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marriott is the world's largest hotel
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chain with over 7 000 properties
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worldwide but after it merged with
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starwood hotels in 2018 now it has about
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30 different hotel brands
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what are the differences between all
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these brands where should you aim to be
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redeeming your marriott bon voy points
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at and i'm staying right now at jw
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marriott how is that actually different
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from a regular marriott in this video as
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somebody who redeems my marry at bon voy
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points to maximize my stays at marriott
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hotels very frequently i'm going to walk
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you through to the best of my knowledge
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the differences between marriott's 30
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hotel brands for each brand i'll share a
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few of my impressions of hotels under
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that brand what you can expect when
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you're staying with a hotel and some of
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my favorite hotels around the world
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under that brand for you to aim for a
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points redemption so we've got 30 odd
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hotel brands to go through and no time
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to waste let's begin we'll start on the
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luxury side of the spectrum with st
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regis which is arguably the most
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luxurious brand within the entire
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marriott bon voy portfolio now st regis
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hotels are known for their gold and
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glamorous decor they're known for their
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over-the-top ostentatiousness and
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they're also known for providing butler
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service to every room butler service
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being a dedicated round-the-clock butler
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that will bring you coffee and tea at
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your beck and call and also help you
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with any needs that you have during your
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stay it's definitely a very high level
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of luxury that they're going for and my
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personal favorite saint regis
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experiences include the saint regis new
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york which was the original st regis
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hotel understandably there was also a
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fair bit of snobbery among the staff
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there i also enjoyed the saint regis
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shenzhen in china with their two-story
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suite as well as the same regis bali
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which had a killer breakfast with caviar
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and poached eggs and lobster as well in
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the future i'd love to stay at the saint
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regis maldives which looks absolutely
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stunning and in my opinion if you're
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going to redeem mario bonvoy points for
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a st regis hotel it's definitely going
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to be a very luxurious and enjoyable
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experience all around moving on now to
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the ritz carlton which is also a luxury
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brand and one that's arguably more
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well-known than saint regis now in my
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opinion while st regis has the gold and
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glamorous decor the ritz-carlton hotels
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tend to look more like an old boys club
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on the inside they're kind of all about
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the dark wooden finishes in the living
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room the marble finishes in the bathroom
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that type of classic luxury vibe that
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they're going for now some people might
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be all about that type of vibe
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personally while i do enjoy the marble
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bathrooms they're really nice but i do
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think that kind of old boys club feel is
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a little bit too stuffy a little bit too
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much however i have enjoyed a few really
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nice ritz carlton stays over the years
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the best one probably being the ritz
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carlton kyodo in japan as well as the
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ritz carlton resorts in langkawi and
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bali and by canadian standards the ritz
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carlton montreal is a super super nice
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hotel as well
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one thing you gotta know about ritz
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carlton hotels though they don't honor
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some of the marriott bon voy elite
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benefits you're not gonna get free
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breakfast at most ritz carlton hotels
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with the exception being the ritz
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carlton kyoto in japan and you also
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won't get lounge access because you do
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need to pay for the ritz carlton club
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lounge access so if all things were
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equal if i had to choose between a saint
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regis and ritz carlton nine times out of
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ten i'm going for the saint regis next
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up on our luxury list w hotels which
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really needs no introduction w hotels
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are loud colorful in your face bold and
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boisterous and they're kind of the place
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in every city to see and be seen or at
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least that's the way they market
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themselves and every w hotel usually has
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a weird gimmick or two to really capture
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your attention and make half the people
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who walk by the hotel say oh i'd love to
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stay there and the other half say oh
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take me as far away as that place as
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possible you can expect some outlandish
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decor in your room minimal privacy
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between the bedroom and the bathroom
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with sometimes even a bathtub in the
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bedroom itself and some awesome spaces
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to host a party or two and when you get
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out to the public areas you can usually
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expect a killer outdoor pool
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some crazy outlandish decor in the lobby
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as well and of course a huge w sign that
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makes sure you know exactly where you
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are some of my favorite w hotel stays
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have been in shanghai dubai and the
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verbier ski resort in switzerland and
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i'd also love to check out the w's in
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the maldives bali and taipei as well now
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next up on our list is my personal
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favorite jw marriott hotels and i'm
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currently staying at the vancouver
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location i love jw marriott because it's
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got this approachable sense of luxury
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compared to let's say the more stuffy
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types of luxury at st regis and ritz
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carlton where you kind of feel like you
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might be judged by the clientele if
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you're staying there on points i also
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love jw marriott because they've got
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this modern mid-century design down to a
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t and because they always treat me
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really nicely as an elite member
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whenever i go somewhere and there's a jw
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marriott hotel in town that's usually my
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first choice of a place to stay because
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i know that i can hardly go wrong with
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my choice
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now my personal favorite jw marriott
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experiences have been at the dubai hotel
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which is the second largest hotel in the
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world with a killer executive lounge i
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also really enjoy the jw marriott park
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vancouver right here they've always
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treated me really well and of course the
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jw marriott maldives which was a very
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very special trip for me
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last year just before the pandemic hit
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that i finally got to squeeze in my
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first trip to the maldives with my
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favorite hotel brand now next up the
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luxury collection which is kind of like
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marriott's collection of independent
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luxury hotels hotels that would
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otherwise be really nice but wouldn't
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fit into one of the other brands but
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have also decided to work with mariette
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anyway there's quite a bit of variety
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across the entire luxury collection
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portfolio but you can generally expect
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some really nicely appointed rooms and
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suites some really good elite treatment
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as a mario bonvoy elite member and
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perhaps a touch more character compared
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to some of the other hotels that are
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under the more cookie cutter brands
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under the entire portfolio my favorite
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luxury collection hotel that i've stayed
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at is no doubt the almaha desert resort
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on the outskirts of dubai where you
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actually get an entire bedouin suite to
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yourself you've got the desert animals
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wandering up to your private pool you've
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got two activities and three meals a day
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covered under your all-inclusive plan
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including if you redeem points at this
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resort it's one of the top tier
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aspirational experiences for mario
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banvoy members and it's something i'd
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recommend that everybody try at least
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once all right now wrapping up our
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luxury brands is edition hotels which
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can kind of be thought of as the modern
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and more millennial oriented successor
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to ritz carlton the name of the game
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with edition hotels is minimalism you
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can basically expect a very simple setup
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in your room or your suite a simple bed
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desk tv simple stuff in the bathroom and
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that's basically it supposedly the
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service is excellent and that's what
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justifies the pretty expensive prices
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that edition hotels charge i'm looking
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forward to a stay at the bowdrum edition
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in turkey one day which i hear is one of
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the best edition hotels out there the
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other thing to know about edition hotels
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not only are they super expensive but
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they're also kind of stingy just like
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ritz carlton's they don't give free
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breakfast to marriott bon voy platinum
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elite members and above with the
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exceptions of very few edition hotels
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the bodrum edition in turkey being one
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exception and that's another reason why
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i'm looking forward to staying now one
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more thing to note before we move on
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from the luxury brands there's also
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technically the ritz carlton reserve and
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bulgari hotels under the marriott
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portfolio however these two brands don't
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actually participate in mario banvoy so
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you can't earn or redeem points you
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can't earn elite nights and you can't
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use your elite benefits either basically
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there's not much point looking at these
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hotels unless you're gonna splash the
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cash all right so now we've covered all
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the luxury hotel brands now we're going
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to move down a step to kind of the
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upscale premium hotels that aren't quite
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the top tier luxury and in this category
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you've got marriott sheraton and delta
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hotels in my mind there's not too much
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to set them apart so i'm going to
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address all three at once all three
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brands are full service hotels that you
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can find in pretty much every major
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market in the world and sometimes
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they're accused of being a little bit
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cookie cutter because the experience is
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largely the same from one place to
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another the rooms and suites are
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typically pretty standard in terms of
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design there's not too much special
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that's going on and the elite treatment
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is usually pretty good with an executive
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lounge for elite members to visit for
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breakfast and evening hors d'oeuvres the
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other good thing i would say about
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marriott sheraton and delta hotels is
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that they tend to be offered in
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locations where you wouldn't necessarily
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expect a higher end luxury hotel for
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example when i visited accra in ghana as
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well as nova sibirsk in siberia you
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wouldn't expect a saint regis or a w in
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these places but there's usually going
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to be a marriott accra emeritus
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navasibirsk it's kind of a reliable
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brand that you can find in all places
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around the world and usually in some of
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these more off the beaten path locations
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they tend to be priced very cheaply
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compared to the local cash rates as well
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in terms of my favorites i might just go
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with the marriott novosibirsk in terms
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of having a nice junior suite to rest
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our heads after a grueling journey on
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the trans-siberian railway for the
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sheraton i would pick the sheraton oman
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for the crazy studio suite that we
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received and for delta hotels well it's
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canadian brand and the delta toronto has
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killer views of the cn tower so i'll go
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with that now the parallel brands to
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marry at sheraton and delta that are
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also in that premium upscale category
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but supposedly have a bit more character
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about them are western le meridien and
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renaissance hotels now i really couldn't
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tell you too many specific differences
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between all of these brands because
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after staying at all of them they kind
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of start blending together a little bit
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but for weston le meridien and
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renaissance they tend to have a little
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bit more emphasis on the lifestyle
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element of staying at a hotel so for
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example western hotels around the world
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will sometimes provide free sneakers for
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their guests probably before the covet
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era just in case the guest hasn't
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brought their own sneakers so they can
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go down to the gym for a workout or as
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an alternative i found that renaissance
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hotels typically have some more quirky
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interior decor just to add a little bit
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of inspiration to your stay i haven't
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had the best experiences with le
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meridien hotels i've found that their
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beds can sometimes be a bit
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uncomfortable so i'd probably say that
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they're my least favorite in this entire
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category but in terms of my favorites
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the westin perth is an awesome hotel for
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any trip to western australia it's got a
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killer breakfast a really nice club
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lounge and they're pretty generous with
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their sweet upgrades to some pretty sick
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suites my favorite renaissance hotel in
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the world is probably the saint pancras
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renaissance hotel in london it's housed
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in the same building as the saint
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pancras train station and it looks like
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you're in a harry potter movie the whole
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time and for the meridian like i said
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they haven't been my favorite but if i
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had to pick one that i've stayed at so
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far the meridian cairo airport was a
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solid choice for an overnight stay in
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cairo it's directly linked to the cairo
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airport so you don't have to deal with
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all the taxi drivers you just go
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straight to the meridian hang out in the
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club lounge get your night of sleep and
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then go see the pyramids on an overnight
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layover finally one last brand in this
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full service category that i haven't
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stayed at myself is called gaylord
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hotels and i think they've only got a
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few locations across the united states i
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really don't know too much about gaylord
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hotels they seem pretty good looking at
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the pictures and one day i'll stay at
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them and i'll let you know how i find
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them okay after all these cookie cutter
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brands let's move on to another set of
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collection hotels similar to the luxury
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collection that we talked about earlier
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but again a step below that more like
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the upscale full service level here
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we've got the autograph collection
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design hotels and the tribute portfolio
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and honestly even though i haven't
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stayed with design hotels or the tribute
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portfolio before they all kind of seem
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the same to me all three brands
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represent good quality and oftentimes
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unique hotels that would otherwise be
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independent but have chosen to link up
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with marriott for that greater
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recognition among travelers if you're
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somebody who wants to stay at these more
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independent boutique hotels but you
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still want your elite benefits like
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breakfast and drink vouchers and points
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then you might go for an autographed
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collection or a tribute portfolio on
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your next trip design hotels by the way
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also doesn't fully participate in the
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marriott bon voy program you can still
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earn and redeem points but you can't get
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elite benefits like breakfast or sweet
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upgrades i mean ritz carltons and
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editions have the excuse that they're
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trying to be exclusive i don't know
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what's going on with design hotels i
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really don't to give you an idea of what
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autograph collection hotels are all
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about i once stayed at the hotel
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telegraph in tallinn estonia it was
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housed in an old communications building
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in the heart of the italian old town
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super unique place would highly
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recommend it for any trips to estonia
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and again it was that boutique vibe that
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autograph collection is all about all
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right so we've covered all the full
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service hotels by marriott now it's time
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to move on to the limited service hotels
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where it's probably going to be a bit
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cheaper there's not much going on there
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probably isn't a restaurant on site and
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it's pretty much all about having a
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place to sleep at night running through
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them one by one starting with courtyard
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hotels everybody's kind of familiar with
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courtyard there's really not too much to
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say about them
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there's a nice room a nice bathroom
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sometimes if you're lucky a larger room
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or a suite there's usually a grab-and-go
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section and a cafe in the lobby and if
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you're lucky and you go to one of the
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better courtyard hotels in asia there's
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sometimes even an executive lounge in
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fact my favorite courtyard stay was
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probably at the courtyard phnom penh in
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cambodia where they had really nicely
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appointed rooms as well as an executive
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lounge and a rooftop pool overlooking
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the city but otherwise my remaining
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courtyard stays mostly at airport hotels
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here and there have been pretty
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forgettable for the most part four
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points by sheraton think about it as
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being as cookie cutter as a sheraton
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hotel but cheaper and a little bit
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scaled down there's not too much to say
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about a four points by sheraton although
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i did really enjoy the one in auckland
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new zealand and it's kind of weird that
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that's the only marriott hotel in all of
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new zealand then we have element hotels
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which i've never stayed at before but in
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my mind i think of it as basically a
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clone of four points by sheraton if
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anybody stayed at element hotel before
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and knows something distinctive about it
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do let me know in the comments below
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next up aloft hotels and for aloft you
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can kind of think of them as a baby
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version of w hotels they've got the same
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neon lights they've got the same weird
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lettering to describe certain parts of
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the hotel but overall it's pretty
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limited service and there's usually not
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any suites at the hotel it'll be just
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mostly rooms with a simple bathroom i've
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only ever stayed at one aloft hotel it
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was in montevideo in uruguay and i
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wasn't overly impressed it was just kind
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of a simple if a little bit colorful
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place to rest our heads now another
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limited service brand that's kind of
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similar to aloft is known as moxie
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hotels and as i understand it it's kind
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of like the hotels take on a hostile
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experience there's a lot of emphasis on
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the social spaces in the lobby and not a
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lot of emphasis at all in the room the
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rooms are actually kind of poor quality
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based on all the reviews out there
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personally for me i've never stayed at a
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moxie hotel before and i'm not too
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excited to stay at one for the first
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time if i wanted to stay at a hostel i
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would just go stay at a hostel now
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here's an interesting one residents in
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hotels are known for being a great fit
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for families who travel together because
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usually there's a suite as the base
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level room and there's a separate
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bedroom and a living room that can
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convert into a pull-out bed as well as a
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kitchenette where you can prepare some
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meals on your own for the kids to enjoy
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if i'm not mistaken i think i've stayed
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at one residence inn in the past it was
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the one in ottawa but it didn't really
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stand out for any reason however i do
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think that i will be staying at
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residence inns in the future when i have
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a family of my own and i need extra
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space for all the kids to run around all
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right we're almost getting to the end
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here with two limited service brands
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that are known for being particular to
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their geographic location that's protea
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hotels which is commonplace throughout
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africa and ac hotels which has a huge
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presence in spain and a few hotels
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dotted around the world these brands
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kind of originated in their respective
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locales and were eventually brought into
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the marriott portfolio and usually
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you'll only see a protea hotel if you go
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to somewhere in africa they have quite a
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few nice hotels around safari locations
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as well as some of the popular national
00:16:09
parks in south africa and if you ever
00:16:11
wanted to do a road trip through spain
00:16:14
you'll find ac hotels dotted through
00:16:16
basically every little spanish city i
00:16:18
personally would love to do an extended
00:16:20
trip through spain and portugal one day
00:16:22
and i'm sure i'll be staying at lots of
00:16:24
ac hotels at the time just as i will be
00:16:26
staying at lots of protea hotels when i
00:16:28
finally go on my first trip to south
00:16:31
africa one day and finally to wrap up
00:16:33
the list we have spring hill suites
00:16:35
fairfield inn and suites and town place
00:16:37
suites and you know what i really don't
00:16:39
have anything to say about these brands
00:16:41
besides the fact that they're great for
00:16:43
mattress running because they're usually
00:16:44
a category one or two if you find them
00:16:47
in a cheap location so you can often
00:16:48
rack up lots of elite qualifying nights
00:16:50
to help you earn or retain your marriott
00:16:52
bon voy status by booking an extended
00:16:54
stay at one of these hotels and hey
00:16:56
oftentimes if you call the front desk
00:16:58
they might be okay with you just doing
00:17:00
mobile check-in without actually having
00:17:02
to show up yourself of course these
00:17:04
hotels are often situated near the
00:17:05
airport and they make for a cheap
00:17:07
overnight stay before your flight it's
00:17:09
pretty simple you check in check out and
00:17:11
go catch your flight
00:17:13
and with that we've covered pretty much
00:17:15
everything you need to know about
00:17:16
marriott's 30 or so hotel brands under
00:17:19
the overall portfolio i really do think
00:17:21
they have almost too many brands these
00:17:23
days and so i hope this video has been
00:17:25
helpful in showing you what to expect
00:17:27
from each different brand as you go
00:17:29
about maximizing your merry bon bonvoy
00:17:31
points for hotel experiences after the
00:17:33
pandemic is over if you enjoyed the
00:17:35
video make sure to hit the like button
00:17:37
and subscribe to the prince of travel
00:17:38
youtube channel just click the subscribe
00:17:40
button below the video and let me know
00:17:42
in the comments below how many of the
00:17:44
different mario bomboy brands have you
00:17:46
stayed at by my account i've stayed at
00:17:48
18 out of the 30 or so and which brand
00:17:51
are you most eager to try next
00:17:53
let me know and i'll see you in the next
00:17:54
video
00:17:57
oh
00:18:14
you
