🤑 50 Affordable Luxury Destinations: Your #1 Requested Post

And it's not too late for a Labor Day getaway. Yes, really.

Hi, hello, and howdy!

It’s officially time to announce our giveaway winner—this giveaway was for paid subscribers who were automatically opted in, and we’ll be doing one of these every 5–6 weeks or so as a token of my gratitude. The winner of this month’s $50 gift card to Bookshop.org is Hannah Gerber—woohoo!

Recently, reader Rachel S. reached out asking about affordable luxury destinations. I decided to pore through my own archives, asked professionals and PR pros, posted in Facebook travel groups and Slack channels, and even scoured listicles and Reddit threads; I am nothing if not dedicated.

So, while this list is not exhaustive, I believe it is a solid starting point for nearly any region you want to visit, from the remote Cook Islands to Portugal. Nearly all have been vetted by a trusted source and 10+ hours went into pulling this together, so I’ll be limiting this post to subscribers only—if you’d like access, my birthday offer is still good until 8/31 to join at $3/mo.

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50 Affordable Luxury Destinations to Keep Handy

For ease, I’m sorting these hotels and resorts by price level. Everyone’s definition of affordable varies, so we’ve got quite the gamut, from under $250 to $500+, and the vast majority of hotels are considered 5-star destinations. I’ve prioritized hotels in the $150–$350 range for the purposes of keeping this accessible.

For context, the lowest-cost seasons/slow seasons for each region are:

• North/Central America: November–March, aka our winter

• South America: June–November, aka their winter

• Oceania/Australia: November–April, because of intense heat and the wet season

• The Middle East & Southeast/South/East Asia: June–October, due to monsoon season and higher temps

• Europe: November–March, due to colder, rainier weather

• Africa: February–May, during rainy season but before peak season