containing beans three times on his first day.

• They know my kiddo has a dairy allergy and I even asked to make sure she wasn't left out with all the other kids around. Every morning, they have a vegan pastry waiting for her.

  • Staff were spotted smoking, sitting down on the job, and using their phones.

• Haven't seen this but did notice one grumpy waiter at Terrasse.

  • A staff member sprayed down his balcony with water while he was trying to relax on it.

• Hasn't happened to us.

  • A crew member candidly admitted to him that the cruise was not worth the money.

• That sucks but again, we're ready to rebook.

• Ship Readiness: The quarter-million-dollar Presidential Suite was entirely unfinished and rushed, and decorative corners were cut, like a low-quality plastic tangerine tree in the lounge.

No idea - sadly it's booked as we were looking to upgrade to a specialty. The summer sailings are HOT and so booked.

Positive Feedback and Highlights:

• Ship Engineering and Stabilization: The ship's build is incredibly solid, gorgeous, and striking. The stabilization technology is phenomenal, making it easy to forget you are on the ocean. The ship can also rotate 360 degrees and crabwalk sideways.

YES! This is so cool!

• Room Aesthetics and Space: The base-level room is the largest suite currently on the ocean, featuring a jaw-dropping, exquisite design with high-quality materials. The bathroom boasts beautiful green jade, backlit mirrors, a heated toilet seat, and excellent shower pressure.

Haven't seen base. But everyone in our group loves their room.

• Room Perks: Guests receive a beautiful welcome cookie, truffles, and complimentary champagne on ice. The mini-fridge includes complimentary non-alcoholic drinks and MadeGood snacks, and the included WiFi is reasonably fast for being at sea.

Yes - and tailored more to our clients/our needs. For no champagne, we got the best sparkling tea that I love from FS Japan (and super expensive). And then we had art stuff for the kids that they made happen in less than 24 hours.

• Spa and Medical Facilities: The L’Oceana Spa features stunning mosaic tiling, an incredible dry sauna view, a steam hammam, a cold plunge, and a negative 121°F cryotherapy chamber. The $620 Miracle Broth Facial was thorough and luxurious. The medical center features a beautiful McLaren-inspired design and luxurious Four Seasons bedding.

The medical facilities was crazy cool. Hope none of you ever need it but it's advanced and legit if you do.

• Gym Equipment: The fitness center utilizes brand new, highly advanced Technogym equipment.

Again, no gym but I'll let you know from others.

• Standout Dining:
  • The Miuna Omakase sushi restaurant offered a true ultra-luxury culinary experience, highlighted by a brown butter oyster and melt-in-your-mouth truffle wagyu.
• EPIC - had this last night. Highly recommend.
  • The Pistachio café serves expertly prepared espresso and visually stunning desserts.
• AGREE.
  • The roasted cauliflower at the Horizon Lounge was fantastic, and the chocolate dome dessert at Sedna was highly praised.
• EVERYTHING at Horizon lounge as incredible with it being fairly priced and even underpriced IMO. A salad being 8$? Like cmon...
  • Room service breakfast was reasonably priced at $30 with no hidden fees.
• Haven't had room service breakfast yet.
• Views and Destinations: The room balconies and the stargazing from the Horizon Lounge are stunning. Half of the ports visited are breathtaking locations that are uniquely accessible because of the ship's smaller size.

AGREE

• Service Recovery: The staff ultimately corrected his allergy profile in their system and successfully passed his final room service test by leaving the beans out of a risotto.

Yes - I complained about the kids food coming out slow the first two nights, and the director of F&B gave me his whatsapp and told me to order directly with him and a time of when we wanted it and he would make sure it is done to the minute.

ASK AWAY.. I know that's a lot but wanted our experience vs Ryan's to be noted on this sub.

You guys voted and picked O&O Portonovi for me pre FS yacht. Happy to answer any Q’s -

Short review now:

Beach = Pros: one of the best ones I’ve encountered. Warm waters, soft sand, no rocks, almost no waves, easy enough that it was the first time both of my kids (5, 3) decided it was safe enough to get into. Cons: my kids say no shells to find, mainly because sand is all imported at least once per year (for adults’ conscience if you’ve watched sand wars) nobody manning the equipment shack.

Pool = huge and warm. Three separate depths, very good for little kids. Was out two different days and only amenities offered both days were small shots of alcoholic frozen margaritas. (Both days with kids… surprised nothing more family friendly offered).

Restaurants = all fine. Nothing wow’ed. Very pricey.

Spa = I don’t know why people don’t talk about this more. Probably best or top 3 spas I’ve ever been to. All the therapists were so knowledgeable and skilled and most importantly specialized. If you want x,y,z - they had the doctors for that. Insane wellness program. Very underrated and very well priced for what it is. This is legit what I’d come back for.

Fitness = feels like it deserves its own section for quality of coaches. We utilized swim coach and Pilates coach/ personal trainer and wished we had more time to do tennis, more PT stuff etc. they even had a men’s week which I feel like might be a good way for you fatties to make and meet friends?

Rooms = Large units. Placement matters a lot - whether it’s rooms or even their large residences. Views, vs location vs privacy. Some little clusters even share their own pool which might be fun with friends… but their main pool is so big, it’s kinda epic.

Kids club = 9am - 9pm. Kinda small but really amazing team who really didn’t let us pay for babysitting. They only charged when they would take them for mealtimes so an hour each time even if we were out etc.

Service = hit or miss. Some excellent. Some couldn’t be bothered and it might be more local way of life so nothing too egregious or bothersome but it’s not Asia or Mexico etc.

TLDR: totally planning on a revisit just for the spa/fitness. Amazing beach a nice bonus.

Are we going to get Ryan Walkered? You guys know I’ll be honest with my review. Embarkation is tomorrow but we actually saw this out and about twice during our boat day as it also docked in Portonovi. I wanted to share this video as I was floored. In my head, it was always a yacht product until I saw it IRL and this feels like a cruise ship because of how big it is!! But then again, if only 95 rooms are on it, I can only imagine how spacious it must be onboard.

Looking forward to a fattie group aboard tomorrow! Together, we ended up with a group discount. Also, we had a nice upgrade to a grand ocean suite which was easily given to the only set without any kiddos since this had no studio :)
Want live dailies or should I save it for final thoughts at the end of the week?

Hello from our luxury mountain villa. Have been here awhile already and ran into a Redditor who said hello IRL so curious if anymore are here? Plus they were surprised we had contacts and connections here so yes! Reminder if it’s not on our booking engine, please don’t forget to reach out!

What’s interesting this year vs last is how much more international the crowd has gotten so the internet buzz is in full swing! Not only many more Americans but Singapore? Hong Kong?

Also the investment so far is awesome. I know that every year they do more and more which has what they’ve done from the beginning but to see it first hand the improvements from last to this is cool. My daughter has been at the new horse riding arena everyday.

So go ahead and AMA.

The video ends with a peek of the new forest spa as well as their new villa product and adults only restaurant. Will be hanging with the owners next week to get an inside first look into this too.

Will have full review and fun partnership up later but wanted to put this up in case anyone had any questions I can answer or get answers to while here.

Some background - AKI Family Resort PLOSE is a luxury family-focused resort located on the slopes of Mount Plose above Bressanone (Brixen) in South Tyrol, Italy. The closest airport is Bolzano, about 50 minutes by car. It is part of the ADLER Spa Resorts group and was designed specifically for families with children while still offering high-end wellness facilities for adults.

Some highlights include:
All units are family units with Mountain View’s
Indoor and outdoor pools, water slides, and children’s play areas
Extensive childcare programs starting at 1 month.
An adults-only spa area in the forest
Direct access to hiking, biking, skiing, and other outdoor activities in the Plose mountain area.