tl;dr – The independent hotel network joins a list of other luxury companies offering similar bucket-list experiences.
A few months ago, I published a List of Companies That Will Jet You Around the World For $100K+. Recently, Preferred Hotels announced ‘Legendary Journeys‘ (if that link is down, try this one) in partnership with Bucketlist Experiences, where it will offer guests a 17-night trip visiting Singapore, India, Rwanda, Kenya, Greece, Morocco, and London.
For a bit of background, we’ve seen similar bucket-list excursions from brands like Four Seasons, National Geographic, Smithsonian (though they are typically outsourced to a small handful of operator companies) and they generally include: an around-the-world itinerary with several stops in compelling destinations, lay flat seating in said jet (in most cases), accommodations in upscale hotels when you’re on the ground, and all meals, beverages and most experiences included in the price. Most itineraries are about three weeks in length – some a bit shorter, some a bit longer. The ‘luxe’ level of each offering differs by brand and provider, but that’s generally what you can expect.
For its inaugural journey, Preferred Hotels is limiting the offering to 29 couples (single occupancy available upon request), and pricing begins at $133,500 per person (based on double occupancy).
Guests will stay at the following hotels:
- Singapore, The Fullerton Bay Hotel, Preferred Hotels & Resorts’ Legend Collection member (Two nights):
- Jaipur, India, Preferred Hotels & Resorts’ Legend Collection member (Three nights)
- Kigali, Rwanda, The Mövenpick Kigali (Partner property) (Two nights)
- Kenya, andBeyond Suyian Lodge or Angama Mara (Partner properties) (Three nights)
- Santorini, Greece, Andronis Luxury Suites, Preferred Hotels & Resorts’ Legend Collection member (Three Nights)
- Marrakech, Morocco, Mandarin Oriental (Partner property) (Three nights)
- London, United Kingdom: The Londoner, Preferred Hotels & Resorts’ Legend Collection member (One night)
As a bit of sweetener, participants will receive I Prefer Hotel Rewards Titanium Status, along with 1 million I Prefer Hotel Rewards points, ‘equivalent to more than 10 complimentary hotel nights at over 650 I Prefer Hotel Rewards participating properties worldwide.’
This is obviously aimed at the traveler who has $250K+ to drop on luxury travel, so they may very likely not put too much value on those 1 million points. Still, they aren’t nothing. For all the number crunchers out there, let’s say you were able to redeem those 1 million points for 10 nights at $550 per night (that’s admittedly conservative here, as I’m sure you could get much better value across Preferred’s vast portfolio) – that’ll be $5500 in value, ~2% back on your purchase. Again, nothing earthshattering, but still, something.
While Preferred’s luxury ATW journey isn’t as lengthy as some of the others I’ve written about, it’s also not as expensive. And it does punch above its weight – Gorillas in Rwanda and a luxe safari?
I have a soft spot for Preferred Hotels dating back to when I was invited to a random members’ event in San Francisco. They had some cool swag (super cozy blankets that my cats quickly claimed as their own) and the loyalty team was affable and engaging.
Price aside, these types of journeys will definitely not seem like something I’d love to do. I absolutely love the exploration aspect, as well as the convenience, but where I bow out is with the 2.5 weeks traveling alongside a bunch of random folks. The small talk would be death by a 1000 cuts.
