Our favorite American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts properties where you can get elite perks
Quick summary
The American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts program is far from new — the credit card booking platform has been around since 1992.
But what started with a couple of hundred properties has, in the last few decades, ballooned to some 2,600 hotels and resorts. Booking these stays through the platform — which is available to those holding The Platinum Card® from American Express — comes with many perks, typically including guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout, daily breakfast for two, a $100 experience credit, noon check-in (when available) and room upgrades upon availability.
Since narrowing down the divine Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts portfolio can feel a tad overwhelming, we've curated a list of some of TPG's most beloved properties around the world tied to the program.
Related: 8 hotels where your Amex Platinum hotel credit covers half (or more) of your stay
Six Senses Kyoto
Serenity meets craftsmanship and modernism at Six Senses Kyoto, a Higashiyama hotel that feels completely of Japan while also being exquisite from a design standpoint. The 81 guest rooms and suites are vaguely ryokan-styled, with tatami mat–inspired carpeting down the long hallways, organic mattresses and temperature-regulating pillows, customized pajamas by a Japanese recovery-wear label and wooden headboards featuring a hemp leaf pattern that signifies health and wellness.
For a detox-retox one-two punch, spend a day enjoying state-of-the-art biohacking modalities, sound bathing and feel-good treatments at the beautiful spa and maybe a sustainable workshop at Earth Lab. Once the sun sets, treat yourself to a night of dining informed by Japan's micro seasons before sipping surprising cocktails at the Nine Tails speakeasy, where all the spirits are made in Japan.
Rates at Six Senses Kyoto start around $970 per night.
The St. Regis Venice
It's evident from the very moment of arrival — by boat, naturally — at The St. Regis Venice that this Italian hotel is special, very special. There's the large and luminous Berengo Studio chandelier designed by Ai Weiwei especially for the Grand Salon, with a cheeky middle finger — a signature of the famed artist. Not to mention, you'll find elaborate custom glassware for evocative cocktails at Arts Bar.
Then there are the casually glamorous Grand Canal–facing Ginori Terrace, replete with vibrant Ginori 1735 place settings, and the more dressed-up restaurant, Gio's, for surprising suppers that draw from regional traditions in view of a majestic baroque basilica and all the gondolas. And don't overlook the 169 rooms and suites, which come with sumptuous beds and a pleasing blush and sage color palette, all within an easy walk of the most iconic sites in Venice.
Rates at The St. Regis Venice start around $880 per night.
Longitude 131
At what is arguably Australia's most moving natural site, the UNESCO-listed sandstone monolith Uluru, there is no property more immersive and indelible than Baillie Lodges' Longitude 131, a luxurious wilderness camp with 16 tented pavilions. Tucked into the red dunes surrounding Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in the otherworldly Northern Territory, these deluxe accommodations are where you'll truly feel the wilds of Mother Nature and the storytelling heritage of Indigenous Australian culture.
Along with all the experiential outings that put guests in privileged positions to admire the natural wonder, the hotel offers a scenic swimming pool, a spa offering locally inspired healing massages and all-inclusive ultragourmet dining featuring regionally sourced and indigenous ingredients.
Rates at Longitude 131 start around $2,922 per night.
Regent Hong Kong
With its prized Victoria Harbour location, a delectable two-Michelin-starred restaurant (Lai Ching Heen) and an amazingly resortlike pool smack-dab in the middle of a major city, Regent Hong Kong — reopened in 2023 after a winding history that began in 1980 — is something of an urban escape. More glamorous than ever, its chic and impactful looks by the Hong Kong-born residential designer Chi Wing Lo are soulful and swanky in equal measure.
The 497 rooms and suites are subtle and endlessly refined, with cultural motifs and traditions hidden in the furnishings, plus impeccable water-facing views that nearly make guests — relaxing in their shapely freestanding tubs — feel as though they're passengers on a luxurious ship. Six restaurants and bars, including a Nobu outpost, and a comprehensive spa are additional arguments for staying in.
Rates at Regent Hong Kong start around $360 per night.
Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens
The Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens is the true embodiment of Athenian vacation haven: It's half an hour from the Acropolis and all the Greek city's glorious history and ruins yet claims three private sandy beaches of its own and access to an opulent yacht club, not to mention sorbet-hued skies each evening.
Sense of place is a guiding force at the Athens Riviera property sprawled across 75 acres of a wooded peninsula. Amenities include a lively kids club, pampering spa treatments, exceptional cuisine — including, of course, authentic Greek meals and all the feta and seafood one could devour — and immersive, over-the-top adventures. While several of the eight dining venues offer fabulous views, there's nothing quite as dreamy as admiring seascapes, sunsets and stars on the seafront rooms' private balconies, some with their own private pools; however, the pine forest–facing accommodations are lovely, too.
Rates at Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens start around $1,054 per night.
Rosewood Sao Paulo
There are plenty of reasons to stay at Rosewood Sao Paulo, including the adults-only rooftop pool with its own bar. But the art collection is a major draw to creatives and aesthetes, with the museumlike property at the renovated, historic Cidade Matarazzo complex claiming more than 450 site-specific works made by around 50 Brazilian artists. The curation runs the gamut, from Speto street art murals to Laura Vinci's golden leaf sculptures and Sandra Cinto's handpainted tiles.
Booking one of 160 rooms and suites designed by illustrious Philippe Starck is the surest way to experience this vivid dose of culture, along with excellent dining at half a dozen restaurants and significant wellness offerings.
Rates at Rosewood Sao Paulo start around $738 per night.
Nekajui, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve
The newest luxury resort in Costa Rica's richly biodiverse Guanacaste region — more specifically, the vast protected Peninsula Papagayo region — is a 107-room, -suite and -treetop tent idyll.
As unique and special feeling as Nekajui's accommodations are, some with private plunge pools, its immersive cultural experiences and activities also hit high marks. There are cacao rituals, a private beach club, nature walks, Latin American art, stargazing, aerial yoga and pickleball, not to mention a 27,000-square-foot spa with a hydrotherapy pool, plus a personal concierge dubbed a Manzu (it means "friend" in the Chorotega language) to line it all up. Family-friendly down to the kids club and the glass funicular down to the beach, it's also a place for romance — see the tented treehouse bar.
Rates at Nekajui, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve start around $880 per night.
Amandari
Outside Ubud, the cultural hub of Bali, Indonesia, at the top of a lush river gorge, Amandari shines radiantly through misty, Jurassic jungle, captivating guests with its wafting incense, intricate Balinese craft and soulful village charm. The ultrarefined retreat evokes the island in every moment, from exceptionally flavorful Indonesian fare served at all three meals, afternoon tea and interactive activities such as Balinese dance to storytelling artifacts and a hyperlocally inspired spa journey.
Thanks in large part to wonderfully gracious staff, there is plenty to do and explore amid the dense tropical flora and classic Bali architecture after starting the day with a panoramic private breakfast in an intimate traditional bale. About half the fun is in decadent relaxation, with two of the best locations being the infinity pool that takes its shape from undulating rice terraces and the large sunken outdoor tubs that adorn many of the 31 suites, which can be drawn by your butler.
Rates at Amandari start around $1,089 per night.
Capella Bangkok
In busy Bangkok, where the Chao Phraya River is the connective tissue, it's hard to beat the waterfront location of Capella Bangkok, a regular recipient of "world's best hotel" distinctions since opening in 2020. The resortlike, urban hotel manages an incredibly peaceful energy for being so close to all the action and within walking — or tuk-tuk — distance of the cool Charoenkrung neighborhood.
The rooms and suites feature daybed-studded balconies, and Capella's signature plump beds are a master class in sublime sophistication. Not to mention, the hospitality and local knowledge doled out by the property's Culturists make every guest feel like in-the-know VIPs. There's so much to eat in the city, too, but be sure to save time for the authentic yet elevated Thai spread at Phra Nakhon, a decadent evening at two-Michelin-starred Cote by Mauro Colagreco and stellar cocktails accompanied by live music at the glam bar Stella.
Rates at Capella Bangkok start around $610 per night.
Saxon Hotel, Villas and Spa
Some hotels just feel different, and Saxon Hotel is one of those. This storied place has electricity from the distinguished figures who have stayed in the past — Nelson Mandela, Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé and Prince William, to name a few — running through it. The presidential suite is even named for Mandela, who took respite there and edited his autobiography at the property after his release from prison.
It's no wonder he found comfort in the expansive 10-acre property, replete with luscious, well-maintained gardens, an Edenic pool and private cabanas for discreet hangs. The accommodations are gorgeously designed with abundant, vivid African furniture, textiles and upholstery, with countless pieces of art and artifacts lining every hallway and public space. The glitzy restaurant, Qunu, serves phenomenal African cuisine, and the spa is a must after a long international flight.
Rates at Saxon Hotel, Villas and Spa start around $792 per night.
Raffles London at The OWO
Raffles Hotels & Resorts' first U.K. outpost debuted in 2023 with a bang at London's swanky, reimagined Old War Office in Whitehall. It's now home to 120 rooms and suites that are magically throwback yet cushy in a chichi, contemporary way, including eight corner suites all named for female spies and notable women.
Famed Michelin-decorated chef Mauro Colagreco is at the helm of three dining experiences, and there are several other concepts feeding the appetite and soul, plus, of course, the legendary Spy Bar. The antidote to all the drinking and feasting is the Guerlain Spa, which occupies 27,000 square feet across four floors and houses a 66-foot swimming pool, nine treatment suites and a hair atelier, among other amenities.
Rates at Raffles London at The OWO start around $1,150 per night.
Rosewood Mandarina
This long-anticipated resort at Mandarina — also home to a beloved One&Only — came online in May after an almost decade-long journey that's delivered an all-suite retreat to Mexico's idyllic Riviera Nayarit. There are mountaintop, beachfront and agrarian escapes among the 134 accommodations, each of which has a private plunge pool and decor crafted by local artisans.
There are options for zip lining and surfing to amp up the adrenaline, as well as exhaustive therapies, including some that tap into the intriguing local culture, at Asaya Spa to bring it back down. The culinary options are as diverse, serving everything from Mexican to Spanish to Japanese; there's even a secret-ish bar tucked into a cliffside. Additional guest perks include the newly opened Mandarina Golf Club, the Rosewood Explorers kids club and the Mandarina Equestrian Club for polo and horseback riding.
Rates at Rosewood Mandarina start around $765 per night.
Four Seasons Hotel New York
With its tony address on Billionaires' Row, near Madison Avenue's best shopping and emblematic Central Park, and iconic architecture by I. M. Pei, this Four Seasons is all about location, location, location. Yet it would be equally compelling elsewhere, thanks to sun-drenched rooms and suites bedecked with marble bathrooms, plus one of the planet's most opulent penthouses.
You'll discover a lineup of exclusive and rare experiences, too. Because of its prestigious site, those include such opportunities as seasonal gourmet picnics to be savored by a park pond, shopping with a professional stylist and private Hudson River boat cruises. The midtown landmark is classic in a way only possible in Manhattan.
Rates at Four Seasons Hotel New York start around $2,395 per night.