I’m Stuck Somewhere between Hillbilly and High Class

On the socioeconomic status ladder of life I think I have one foot nestled on the hillbilly rung and another stretched up to high-class.  Both feet are wearing Birkenstocks and are badly in need of a toenail trimming.  At least this is the self-image I came away with after spending a Labor Day weekend at The W on South Beach.  I like the idea of being pampered and enjoying the finer things in life.  I just don’t like the price tag that come with life’s luxuries nor the pompous attitude that consumers of high end goods and services exude.

Okay, I have a confession.  I didn’t actually pay for my Spectacular Studio (their name, not mine).  The two free nights were part of a Starwood Preferred Guest promotion ran during the summer.  Every three stays scored me a free resort night.  What a great way to land a weekend in one of them there swanky places.  After all, I had been working hard and deserved some luxury.  That is until I saw what things cost at the resort.  Even though my $450 a night hotel was free, I had a hard time swallowing $10 for a beer or $16 for a cocktail.  So the bar was a mixology bar.  Big deal.  The price was not justified.  I don’t even know what the food prices looked like.  I knew I wasn’t buying.  Sure, call me cheap, but does a $16 Bacardi and Coke taste any better than the one I mix at the Ayrsley neighborhood pool from my $13 fifth of Bacardi?  No, it doesn’t.  If you think so, you’re kidding yourself.

This is where my qualm with expensive hotels lies.  I am already paying more to stay there.  Why should I pay more for everything else?  Why does the privilege of paying more equate the opportunity to pay even more?  Look at Hampton Inns for example.  It’s a nice, clean hotel with free breakfast and free Wi-Fi.  The rooms are normally cheaper than those at a Hilton Garden Inn.  But at the Hilton Garden Inn, guests are charged for breakfast and Wi-Fi.  Why is this?  Because they pay more for the room?  This makes no sense.  It’s a caste mentality, really.

Okay, back to my example.  The service at The W was exquisite.  They really looked out for my every need.  I never stayed at a hotel with towel service at the pool (when you could actually get a chair).  Not that I can’t spread out my own towel on my beach recliner; it’s just nice to have someone do this for me.  Then there was the Acura Experience.  Anywhere you wanted to go within a five mile radius of the hotel for free in a new Acura MDX.  You did have to watch a promotional video though, but it beat a cab in price and style.  I also had the opportunity to utilize Whatever/Whenever, a service that does just what it advertises.  The first challenge I threw at I was easy – dinner reservations.  The second was not so easy – chop-chop delivered from Chicken Kitchen.  El Pollo Tropical didn’t count.  They offered to find a location that would deliver it for us or they would go and pick it up.

So maybe there are some perks with staying at a high class hotel such as The W.  But after two rounds of drinks for my wife and I at the pool with the bill of over $70 that accompanied them, we found ourselves with Bud Light Lime on our ocean front balcony listening to traffic and honking horns.  The sound of the waves crashing onto the beach was drowned out by the chaos that is Miami.  The poolside wasn’t much better.  The beach wasn’t in sight and the musical accompaniment was umph-umph music.  It’s a beach – give me cheesy reggae or Jimmy Buffett.

Was it my kind of place?  Not really.  Would I stay at a W again?  Sure.  As long as I had free nights.  Maybe more-so in a big city though.  I like the beach feel of staying at the beach.  A feeling that can’t be had at the swankiness of The W South Beach.  It’s New York style with better weather and beach.  For more on my review of The W South Beach, check on my Trip Advisor Review.