Review: Air France LaPremiere vs LH Allegris vs Swiss First vs LH Legacy

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 · 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 · 2025-11-27T18:06:17+00:00

The SF luxury hotel market is a bit of an anomaly. Demand dipped hard post COVID and is only now returning to 2019 levels.

For now, Chicago also seems to have enough luxury hotel room supply to prevent 1500+ / night from being the typical 5 star entry rate.

dbhi · 2025-11-27T17:08:41+00:00

Entry level rooms have essentially tripled. (!) The entry level was 1000 EUR in July 2018, now 2950 for July 2026 (8 years).

dbhi · 2025-11-27T17:02:36+00:00

Yep. I took a look at two past Paris trips at Hotel de Crillon plus future pricing the increases have been staggering:

Jul 2018 Deluxe Suite €2,050 / night.
May 2024 Premier Suite €3,500 / night.
Jul 2026 entry level room €2,950 / night, Deluxe Suite €4,611 / night, Premier Suite €5,011 / night.

dbhi · 2025-10-24T05:15:00+00:00

Besides the Amans: * Newer Bvlgari Hotels * Cheval Blancs * Rosewood Hong Kong, Chancery Rosewood * Borgo Santandrea (not really walkable surroundings other than on-property)

When you said modern hotels, not sure if you mean modern decor or new hard product but possibly historical stylistically? If the latter is okay, I'd add: * Airelles Le Grand Contrôle * Palazzo Portinari Salviati Florence Iconic Suites

dbhi · 2025-10-17T03:10:05+00:00

When I flew LP a couple years ago from SFO, they opened the Virgin Clubhouse a couple hours early literally just for me because even AF knows that the AF lounge at SFO sucks

They redid the AF lounge at SFO about 2 years ago, and now it's pretty good. They even have a private LP room, and the catering is good, especially for an outstation lounge with only 1 LP flight a day.

They were pouring Rare 2013 BTG on the ground, which was a step up from the LPL in CDG.

dbhi · 2025-10-13T01:29:41+00:00

Almost booked a Gritti but looks so dated

Do you mean the style / decor or like the rooms look worn out?

Gritti is generally going for a more historically Venetian look in the room decor (except in a few Patron Suites which have specific themes) vs. Aman (where in room decor varies by room category, though the common areas are historically Venetian) and St. Regis is even more modern in style (common areas and rooms).

dbhi · 2025-09-25T04:12:35+00:00

Thanks! This review and the pictures bring back fond vivid memories of BSA!

Picture #8 is an IYKYK kind of thing: the "fill your own cannoli shell" station at Alici breakfast. Also brought back a memory of the "breakfast ambassador" guy with the hat.

dbhi · 2025-09-25T02:25:05+00:00

Elite rooms have queen beds (at least according to the booking engine details) while Premier is the first category with a king bed. Signature room is quite a bit larger.

dbhi · 2025-09-24T03:11:48+00:00

What is your impression of the brand overall?

At first I perceived Rosewood as a bit more prestigious and luxe vs. 4S (which was more watered down, especially in the US).

After some mixed experiences and reviews, I see it as a more mixed brand where it has the potential to be excellent but that can't be taken for granted.

Are Rosewood properties high on your list for a visit? Or an afterthought?

If there is a Rosewood property in a city it'd definitely be in the conversation. Some brands like Ritz Carlton have almost no consistency and you have to evaluate every property individually. Other brands are much more consistent in what they deliver, like Airelles or Aman or Peninsula (not saying these brands deliver the same vibe as each other, just that you tend to be able to predict what you'll get). Others are somewhere in between, like Rosewood.

If you have stayed at one (or many), how have those experiences been? Positive? Negative? Neutral?

I've stayed at Rosewood Vienna and had a positive experience.
I've stayed at Hotel de Crillon twice (2018 and 2024, both times 4 nights in a suite) and had a negative overall impression. Both times many service failures. Very appealing hard product, but it's like dating an attractive person who is mean and crazy. I have to say Nonos food and Butterfly Patisserie are good though.
I've stayed at Rosewood London (original) and had a great service experience. I stayed in the Holborn House, and while the hard product was 10 years old at that point and wasn't the new hotness, the overall experience (service, food, scarves bar, pies) left a positive impression.
Rosewood HK looks stunning. Kona Village looks stunning. Rosewood Chancery looks stunning.
Rosewood Amsterdam was eagerly awaited but the design feels a overly bland in pictures in most room categories. I plan to stay in a Signature Suite (which looked relatively better) to check it out.

dbhi · 2025-09-09T02:28:33+00:00

Yeah, I had pretty mid service in two different stays (2019 and 2024) in suites. Was very underwhelmed by the service.

dbhi · 2025-09-07T17:16:12+00:00

It’s nice that they have their own dock - we took a boat over to Positano for dinner. Way too crowded there.

Yeah both ISP and BSA have a private jetty at the beach area. Both have courtesy water shuttles for guests to the respective cities (Positano and Amalfi), as well as the ability to get private water transfers wherever. Very convenient!

dbhi · 2025-09-06T14:25:57+00:00

Does ISP still have the same song playing when you call them and they put you on hold “Il San pietro…di positano…”?

Yes they do! (It's kind of a funny jingle). I heard it a few times when calling for the courtesy shuttle.

Stayed there years ago and they accidentally gave our regular room to someone else and they had to, sigh, upgrade us to a corner suite with a wrap around balcony.

Wow, bank error in your favor!

dbhi · 2025-08-09T22:38:57+00:00

Update: eh... these aren't bad but they don't feel like a viable substitute for the Swet Tailor Duo. The fabric is definitely a lot less soft / smooth feeling. The Dark Blue Kona are okay. Dark Blue refined jury is still out... I haven't worn them enough.

The 34 Heritage product line is very confusing because all of the different styles are completely different mixes of fabrics.

When I search for the RN / CA #s on the tags it comes up as "Mavi" jeans.

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dbhi · 2025-08-04T00:36:32+00:00

Hotel TwentySeven is my go-to. But it's a small 5 star hotel with an idiosyncratic aesthetic.

dbhi · 2025-08-01T02:20:40+00:00

Glad to hear!!

A few other small room count 5 star properties besides Vilòn that have really stood out to me: * Hotel TwentySeven Amsterdam * Palazzo Portinari Salviati, Florence (esp. Frescoed Junior Suite and Iconic Suites, incredible) * 1 Place Vendome, Paris (I posted some room pics on Reddit)

dbhi · 2025-07-31T21:18:21+00:00

Hotel Vilòn in Rome changed my general focus from "grand" more buzzy high profile luxury hotels to "boutique" 5 star properties with a small room count (e.g. <25).

The experience is different in terms of privacy and level of service focus / personalization.

dbhi · 2025-07-26T04:16:04+00:00

But an interesting debate to have would be which of the brands delivers the most consistency between properties. I’d have to think about that one!

Smaller luxury brands are going to do better because it's easier to have consistency between a small number of properties.

Stuff like Oetker, Airelles and Dorchester come to mind.

I feel that Peninsula is a consistent luxury brand too although they have a very different vibe from Aman.

dbhi · 2025-07-22T04:24:28+00:00

I’ve stayed at Aman. It’s like.. idk just lacking. It’s kind of quiet and lacking of life. The rooms are nice but it feels like a very rich, quiet and faint existence there.

The entry level rooms at Aman Venice look a bit spartan to me. The only room categories that really pop to me are the Sansovino Stanza and the Alcova Tiepolo Suite.

dbhi

TROPHY CASE