Anthony travels to Maui and wakes up to the sound of the ocean. He puts on a monogrammed resort and goes out to welcome the audience to the Four Seasons Maui. The hotel has the top ranked beach and some of the best restaurants in the state, and 380 of the largest guest rooms. Anthony checks out his suite, the Presidential Suite, with 5,000 square feet and costs for $18,500 a night. The suite has three bedroom, three bathrooms, and a large living room. The wood floor is 300-year-old recycled teak wood installed at a cost of $50,000. There is artwork on the wall from Michael Dell's personal collection. The art in the room is worth over $160,000, and there are 2,300 pieces scattered through the resort. Someone has placed a picture of Anthony's children on the table.
The doorbell rings and the guest experience manager, Shermaine, comes in. Anthony hugs her and thanks her for the picture, and she explains that it's her job to personalize the room so Anthony feels like he's at home. Shermaine shows Anthony an internal memo about his personal habits and preferences, and her goal is to create new experiences every day. Anthony asks for a great cup of Kona coffee, and she asks if he wants to experience it. He asks for the experience and she says that she'll make it happen.
Anthony goes outside to check the resort. It has an open-air lobby and four swimming pools. There are 50 free cabanas and the main courtyard is the roof of the lobby. All of the vents and AC units are covered with greenery. The builders constructed the hotel at the perfect slope to draw the guests' attention to the ocean. Anthony checks with Ricky and Lucy, two rescue parrots that have been there since 1990 when the hotel opened.
Next, Anthony goes to get a snack and a drink. There are five bars and three full-service restaurants, and Anthony heads to Spago Maui. The bartender Vicky shows him how she makes handcrafted ice cubes. She does it before he guests arrive because it's the right thing to do, and says that TLC is what it's all about. Anthony tries his hand at it making ice cubs from the $6,000 the Maui spends per year on ice blocks.
Shermaine contacts Anthony and says that he'll have to ride on a helicopter with her to get his coffee. He agrees and the pilot takes him to the western slopes of Hualali, an active volcano. The ash gives the coffee a unique favor, and they land at a coffee farm. Malia greets Anthony and shows him the coffee fruit. It's handpicked, and they collect 200 pounds in one day, which makes 20 pounds of coffee worth $1,000. Malia shows Anthony how to pick coffee beans and then serves him a cup of coffee.
Back at the hotel, Anthony sees Kua doing the torch-lighting ceremony. He blows on a conch shell and shows Anthony how to do it. Kua insists that Anthony put on the native outfit, and they run around and light the torches.
Finally, Anthony meets Shermaine on the beach and she gives him a present. It's a pocket square made by a resort seamstress. Anthony thanks Shermaine and then gives her his $5,000 super-tip for five-star service. Shermaine hugs Anthony and admits that she was totally surprised, and is going to use the money to go on vacation.
Written by Gadfly on Dec 28, 2016