Expensive treats/purchases.

FinglisHobbit

FinglisHobbit

FinglisHobbit

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I read an article about The Savoy Hotel turning 125 this year and it got me thinking about the things we treat ourselves to with our hard earned cash. A basic room there starts at around £500 a night. This is way beyond something I could justify, but I imagine the experience is something special.

Personally I'm a big fan of fine dining, so one day I would love to eat somewhere award winning. I also like to stay in nice hotels on occasion but have never really stayed anywhere really high end.

There are lots of things I would love to experience but will be forever out of my reach.

When we do spend some money on more expensive things I usually do feel good about it. I don't really remember regretting anything too much.

Basically I'd just like to hear about peoples experience with their expensive / fancy purchases or experiences and how they felt. Were they worth the money? Would you do it again?

Hopefully you get the gist of what I'm asking. I'm a bit poor at getting my thoughts across :)
 
My PC was the most money i'd ever spent in one go. I'm a student and had just finished a year in an IT related placement and it was a treat to myself with my last full time wage, as i went back to studying and got my first loan installment in so didnt need to use it for anything important
 
We've been to L'Enclume twice as treats (one as a birthday meal), most recently last month. The 20 course tasting menu is £120 and absolutely amazing. Yes, that is a lot of money for a meal (with drinks on the top) but it's a fantastic evening (we were there for 4 1/2 hours).
 
FinglisHobbit said:
It sure does, how do you feel about it? did you push yourself financially or anything to get it? Is it worth it? :)
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Hell yeah it pushed me financially, but it was / is one of my dream cars and has been for many years, so I decided that whilst I was still young I'm allowed to make ill-advised decisions. Brings a childish smile every time I get in it :)
 
#Chri5# said:
We've been to L'Enclume twice as treats (one as a birthday meal), most recently last month. The 20 course tasting menu is £120 and absolutely amazing. Yes, that is a lot of money for a meal (with drinks on the top) but it's a fantastic evening (we were there for 4 1/2 hours).
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This is something that's definitely on my list of things to experience. We(Girlfriend and I post here) both love nice food and I think we are due a romantic meal somewhere. I think the most I've ever paid is around £50pp for a meal but as you say, 4.5hrs in a place where you feel fantastic is money well spent IMO.

bJN said:
Hell yeah it pushed me financially, but it was / is one of my dream cars and has been for many years, so I decided that whilst I was still young I'm allowed to make ill-advised decisions. Brings a childish smile every time I get in it :)
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I've resigned myself to driving a boring car as cars have never really been my thing, however there are cars out there that I would love to be driving about in. Maybe one day Ill ditch the Mondeo for something I actually enjoy.
 
I think I've mentioned The Three Chimneys before but it's worth repeating as the accommodation, the food and the service are simply fantastic.

I think it's important to enjoy the money you have - whether that's a little or a lot - as long as you're mostly sensible :)
 
Very rare that I am genuinely impressed by a 'moderately expensive' hotel (before the "lolz anything under $1000/night is rubbish" brigade pile in), usually I end up regretting it or at least not recognising the value.
Maybe I have unrealistic expectations but personally if I am spending over say £200/night then I expect something out of the ordinary, not a small room, dated decor, or heaven forbid some serious problems (in many years of staying in hotels around the world, the only time I've ever requested to be moved rooms was ironically in one the most expensive places we've stayed).
Something like the Premier Inn chain on the other hand I have never been disappointed by.

edit: as for purchases in general, pretty similar - usually I'm happy with midrange. I'm struggling to think of any time I've really pushed the boat out and thought yeah, that was money well spent. Maybe my Sennheiser headphones when I first got them as they cost about 3x more than I'd ever spent on cans before.
 
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[FnG]magnolia;26717248 said:
I think I've mentioned The Three Chimneys before but it's worth repeating as the accommodation, the food and the service are simply fantastic.

I think it's important to enjoy the money you have - whether that's a little or a lot - as long as you're mostly sensible :)
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I've spent a lot of time in Scotland but never any of the Isles. Ive just looked at the link you gave and its actually something I might look into for next year maybe. Looks brilliant.
 
FinglisHobbit said:
This is something that's definitely on my list of things to experience. We(Girlfriend and I post here) both love nice food and I think we are due a romantic meal somewhere. I think the most I've ever paid is around £50pp for a meal but as you say, 4.5hrs in a place where you feel fantastic is money well spent IMO.



I've resigned myself to driving a boring car as cars have never really been my thing, however there are cars out there that I would love to be driving about in. Maybe one day Ill ditch the Mondeo for something I actually enjoy.
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Why not buy one of those driving experiences? Have a blast round a track in a ridiculously fast car? Not even expensive unless you do one of the full day events (not ideal if you aren't a car person).

I've been to some really expensive restaurants and enjoyed it. Generally speaking, ridiculously expensive experiences are always fun :)
 
While I can appreciate why some might see the luxury/treat in expensive meals and top end hotels it's not something that has ever appealed to me.

I've stayed in some very very very luxury accommodation before and enjoyed it, but it's not a "treat".

I usually buy myself gadgets, parts for car/bike, bits for PC etc as treats. Also some experiences and holidays are considered treats for me.

I'm just as happy in a Holiday Inn with WiFi as I am in a top end hotel with fine dining any day of the week :D
 
Devrij said:
Why not buy one of those driving experiences? Have a blast round a track in a ridiculously fast car? Not even expensive unless you do one of the full day events (not ideal if you aren't a car person).

I've been to some really expensive restaurants and enjoyed it. Generally speaking, ridiculously expensive experiences are always fun :)
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Ive recently been thinking along similar lines but with GoKarting. Lincolnshire has a few great karting tracks. I think one of them is actually like a competition circuit. I think Im gonna look into it soon as we have been discussing little life experiences lately.
 
I'm less inclined to spend money on objects and more inclined to spend it on doing things and going places (be that a game of golf, drinks down the pub, scuba or skydiving).
 
HangTime said:
Very rare that I am genuinely impressed by a 'moderately expensive' hotel (before the "lolz anything under $1000/night is rubbish" brigade pile in), usually I end up regretting it or at least not recognising the value.
Maybe I have unrealistic expectations but personally if I am spending over say £200/night then I expect something out of the ordinary, not a small room, dated decor, or heaven forbid some serious problems (in many years of staying in hotels around the world, the only time I've ever requested to be moved rooms was ironically in one the most expensive places we've stayed).
Something like the Premier Inn chain on the other hand I have never been disappointed by.

edit: as for purchases in general, pretty similar - usually I'm happy with midrange. I'm struggling to think of any time I've really pushed the boat out and thought yeah, that was money well spent. Maybe my Sennheiser headphones when I first got them as they cost about 3x more than I'd ever spent on cans before.
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I've stayed at the dorchester (company paid) and the grand hotel (part of the package for my aunt's wedding) and was underwhelmed both times, I've stayed in cheaper places that had comparable decor at face value and generally had good service and clean facilities. Though to be fair the food at both was very very good - though at the grand it was just wholesome rather than anything special.
 
Rroff said:
I've stayed at the dorchester (company paid) and the grand hotel (part of the package for my aunt's wedding) and was underwhelmed both times, I've stayed in cheaper places that had comparable decor at face value and generally had good service and clean facilities. Though to be fair the food at both was very very good - though at the grand it was just wholesome rather than anything special.
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With regards to rooms, I just don't know what "high end" expensive places can offer that makes it so much different from much cheaper places. A comfortable clean room with a clean bathroom and bed is what you really need a hotel for. I just don't get what going up to silly money can really do to change that.
 
spoffle said:
With regards to rooms, I just don't know what "high end" expensive places can offer that makes it so much different from much cheaper places. A comfortable clean room with a clean bathroom and bed is what you really need a hotel for. I just don't get what going up to silly money can really do to change that.
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Yeah, its only when you spend obscene amounts you really get something above that i.e. stupidly high end entertainment system, additional services like a butler or dedicated concierge, etc.
 
Had mixed experiences with treating myself i.e. last year I spent a bit more than usual refreshing my wardrobe with mixed results, some higher end jeans I really didn't notice anything special over my normal levis, etc. whereas some of the jumpers and shirts I had no regrets about due to the quality of the material and the feel of the way they hung on me which was a whole different league to more run of the mill stuff.
 
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