This year, travelers of means will be checking into remote new lodges and upscale all-inclusive resorts, and demanding reasonable prices, relatively speaking.
“The high-end market is responding to three plagues in travel: overpriced, overcrowded and overheated, as in global warming,” said Jack Ezon, who runs the bespoke travel agency Embark Beyond, based in New York.
Still, big spenders aren’t flinching at high-season rates topping $1,000 a night at cosseting new resorts that prioritize privacy, including Our Habitas Alula, set amid sandstone canyons in Saudi Arabia, and Gundari Resort, with suites built into cliffs on the Greek island of Folegandros in the Cyclades chain.
For those hoping to avoid soaring temperatures, openings in cooler climates also offer seclusion. Flockhill Lodge in New Zealand’s Southern Alps sits on a 36,000-acre sheep farm (rates start around $2,200). In the Scottish Highlands, Kilchoan Estate will open on a 13,500-acre estate that will require a ferry to reach (rates will start around 1,000 British pounds, or about $1,220).
On the pricing front, several newcomers are adopting a model usually associated with bargain beach vacations — the all-inclusive — minus the bargain. You won’t have to whip out your wallet for every rum punch and sushi roll at the Princess Senses The Mangrove in Jamaica, where rooms include overwater bungalows (from around $600 a night). Guests at Impression Isla Mujeres by Secrets, in Mexico, reach the all-inclusive by a private catamaran shuttle (from about $1,700 a night). In spring, W Hotels will open its first all-inclusive, W Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic (opening rates from $799 a night).
Bundled rates offer a way to predict costs among an increasingly price-sensitive set of luxury travelers. Many felt gouged by the run up in prices when travel came roaring back post-pandemic and the industry suffered from disruptions, understaffing and supply-chain issues. Now, they want to justify the expense. According to Embark Beyond, when safari lodges in Botswana last year started charging $8,000 a night, the agency’s bookings in the African country fell 35 percent.
The revenge travel mind-set — accompanied by a willingness to pay whatever it costs — is wearing off.
“Luxury travelers are still prioritizing travel, but forgiveness around lack of service or escalating prices in certain destinations has reached this tipping point,” said Misty Belles, the vice president of global public relations for Virtuoso, a consortium of high-end travel agencies. “It’s more of a normalization, returning to value for money.”
