There’s a moment we hear about more often than we’d like: a client gets home from a trip and mentions, almost in passing, that they cancelled their original booking and just found something on their own because they “didn’t want to bother us.”
We want to say this as warmly as possible: please bother us. That moment is precisely why we exist.
The Relationship Behind the Reservation
When you book through Resort to Laura Madrid, something happens that simply cannot be replicated through a hotel’s own website, a cruise line booking portal, or any third-party platform: a long-standing relationship goes to work on your behalf.
We are in constant communication with our partners (hotels, cruises, villas, tour operators, and more) often speaking with their teams multiple times each week (sometimes each day!).
These are not transactional exchanges. They are ongoing conversations built on trust, familiarity, and mutual investment. When your reservation arrives, the Director of Sales knows your name. In many cases, so does the General Manager. That recognition shapes everything from the room you’re assigned on arrival to the amenities waiting when you walk through the door.
While booking direct can certainly build a meaningful relationship with a favorite property, there’s an added layer of advocacy that comes from having a partner working on your behalf behind the scenes. Our team is in constant conversation with hotels across entire portfolios.
That ongoing dialogue gives us a depth of insight that’s continually refreshed and carefully applied to every reservation we make. It’s knowledge built over time, across dozens of properties, and it allows us to advocate thoughtfully for our clients in ways that go far beyond any single stay or loyalty account – no matter how valued.
The Price is the Same. The Experience is Not.
This is the part that surprises people most: our rates are identical to what you see online. What you gain is the added value layered on top: room upgrades, hotel credits, amenity packages, and priority treatment that varies by property and can be quite meaningful. In many cases, you receive significantly more while spending exactly the same.
| Book On Your Own | Book via RTLM | |
|---|---|---|
| Room Booked | Courtyard View Room | Courtyard View Room |
| Nightly Rate | $500 per night | $500 per night |
| Length of Stay | 2 nights | 2 nights |
| Total Paid | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| Daily Breakfast for Two | Not included | Included (approx. $70 per day) |
| Room Upgrade | Not included | Upgrade to City View Room (approx. $150 per day) |
| Food & Beverage or Spa Credit | Not included | $100 credit during stay |
| Welcome Amenity | Not included | Special welcome amenity (approx. $50 value) |
| Total Additional Value | $0 | $590 in added value |
I always tell my clients to book the room they want to ensure they will be thrilled with their stay and to avoid disappointment. Never bank on an upgrade, as they are offered only if available at check-in and should be considered icing on the cake! Surrender yourself to your professional travel advisor and be prepared to be surprised and delighted during your travels.
What About Backroads, Lindblad, Cruises, and Group Trips?
We love that our clients travel with world-class operators. Backroads cycling and hiking journeys, Lindblad Expeditions with National Geographic, small-ship cruises, and other escorted group programs are extraordinary experiences, and we fully support them.
Here is what many travelers don’t realize: your journey rarely begins the moment the group itinerary does, and it rarely ends there either.
The days before and after matter tremendously. A pre-trip night in a gateway city, a post-cruise hotel in Lisbon or Buenos Aires, a domestic connection that needs to align with an international departure. These details require the same care and coordination as any bespoke itinerary. When we handle the full picture, we ensure every piece connects. When a client self-books the surrounding components separately, those connections are often the first thing to fray.
We also manage the moments your group operator cannot: the private dinner reservation in a city you’re passing through, the spa booking you want to secure before the trip sells out, the car transfer from the airport that makes an early embarkation effortless. This is what a fully supported experience looks like, and it is available to you once we have your core reservation in place.
PERK by RTLM
For clients who love the process of researching and planning their own travel, PERK by RTLM was created with you in mind. It is designed for the traveler who enjoys discovering properties independently, making their own decisions, and managing their own bookings, but who also wants the assurance that when they arrive, they are recognized, valued, and taken care of in a way that a standard direct booking cannot guarantee.
PERK gives independent-minded clients the best of both worlds: the freedom to plan on their own terms, paired with the access, benefits, and behind-the-scenes relationships that only come from booking through us.
The relationships we’ve built with our hotel portfolio mean that PERK benefits are extended to our clients in a way that goes beyond what’s listed on paper. When a property views us as an extension of their sales team, and many do, your booking carries weight
One More Thing Worth Knowing
Resort to Laura Madrid offers full-service itinerary planning for a select group of clients. We keep our client list intentionally small to ensure every journey receives the care and attention it deserves. Our concierge services, including support with flights, dining reservations, private experiences, activities, and any other arrangements that make a trip feel truly seamless.
When we hold your accommodation, we have the full picture. We know your arrival time, your room category, your preferences, and the flow of your itinerary. That context allows us to coordinate every surrounding detail with the kind of precision and care that is not always possible when the pieces are booked separately across different channels.
It is also what transforms a collection of good bookings into a single, cohesive experience. The dinner reservation that accounts for your late flight. The private transfer timed to your check-out. The activity slotted into the one afternoon your schedule actually allows for it. These details matter, and getting them right requires having the whole journey in view from the beginning.
This is another reason why reaching out to us first, before anything is booked elsewhere, makes such a meaningful difference. Once we have your stay in place, everything else can fall into place around it.
Don’t worry you will always be in the best hands and get the best value with us!
ABOUT RESORT TO LAURA MADRID:
Resort to Laura Madrid is a luxury travel consulting agency. Laura Madrid has always had an intense passion for travel, people, food, and an active life-style. Her mother instilled in her a love of travel at a young age when she piloted a five-seater single engine airplane to Costa Rica to start a new life with Laura, Laura’s two brothers, and their Labrador retriever.
Since then, Laura has lived in Italy, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Additionally, she’s traveled to and experienced 70+ countries and their unique cultures. Given her adventurous childhood and more recently adventuring around the globe with her own children, Laura knows the nuances involved in making any trip an epic experience!
Laura’s professional background includes 20 years as a sales professional in the luxury hotel industry in key positions in on-property operations and global sales roles with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.
Laura started her own travel consulting business in 2011 and has built a fiercely loyal clientele based 100% on referrals! Laura Madrid is a member of Virtuoso, a by-invitation-only network of the world’s leading travel consultants and her clients benefit from her elite partnership with the most exceptional hotels, tour providers, adventure companies and cruise lines on Earth!