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Daniel loves fine hotels, and has spent a disproportionate amount of his income financing stays at some of the best. Following is a list of many of the 5 (and top-notch 4) star hotels Daniel has stayed at. Several are followed by Daniel's commentary. Click on each for a direct link to the hotel's web site:
	The Four Seasons, Hawaii at Hualalai Among the best in the world. Massaged right after Gary Shandling and sipped virgin daquiris with famous Hollywood producers.
	The Four Seasons, Las Vegas Upgraded to a beautiful suite.
	The Four Seasons, San Francisco Brand new hotel, enjoyed a deluxe corner room. Had a beautiful graduation party at their Windows restaurant overlooking downtown S.F.
	The Four Seasons, Jimbaran Bay, Bali Upgraded to the 6,500 square foot Royal Suite ($2,500/night) while visiting 5 days after the Bali bombing in 2002. Incredible resort, the best service and facilties of any hotel I've ever been to.
	The Four Seasons, Edmonton This hotel does not exist any longer.
	The Four Seasons (The Regent), Kuala Lumpur A beautful hotel in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
	The Four Seasons (The Regent Beverly Wilshire), Los Angeles A very big room I enjoyed while attending my sister's wedding here. Beautiful room (although painted, not wallpapered like I prefer) and a huge marble bathroom.
	The Four Seasons, Scottsdale Desiree and I were upgraded to the second biggest suite in the hotel, the Sedona Suite. 2000 square feet with a dining room, living room, garden shower, and private plunge pool and backyard. Great service, beautiful oasis in the desert.
	The Four Seasons, Lisbon A beautiful hotel in a beautiful city. Large, beautiful room and bathroom, and incredible service.
	The Four Seasons, Great Exuma, The Bahamas Went here with Desiree in October, 2006. Beautiful property, color of the ocean was breathtaking. Service needs some work but this will eventually become a top-notch Four Seasons in terms of service. Rooms were beautiful, bathrooms were large with all the amenities. Food was generally excellent. The island and its people were fantastic and worth the trip alone.
	The Four Seasons, Singapore In a great location right off of Orchard Road. Nice -- albeit very typical and not so unique -- Four Seasons standard room. Great service and beautiful lobby. Great buffet breakfast which spans nearly the whole lobby and good martinis in the bar/lounge.
	The Four Seasons, Chiang Mai A beautiful resort in the northern part of Chiang Mai, a city in the north of Thailand. While the rooms are a bit outdated, they were beautiful and private. Even though the resort was empty, they would not upgrade us to a larger room. The service at the restaurants and their beautiful pool were exceptional. The food, both in the Thai and Western restaurants, was exceptional. Our only qualm was the concierge's "bait and switch" tactic -- they advertised an elephant camp outing in their brochure for one price, charged us another, then changed the book and tried to pass off the new price as the one we had been shown. My complaints, both to the concierge and later to the manager and FS Vice President, were not responded to appropriately.
	The Regent Schlosshotel, Berlin A hotel right outside the Berlin city center. I stayed here with Chris in 2002, and we were treated like princes. A beautiful, historic former residence completely remodeled and designed by Karl Lagerfeld.
	The Amankila Argubaly one of the world's best resorts, located in Bali. About 30 rooms and likely 200+ staff members. Upgraded for the second half of our stay to the Amankila Suite -- with its own private swimming pool literally on top of the ocean (best room in the house). Great service, lots of great freebies throughout our stay. Highly recommended, but the Four Seasons in Jimbaran Bay is still spectacular and comparable.
	The Amandari Great service in the center of Bali, near Ubud. A bit disappointed in the facilities -- clearly older and while spacious, not as clean and "new" as I like. We were upgraded to a pool suite overlooking a gorge, which was fun (but the pool was unheated, making it too cold to use, even in a hot month).
	The Ritz Carlton, Philadelphia Visited here with my future brother-in-law Tommy and cousin Darrin. Got a fantastic "insider" room rate and enjoyed the incredibly comfortable beds and beautiful bathroom. We had access to the top-floor club lounge, which was nice but a bit pretentious.
	The Ritz Carlton, Pentagon City A beautiful but somewhat standard hotel room, but a very obsequious and gracious staff. Due to poor air conditioning and bad housekeeping, my mom and I got our two nights here free.
	The Ritz Carlton, Washington D.C. Well-appointed hotel, nice lobby and guest rooms, including beautiful bathrooms. Good location near Foggy Bottom and a few minutes walk to Georgetown in one direction and downtown Washington in the other. Service was generally good, but had a disappointing experience with valet; they took way to long to get to us and help us with our luggage and car.
	The Ritz Carlton, Tysons Corner Attached to the beautiful Tyson's Corner Galleria (II), a great location for shopping. The lobby looks like every Ritz Carlton and is very attractive and formal. The little service we required was exceptional -- we paid the minimum amount for a standard room and were given free Club Level privileges. The room itself was attractive but very small and the bathroom was similarly small with a shower/tub combination and no separate WC.
	The Ritz Carlton, Kuala Lumpur I was suffering from severe jetlag, but I recall a fantastic massage included in the price of our room.
	The Ritz Carlton, Battery Park Although not as traditional or centrally located as the Ritz Carlton, Central Park, this hotel boasts large, beautiful bathrooms, relatively large guest rooms (with telecopes to enjoy the view of the Statue of Liberty) and a contemporary lobby.
	The Ritz Carlton, Hotel Arts, Barcelona A beautiful, modern hotel with so-so service.
	The Ritz Carlton Resort, Penha Longa (Lisbon) A beautiful resort next to a gorgeous gold course. Desiree and I enjoyed massages at their very nice (new) spa. Service was disappointing after staying at the Four Seasons in Lisbon.
	The Westin Palace, Madrid The first room we were shown was small and ugly; I complained and we were shown a much larger, more beautiful room. Service here was disappointing, but the facilities were beautiful. Nicest hotel hallways (lots of marble and wood) I have ever seen.
	The Gritti Palace, Venice An old and un-updated hotel, with good (but not exceptional) service. This hotel costs a fortune and is widely regarded as the best hotel in Venice, with a very good location. Our room was large (not overlooking the canal), nice, and clean, but not incredible. No separate shower and tub, which disappointed me. A very comfortable bed, though.
	The St. Regis Grand, ROme An incredible beautiful hotel in all respects, from the elegant guest rooms to the ornate lobby. Great location, close to everything. The service at this hotel was also exceptional, less a couple of concierges who were less than eager to help us plan our trip.
	The Intercontinental Grand, Paris This newly renovated hotel has beautiful public spaces and rooms, but our Classical Room was tiny. Good service; far superior to the former Intercontinental hotel in Paris.
	The Intercontinental, Paris On my first stay I was impressed with this hotel, my room was not fantastic but very decent, and the service was acceptable. During my second visit in 2003/2004 Desiree and I had to see 4 different rooms, each unacceptable, before we were finally offered an acceptable one. Small bathrooms, needs updating, poor service.
	The Willard Intercontinental, Washington, D.C. A beautiful historic hotel right next to the White House. Upgraded to a very nice one bedroom suite. Disappointing bathrooms, but we did get two of them.
	The Intercontinental, Rome Great location at the top of the Spanish Steps, but a very run down hotel badly in need of a remodel. We were awoken almost every day by construction, and our power went out on more than one occassion.
	The David Intercontinental, Tel Aviv A very new, nice hotel, nothing incredibly beautiful, but a very standard business hotel with a resourceful concierge and a great lobby.
	The Conrad, Brussels On my first trip here we enjoyed a very large room, on the second a somewhat smaller one. Very nice bathrooms, beautiful lobby.
	The Conrad, Singapore Here for the millenium (and a conga line through the lobby). Beautiful rooms, cozy down comforters, nice bathrooms, great service.
	The Waldorf Towers, New York Very exclsive, took a sauna with Martin Short. Small room, small bathroom, no hallway into the room.
	The Park Hyatt, San Francisco Upgraded to a junior suite on both of my visits here. The second time, I awoke in the middle of the night when the air conditioning wasn't working properly. I called up to complain, and the next morning I argued and they gave me half off my night's stay. Business-like lobby, great downtown location in S.F.
	The Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong Disappointing hotel. Great location and good service, but small bathrooms, small guest rooms, and a lobby in need of remodeling.
	The Mandarin Oriental, Singapore As I recall, a very nice hotel. Enjoyed eating at Arnie Morton's here on New Year's Eve 2000.
	The Kahala Mandarin Oriental, Oahu, Hawaii A beautiful, exclusive hotel right outside of Waikiki. Beautful room, gorgeous bathroom, great beach, and lots of activities. Beautiful lobby.
	The Shangri-La, Manila, Philippines A very nice hotel in the center of Manila. Beautiful lobby with reasonably-priced (on a U.S. dollar budget) alcoholic beverages. A great buffet breakfast and very nice pool and spa.
	The Peninsula, Hong Kong A fantastic hotel, beautiful room, great beds, rich marble bathroom, impeccable service, classicly elegant lobby, incredible breakfasts, the best hotel gym I've even used, with a pool and workout equipment overlooking the Hong Kong skyline on the hotel's eigth floor. This is where to stay when you visit Hong Kong.
	The Peninsula, Bangkok Beautiful hotel, great location on the river. Great room (very large and beautiful one bedroom suite) with exceptional technology and incredible service. We visited the Oriental across the river and found this hotel to be far superior. As such, it's recently been rated as the best hotel in the world.
	The Berkeley, London A beautiful hotel with great, personalized service. A great location in Mayfair (Knightsbridge), fantastic room service, a beautiful bathroom, a tastefully decorated room with a free food gift every day. We saw Jennifer Love Hewitt staying here.
	The Crillon, Paris This is one of the most elegant hotels I've ever stayed at. It has the best location in Paris, on the Place de la Concorde. Likely has the richest hot chocolate of any hotel in the world. Big, big rooms and large, beautiful bathrooms. Massive down comforters.
	Marc Meneau's L'Esperance, Vezelay, France A cozy, elegant inn that takes a back seat to the three star destination restaurant here. Both of my visits here were impeccable. The first time was in a regular room, the second time was in an apartement (suite) with stone walls and a canopy bed. The environment at the hotel is rejeuvenating and peaceful.
	Auberge de Templiers, Loire Valley, France Not as nice as L'Esperance, but a lovely inn in the French countryside accompanied by a fine restaurant.
	The Nusa Dua Beach Hotel, Bali A nice, but not great, hotel in Bali. Stayed here before moving on to the Four Seasons. Nice breakfasts. Poorly manicured grounds and disappointing pool and spa. Lots of European guests who underake nude sunbathing.
	Hotel de l'Europe, Amsterdam The second best hotel in Amsterdam, this hotel is in need of remodelling. A great location in the center of the city, just a few blocks away from the red light district.
	The Lodge at Rancho Mirage, Rancho Mirage, California A very nice hotel in the desert. We visited in July, when the temperature topped 100 degrees every day, all day. A beautiful lobby, a beautiful room, and although we had several problems--a hanger under our sheets, some issues with housekeeping, and a pool closure, we ended up with lots of hotel credit and an overall great experience.
	The New Otani, Osaka, Japan We spent New Year's eve here. It is a nice hotel with a Trader Vic's restaurant.
	Pangkor Laut Resort, Malaysia The favorite getaway of Pavarotti, this was a great resort with beautiful ocean front, ocean view, and ocean top rooms, and loads of activities.
	Tanjong Jara Resort, Malaysia The sister hotel to the above resort, we arrived here after it was torn apart by a major storm. It seemed like a nice place for the 10 hours we were here.
	The Dan Hotel, Eilat, Israel A beautiful hotel in a beautiful setting on the coast of the Red Sea in the south of Israel. A large bathroom with separate WC and shower, a large bedroom, and a very nice buffet breakfast spread included in the price of the room. The beach here is a little disappointing, and the pool is mediocre with lots of crowds surrounding it in the heat of the day, but they have nice massages and other activities available.
	The Ihilani, Oahu, Hawaii A very nice hotel a short drive from Honolulu. A beautiful bay and an extensive spa. An outdoor lobby with panoramic vistas of the ocean.
	Shutters on the Beach, Santa Monica Proposed to Desiree on the terrace here, then spent the night in a beautiful partial ocean view room. Fantastic concierge who helped me choreograph the whole proposal. Beautiful public areas and very nice, albeit quite small, room. Great bathroom as well. Ate at their restaurant for breakfast and the service was disappointing; the food was good, however.
	The Fairmont, San Jose, California
	The Mission Inn, Riverside, California
	The Hilton Checkers, Downtown Los Angeles

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