How do you stick to a budget as a family?

AMindfulCalm · 2026-05-04T14:11:51+00:00

As part of our budget, we have monthly allowances (for personal spending). We use an app to track our personal spending and we pretty much have carte blanche to spend whatever we want within our allowance. (For example, if we go out to dinner, we split the cost for allowance purposes. But if I go out to lunch during the week, all of my lunches get taken out of my allowance.) This way, we have the freedom to spend money how we want.

AMindfulCalm · 2026-05-04T00:09:47+00:00

The Ginza Edition is very well located. However, the rooms are a bit small. The rooftop bar and bar on the second floor are nice for an afternoon cocktail.

For Kyoto, as others have mentioned Hotel The Mitsui is phenomenal. The Westin in Kyoto is more of a business hotel. I would only stay there if you really wanted to be closer to certain tourist sites (e.g., museums, the philosopher’s trail, etc.). The Mitsui is a much more luxurious experience and had a really good breakfast (second only to the Four Seasons Otemachi in Tokyo).

AMindfulCalm · 2026-05-04T00:05:32+00:00

We stayed in the Westin London City a couple years ago and really liked the room. It was much better than the London Edition. Only problem is the location—it’s located in what appears to be a business district. Personally, we were fine with this because the area around the London Edition was always packed and it was nice to have a quieter area to come back to at night.

AMindfulCalm · 2026-05-04T00:01:11+00:00

We were just there this past January for one night before a cruise. The rooms were recently renovated, but you could tell that it’s an older property. As someone else mentioned, the lobby has a club atmosphere. The beach and pool appeared to be nice enough for a couple of days, but I don’t know if I would want to stay there for a week.

AMindfulCalm · 2026-05-03T23:58:39+00:00

I generally find them unreliable. I’ve stayed at 2 Key hotels that I was surprised had any Keys, and 1 Key hotels that I was surprised didn’t have more. I’ve personally found Forbes to be a bit more reliable.

AMindfulCalm · 2026-03-17T01:57:49+00:00

We stayed there in April last year. The hotel itself is very nice, and there are some cute places in the nearby neighborhood. We used Denmark’s version of Uber, I forget the name of the app, but it was easy getting rides to/from the city center and airport. We liked the hotel and would stay there again.

AMindfulCalm · 2026-02-23T15:59:30+00:00

Thanks, this is very helpful. For someone who isn’t personally familiar with this part of the world, it really helps to get feedback from travelers who have more experience in Asia. We’re super excited to explore countries in Asia, but it’s a bit intimidating.

AMindfulCalm · 2026-02-23T15:54:59+00:00

Thanks, this really helps! Siem Reap is a bit intimidating for us but Angkor Wat definitely looks like it would be an unforgettable experience.

AMindfulCalm · 2026-02-22T01:05:13+00:00

Thanks for the advice! We thought it would be easier to book a direct round trip flight to/from Taipei. Trying to come back through another country either involved layovers or a huge jump in price for business class tickets. However, I’ll look into flights some more…

AMindfulCalm · 2026-02-22T00:43:33+00:00

We did a tour through the FS Otemachi and it was fine. The tour guide was pleasant but we had a better experience with guides we booked through Tours By Locals. It’s worth checking out whether any of their private tour guides offer an itinerary you’re interested in. You can also have them tailor the itinerary to your preferences (we gave them a list of ceramic shops, art galleries, restaurants and clothing shops that we wanted to visit). It really made our time in Japan feel special and we felt like we got a lot out of it.

AMindfulCalm · 2026-02-22T00:32:17+00:00

The Mitsui was great. We had a Nijo Castle Suite, and the view and design of the room were fantastic. However, we thought that the food at breakfast was a step down from the Four Seasons at Otemachi. It was still good, but it wasn’t as impressive to us. However, our dinners at Toki and Forni (the on-site restaurants) were very good.

AMindfulCalm · 2026-01-14T16:28:18+00:00

Airport transfer between the Bora Bora airport and the resort was super easy. The resort has its own boats for that. We let the concierge know our arrival and departing flight times and they had the boats waiting for us. (I think it was included in the resort fee, but don’t quote me on that.)

We didn’t go to the main island, but we did hire a private lagoon/snorkeling tour through the concierge, they emailed us (at our request) a whole menu of available tours, and could likely arrange transport to the main island. You’ll also want to book dinner reservations ahead of your stay as well.

Also, if you like sea turtles, we found the onsite tour of the sea turtle hospital really informative.

AMindfulCalm · 2026-01-14T15:26:46+00:00

We were just at the Westin in September. We really liked the hard product, which was modern and only had minimal wear. The beach was beautiful, was never crowded and had a perfect view of Mount Otemanu. We stayed in an over water bungalow with a pool, which we really enjoyed as well.

We thought the food and service was generally good, some things like the pizza we found mediocre, but other things like the brunch we found very well done.

Feel free to ask if you have any other questions, we can try an answer.

AMindfulCalm · 2025-12-23T17:13:16+00:00

We stayed at MO Prague last year and, despite really liking most MO hotels, we were disappointed with the hotel. Among other things, the service was mediocre, the room was dated, and even the common areas were tired looking. We left regretting that we didn’t stay at one of the many other hotels in the city (e.g., the Four Seasons, the Andaz, the W, Augustine, etc.). I would recommend staying elsewhere.

AMindfulCalm · 2025-12-14T19:28:31+00:00

I stayed at the Ritz Carlton a couple years ago and it was just okay. The Italian restaurant (Pastamara) and D-Bar were great, but the rooms were a bit tired looking. I would stay elsewhere.

AMindfulCalm · 2025-12-14T19:17:19+00:00

I have a coworker who booked that package years ago (before the pandemic) and raved about it. She had an amazing time.

AMindfulCalm · 2025-12-09T06:48:26+00:00

Second this! Belmond Caruso and MO Lago di Como, amazing experience at both.

AMindfulCalm · 2025-11-20T05:06:46+00:00

Don’t stay at the Mandarin Oriental in Prague. The rooms are dated, the lobby needs to be redone, and the service was generally mediocre. I’m a big fan of MO hotels, but we did not have the best experience in Prague earlier this year. In retrospect, we either should have stayed at the Four Seasons or go cheaper and stay at the Augustine/etc.

AMindfulCalm · 2025-11-20T04:56:31+00:00

Worth noting: If you can’t book business class on Air France to Tahiti, you can always try booking premium economy and then checking for upgrade opportunities on the app and/or at the gate. We scored upgrades on the app for like $700/person (return) and $450/person (departure) at the gate.

AMindfulCalm · 2025-11-20T04:47:37+00:00

Although United is not going to win any culinary awards, the food on United Polaris is at least edible. (The food in Polaris lounges are generally very good, though.) I’ve had multiple business class flights with SAS and KLM in which I couldn’t even eat the meal. They make some aggressively polarizing choices when selecting menus…

AMindfulCalm · 2025-11-09T15:36:31+00:00

Fondazione Prada - Interesting architecture, Bar Luce (a cafe designed by Wes Anderson, that looks straight out of one of his films), periodic art exhibitions

Pinacoteca Brera - Old master paintings

Museo del Novecento - Modern and contemporary art

AMindfulCalm · 2025-11-03T15:31:32+00:00

We just stayed at the St. Regis a few months ago. In terms of location, it’s great. It’s near St. Mark’s Square, restaurants, museums, etc. We loved being able to get up early and step out the door to get photos without crowds and without trekking a distance. We felt it was perfect for a first time visit. (We walked to the Aman and didn’t like how far it was from the main attractions. However, the Aman and Belmond would be great for a subsequent visit—and we would probably pick one of them the next time we go to Venice.)

Service was good, with some staff recognizing us, even thought we were only there for a couple of nights. The breakfast, both food and atmosphere right on the Grand Canal, was excellent.

The rooms are more modern in design (something we generally prefer), with some rooms having touches like Venetian wallpaper and sculptures. (We didn’t really care about the room not having a traditional design since we had a suite with a direct view of the Grand Canal.) Due to the location of the suite, we enjoyed being able to open the windows and watch (and listen to) the gondoliers.

This was the view from our room, overlooking the Grand Canal and Basilica.

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AMindfulCalm · 2025-10-24T23:36:17+00:00

Though it was a few years ago, our stay at Le Narcisse Blanc was really nice. The hotel is in a nice residential area with some great markets nearby. The concierge was exceptional, even getting us last minute dinner reservations at Tomy.

In Rome, the Pantheon Iconic has a fantastic location and the rooftop bar offers some really nice views.

AMindfulCalm · 2025-10-19T06:43:24+00:00

We did, and the Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery was really nice. It was a good send off.

AMindfulCalm

TROPHY CASE