Travel Advisor vs Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts
Similar perks on paper. Very different trips in practice. Where Amex FHR wins, where an advisor wins, and how to use both.
A private travel advisory in Miami
Travel, as it was
Travel, as it was
meant to be. Witnessed,
not consumed.
Not every trip changes you. The right one does.
The Approach
A trip is not a checklist. It is an encounter.
Palmé Travel exists for the traveler who has already done it the easy way. The obvious hotels, the obvious views, arrived home knowing they missed something.
We design trips that balance adventure with ease, culture with comfort. The result isn't compromise. It's both.
Our Access
The doors that quietly open when you arrive.
Palmé clients sit inside a hospitality circle most travelers never see, built through Fora's preferred-partner access and Virtuoso membership. Recognition on arrival, upgrades when they're there to give, daily breakfast, property credit, early check-in. Same price as booking direct, just with everything else included.
Four Seasons
Rosewood
Mandarin Oriental
Belmond
Relais & Châteaux
Virtuoso
The Peninsula
Dorchester Collection
Rocco Forte
Shangri-La
Leading Hotels
Small Luxury Hotels
Hilton
Hyatt
IHG
Marriott
With 5,000+ relationships across hotels, cruises, destinations, and experiences. Palmé Travel delivers the right fit for every traveler.
The Palmé Club
Your own way in.
For clients: a private place to browse the hotels I know best, see rates and perks side by side, and book a simple stay yourself. Anything bigger, we'll talk it through.
Already a client? Sign in with your email or phone. New? Request access on the sign-in page.
Our Services
Two ways to work with us.
Some clients already know exactly where they're staying. Others want help from the first idea. Most land somewhere in between. Each service meets you there.
i.
Palmé Hotel Coordination
No booking charges. Our direct relationships mean your reservations get real perks, the things that matter.
ii.
Palmé Trip Editing
You have the vision. We refine it. Sourcing properties, restaurants, transfers, and guides that actually work together.
How We Work
Three movements. One trip that feels inevitable.
The architecture is the same for every client. The result, never. Here is what working with us actually looks like.
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The Conversation
Reach out and tell us about the trip. A short call or a few details on our form is enough. It's free, unobligated, and we won't suggest something that isn't right for you.
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The Drafting
We handle it. Bookings, confirmations, special requests, all of it. Every detail coordinated and confirmed before you depart. Nothing is included just because it was easy to include.
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The Trip, and What Follows
You travel with everything in one place, and us on call if anything comes up. We stay attentive to what comes next, often before you've thought to ask.
The Journal
Dispatches from the road, and elsewhere.
Zermatt Ski Guide: Six Days Under the Matterhorn
The hotels, the runs, skiing to Italy, and the tables worth booking ahead, from six days in Zermatt.
Comporta Travel Guide: Portugal's Quieter Answer to the Hamptons
The hotels, the beaches, where to eat and when to go, from someone who keeps going back.
Formentera Travel Guide: The Island Worth the Ferry from Ibiza
The hotels worth the ferry from Ibiza, where to eat, and how to time Formentera for June or September.
The kind of note a well-travelled friend sends when they want you to know about somewhere before everyone else does.
Every Friday, one destination. The hotels insiders stay at and why. The hidden gems where travel insiders actually eat, not where 90% of travel blogs will steer you. The neighborhoods worth your time. What gets skipped, what gets prioritized. The destination intelligence most travel advisors gatekeep. Everything worth knowing about one place.
No research required. Just the edit.
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Thank you. You'll receive the next edit this Friday.
The Advisor
The operational view, made personal.
Over a decade as a flight attendant gives you a particular education in travel, not the brochure version, but the operational one. The delays, the workarounds, the hotels that look the part and the ones that actually deliver. Thousands of arrivals witnessed from a vantage point most travelers never see.
That background is the foundation. Fora certification and preferred-partner status at over forty hotel groups, including Four Seasons, Rosewood, Mandarin Oriental, Rocco Forte, Belmond, Aman, and Leading Hotels of the World, is the infrastructure. What clients return for is the combination of both.
Richard
In Their Words
What clients say after they return.
Every detail arrived before I thought to ask for it.
We had been to Ibiza twice before. This was the first time we felt we'd actually been.
Using Richie this time was night and day.
Common Questions
The things people ask first.
How do travel agency services provide better hotel perks and upgrades without charging extra fees?
When you book luxury hotels through Palmé Travel, you pay the exact same public rates available online. Instead of charging booking fees for hotel coordination, Palmé Travel earns a commission directly from the property while securing VIP perks that credit card portals cannot match, including room upgrades, daily breakfast for two, property credits, and prioritized check-in status.
Is it better to spend time comparison shopping online or use a luxury travel advisor?
For affluent travelers who plan multiple significant trips a year, comparison shopping across online booking sites is time-consuming and lacks real recognition upon arrival. Partnering with Palmé Travel delegates the logistical burden entirely to an expert who handles flight routing, room blocks, and tailored itineraries, ensuring your travel experience is effortless from departure to return.
How do I get priority late checkout and real hotel recognition when I arrive?
Standard loyalty programs and credit card portals offer late checkout as a basic request that often gets denied at check-in. Through preferred partner networks like Virtuoso and Four Seasons Preferred Partner, Palmé Travel places your reservation on the hotel management's priority list for early check-in and late checkout, while arranging personalized VIP welcome amenities before you arrive.
Can a luxury travel advisor handle both flight routing and luxury hotel bookings together?
Yes. Comprehensive travel planning connects your flight logistics with your resort accommodations to prevent travel friction. Palmé Travel coordinates seamless end-to-end itineraries for both commercial and private flights, handling airport ground transfers, multi-city routing, and hotel bookings so your journey moves with ease.
Book with PALMÉ
Tell us where you're going, or where you've been thinking about.
We work with a small number of clients each year. The conversation is unhurried, the form below short. If a trip is taking shape in the back of your mind, even quietly, write to us.