January 17, 2026 • 54 mins
The Wishing Well's Terrie Dean and Harry Reif discuss this week's travel news and Hot Deals!
When luxury whispers, you listen. In this episode, we slip into two of Mexico’s most coveted oceanfront escapes: The St. Regis Punta Mita and Siari, a Ritz‑Carlton Reserve in Riviera Nayarit. We unpack the kind of low‑key indulgence that puts privacy, sense‑of‑place, and intuitive service above flash—think calm surf, natural textures, thoughtful design, and experiences curated to your pace.
You’ll hear how St. Regis Punta Mita delivers timeless elegance with beach‑to‑table dining, serene pools, and signature butler service—ideal for couples, families, or multigenerational getaways. Then we head north along the coastline to Siari, a Ritz‑Carlton Reserve, where seclusion, artisanal craftsmanship, and personalized itineraries (from wellness rituals to coastal adventures) set a new bar for Riviera Nayarit luxury.
We compare rooms & villas, dining philosophies, wellness offerings, beach vibes, and who each resort is best for—plus practical guidance on the best times to visit, how to get there (via Puerto Vallarta), and what’s worth splurging on. If you’re planning a honeymoon, a milestone trip, or simply crave a quieter, more soulful side of luxury, this episode is your blueprint.
When luxury whispers, you listen. In this episode, we slip into two of Mexico’s most coveted oceanfront escapes: The St. Regis Punta Mita and Siari, a Ritz‑Carlton Reserve in Riviera Nayarit. We unpack the kind of low‑key indulgence that puts privacy, sense‑of‑place, and intuitive service above flash—think calm surf, natural textures, thoughtful design, and experiences curated to your pace.
You’ll hear how St. Regis Punta Mita delivers timeless elegance with beach‑to‑table dining, serene pools, and signature butler service—ideal for couples, families, or multigenerational getaways. Then we head north along the coastline to Siari, a Ritz‑Carlton Reserve, where seclusion, artisanal craftsmanship, and personalized itineraries (from wellness rituals to coastal adventures) set a new bar for Riviera Nayarit luxury.
We compare rooms & villas, dining philosophies, wellness offerings, beach vibes, and who each resort is best for—plus practical guidance on the best times to visit, how to get there (via Puerto Vallarta), and what’s worth splurging on. If you’re planning a honeymoon, a milestone trip, or simply crave a quieter, more soulful side of luxury, this episode is your blueprint.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a Lifeless Ordinary, the travel show and podcasts
from your friends at the wishing Well two forty three
f Avenue in harsmerg and online at the wishing Well
dot biz. The wishing Well is your ultimate luxury concierge
travel agency and a Lifeless Ordinary is a travel show
and podcasts hosted by Terry Dean, bringing her over forty
years of experience in the travel industry to help guide
(00:21):
you to great experiences in your travel, whether it be
around the block, around the country, or around the world.
Let's bring in Terry Dean and say hello, Chris, Hello,
hele in the world?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Are you? And we're all here together?
Speaker 1 (00:32):
I love it. Also, Harry Rife is here, of course
he is.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
It's fun to be here with the two of you.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
So we haven't talked in a couple of months. Let's
start off by wishing you happy Thanksgiving, a merry Christmas,
in a happy New Year, and any other holidays it
fell in between that I've missed.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
It has been the busiest end of a year that
I have ever seen, and it is looking like it's
going to be the busiest beginning of any year I've
ever seen.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Well, that's waking like it is the beginning, the busiest
beginning of.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
The year that you know that in our history, and
that's thanks to you, the success of this show and
all the people that listen, So thank you out there.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yeah, I love hearing that you guys are busy.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
It's it's wonderful. I know in the best kind of ways.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
I know that you'd like to sleep in addition to
being busy, but yeah, no, it's it's great. Well, we're back,
it's a new year. It just told us that things
are going really well at the Wishing Wealth.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Gangbusters is a word. There you go.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
And you guys have been busy in your personal lives too,
I'm sure, yeah, you've probably done some fun stuff. We
should get caught up.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Christmas was wonderful. The New Year was
pleasantly quiet, like I like them. But then travel began
to get important for us. And actually myself was invited,
which I'm going to talk about today, was one of
only eight other travel agents across the United States that
(01:59):
was invited to tour and inspect two brand new properties,
luxury property. So we're going to talk a bit about
that today.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Excellent. Before we get into our show, we always get
caught up on the news, and we've got a lot
of news to get caught up on this week.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Indeed, we do, and you don't want to start. This
is a new year, so a lot of folks out there, which,
by the way, again you know from our hearts at
the wishing Well mine and Harry's, we thank you. We
thank you for showing up every week here on a
lifeless ordinary and letting us know that. I mean that
(02:35):
really does my heart good when I hear people say
your show means a lot to me. I learn a
lot from your show. So thank you all of you
out there. Please continue to listen to us this year.
We've got some exciting things coming your way, guests, and
that kind of thing that we're going to bring into
the show as well. So let's take a look at
(02:58):
what the news looks like this week. So we've got
some new data out there, Chris that reveals exactly who
is using travel advisors, and we know that while inflation
definitely a growing issue for a lot of American travelers,
the travel market continues to remain strong for now, and
(03:21):
business for travel agencies in particular is asking the market,
which is what Harry and I just confirmed to you.
The continued strength of travel agency revenue is being helped
along by one demographic in particular, and that is the
wealthy travelers. According to a new analysis titled the US
(03:43):
Travel Agency Landscape twenty twenty five, exclusive and high end
luxury travel is leading the gains for travel agencies. Wealthier travelers,
undeterred by higher prices, continue to seek out unique experiences
and the personal service travel advisors offer. Here's a closer
look at who's using travel advisors in twenty twenty six,
(04:06):
and while they will be the client profile of the
US travel agents, though it's not entirely surprising, report reveals
that travelers who work with travel advisors are typically older
and wealthier than the average traveler. In fact, more than
three quarters of clients are over forty years old, with
(04:28):
forty four percent older than fifty five. In addition, six
and ten travel advisor clients have an annual income of
over one hundred thousand dollars or more. In fact, the
largest income bracket by far that turns to travel for
assistance are those who earn between one hundred thousand and
(04:49):
five hundred thousand dollars annually. A mere five percent of
travel advisor clients are twenty five or younger according to
the report, and twenty percent are in the twenty six
to forty year old category. But don't be fooled. Younger travelers,
who have a strong drive to travel, remain a key
(05:10):
demographic in the broader travel market. They're just booking travel
on their own without the assistance of a professional, and
these younger, more cost conscious travelers, they turn to online
travel booking platforms to find the lowest prices available to
carry out their travel plans. They don't really care about
the ambiance of the place when they get there. But
(05:32):
here's the catch. According to this report, younger generation is
crucial for the long term success of the travel advisor channel.
So we need these people. We need these younger folks.
It's a fact not lost on travel advisors who are
increasingly focused on attracting and gaining gen Z and millennial
(05:53):
advisors with a large social media presence to better engage
with younger travelers. And we're hearing more and more about
even travel influencers who are out there who repeatedly go
and check out these other properties and are given a
pass into these luxury properties because they can and do
(06:15):
influence a large market and a large swath of their
own social media contacts.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Are these influencers their own type of travel agent?
Speaker 2 (06:26):
You know? In a way, I mean, I would say
they are an evolution of the travel advisor community because
in a way they do advise and they certainly do
coach people into traveling via their lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
But not in a one on one situation. Not in
a one on one You're not getting.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
The customers to do it all via social media, right.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
It's via social media. One of the things that I've
observed though, I think that plays into this also, Terry,
is that a lot of people have had a travel
experience and have encountered a problem or difficulty. That's not unusual.
Things don't go as planned, They just don't. It could
be whether it could be mechanical difficulties, could be you know,
an error in the travel planning. It seems like from
(07:14):
my observation, younger travelers are more tolerant of that and
they own those mistakes. But we do see people come
in regularly, and Terry you'll attests to this too. We
do see people come in regularly who've had a terrible
travel experience. And while that's not the reason I want
somebody to use a travel advisor. What happens, Chris, is
(07:36):
that if you've been burnt once, you're not going to
go back and get burnt a second time. And the
assurance that you get from a reputable, involved, dedicated travel advisor,
not just an agent someone who just books something, but
an advisor, somebody who gives you advice. That's the value
(07:56):
that we talk about on this show. And I think
if you get it burned, it doesn't matter what your
age demographic is, you learn an important lesson, and that
is you can get the same thing without paying extra.
In many cases, certainly at the Wishingwell, without paying extra.
Why wouldn't you do that and not have that problem
(08:16):
occur a second time? They're smart people.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Yeah, yeah, And you know, you can make a simple
retail mistake in any kind of product that you purchase.
But if you make an error with travel that's not
going to be a small dollar mistake, well you'll end.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Up the wrong airport. I had someone come in today
that talked about planning a trip and he, you know,
he said, I was so proud I did my air fair,
he says, And when I got done, I realized I
was flying out of one airport in Washington returning to
a different one. Wow.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I love this story. When I worked in Charleston, West Virginia,
we had ll Coolj coming in to perform at the regatta.
Oh wow, and he didn't show up. They flew him
to Charleston, South Carolina. He was about three hours late
for a show that night.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Oh no way.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
They had to get him turned around and back up
to Charleston.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
To a person or if you're typing something in you
don't pick up those differences.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Well, let's take a look. Since we know now that
there is a large swath of people who really are
using the services of a travel agency and a travel advisor,
I like to say, let's take a look at where
they're actually going and where they might be booking for
twenty twenty six, because that also is news for the
new year. Travel advisors are often the ones with the
(09:32):
first sense of that inside knowledge about traveler behaviors and
the new travel trends that end up kind of dominating
social media feeds and booking. So what are travel advisors
seeing this year? Well, what trends, destinations and travel styles
are travelers going to engage in during twenty twenty six
and beyond well, I'll tell you Trending Destinations surveys in
(09:57):
which travel advisors identified the top to nations they expect
to dominate in twenty twenty six identified some major destinations
continuing to dominate the travel scene, especially in ever popular Europe.
That's sting ding ding, that's going to be at the
top again for twenty twenty six, and those include Italy
(10:17):
no surprise, Portugal and Greece, as well as the Riviera
Maya and Alaska. Closer to home, and I'll tell you,
I've never seen Alaska boom like it has the last
two years, and it's starting the same way again here
in twenty twenty six. Germany has also been very popular
among some of my recent requests, especially experiences by land there.
(10:41):
I received a handful of small southern German town vacation
requests just in the past few weeks. European travel is
still as popular as ever, but the summer trend continues
to be the UK and Northern Europe, Thinks, Scandinavia, Scotland, Wales,
many other of my clients are headed to the Mediterranean
and the Adriatic in the spring. In the fall, so
(11:04):
While people might still be visiting the same places they've
been in years past, the seasons they're traveling in aren't
as clear cut as they used to be. Vacation season
used to be June, July, and August. Well, that's not
happening anymore. Most travelers are choosing to do some off
season travel because they're sick of the heat. Yeah, they're
(11:28):
sick of paying big dollars for triple digits. That's not pleasant.
So a lot of people don't want to do that.
Yet some people, especially the well traveled, who've likely already
visited some of the more popular destinations, or who just
want to explore further for both their wallets and more
immersive travel experiences. They're thinking about places like Eastern Europe, Japan,
(11:53):
and destinations across Africa and beyond. Those are becoming very popular. Lastly,
it seems advisors all agree that cruising has never been
more popular. Harry mentioned a while ago that we are
right in the center of waves season. January is the
most popular time to book. You used to grow. With
(12:13):
the onset of new cruise ships and experience styles, travelers
are changing their preferred methods, with some advisors noting that
clients are less interested in megaships this year, and they
favor mid to small ship experiences. Think those yacht cruises
we've talked about here before. Those are some of my
guests that I'm going to be bringing on this year.
(12:35):
We're going to be talking real time here on a
lifeless ordinary with those folks. There's always a desire for
my travelers, whether it's in the luxury sector or otherwise,
to find emerging locations that aren't completely on everybody else's
radar yet. And the growth of river cruising is not
to be ignored. Clients from gen X down to gen
(12:57):
Z are now understanding the ease of travel provided by
river cruise, and I'm especially excited for Uniworld's new ships
coming in twenty twenty six and twenty twenty seven. They
absolutely embody the concept of the floating boutique hotel. I mean,
these are some fine, fine vessels, and again we're going
(13:21):
to be as we head into twenty twenty six, we're
going to be bringing on a lot of these folks
as guests, and I think it's going to be exciting.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
And if you have any interest in river cruising, go back.
We've got a lot of podcasts that we've spent time
on that specific subject. You can just put in River
Cruise in the search bar right there at the top
of the wishing Well dot biz. You'll find a place
in the upper right hand corner where you can find
all the podcasts here on a lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, thank you for that, Chris, because a lot of
folks do want to go back and listen sometimes to
and I'll sometimes will point clients to our podcast when
they come in and they have particular interest in a subject.
One of them that's real popular right now this week
I have done so many of them are the Christmas markets,
(14:08):
and I know we have run some of those in
the past couple of weeks. Really go back and listen
to those if that's your interest, because we covered a
lot of information there. Now. Another sector that is expected
to soar in twenty twenty six is the sports tourism market.
I mean, if you get inspired when you're watching videos
(14:30):
about the Olympic athletes overcoming those personal and sporting obstacles.
I always loved those ABC commercials when they would say
the victory, the how was it? They said, the something
of victory, the any of defeat that all the victory.
That's it.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
World of sports. Yeah, this summer we're going to see
a lot of that.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Because of the World Football or FIFA coming to North America.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
And you're not alone if all that kind of excites you,
you are not alone. And with the Olympic fever rising
ahead for the twenty twenty six Winter Games in Milan
and Courtina, many ardent sports fans are planning to level
up their experience by catching events live and in person
in Italy. Actually, and if you're interested, the Olympics are
(15:21):
the dates of that are February sixth through the twenty second.
So we are staring that right in the shake. Absolutely.
Now that's just the tip of the sports tourism Iceberg.
Twenty twenty six is poised to be a huge, huge year,
from the Super Bowl to the FIFA World Cup. Harry,
you mentioned that sports tourism currently accounts for about ten
(15:41):
percent of global expenditures on tourism. That's a big number,
bigger than it's ever been before. And according to a
recent Expedia report, fifty seven percent of travelers say they
are likely to go to a local sports event during
their trip. But those numbers don't tell the whole sports
and entertainment are coming together and people are looking to
(16:04):
build serious memories around attending iconic events. Chris, I'm going
to ask you if you remember one of the Lifeless
Ordinary episodes that we did entirely devoted to sports and
sporting events and building your travel around that.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, and we talked to this amazing We talked about
the FIFA World Cup, We taw the Olympics. I think
we talked about the super Bowl in that episode. And
I don't remember what the show was titled. If you
go and just put in FIFA or in the surf fun,
it'll find it because it's in the keywords yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
And superl On February eighth this year, it's going to
take place at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Ticket
Master cost of the average Super Bowl resale ticket this
is staggering, is between four thousand and six thousand dollars.
Yet that might be on the conservative side for this
year's event at the home of the NFL's San Francisco
forty nine, with bad Money headlining the halftime show, with
(17:03):
high demand and unscrupulous resellers out there, Fraud prevention in
ticket sales is one of the hot button areas where
travel advisors can really add value for you because we
get them from reputable sources. Events like the World Baseball
Classics in the US, Puerto Rico, and Japan and the
FIFA World Cup present different rewards and logistical challenges. The
(17:28):
World Cup features forty eight national teams this year for
the first time ever, spread out over sixteen host cities
in Canada, the US, and Mexico. It's expected to be
the biggest and most watched sports event in history, and
the goal is to create a sports trip where you
can soak it all in, where even if your team
(17:48):
doesn't win, it is quite a weekend and terry.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Besides the sports that you're talking about, the professional sports,
one of the trends that I'm seeing in my own
son did this. He's got young soccer player in his household,
two of them, and instead of paying four thousand dollars
for a professional match ticket, what he did this year
over the holiday break is he took one of his
sons over to England. They attended some professional soccer matches
(18:15):
over there, made arrangements for them to go down on
the field and meet with some of the players. A
very extraordinary personal family vacation, and I think we're going
to see more of that too, because we have all
these young soccer players, basketball players, football players. Of a
great way to engage your young person and to reward
(18:38):
them for something special, maybe great grades, whatever. Think about
a themed vacation for your family this year.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Yeah, absolutely, And again we talked a lot about that
in a previous podcast. Do go back and listen. Two
more real quick news stories I want to share with
folks that are particularly of interest to anybody who traveling,
and number one is Oceana Cruise Lines, one of my favorites,
have sold them for years since they entered the water,
(19:09):
but they are changing as part of their move into
the luxury space, which is interesting. That's another thing we're
going to talk a lot about on today's show. Oceana
Cruises is transitioning to adults only. That means eighteen and above,
effective right now, from all new reservations for future voyages.
(19:29):
All existing reservations made prior to January seventh that include
travelers under the age of eighteen will be fully honored
in a move that the cruise line says ensures a
considerate transition for valued guests, but their guests will now
be all adults, and they are branding themselves and rebranding
(19:51):
themselves as the adults only brand. Actually, they're the third
after Virgin Voyages and Viking, both of which are upper
premium brands, not luxury. Cruise linest to make of.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
This decision because it's what the customer is asking for,
or are they doing it because this is what their
insurance is asking for.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
No, this is what the industry is trending toward, which
is luxury travel. I mean, that is why I was
I'm so proud of this show that we do a
lifeless ordinary because that's what we focus on. And you know, Chris,
as we've said before on this show, luxury comes in
all flavors, shapes and sizes. It really does, and it
defines itself in the minds of people differently. You know.
(20:36):
To me, luxury starts with a direct, NonStop flight, yep,
you know. But other people they need quiet and they
want a more fulfilling experience where maybe not everyone else's
children are part of that experience. So Oceana is transitioning
to that because that's what the trends are now demanding.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
But there's still a cruise lines where fanilies can go
having absolutely goodness.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yes, there will always be a market for families and
they will always be important. But you know, there's also
this luxury growing luxury market that is trending right now,
and there are some.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Cruise lines that do like that multi gen kind of
clientele and they are luxury.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
But the idea is, the idea is everybody.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Are many people on that particular cruise you know, is
a cruise line will expect that they expect to see
families and kids. And I think this move by Oceana
is great in that they're probably going to start revamping
some of the spaces on those ships. They have started
revamping some of the spaces on those ships to have
(21:50):
more adult focus and instead of having that teens area,
it might suggest maybe a cigar lounge. That might not
be the only thing, but it's going to be something
different that's focused on that particular aspect of their clientele.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, and success in businesses know your clients, know your clientele.
And right now Osiana has put their finger on the
pulse of their clients and said, you guys want luxury,
that's where we'll go.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
You can do it.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Yeah, and actually you'll find an answer to your question
about whether or not there is still a market for families.
Harry's going to share with us in just a few
minutes some sales that we've got, and some of those
are pointing toward a cruise line that still is very
family focused. So we're going to deal with that. But
one last piece of news, Chris, that I wanted to
be sure and share with our listeners today, and that
(22:40):
is beginning February, the first air travelers will be required
to show an acceptable form of ID, meaning the real
ID on your driver's license, or they will have to
pay forty five dollars or use an alternative identity verification system. So,
starting next month, all travelers who don't present an acceptable
(23:03):
form of ID at US airports this is domestically, will
need to pay forty five dollars to use an alternative
alternative identity verification system. So let's just say you're somebody
who doesn't have a real ID and you decide you
want to use a passport card instead. You can, but
they're going to charge you forty five dollars for that.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Now, I for one find that exceptional in a very
negative way, because I am a US citizen, and I
do have a passport and that is a valid form
of ID. So I don't know how far they'll get
with the enforcement of this when they get a good
lawyer at the gate who challenges it. But anyway, my
(23:49):
job is to tell you what the new rule is
and what it says. And with that, I'm going to
hand over the mike to Harry and let him talk
to you about sales.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
What a nixt time to talk about sales. Both of
you have mentioned wave season, and wave season isn't just
putting your hand up and waving goodbye. But wave season
is that time of year when cruise lines in particular
look to build their book of business for the coming year.
What they want to do is fill up their order book,
(24:21):
and so they put out some fantastic offers. We started
seeing those weep out over the Black Friday weekend, but
January is the big month. So I want to talk
about a few of those if I can. To start
with we talked about luxury. One of the luxury lines
out there is a line called Silver Seage Yachts, someone
(24:42):
that people may not have heard of. This is clearly
a luxury line. They have exquisite service, they are offering
forty discounts that are ranging in the area of forty percent,
which is significant. That's all almost half off and up
(25:03):
to a two category room upgrade. That makes for a
really nice trip if you can combine those. We have
those in stock and available. The reservation time on that
is up through February second, in terms of making the reservation,
not taking your sail cris but making your reservation between
(25:25):
now and the second of February. So if you want
to give an early Valentine's gift, you might want to
consider a Silver seas yacht cruise. Another of my favorites,
and this is one that does allow families. Terry was
talking about this earlier, but it is I think one
of the nicer cruise lines. It's Emerald. Emerald Cruises and Tours.
They do a lot of river cruises. They're not a
(25:47):
name that's as popular as some of the ones that
you might recognize doing a river cruise. But they've got
some flash sails out there. They've got some two for
one sales out there. I am looking at their sailing
for a multi generational family right now, and I'm trying
to book that this month so that they can have
their sailing later on this summer at these wonderful discounted rates,
(26:11):
very very nice ships, a little bit smaller in terms
of the passenger count than Viking and some of the
others out there, but I'm a big fan of Emerald
and this sale is really good. We talked about somebody
more in the middle of the line of cruises, and
that's Rural Caribbean. What they've done is instead of percentage off,
(26:32):
they've got just a whole host of what they're calling
flash deals that they're feeding to.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Us every day, every week.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
And so if you're interested in finding something that's that
middle of the budget point kind of cruise line, Rural
Caribbean right now is a very solid cruise line, very
good cruise line. People like cruising with them, and these
flash sales, if you're flexible on your destination, you can
get a really really great value. You're talking about values
(27:04):
that are that are, you know, in the forty percent off,
fifty percent off. I've even seen some two for ones
coming on some of these.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Yeah. So what's interesting about that is that you know,
we are a life less ordinary at the Wishing Well.
Most everything that we do is driven for your happiness,
and sometimes happiness is dollars saved. You know, that's that's
luxury to some people. And so I want to tell
you that some of these deals with Royal Caribbean are
(27:33):
starting at three hundred and thirty eight dollars per person
for a four to seven day cruise, as well as
four hundred and thirty eight dollars. Now there's another piece
of that that Harry didn't share with you that I will,
and I invite you if you're interested. You are our
friends out there, all of you who listen to us,
you are friends. So Royal Caribbean gives us the authority
(27:57):
to give what we call friends and family discounts for
certain cruises. It doesn't apply to all of them, but
they do apply to some of the cruises. Since you
all are our friends, we want to invite you to
call us and ask us about those. If there's a
particular date you're interested in, we're happy to share those
with you.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Yeah, those are really nice and we hand those out
pretty liberally, know there, Yes we did. Yeah, we have
a lot of friends. So those are just some of
the wave specials. But I wanted to talk about two
others also that are not cruising specials. But one of
them as our friends at Sandals. They've got a tremendous
(28:39):
special going on right now with some airfare credit and
some room credit at a lot of their properties they
called their winter Blues sale, going to go down to Paradise.
Sandals are great properties. They are all inclusive properties that
includes all things, not just that you're eating and drinking,
but they have a lot of water sports opportunities as well.
(29:02):
So I like Sandals a lot.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
If it gets much cold than seventeen degrees, we're all
going to have the winter blues and we're all going
to need Sandals.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
They don't do ice skating. They go to they go
to the warm places, no ice skating. Last thing I
want to talk about a rail and one of the
opportunities that we offer at the Wishing Well for vacations
is with a group called Vacations by Rail.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Oh, these are amazing.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
They are some package trips. They use Amtrak trains in
the United States and they couple them and package them
with some wonderful hotel experiences, sight seeing experiences, and so
they basically don't just give you the train ride, they
give you the vacation and when you bundle those together,
you get some tremendous savings. Traveling by rail is absolutely fantastic,
(29:52):
and vacations by rail has savings right now that the
range that I saw went up to one thousand dollars
per couple on some of.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
The Yeah, I mean, the discounts are amazing, and I
actually have perused some of their vacation offerings for people,
and I want to tell you, if you are a
rail enthusiast, this is the time to book. Especially with
these discounts in place, you cannot go wrong. That's what
you call no buyer's regret. When you get one thousand
(30:22):
dollars off per couple, you thank yourself for you feel
great right away. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
And they have trips that combine rail systems in North America,
so that means us in Canada too, And they also
have some specials out there. If you happen to be
in that demographic you were talking about earlier, Terry, that
senior demographic, if you're an ARP member, they have some
discounts for you too. But there's one other rail that
(30:49):
I want to talk about, and I just can't help
talking about them any chance I get, and that's our
friends at Rocky Mountaineer. Yep, they have some early booking
specials out now. Their season is not yet begun up
in Canada, so they have some early booking specials where
they are taking you know, five hundred and one thousand
dollars off of some of their trips. That tremendous trip, Chris, tremendous.
(31:12):
Remember us talking about the Rocky Mountaineer. I love the
Mountain to do that last summer.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
They have a US counterpart that goes through the American Rockies,
the Canyon Express, that is also fantastic. I'm I'm just
waiting to do that. But they have some tremendous specials.
And because the Wishing Well is one of their preferred partners,
we have some great ends there too. So please, please, please,
(31:38):
if you want to do a vacation, you don't want
to leave the country, but you want that rail opportunity.
You've got two that I'm talking about, vacations by rail
and the Canyon Express.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
A lot of news, lots of deals. We still have
a show to do. You went on this mystery experience.
I guess was it last week?
Speaker 2 (32:01):
This is unreal, Chris, Yeah, left me at home, Chris.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Unsupervised. Our show today is entitled When Luxury Whispers, and
it's all about your experience it is. I'm excited to
find out exactly what that means. We'll get into our
show and Luxury Whispers next. Here on a Life less Ordinary.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
The wishing Well loves putting smiles on the faces of
people you love. This Valentine's Day enjoy free in town delivery.
When you place your Valentine's Week order by January the
thirty first, send flowers to your Valentine at work or
at home. Order online at the Wishing Weld up is
stop by two forty three and nef Avenue or call
five four zero nine zero eight two three three three.
(32:42):
That's five four zero nine zero eight two three three
three The Wishing Well, where every bouquet makes people smile.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
And welcome back to a life less ordinary. This is
your travel show from your friends at the Wishing Well.
You'll find them at two forty three f Avenue in Harrisonburg.
If you have any questions about any of the topics
we have or are going to discuss today, why don't
you give him a call at five four Oho nine
oh eight twenty three thirty three. You can also find
them on the website the Wishingwell dot Biz. Our show
(33:11):
today is entitled When Luxury Whispers, and this is all
about Terry's mystery trip that she went on. She got
a special VIP invite, one of only eight travel advisors
that were invited to this mystery location. They told you
before you when you're just giving it a mystery to us, right, rereck,
just pack warm and cold clothes. You'll find out when
(33:32):
you get there what you need. Where did you go?
Speaker 2 (33:34):
All they had to do was say you're going someplace
really warm in January, and I was like, I'm there.
I'm there. But you know, Chris, every now and then,
and I've been around for now forty eight years in
this industry. I returned from a trip that doesn't just
(33:57):
give me stories, to tell me perspectives, and it gives
me a brand new way to experience travel. And that
is exactly what I did. It recalibrated my understanding of
what travel can be and more importantly, what it should
feel like.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
You know.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
It always used to entertain me as a kid when
my parents would bring us, my brother and I back
from vacation and I would hear my mom and dad say,
and this might sound familiar to you if any of
your parents vacation and you came back home and they go,
I'm so tired, I need a vacation from my vacation.
(34:39):
Did you ever hear that I did? Yeah, and I've
heard it too. I mean for years and years I have,
you know, dealt with people and been in this industry
long enough that some of my clients have even said that. Well, really,
what they're saying is I was too busy to really
enjoy where I was. And that's sad. That's something that
shouldn't happen. But today's show is one of those moments
(35:01):
where I'm going to tell you how vacationing and how
travel really should feel. Recently, as Chris said, I had
the privilege, and I do mean privilege of being invited
to personally stay and inspect totraordinary luxury properties in Mexico.
(35:23):
One was the Saint Regis in Puntumita and the other
was the CIII, which is a Ritz Carlton Reserve property.
This was not a press trip, this was not a
sales tour, and it was not open enrollment. This visit
was by invitation only, and it was extended to just
(35:44):
nine travel advisors across the entire United States. I was
so lucky, humbled, and lucky to be one of them.
That we were chosen specifically for our experience working with
discerning travelers who value thoughtful journeys. That is what the
criteria was. And they looked at our list of bookings
(36:09):
and said, you meet what we're looking for. So we
want you to see our property. And I share that
actually not to boast at all, but to explain why
what I'm about to tell you matters. It's because what
I experienced was not marketing. It was reality and that
(36:30):
was amazing. So I want to start by saying, luxury
has really changed. I mean when we think about what
it means, and we talk about that a lot here
every week here, all of life less ordinary, but it's
really changed. It's no longer about excess or formality. That's
(36:50):
that's not luxury to most people. It's no longer about
being impressed. Luxury today is about being effortless. That's the key,
and it's about being able to arrive somewhere and instantly,
instantly feel grounded, not wait a couple of days and
go well. It took me about three days to sort
(37:12):
of get work out of my mind and all that. No, no, no,
no luxury. The kind of luxury I'm going to talk
to you about today, it happens immediately, and it's about
having your time protected. It's about not needing to explain yourself.
True luxury is when you are no longer managing your vacation.
(37:33):
Your vacation is taking care of you. And that philosophy
is kind of woven deeply into both of these two brands.
Though each expresses itself in its resfonement for grace, all
you have to do is look at their marketing materials.
They try to exude that in the things that they
(37:54):
tell you about with their product. It's kind of a
sense of timelessness. But what struck me in Puntumita was
how human that elegance really felt. From the moment I arrived,
the energy was calm, It was just serene, and it
was unrushed, but yet it was welcoming in the same colm.
(38:20):
The resort itself beautiful. It spread out with wide walkways,
just the most beautiful landscaping and endless views of the Pacific.
As a matter of fact, when I first walked into
the open atrium in the hotel, which is where check
in took place, which, by the way, there were no
(38:40):
check in desks, no, No check in took place in
a lounge area and a concierge walked over and said, Hi,
my name is SO and So I'm here to check
you in for your retreat. It was lovely. There was
no front desk, no intimidation, no no wood between me
(39:01):
and this human being. It was just a talk at
a table. It was lovely. So I'll tell you what.
If you actually want to go to our social media site,
The Wishing Well on Facebook or Instagram, you can actually
see some of my pictures that I took from this visit.
(39:21):
And one other things I want to tell you about
is the resort itself. It's kind of really spread out,
but the accommodations are really generous in size. I mean
we're talking twelve hundred square feet of space in my
single suite at this location with terraces. I had my
(39:44):
own private terrace there. I had my own outdoor shower.
I had an indoor shower, but I had an outdoor
shower also, and I had an enormous soaking tub, which
yes I did use. But the beds were like sleeping
on clouds. It was amazing. Bathrooms felt like private spas.
(40:09):
They were also gorgeous. And everywhere, I mean everywhere, there
is a sense of this quiet intention. You feel it,
You feel it immediately when you get there. And it's
not formal, it's not stiff. I know I've had a
lot of clients before who have said, oh, Saint Regis, Yeah,
(40:32):
that's probably just a little too starchy for me. Not
at all. This was the most comfortable elegance I have
ever experienced in my career. It was amazing and it
was intuitive. I had a butler. Let's talk about the
hallmark of the Saint Regis experience, which is butler service. Yes,
I had a butler, and Chris, your butler learns your
(40:55):
rhythms almost immediately, like they know your coffee preferences, preferences,
whatever it is that you usually like to drink. Now,
I will tell you I am not a coffee or
tea drinker. I drink only water, and so really I do.
And so every morning my butler knew this, and I
(41:15):
would get a knock at my sweet door and I
would open the door and they're on a beautiful tray.
Were waters of all different flavors with fruits and all
kinds of things that I could flavor it with, but
only water, which I was so impressed by because I
only told him that once, which I thought was just
(41:38):
amazing and very intuitive. Again, dining times, they know when
you want to eat, whether you want help planning, or
if you need just space to kind of wander around,
if you want to be unbothered. I should say, this
is the kind of service that makes you feel deeply,
(41:59):
deeply at ease because nothing ever feels like an ask.
It just feels very normal and natural. And dining at
the Saint Regis Punta met to O good Lord equally
thoughtful from elevated regional flavors. They do like to use
a lot of local products and produce and that kind
(42:24):
of thing to relaxed beachfront meals where shoes feel optional
and tom really isn't even relevant. This is a property,
Chris that works beautifully for couples that are kind of
seeking maybe understated romance, anniversary couples, multi generational families who
(42:45):
want some space and grace. I had a family in
this week that I've been dealing with. They're all getting
together as a family to celebrate his parents' sixtiest wedding anniversary.
This would be perfect for that and travelers who appreciate
heritage but they demand comfort. It's classic luxury, softened ba warmth.
(43:07):
I'd say so. It's just a perfect property for all
those reasons.
Speaker 1 (43:11):
I want to talk more about this experience you had
because this is the stuff that dreams are made of.
Our show today is entitled When Luxury Whispers will continue
our conversation next here on a Life Less Ordinary.
Speaker 3 (43:23):
The Wishing Well loves putting smiles on the faces of
people you love. This Valentine's Day, enjoy free in town
delivery when you place your Valentine's Week order by January
the thirty first, send flowers to your Valentine at work
or at home. Order online at the Wishing Weld. Up
is stop by two forty three and af Avenue or
call five four zero nine zero eight two three three three.
(43:44):
That's five four zero nine zero eight two three three
three The Wishing Well, where every bouquet makes people smile.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
Now welcome back to a Life Less Ordinary, your travel
show and podcasts from your friends at the Wishing Well.
They're on nef Avenue in Harrisonburg, online at the wishing
Well John Biz or give him a call at four
O nine eight twenty three point thirty three. Our show
today is entitled When Luxury Whispers. You got to say
it that way, Terry, you do. We are talking about
(44:11):
this great experience that you were a very select group
of people's people got to experience travel advisors like yourself.
And let's continue that conversation. We were talking about the
butler service and how they very quickly learned your preferences.
No coffee or tea for Terry Dean, just water, yep.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
And it really truly was an honor to be selected
to go and see these properties. When when I travel,
you know, I will confess the Saint Regis and the
Ritz Carlton properties are not usually ones that I would
maybe go to first. I would long to, but that
doesn't always seem to fit for my family travel. But
(44:57):
I learned something very interesting on this trip, Chris, and
that is that they do fit and people who shy
away from these luxury properties, there's reasons, deep reasons why
you maybe should consider them. And the next property that
I want to talk about here, we talked about the
(45:17):
Saint Regis Puntamita I hope I created and painted a
verbal picture, a good enough one for you that you
kind of got the gist of what that experience was
like for me. But the next one that I want
to take you to was called CII. It's a Ritz
Carlton Reserve. Now there's a very big, big difference between
(45:39):
a Ritz Carlton and a Ritz Carlton reserve. First of all,
there are multiple Ritz Carltons across the United States and
internationally we know that, right, but there are only eight
Ritz Carlton reserves in existence. And I was in the
world and I was in one of them. Wow, I
(46:00):
know something, so so truly rare. It's a retreat and
they're built that way. They are specifically built to be
in remote areas where they blend in to the natural
area that they are highlighting, which is wonderful. The architecture
(46:26):
is just it's made so that it's seamless into the
natural surroundings, and villas that are there are intentionally spaced
to preserve privacy. A lot of them feature private plunge pools.
Mine did, so. I mean again, this was a twenty
five hundred square foot room that I had, which was
(46:49):
in many cases like a small home, not really bigger
than many apartments. It was expansive views that were almost
I would say cinematic. I mean when I looked, I
had a very interesting experience when I walked into my room,
(47:10):
never had this experience before. My butler walked me into
the room and he said, Mistine, the Ritz Carlton Reserve
is pleased to welcome you to your suite. And we
walked down this very short little hallway and it was
like the angels saying, oh, you know, And really that
moment just sort of hit me and I teared up.
(47:34):
I mean, I was awestruck. I sort of lost my
breath for a moment, just kind of you know, and
I teared up from it. I couldn't believe I was there.
I'd never seen anything so beautiful. I could swear I
had transported into heaven. It was that gorgeous, It was
that beautiful, It was that serene. The whole fourth wall
(47:57):
of my room opened up to the outside, and they're
on this beautiful deck that was immaculately decorated and furnished.
There was my private plunge pool. And when I say private,
I mean it was no one could see me in there.
No one would have a view to me there this hotel, hotel,
(48:22):
This was not a hotel. This retreat really just faced
nature and God, that's it was. It was unbelievable. And
this was a place that adapted to me. Me, Tierry Dean,
you know, I'm not important at all, but this place
(48:43):
adapted to me. I mean, this is a place, Chris,
where there are residents is the Ritz Carlton Reserve is
also famous for many of the residences that they have there.
They build them and they sell them, and many times
they are going to be celebrity status percha. Many of
them have been, and we actually did see celebrities on
(49:06):
the property. But when they purchase these resort retreats here
at the Ritz Carlton Reserve, the starting price is thirty
million dollars.
Speaker 1 (49:19):
That's easy to handle.
Speaker 2 (49:21):
Pocket change, right for a lot of people. I'm sure
that's true. But service here, it's no wonder that celebrities
would want to be here because service here is almost invisible,
which is what you really want. It's yet profoundly present
staff members there. Remember again, your preferences and experiences are
curated very gently. Nothing is rushed, nothing is forced, And
(49:46):
this is luxury stripped of performance ciaris for travelers who
have been everywhere, want privacy without isolation. They crave meaning
as much as they do beauty. It is peaceful, it
is grounding, and it stays with you long long after
(50:07):
you leave. I mean, I still wake up in the
mornings and I go I remember that feeling I had
when I woke up there. It was just transformative. And
trips like this invitation only immersive and intentional exist Chris,
so that advisors like myself can truly understand how a
(50:29):
place feels, not just how it photographs. Because that's important.
I need to be able to translate that to my clients,
to you, our listeners, because luxury travel isn't about price
points anymore. It is not. It's about alignment. It's matching
the right traveler to the right experience. That's an art,
(50:52):
and when it's done well, the trip doesn't feel extravagant,
it feels right. So if you're somebody who's ever said
I want this trip to feel special, or I don't
want to think, I just want to be and I've
been there, I've been so really so fried mentally from
(51:15):
work is stressful. Sometimes I won't lie it is, and
I'm sure it is for a lot of you who
are listening, a lot of our friends out there who
visit a life less ordinary here every Saturday. Again, thank you.
But if you're one of those people, this is what
your vacation could look like. It could look like this
peaceful retreat I was talking about. So, whether it's the
(51:38):
graceful elegance of the Saint Regis Puntamita or that soulful
sanctuary of Siarra, a Ritz Carlton Reserve, these are not
simply places to stay, Chris. They are places to arrive
at fully. And that's what it means to have luxury
(52:01):
that whispers. It's not loud, it doesn't have to be,
but it rejuvenates you. And in the next week, next
week's show, we're going to dig a little deeper into
the Saint Regis product and the Ritz Carlton product, and
I'm going to really break that down for you so
you fully understand what these properties are all about. It's
(52:26):
going to be I think eye opening for a lot
of people who have often shot away from those properties
thinking yeah, I could I could never probably stay there.
I would be out of place. I won't have the
right clothes or I won't do things right. Nothing could
be further from the truth. You are kind of schooled
(52:48):
and don't know it, you know when you go to
these places. So it's really really wonderful. You know. It's
a place that I would definitely recommend. It's definitely a
place would and could go back to.
Speaker 3 (53:01):
How about me? Can I go back to.
Speaker 2 (53:05):
If you're invited? Harry? I'm sure yeah.
Speaker 3 (53:09):
I think you know, the special kinds of experiences that
you had are very special because of the things that
you've done. There are a lot of people who've done
things in their life that deserve the same kind of
special experience, and I hope that people listening out there
think that's me.
Speaker 1 (53:26):
I look forward to next week's episode so we can
dig deeper into these two properties. How do we get
in touch with you if we have any questions about
anything we've talked about today.
Speaker 2 (53:34):
Wishing Well is easy to find, Chris. We're located at
two forty three nef Avenue in the Valley Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
They can call us at five four h nine oh
eight two three three three or look us up on
the web. We are at the Wishingwell Dot Biz.
Speaker 1 (53:50):
This has been a life less Ordinary. The travel show
from your friends at the wishing Well at two forty
three nef Avenue in Harrisonburg. If you have any questions
on topics discussed today, please reach out to the wishing
Well online at the Wishingwell dot biz or five four
oh nine oh eight twenty three thirty three. Past episodes
are available on the iHeartRadio app. And we'll see again
next Saturday morning at ten for a life less Ordinary
(54:13):
from the wishing Well
This is a Lifeless Ordinary, the travel show and podcasts
from your friends at the wishing Well two forty three
f Avenue in harsmerg and online at the wishing Well
dot biz. The wishing Well is your ultimate luxury concierge
travel agency and a Lifeless Ordinary is a travel show
and podcasts hosted by Terry Dean, bringing her over forty
years of experience in the travel industry to help guide
(00:21):
you to great experiences in your travel, whether it be
around the block, around the country, or around the world.
Let's bring in Terry Dean and say hello, Chris, Hello,
hele in the world?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Are you? And we're all here together?
Speaker 1 (00:32):
I love it. Also, Harry Rife is here, of course
he is.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
It's fun to be here with the two of you.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
So we haven't talked in a couple of months. Let's
start off by wishing you happy Thanksgiving, a merry Christmas,
in a happy New Year, and any other holidays it
fell in between that I've missed.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
It has been the busiest end of a year that
I have ever seen, and it is looking like it's
going to be the busiest beginning of any year I've
ever seen.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Well, that's waking like it is the beginning, the busiest
beginning of.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
The year that you know that in our history, and
that's thanks to you, the success of this show and
all the people that listen, So thank you out there.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yeah, I love hearing that you guys are busy.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
It's it's wonderful. I know in the best kind of ways.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
I know that you'd like to sleep in addition to
being busy, but yeah, no, it's it's great. Well, we're back,
it's a new year. It just told us that things
are going really well at the Wishing Wealth.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Gangbusters is a word. There you go.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
And you guys have been busy in your personal lives too,
I'm sure, yeah, you've probably done some fun stuff. We
should get caught up.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Christmas was wonderful. The New Year was
pleasantly quiet, like I like them. But then travel began
to get important for us. And actually myself was invited,
which I'm going to talk about today, was one of
only eight other travel agents across the United States that
(01:59):
was invited to tour and inspect two brand new properties,
luxury property. So we're going to talk a bit about
that today.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Excellent. Before we get into our show, we always get
caught up on the news, and we've got a lot
of news to get caught up on this week.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Indeed, we do, and you don't want to start. This
is a new year, so a lot of folks out there, which,
by the way, again you know from our hearts at
the wishing Well mine and Harry's, we thank you. We
thank you for showing up every week here on a
lifeless ordinary and letting us know that. I mean that
(02:35):
really does my heart good when I hear people say
your show means a lot to me. I learn a
lot from your show. So thank you all of you
out there. Please continue to listen to us this year.
We've got some exciting things coming your way, guests, and
that kind of thing that we're going to bring into
the show as well. So let's take a look at
(02:58):
what the news looks like this week. So we've got
some new data out there, Chris that reveals exactly who
is using travel advisors, and we know that while inflation
definitely a growing issue for a lot of American travelers,
the travel market continues to remain strong for now, and
(03:21):
business for travel agencies in particular is asking the market,
which is what Harry and I just confirmed to you.
The continued strength of travel agency revenue is being helped
along by one demographic in particular, and that is the
wealthy travelers. According to a new analysis titled the US
(03:43):
Travel Agency Landscape twenty twenty five, exclusive and high end
luxury travel is leading the gains for travel agencies. Wealthier travelers,
undeterred by higher prices, continue to seek out unique experiences
and the personal service travel advisors offer. Here's a closer
look at who's using travel advisors in twenty twenty six,
(04:06):
and while they will be the client profile of the
US travel agents, though it's not entirely surprising, report reveals
that travelers who work with travel advisors are typically older
and wealthier than the average traveler. In fact, more than
three quarters of clients are over forty years old, with
(04:28):
forty four percent older than fifty five. In addition, six
and ten travel advisor clients have an annual income of
over one hundred thousand dollars or more. In fact, the
largest income bracket by far that turns to travel for
assistance are those who earn between one hundred thousand and
(04:49):
five hundred thousand dollars annually. A mere five percent of
travel advisor clients are twenty five or younger according to
the report, and twenty percent are in the twenty six
to forty year old category. But don't be fooled. Younger travelers,
who have a strong drive to travel, remain a key
(05:10):
demographic in the broader travel market. They're just booking travel
on their own without the assistance of a professional, and
these younger, more cost conscious travelers, they turn to online
travel booking platforms to find the lowest prices available to
carry out their travel plans. They don't really care about
the ambiance of the place when they get there. But
(05:32):
here's the catch. According to this report, younger generation is
crucial for the long term success of the travel advisor channel.
So we need these people. We need these younger folks.
It's a fact not lost on travel advisors who are
increasingly focused on attracting and gaining gen Z and millennial
(05:53):
advisors with a large social media presence to better engage
with younger travelers. And we're hearing more and more about
even travel influencers who are out there who repeatedly go
and check out these other properties and are given a
pass into these luxury properties because they can and do
(06:15):
influence a large market and a large swath of their
own social media contacts.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Are these influencers their own type of travel agent?
Speaker 2 (06:26):
You know? In a way, I mean, I would say
they are an evolution of the travel advisor community because
in a way they do advise and they certainly do
coach people into traveling via their lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
But not in a one on one situation. Not in
a one on one You're not getting.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
The customers to do it all via social media, right.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
It's via social media. One of the things that I've
observed though, I think that plays into this also, Terry,
is that a lot of people have had a travel
experience and have encountered a problem or difficulty. That's not unusual.
Things don't go as planned, They just don't. It could
be whether it could be mechanical difficulties, could be you know,
an error in the travel planning. It seems like from
(07:14):
my observation, younger travelers are more tolerant of that and
they own those mistakes. But we do see people come
in regularly, and Terry you'll attests to this too. We
do see people come in regularly who've had a terrible
travel experience. And while that's not the reason I want
somebody to use a travel advisor. What happens, Chris, is
(07:36):
that if you've been burnt once, you're not going to
go back and get burnt a second time. And the
assurance that you get from a reputable, involved, dedicated travel advisor,
not just an agent someone who just books something, but
an advisor, somebody who gives you advice. That's the value
(07:56):
that we talk about on this show. And I think
if you get it burned, it doesn't matter what your
age demographic is, you learn an important lesson, and that
is you can get the same thing without paying extra.
In many cases, certainly at the Wishingwell, without paying extra.
Why wouldn't you do that and not have that problem
(08:16):
occur a second time? They're smart people.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Yeah, yeah, And you know, you can make a simple
retail mistake in any kind of product that you purchase.
But if you make an error with travel that's not
going to be a small dollar mistake, well you'll end.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Up the wrong airport. I had someone come in today
that talked about planning a trip and he, you know,
he said, I was so proud I did my air fair,
he says, And when I got done, I realized I
was flying out of one airport in Washington returning to
a different one. Wow.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I love this story. When I worked in Charleston, West Virginia,
we had ll Coolj coming in to perform at the regatta.
Oh wow, and he didn't show up. They flew him
to Charleston, South Carolina. He was about three hours late
for a show that night.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Oh no way.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
They had to get him turned around and back up
to Charleston.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
To a person or if you're typing something in you
don't pick up those differences.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Well, let's take a look. Since we know now that
there is a large swath of people who really are
using the services of a travel agency and a travel advisor,
I like to say, let's take a look at where
they're actually going and where they might be booking for
twenty twenty six, because that also is news for the
new year. Travel advisors are often the ones with the
(09:32):
first sense of that inside knowledge about traveler behaviors and
the new travel trends that end up kind of dominating
social media feeds and booking. So what are travel advisors
seeing this year? Well, what trends, destinations and travel styles
are travelers going to engage in during twenty twenty six
and beyond well, I'll tell you Trending Destinations surveys in
(09:57):
which travel advisors identified the top to nations they expect
to dominate in twenty twenty six identified some major destinations
continuing to dominate the travel scene, especially in ever popular Europe.
That's sting ding ding, that's going to be at the
top again for twenty twenty six, and those include Italy
(10:17):
no surprise, Portugal and Greece, as well as the Riviera
Maya and Alaska. Closer to home, and I'll tell you,
I've never seen Alaska boom like it has the last
two years, and it's starting the same way again here
in twenty twenty six. Germany has also been very popular
among some of my recent requests, especially experiences by land there.
(10:41):
I received a handful of small southern German town vacation
requests just in the past few weeks. European travel is
still as popular as ever, but the summer trend continues
to be the UK and Northern Europe, Thinks, Scandinavia, Scotland, Wales,
many other of my clients are headed to the Mediterranean
and the Adriatic in the spring. In the fall, so
(11:04):
While people might still be visiting the same places they've
been in years past, the seasons they're traveling in aren't
as clear cut as they used to be. Vacation season
used to be June, July, and August. Well, that's not
happening anymore. Most travelers are choosing to do some off
season travel because they're sick of the heat. Yeah, they're
(11:28):
sick of paying big dollars for triple digits. That's not pleasant.
So a lot of people don't want to do that.
Yet some people, especially the well traveled, who've likely already
visited some of the more popular destinations, or who just
want to explore further for both their wallets and more
immersive travel experiences. They're thinking about places like Eastern Europe, Japan,
(11:53):
and destinations across Africa and beyond. Those are becoming very popular. Lastly,
it seems advisors all agree that cruising has never been
more popular. Harry mentioned a while ago that we are
right in the center of waves season. January is the
most popular time to book. You used to grow. With
(12:13):
the onset of new cruise ships and experience styles, travelers
are changing their preferred methods, with some advisors noting that
clients are less interested in megaships this year, and they
favor mid to small ship experiences. Think those yacht cruises
we've talked about here before. Those are some of my
guests that I'm going to be bringing on this year.
(12:35):
We're going to be talking real time here on a
lifeless ordinary with those folks. There's always a desire for
my travelers, whether it's in the luxury sector or otherwise,
to find emerging locations that aren't completely on everybody else's
radar yet. And the growth of river cruising is not
to be ignored. Clients from gen X down to gen
(12:57):
Z are now understanding the ease of travel provided by
river cruise, and I'm especially excited for Uniworld's new ships
coming in twenty twenty six and twenty twenty seven. They
absolutely embody the concept of the floating boutique hotel. I mean,
these are some fine, fine vessels, and again we're going
(13:21):
to be as we head into twenty twenty six, we're
going to be bringing on a lot of these folks
as guests, and I think it's going to be exciting.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
And if you have any interest in river cruising, go back.
We've got a lot of podcasts that we've spent time
on that specific subject. You can just put in River
Cruise in the search bar right there at the top
of the wishing Well dot biz. You'll find a place
in the upper right hand corner where you can find
all the podcasts here on a lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, thank you for that, Chris, because a lot of
folks do want to go back and listen sometimes to
and I'll sometimes will point clients to our podcast when
they come in and they have particular interest in a subject.
One of them that's real popular right now this week
I have done so many of them are the Christmas markets,
(14:08):
and I know we have run some of those in
the past couple of weeks. Really go back and listen
to those if that's your interest, because we covered a
lot of information there. Now. Another sector that is expected
to soar in twenty twenty six is the sports tourism market.
I mean, if you get inspired when you're watching videos
(14:30):
about the Olympic athletes overcoming those personal and sporting obstacles.
I always loved those ABC commercials when they would say
the victory, the how was it? They said, the something
of victory, the any of defeat that all the victory.
That's it.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
World of sports. Yeah, this summer we're going to see
a lot of that.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Because of the World Football or FIFA coming to North America.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
And you're not alone if all that kind of excites you,
you are not alone. And with the Olympic fever rising
ahead for the twenty twenty six Winter Games in Milan
and Courtina, many ardent sports fans are planning to level
up their experience by catching events live and in person
in Italy. Actually, and if you're interested, the Olympics are
(15:21):
the dates of that are February sixth through the twenty second.
So we are staring that right in the shake. Absolutely.
Now that's just the tip of the sports tourism Iceberg.
Twenty twenty six is poised to be a huge, huge year,
from the Super Bowl to the FIFA World Cup. Harry,
you mentioned that sports tourism currently accounts for about ten
(15:41):
percent of global expenditures on tourism. That's a big number,
bigger than it's ever been before. And according to a
recent Expedia report, fifty seven percent of travelers say they
are likely to go to a local sports event during
their trip. But those numbers don't tell the whole sports
and entertainment are coming together and people are looking to
(16:04):
build serious memories around attending iconic events. Chris, I'm going
to ask you if you remember one of the Lifeless
Ordinary episodes that we did entirely devoted to sports and
sporting events and building your travel around that.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, and we talked to this amazing We talked about
the FIFA World Cup, We taw the Olympics. I think
we talked about the super Bowl in that episode. And
I don't remember what the show was titled. If you
go and just put in FIFA or in the surf fun,
it'll find it because it's in the keywords yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
And superl On February eighth this year, it's going to
take place at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Ticket
Master cost of the average Super Bowl resale ticket this
is staggering, is between four thousand and six thousand dollars.
Yet that might be on the conservative side for this
year's event at the home of the NFL's San Francisco
forty nine, with bad Money headlining the halftime show, with
(17:03):
high demand and unscrupulous resellers out there, Fraud prevention in
ticket sales is one of the hot button areas where
travel advisors can really add value for you because we
get them from reputable sources. Events like the World Baseball
Classics in the US, Puerto Rico, and Japan and the
FIFA World Cup present different rewards and logistical challenges. The
(17:28):
World Cup features forty eight national teams this year for
the first time ever, spread out over sixteen host cities
in Canada, the US, and Mexico. It's expected to be
the biggest and most watched sports event in history, and
the goal is to create a sports trip where you
can soak it all in, where even if your team
(17:48):
doesn't win, it is quite a weekend and terry.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Besides the sports that you're talking about, the professional sports,
one of the trends that I'm seeing in my own
son did this. He's got young soccer player in his household,
two of them, and instead of paying four thousand dollars
for a professional match ticket, what he did this year
over the holiday break is he took one of his
sons over to England. They attended some professional soccer matches
(18:15):
over there, made arrangements for them to go down on
the field and meet with some of the players. A
very extraordinary personal family vacation, and I think we're going
to see more of that too, because we have all
these young soccer players, basketball players, football players. Of a
great way to engage your young person and to reward
(18:38):
them for something special, maybe great grades, whatever. Think about
a themed vacation for your family this year.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Yeah, absolutely, And again we talked a lot about that
in a previous podcast. Do go back and listen. Two
more real quick news stories I want to share with
folks that are particularly of interest to anybody who traveling,
and number one is Oceana Cruise Lines, one of my favorites,
have sold them for years since they entered the water,
(19:09):
but they are changing as part of their move into
the luxury space, which is interesting. That's another thing we're
going to talk a lot about on today's show. Oceana
Cruises is transitioning to adults only. That means eighteen and above,
effective right now, from all new reservations for future voyages.
(19:29):
All existing reservations made prior to January seventh that include
travelers under the age of eighteen will be fully honored
in a move that the cruise line says ensures a
considerate transition for valued guests, but their guests will now
be all adults, and they are branding themselves and rebranding
(19:51):
themselves as the adults only brand. Actually, they're the third
after Virgin Voyages and Viking, both of which are upper
premium brands, not luxury. Cruise linest to make of.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
This decision because it's what the customer is asking for,
or are they doing it because this is what their
insurance is asking for.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
No, this is what the industry is trending toward, which
is luxury travel. I mean, that is why I was
I'm so proud of this show that we do a
lifeless ordinary because that's what we focus on. And you know, Chris,
as we've said before on this show, luxury comes in
all flavors, shapes and sizes. It really does, and it
defines itself in the minds of people differently. You know.
(20:36):
To me, luxury starts with a direct, NonStop flight, yep,
you know. But other people they need quiet and they
want a more fulfilling experience where maybe not everyone else's
children are part of that experience. So Oceana is transitioning
to that because that's what the trends are now demanding.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
But there's still a cruise lines where fanilies can go
having absolutely goodness.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yes, there will always be a market for families and
they will always be important. But you know, there's also
this luxury growing luxury market that is trending right now,
and there are some.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Cruise lines that do like that multi gen kind of
clientele and they are luxury.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
But the idea is, the idea is everybody.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Are many people on that particular cruise you know, is
a cruise line will expect that they expect to see
families and kids. And I think this move by Oceana
is great in that they're probably going to start revamping
some of the spaces on those ships. They have started
revamping some of the spaces on those ships to have
(21:50):
more adult focus and instead of having that teens area,
it might suggest maybe a cigar lounge. That might not
be the only thing, but it's going to be something
different that's focused on that particular aspect of their clientele.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, and success in businesses know your clients, know your clientele.
And right now Osiana has put their finger on the
pulse of their clients and said, you guys want luxury,
that's where we'll go.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
You can do it.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Yeah, and actually you'll find an answer to your question
about whether or not there is still a market for families.
Harry's going to share with us in just a few
minutes some sales that we've got, and some of those
are pointing toward a cruise line that still is very
family focused. So we're going to deal with that. But
one last piece of news, Chris, that I wanted to
be sure and share with our listeners today, and that
(22:40):
is beginning February, the first air travelers will be required
to show an acceptable form of ID, meaning the real
ID on your driver's license, or they will have to
pay forty five dollars or use an alternative identity verification system. So,
starting next month, all travelers who don't present an acceptable
(23:03):
form of ID at US airports this is domestically, will
need to pay forty five dollars to use an alternative
alternative identity verification system. So let's just say you're somebody
who doesn't have a real ID and you decide you
want to use a passport card instead. You can, but
they're going to charge you forty five dollars for that.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Now, I for one find that exceptional in a very
negative way, because I am a US citizen, and I
do have a passport and that is a valid form
of ID. So I don't know how far they'll get
with the enforcement of this when they get a good
lawyer at the gate who challenges it. But anyway, my
(23:49):
job is to tell you what the new rule is
and what it says. And with that, I'm going to
hand over the mike to Harry and let him talk
to you about sales.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
What a nixt time to talk about sales. Both of
you have mentioned wave season, and wave season isn't just
putting your hand up and waving goodbye. But wave season
is that time of year when cruise lines in particular
look to build their book of business for the coming year.
What they want to do is fill up their order book,
(24:21):
and so they put out some fantastic offers. We started
seeing those weep out over the Black Friday weekend, but
January is the big month. So I want to talk
about a few of those if I can. To start
with we talked about luxury. One of the luxury lines
out there is a line called Silver Seage Yachts, someone
(24:42):
that people may not have heard of. This is clearly
a luxury line. They have exquisite service, they are offering
forty discounts that are ranging in the area of forty percent,
which is significant. That's all almost half off and up
(25:03):
to a two category room upgrade. That makes for a
really nice trip if you can combine those. We have
those in stock and available. The reservation time on that
is up through February second, in terms of making the reservation,
not taking your sail cris but making your reservation between
(25:25):
now and the second of February. So if you want
to give an early Valentine's gift, you might want to
consider a Silver seas yacht cruise. Another of my favorites,
and this is one that does allow families. Terry was
talking about this earlier, but it is I think one
of the nicer cruise lines. It's Emerald. Emerald Cruises and Tours.
They do a lot of river cruises. They're not a
(25:47):
name that's as popular as some of the ones that
you might recognize doing a river cruise. But they've got
some flash sails out there. They've got some two for
one sales out there. I am looking at their sailing
for a multi generational family right now, and I'm trying
to book that this month so that they can have
their sailing later on this summer at these wonderful discounted rates,
(26:11):
very very nice ships, a little bit smaller in terms
of the passenger count than Viking and some of the
others out there, but I'm a big fan of Emerald
and this sale is really good. We talked about somebody
more in the middle of the line of cruises, and
that's Rural Caribbean. What they've done is instead of percentage off,
(26:32):
they've got just a whole host of what they're calling
flash deals that they're feeding to.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Us every day, every week.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
And so if you're interested in finding something that's that
middle of the budget point kind of cruise line, Rural
Caribbean right now is a very solid cruise line, very
good cruise line. People like cruising with them, and these
flash sales, if you're flexible on your destination, you can
get a really really great value. You're talking about values
(27:04):
that are that are, you know, in the forty percent off,
fifty percent off. I've even seen some two for ones
coming on some of these.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Yeah. So what's interesting about that is that you know,
we are a life less ordinary at the Wishing Well.
Most everything that we do is driven for your happiness,
and sometimes happiness is dollars saved. You know, that's that's
luxury to some people. And so I want to tell
you that some of these deals with Royal Caribbean are
(27:33):
starting at three hundred and thirty eight dollars per person
for a four to seven day cruise, as well as
four hundred and thirty eight dollars. Now there's another piece
of that that Harry didn't share with you that I will,
and I invite you if you're interested. You are our
friends out there, all of you who listen to us,
you are friends. So Royal Caribbean gives us the authority
(27:57):
to give what we call friends and family discounts for
certain cruises. It doesn't apply to all of them, but
they do apply to some of the cruises. Since you
all are our friends, we want to invite you to
call us and ask us about those. If there's a
particular date you're interested in, we're happy to share those
with you.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Yeah, those are really nice and we hand those out
pretty liberally, know there, Yes we did. Yeah, we have
a lot of friends. So those are just some of
the wave specials. But I wanted to talk about two
others also that are not cruising specials. But one of
them as our friends at Sandals. They've got a tremendous
(28:39):
special going on right now with some airfare credit and
some room credit at a lot of their properties they
called their winter Blues sale, going to go down to Paradise.
Sandals are great properties. They are all inclusive properties that
includes all things, not just that you're eating and drinking,
but they have a lot of water sports opportunities as well.
(29:02):
So I like Sandals a lot.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
If it gets much cold than seventeen degrees, we're all
going to have the winter blues and we're all going
to need Sandals.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
They don't do ice skating. They go to they go
to the warm places, no ice skating. Last thing I
want to talk about a rail and one of the
opportunities that we offer at the Wishing Well for vacations
is with a group called Vacations by Rail.
Speaker 2 (29:26):
Oh, these are amazing.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
They are some package trips. They use Amtrak trains in
the United States and they couple them and package them
with some wonderful hotel experiences, sight seeing experiences, and so
they basically don't just give you the train ride, they
give you the vacation and when you bundle those together,
you get some tremendous savings. Traveling by rail is absolutely fantastic,
(29:52):
and vacations by rail has savings right now that the
range that I saw went up to one thousand dollars
per couple on some of.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
The Yeah, I mean, the discounts are amazing, and I
actually have perused some of their vacation offerings for people,
and I want to tell you, if you are a
rail enthusiast, this is the time to book. Especially with
these discounts in place, you cannot go wrong. That's what
you call no buyer's regret. When you get one thousand
(30:22):
dollars off per couple, you thank yourself for you feel
great right away. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
And they have trips that combine rail systems in North America,
so that means us in Canada too, And they also
have some specials out there. If you happen to be
in that demographic you were talking about earlier, Terry, that
senior demographic, if you're an ARP member, they have some
discounts for you too. But there's one other rail that
(30:49):
I want to talk about, and I just can't help
talking about them any chance I get, and that's our
friends at Rocky Mountaineer. Yep, they have some early booking
specials out now. Their season is not yet begun up
in Canada, so they have some early booking specials where
they are taking you know, five hundred and one thousand
dollars off of some of their trips. That tremendous trip, Chris, tremendous.
(31:12):
Remember us talking about the Rocky Mountaineer. I love the
Mountain to do that last summer.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
They have a US counterpart that goes through the American Rockies,
the Canyon Express, that is also fantastic. I'm I'm just
waiting to do that. But they have some tremendous specials.
And because the Wishing Well is one of their preferred partners,
we have some great ends there too. So please, please, please,
(31:38):
if you want to do a vacation, you don't want
to leave the country, but you want that rail opportunity.
You've got two that I'm talking about, vacations by rail
and the Canyon Express.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
A lot of news, lots of deals. We still have
a show to do. You went on this mystery experience.
I guess was it last week?
Speaker 2 (32:01):
This is unreal, Chris, Yeah, left me at home, Chris.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Unsupervised. Our show today is entitled When Luxury Whispers, and
it's all about your experience it is. I'm excited to
find out exactly what that means. We'll get into our
show and Luxury Whispers next. Here on a Life less Ordinary.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
The wishing Well loves putting smiles on the faces of
people you love. This Valentine's Day enjoy free in town delivery.
When you place your Valentine's Week order by January the
thirty first, send flowers to your Valentine at work or
at home. Order online at the Wishing Weld up is
stop by two forty three and nef Avenue or call
five four zero nine zero eight two three three three.
(32:42):
That's five four zero nine zero eight two three three
three The Wishing Well, where every bouquet makes people smile.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
And welcome back to a life less ordinary. This is
your travel show from your friends at the Wishing Well.
You'll find them at two forty three f Avenue in Harrisonburg.
If you have any questions about any of the topics
we have or are going to discuss today, why don't
you give him a call at five four Oho nine
oh eight twenty three thirty three. You can also find
them on the website the Wishingwell dot Biz. Our show
(33:11):
today is entitled When Luxury Whispers, and this is all
about Terry's mystery trip that she went on. She got
a special VIP invite, one of only eight travel advisors
that were invited to this mystery location. They told you
before you when you're just giving it a mystery to us, right, rereck,
just pack warm and cold clothes. You'll find out when
(33:32):
you get there what you need. Where did you go?
Speaker 2 (33:34):
All they had to do was say you're going someplace
really warm in January, and I was like, I'm there.
I'm there. But you know, Chris, every now and then,
and I've been around for now forty eight years in
this industry. I returned from a trip that doesn't just
(33:57):
give me stories, to tell me perspectives, and it gives
me a brand new way to experience travel. And that
is exactly what I did. It recalibrated my understanding of
what travel can be and more importantly, what it should
feel like.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
You know.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
It always used to entertain me as a kid when
my parents would bring us, my brother and I back
from vacation and I would hear my mom and dad say,
and this might sound familiar to you if any of
your parents vacation and you came back home and they go,
I'm so tired, I need a vacation from my vacation.
(34:39):
Did you ever hear that I did? Yeah, and I've
heard it too. I mean for years and years I have,
you know, dealt with people and been in this industry
long enough that some of my clients have even said that. Well, really,
what they're saying is I was too busy to really
enjoy where I was. And that's sad. That's something that
shouldn't happen. But today's show is one of those moments
(35:01):
where I'm going to tell you how vacationing and how
travel really should feel. Recently, as Chris said, I had
the privilege, and I do mean privilege of being invited
to personally stay and inspect totraordinary luxury properties in Mexico.
(35:23):
One was the Saint Regis in Puntumita and the other
was the CIII, which is a Ritz Carlton Reserve property.
This was not a press trip, this was not a
sales tour, and it was not open enrollment. This visit
was by invitation only, and it was extended to just
(35:44):
nine travel advisors across the entire United States. I was
so lucky, humbled, and lucky to be one of them.
That we were chosen specifically for our experience working with
discerning travelers who value thoughtful journeys. That is what the
criteria was. And they looked at our list of bookings
(36:09):
and said, you meet what we're looking for. So we
want you to see our property. And I share that
actually not to boast at all, but to explain why
what I'm about to tell you matters. It's because what
I experienced was not marketing. It was reality and that
(36:30):
was amazing. So I want to start by saying, luxury
has really changed. I mean when we think about what
it means, and we talk about that a lot here
every week here, all of life less ordinary, but it's
really changed. It's no longer about excess or formality. That's
(36:50):
that's not luxury to most people. It's no longer about
being impressed. Luxury today is about being effortless. That's the key,
and it's about being able to arrive somewhere and instantly,
instantly feel grounded, not wait a couple of days and
go well. It took me about three days to sort
(37:12):
of get work out of my mind and all that. No, no, no,
no luxury. The kind of luxury I'm going to talk
to you about today, it happens immediately, and it's about
having your time protected. It's about not needing to explain yourself.
True luxury is when you are no longer managing your vacation.
(37:33):
Your vacation is taking care of you. And that philosophy
is kind of woven deeply into both of these two brands.
Though each expresses itself in its resfonement for grace, all
you have to do is look at their marketing materials.
They try to exude that in the things that they
(37:54):
tell you about with their product. It's kind of a
sense of timelessness. But what struck me in Puntumita was
how human that elegance really felt. From the moment I arrived,
the energy was calm, It was just serene, and it
was unrushed, but yet it was welcoming in the same colm.
(38:20):
The resort itself beautiful. It spread out with wide walkways,
just the most beautiful landscaping and endless views of the Pacific.
As a matter of fact, when I first walked into
the open atrium in the hotel, which is where check
in took place, which, by the way, there were no
(38:40):
check in desks, no, No check in took place in
a lounge area and a concierge walked over and said, Hi,
my name is SO and So I'm here to check
you in for your retreat. It was lovely. There was
no front desk, no intimidation, no no wood between me
(39:01):
and this human being. It was just a talk at
a table. It was lovely. So I'll tell you what.
If you actually want to go to our social media site,
The Wishing Well on Facebook or Instagram, you can actually
see some of my pictures that I took from this visit.
(39:21):
And one other things I want to tell you about
is the resort itself. It's kind of really spread out,
but the accommodations are really generous in size. I mean
we're talking twelve hundred square feet of space in my
single suite at this location with terraces. I had my
(39:44):
own private terrace there. I had my own outdoor shower.
I had an indoor shower, but I had an outdoor
shower also, and I had an enormous soaking tub, which
yes I did use. But the beds were like sleeping
on clouds. It was amazing. Bathrooms felt like private spas.
(40:09):
They were also gorgeous. And everywhere, I mean everywhere, there
is a sense of this quiet intention. You feel it,
You feel it immediately when you get there. And it's
not formal, it's not stiff. I know I've had a
lot of clients before who have said, oh, Saint Regis, Yeah,
(40:32):
that's probably just a little too starchy for me. Not
at all. This was the most comfortable elegance I have
ever experienced in my career. It was amazing and it
was intuitive. I had a butler. Let's talk about the
hallmark of the Saint Regis experience, which is butler service. Yes,
I had a butler, and Chris, your butler learns your
(40:55):
rhythms almost immediately, like they know your coffee preferences, preferences,
whatever it is that you usually like to drink. Now,
I will tell you I am not a coffee or
tea drinker. I drink only water, and so really I do.
And so every morning my butler knew this, and I
(41:15):
would get a knock at my sweet door and I
would open the door and they're on a beautiful tray.
Were waters of all different flavors with fruits and all
kinds of things that I could flavor it with, but
only water, which I was so impressed by because I
only told him that once, which I thought was just
(41:38):
amazing and very intuitive. Again, dining times, they know when
you want to eat, whether you want help planning, or
if you need just space to kind of wander around,
if you want to be unbothered. I should say, this
is the kind of service that makes you feel deeply,
(41:59):
deeply at ease because nothing ever feels like an ask.
It just feels very normal and natural. And dining at
the Saint Regis Punta met to O good Lord equally
thoughtful from elevated regional flavors. They do like to use
a lot of local products and produce and that kind
(42:24):
of thing to relaxed beachfront meals where shoes feel optional
and tom really isn't even relevant. This is a property,
Chris that works beautifully for couples that are kind of
seeking maybe understated romance, anniversary couples, multi generational families who
(42:45):
want some space and grace. I had a family in
this week that I've been dealing with. They're all getting
together as a family to celebrate his parents' sixtiest wedding anniversary.
This would be perfect for that and travelers who appreciate
heritage but they demand comfort. It's classic luxury, softened ba warmth.
(43:07):
I'd say so. It's just a perfect property for all
those reasons.
Speaker 1 (43:11):
I want to talk more about this experience you had
because this is the stuff that dreams are made of.
Our show today is entitled When Luxury Whispers will continue
our conversation next here on a Life Less Ordinary.
Speaker 3 (43:23):
The Wishing Well loves putting smiles on the faces of
people you love. This Valentine's Day, enjoy free in town
delivery when you place your Valentine's Week order by January
the thirty first, send flowers to your Valentine at work
or at home. Order online at the Wishing Weld. Up
is stop by two forty three and af Avenue or
call five four zero nine zero eight two three three three.
(43:44):
That's five four zero nine zero eight two three three
three The Wishing Well, where every bouquet makes people smile.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
Now welcome back to a Life Less Ordinary, your travel
show and podcasts from your friends at the Wishing Well.
They're on nef Avenue in Harrisonburg, online at the wishing
Well John Biz or give him a call at four
O nine eight twenty three point thirty three. Our show
today is entitled When Luxury Whispers. You got to say
it that way, Terry, you do. We are talking about
(44:11):
this great experience that you were a very select group
of people's people got to experience travel advisors like yourself.
And let's continue that conversation. We were talking about the
butler service and how they very quickly learned your preferences.
No coffee or tea for Terry Dean, just water, yep.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
And it really truly was an honor to be selected
to go and see these properties. When when I travel,
you know, I will confess the Saint Regis and the
Ritz Carlton properties are not usually ones that I would
maybe go to first. I would long to, but that
doesn't always seem to fit for my family travel. But
(44:57):
I learned something very interesting on this trip, Chris, and
that is that they do fit and people who shy
away from these luxury properties, there's reasons, deep reasons why
you maybe should consider them. And the next property that
I want to talk about here, we talked about the
(45:17):
Saint Regis Puntamita I hope I created and painted a
verbal picture, a good enough one for you that you
kind of got the gist of what that experience was
like for me. But the next one that I want
to take you to was called CII. It's a Ritz
Carlton Reserve. Now there's a very big, big difference between
(45:39):
a Ritz Carlton and a Ritz Carlton reserve. First of all,
there are multiple Ritz Carltons across the United States and
internationally we know that, right, but there are only eight
Ritz Carlton reserves in existence. And I was in the
world and I was in one of them. Wow, I
(46:00):
know something, so so truly rare. It's a retreat and
they're built that way. They are specifically built to be
in remote areas where they blend in to the natural
area that they are highlighting, which is wonderful. The architecture
(46:26):
is just it's made so that it's seamless into the
natural surroundings, and villas that are there are intentionally spaced
to preserve privacy. A lot of them feature private plunge pools.
Mine did, so. I mean again, this was a twenty
five hundred square foot room that I had, which was
(46:49):
in many cases like a small home, not really bigger
than many apartments. It was expansive views that were almost
I would say cinematic. I mean when I looked, I
had a very interesting experience when I walked into my room,
(47:10):
never had this experience before. My butler walked me into
the room and he said, Mistine, the Ritz Carlton Reserve
is pleased to welcome you to your suite. And we
walked down this very short little hallway and it was
like the angels saying, oh, you know, And really that
moment just sort of hit me and I teared up.
(47:34):
I mean, I was awestruck. I sort of lost my
breath for a moment, just kind of you know, and
I teared up from it. I couldn't believe I was there.
I'd never seen anything so beautiful. I could swear I
had transported into heaven. It was that gorgeous, It was
that beautiful, It was that serene. The whole fourth wall
(47:57):
of my room opened up to the outside, and they're
on this beautiful deck that was immaculately decorated and furnished.
There was my private plunge pool. And when I say private,
I mean it was no one could see me in there.
No one would have a view to me there this hotel, hotel,
(48:22):
This was not a hotel. This retreat really just faced
nature and God, that's it was. It was unbelievable. And
this was a place that adapted to me. Me, Tierry Dean,
you know, I'm not important at all, but this place
(48:43):
adapted to me. I mean, this is a place, Chris,
where there are residents is the Ritz Carlton Reserve is
also famous for many of the residences that they have there.
They build them and they sell them, and many times
they are going to be celebrity status percha. Many of
them have been, and we actually did see celebrities on
(49:06):
the property. But when they purchase these resort retreats here
at the Ritz Carlton Reserve, the starting price is thirty
million dollars.
Speaker 1 (49:19):
That's easy to handle.
Speaker 2 (49:21):
Pocket change, right for a lot of people. I'm sure
that's true. But service here, it's no wonder that celebrities
would want to be here because service here is almost invisible,
which is what you really want. It's yet profoundly present
staff members there. Remember again, your preferences and experiences are
curated very gently. Nothing is rushed, nothing is forced, And
(49:46):
this is luxury stripped of performance ciaris for travelers who
have been everywhere, want privacy without isolation. They crave meaning
as much as they do beauty. It is peaceful, it
is grounding, and it stays with you long long after
(50:07):
you leave. I mean, I still wake up in the
mornings and I go I remember that feeling I had
when I woke up there. It was just transformative. And
trips like this invitation only immersive and intentional exist Chris,
so that advisors like myself can truly understand how a
(50:29):
place feels, not just how it photographs. Because that's important.
I need to be able to translate that to my clients,
to you, our listeners, because luxury travel isn't about price
points anymore. It is not. It's about alignment. It's matching
the right traveler to the right experience. That's an art,
(50:52):
and when it's done well, the trip doesn't feel extravagant,
it feels right. So if you're somebody who's ever said
I want this trip to feel special, or I don't
want to think, I just want to be and I've
been there, I've been so really so fried mentally from
(51:15):
work is stressful. Sometimes I won't lie it is, and
I'm sure it is for a lot of you who
are listening, a lot of our friends out there who
visit a life less ordinary here every Saturday. Again, thank you.
But if you're one of those people, this is what
your vacation could look like. It could look like this
peaceful retreat I was talking about. So, whether it's the
(51:38):
graceful elegance of the Saint Regis Puntamita or that soulful
sanctuary of Siarra, a Ritz Carlton Reserve, these are not
simply places to stay, Chris. They are places to arrive
at fully. And that's what it means to have luxury
(52:01):
that whispers. It's not loud, it doesn't have to be,
but it rejuvenates you. And in the next week, next
week's show, we're going to dig a little deeper into
the Saint Regis product and the Ritz Carlton product, and
I'm going to really break that down for you so
you fully understand what these properties are all about. It's
(52:26):
going to be I think eye opening for a lot
of people who have often shot away from those properties
thinking yeah, I could I could never probably stay there.
I would be out of place. I won't have the
right clothes or I won't do things right. Nothing could
be further from the truth. You are kind of schooled
(52:48):
and don't know it, you know when you go to
these places. So it's really really wonderful. You know. It's
a place that I would definitely recommend. It's definitely a
place would and could go back to.
Speaker 3 (53:01):
How about me? Can I go back to.
Speaker 2 (53:05):
If you're invited? Harry? I'm sure yeah.
Speaker 3 (53:09):
I think you know, the special kinds of experiences that
you had are very special because of the things that
you've done. There are a lot of people who've done
things in their life that deserve the same kind of
special experience, and I hope that people listening out there
think that's me.
Speaker 1 (53:26):
I look forward to next week's episode so we can
dig deeper into these two properties. How do we get
in touch with you if we have any questions about
anything we've talked about today.
Speaker 2 (53:34):
Wishing Well is easy to find, Chris. We're located at
two forty three nef Avenue in the Valley Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
They can call us at five four h nine oh
eight two three three three or look us up on
the web. We are at the Wishingwell Dot Biz.
Speaker 1 (53:50):
This has been a life less Ordinary. The travel show
from your friends at the wishing Well at two forty
three nef Avenue in Harrisonburg. If you have any questions
on topics discussed today, please reach out to the wishing
Well online at the Wishingwell dot biz or five four
oh nine oh eight twenty three thirty three. Past episodes
are available on the iHeartRadio app. And we'll see again
next Saturday morning at ten for a life less Ordinary
(54:13):
from the wishing Well
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