perks

Crazy Perks at the Best Hotels

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Services

A place to sleep is just a place to sleep when it all comes down to it, and since the atmosphere can only be so nice how do luxury hotels set themselves apart from each other? With the perks and services they offer, of course -- and you better believe they go all out and get seriously creative. Here are just a few of the crazier perks you can find at some of the best hotels, courtesy of Forbes Traveler:

Helicopter transfers between the airport, hotel, and shopping (Hilton Sao Paulo Morumbi)
A sleep concierge to ensure you get the best night's sleep possible (The Benjamin)
Customized aromas: after finding out what your preferences are the housekeeper stocks your room with preferred scents (Palazzo Magnani Feroni)
Pet perks like special bedding and dishes, pet sitting, walking, and massages (Nine Zero)

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Tags: concierge, hotel, hotels, journeys, luxury, perk, perks, services

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Schultz Tops Executive Perk List

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

The Puget Sound area of Washington State is home of some of the largest publicly traded companies in the US, including Starbucks and Microsoft. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer compiled a chart to compare the salary and other benefits of executives in that part of the country and Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz eclipsed the competition with $104 million in executive perks. One standout in the list of perks was the expense of his personal travel expenses in Starbucks company aircraft. Schultz racked up a bill of $475,685 last year - four to eight times what the average public company gives to their execs. As a contrast, Starbucks CEO James Donald only spent about $11,000 on personal travel perks on company aircraft. Starbucks has two jets, a 2002 Gulfstream GV and a 2004 Bombardier Challenger 604.

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Tags: executive, flight, perks, price, starbucks

Planes Give Back Perks

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Wings

When you fly in a private plane, you can provide as many or as few perks to your co-passengers as you like, from drinks to entertainment to a catered dinner. Passengers on commercial flights, even those in first class, have rapidly seen perks stripped away over the past couple of years, which makes flying a bit disappointing - especially during the holidays when everyone is traveling to visit family and friends. The WSJ reports (subscription) that some airlines are starting to give some back to passengers, though. American Airlines "added back silverware and hot cloth towels" to first class, as well as "baked on board" cookies. Northwest Airlines has fresh fruits and muffins to offer to their first class passengers, and United is planning "iPod connectivity" for international passengers. The changes are coming slowly, but steadily and are even reaching back to coach, as Delta has "reintroduced mid-flight snacks" for all their passengers.