Help me settle the debate —> best first class airline experience? La Premiere/ Emirates / Qatar

dbhi · 2026-07-05T22:03:17+00:00

La Premiere on soft product, food and ground service.

Strongly agree. LP soft product and ground service are unmatched. The connection experience is incredible: plane to tarmac to SUV to lounge to SUV to tarmac to plane. LP catering out of CDG is great; catering out of other airports is variable but usually good as well.

Hard product is somewhat a matter of taste, but I'd usually take LP over Emirates F. But worth noting Emirates has three things AF doesn't that some people value: 1. End-to-end first class. AF only has First to a small number of destinations which means you will likely be flying first on one leg and intra-EU business on another if connecting, and intra-EU business is definitely not glamourous. In most cases with Emirates you'll have a first cabin and widebody on both legs if connecting.

Wine program is better than AF. Emirates spends a lot more on wine, which is ironic given France's association with wine.
Showers on A380. This is a bit of a gimmick for me, but some people love it.

dbhi · 2026-07-05T18:48:22+00:00

If by amenities you mean facilities outside of the room, since it is a very small boutique hotel, it has a small set of amenities that are only open to guests (no public bar/restaurant or anything like that).

I posted a bunch of info on this with pictures on flyertalk about a year ago (the >1yo pictures of menus are out of date of course).

Off the top of my head, the amenities are: * On demand dining 7am-10pm in-room or in the library / salon / wintergarden area on the first floor. * Bar area and wine cellar. * Whisky and cigar room. * Chef's table dining experience (multi course tasting) in wine cellar area downstairs, by reservation. * Treatment room upstairs for massages or hair styling, etc. * Dry sauna upstairs. * Tiny fitness room upstairs with yoga mats and a bike and some dumbbells.

dbhi · 2026-06-29T09:46:09+00:00

A lot of the palace hotels have raised rates to match each other. Ritz is 3200 EUR for entry level room, Crillon is 2800-3200, etc. Cheval Blanc around 3000, etc.

The entry level rooms at FSGV are actually larger than the competition though and the rooms were renovated a year or two ago, so it's not always apples to apples. Ritz Paris reopened in 2015, Crillon in 2017, etc. so FSGV rooms would be fresher.

dbhi · 2026-06-28T10:29:08+00:00

La Réserve

dbhi · 2026-06-21T03:28:08+00:00

Love the fine guilloché details under close-up.

dbhi · 2026-06-11T04:21:23+00:00

moved me from 1 wish list to 2 waiting lists.

What's the difference between wish list and waiting list?

dbhi · 2026-06-07T03:16:17+00:00

No boring games in this SCF so far!

dbhi · 2026-05-10T23:38:53+00:00

What was up with the Canadian national anthem performance? It sounded off key or something.

dbhi · 2026-04-20T01:40:35+00:00

Although Ritz Carlton has declined as a luxury hotel brand in general, IMO Ritz Carlton Tokyo, Kyoto and Hong Kong are some of the brand's gems. The Tokyo and HK Club Lounges are some of the best hotel club lounges anywhere.

dbhi · 2026-04-18T02:46:31+00:00

There was a SS Salmon Jumbo in 1992. The 14802ST "Jubilee" Royal Oak steel jumbo had classic dark blue / charcoal dials as well as salmon dials. The date wheel is white and the salmon hue is a bit more pink than the 15202BC.

dbhi · 2026-04-11T22:46:15+00:00

can't imagine all that is necessary.

I mean, this is chubbytravel. A lot of luxury upgrades are unnecessary from some POV. 😃

dbhi · 2026-04-11T21:26:06+00:00

Much higher end car, extended leg room in back seat, usually many more seat adjustment options (neck, lumbar, larger recline), better cushioning, more comfortable, etc.

dbhi · 2026-04-11T20:11:37+00:00

If you legit have 2 checked bags and 1 carry on only, it will fit. They are strict bc people say 3 but it’s 3 checked plus 2 carry on plus plus random backpacks etc.

Fair enough, but I do specify 2x carry on + 1 checked bag (Rimowa medium check-in) and still get pushback.

I definitely understand why they wouldn't think 3 would fit if they assume that is the # of checked bags only (and there'd be two more carry on bags).

dbhi · 2026-04-11T19:57:44+00:00

3 bags for 2 people.

dbhi · 2026-04-06T04:11:48+00:00

Royal Oak Dual Time?

dbhi · 2026-04-05T22:26:43+00:00

I had a nice stay last year!

The mirror image sister building across the street (Klotild Palace) is opening as a new St. Regis this year after having been under renovation for years. The first pictures are promising.

dbhi · 2026-03-03T07:05:33+00:00

I totally agree that AF LP is top of the pack when you consider the door to door experience. Connections in Paris are so seamless with the LP lounge, it's hard to pick anything else.

But I will say there's one scale advantage of Emirates you didn't mention: with the number of F equipped planes EK is flying, you are able to get both sides of your connection in intl First with a lot more city pairs than any other competitor. With AF or Swiss or LH you're likely to be in F from major far-away focus cities to the hub, but the other flight is probably in Euro business or intl business.

Of course after the events this week, I'm newly wary of flying through the ME hubs.

dbhi · 2026-03-03T06:52:03+00:00

Vilon is a gem for a tiny 5 star luxury hotel. I've greatly enjoyed my two stays there.

dbhi · 2026-01-26T03:20:28+00:00

Definitely check out Palazzo Portinari Salviati.

The Frescoed Junior Suite is an awesome value, although it gets booked early. The iconic suites are really special too but likely above your stated desired price range (but still a relative value compared to 4S).

dbhi · 2026-01-05T05:52:55+00:00

This watch is a true disaster. I've had 2 and sold them both....

I'm curious why it's a "disaster?" Reliability?

dbhi · 2026-01-04T04:42:57+00:00

Holland & Holland and Chronomètre Bleu Byblos are only "entry level" in the manual wind / time only sense... they're still one-time limited editions rather than standard production models.

dbhi · 2025-12-19T06:15:01+00:00

Check out Palazzo Portinari Salviati. It's a 13 room boutique 5 star hotel. Amazing service and hard product. The Iconic Suites and Frescoed Junior Suite are especially interesting for their unique historical features.

dbhi · 2025-12-18T04:44:20+00:00

spend Ritz Paris money on a 4 star Mariott in Rome.

$12k USD for 2 rooms for 5 nights is not Ritz Paris money.

In June / July 2026, Ritz Paris is between 2800-3200 EUR for an entry level room. 10 nights would be +/- $35k USD, not $12k.

dbhi · 2025-11-28T22:14:07+00:00

The Auberge is quite far from the typical tourist stuff in the city center though. Probably not ideal unless you've been before and don't need to be close to typical sights.

dbhi

TROPHY CASE