A few faves: The K Club in Dublin. Hands down the most fabulous bathroom I’ve ever been in. Gleneagles in Scotland. Old world charm and class. Restaurant had the largest cheese cart I’ve ever seen brought to your table.
The Ritz at Half Moon Bay. Dangling right over the Pacific. Common thread? They are all on golf courses. Stayed at them when H was on business. Miss that perk now that he’s retired.
Pod? Nope.
Dievole, Tuscany.
Ventana, Big Sur.
And a suite that slept 10 (for just four of us) at the JW Marriott in Palm Desert.
Curious about a pod, but not likely to book one!
I love older hotels with lots of history and have stayed at the Waldorf Astoria in NYC, the Roosevelt in NOLA, and Lutetia in Paris. The common areas, especially the bars, were the best.
I’d stay in a pod, though. Sure!
I’m still not sure what a pod is. .i e had great hotels in Sonoma county and SF, and several in Boston. The most unusual was La Fonda in Sante Fe. We were there at Xmas time, and the walls surrounding the hotel had paper lanterns. Inside was Mexican tiles and large rooms.
Does first class on an Emirates A380 count? I have never been so taken care of as I was on that flight to Dubai.
The Westin in Seattle back when it meant something
Several Paris Perfect apartments in Paris. Not a hotel, but beautiful, luxurious, and Eiffel Tower twinkling outside the window.
We stay where we are comfortable. It doesn’t have to be the height of luxury to be the best place.
I have stayed at a number of really great hotels–hard to say which one was the nicest. The hotels I remember most clearly are: Hotel Meurice in Paris, Mandarin Oriental and the Plaza in NYC, Hostal dos Reis Catolicos in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, Blantyre in Lenox, MA, Soniat House in New Orleans.
Never stayed in a pod hotel, but I did stay at the Maritime Hotel in NYC. It had a nautical theme (windows like a cruise ship) and the rooms were probably 250 sq ft. I don’t know if it was as small as a pod. A friend had a showing of her paintings At a gallery nearby and she recommended the place to everyone she invited.
The best “hotel” I’ve stayed in was the Queen Mary, when my mother and I traveled to England in 1966. We were in off-season converted cabin class, which meant that we had a first class cabin, but ate in the cabin class dining room. That was the best of both worlds, I think, because the first class DR required evening dress, while the cabin class DR required only cocktail dress. Full length gowns for dinner every night would have been a bit much!
Our cabin was paneled in blonde mahogany, and the fabulous bathroom had an enormous tub that had hot and cold running salt water and fresh water. The beds had luxurious satin coverlets, which were turned down at night by the steward, who also laid out one’s nightgown.
Everything about the ship was wonderful. It had a great library, where I spent many hours reading British boarding school series. (The genre that Harry Potter is really based on.) Just a fabulous experience. The great ocean liners were definitely the way to travel to Europe! And no jet lag, since the time was adjusted by 1 hour every day.
I was one of six children and when I was young my father had a theory that with them many children he would get the best service and best price in the best hotels. So he would rent a suite in a top flight hotel and park us kids all over the suite. Memorable ones were the RItz-Carleton in Montreal, the Palace in San Francisco, the Chataeu Frontenac in Quebec, the Sands in Las Vegas (1960’s). Always with complimentary breakfast, champagnes, etc. My father was nuts.
The night DH proposed to me, we stayed in a beachfront Howard Johnsons. Before that, we had been camping for a full week, and the thrill of a hot shower , and a chilled glass of wine, was beyond belief.
We have since stayed at a lot more expensive properties, but this will always be among my favorites.
My Dad loved a good hotel and treated my mother and me to a night at the Hotel Pierre when we were visiting Barnard way back in 1972. I remember very little about it except the room service scrambled eggs were too scrambled.
My most memorable hotel experiences were the two ryokans (traditional inns) we staying in when my husband was invited to a conference in Japan and we tacked on a two week vacation. The one north of Tokyo was partciularly cool, the bathing room was built into a natural spring.
@Consolation I grew up on those British Boarding School books - The Twins at St. Clare, The Mallory Tower books and one about the Naughtiest Girl who was at a very progressive school.
@lololu I think there is a book series in there somewhere based on your childhood family vacations.
@bookworm- just came back from a long weekend La Fonda - great hotel!
Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo most memorial from my childhood…
Silly thread but I’ll bite. Favorite was Badrutt’s Palace in St. Moritz. Other memorable ones were the Waldorf in Berlin, The Cloister on Sea island, Palmer House in Chicago, Bellagio and the Wynn in Vegas and the Roosevelt in New Orleans at Christmas time. Beautiful decor. This feels like a humblebrag.
@dmd77 - wow, that was a lucky find! 
We really enjoy the place. I hope the Chinese owners will not turn it into luxury condos (happening at so many other properties in HI 
)
Forgot about Madrona manor in the wine country in California. Charming and great food.
The most charming and romantic place we’ve stayed is a tie between The Woodstock Inn in Vermont:
and The Charlotte Inn in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard:
http://www.thecharlotteinn.com
The Woodstock stay was over Christmas one year, and I swear I was in a painting.
The Empress in Victoria, British Columbia. I may be biased however since my wife and I were on our honeymoon (just barely less than 25 years ago).
I am reluctant to go too far over @200 per night, which might cut out some of the places mentioned above (many of which sound lovely). Perhaps we should break this limit for our 25th anniversary.
The National Palace Hotel in Taipei, on my first trip to Asia, with my family of origin as we were moving to Hong Kong. A budding Asiaphile’s dream.
At a point I accompanied my ex to a conference in Aspen, and stayed at the Ritz Carlton, on the club floor. We had little kids at home, and time to myself was an amazing luxury, and the surroundings made it more so.
But, in my normal life, I am too cheap to stay in nice places, so would totally go for a pod hotel, though a tent in a prime spot thrills me no end, as does a hut on a SE Asian beach.
We stay in run of the mill Marriotts to accumulate points for things like the Half Moon Bay Ritz. I hate to pay more than $300 for any hotel room… Although Mr. has been renting roach motel kind of rooms for that much while traveling on business to SV lately… 
Probably the three most memorable places I’ve stayed were in Kenya. Lewa Wilderness Lodge- if you ever get the chance this place is beautiful, great service and wonderful staff and amazing scenery. Ngong House in Nairobi. Ol Malo Lodge.