Up late talking games & writing? You're...

So my son's winter visit is over, and the wife and I flew him back home to be dropped off with his mom.

When we arrived at the hotel, the three of us were tired from the long flight and eager for some downtime. We stood at the counter with bags under our arms and bags under our eyes as I presented our printed reservations, but it was obvious that the clerk on the computer was having some problems. He checked and double-checked our info, and struggled with what he was seeing. He didn't specifically say so, but it was clear that the hotel had somehow not confirmed our reservation.

However, this fellow was a quick thinker and a generous soul. I never got his name, but whoever you are, a thousand blessings upon you, sir.What he did was give us a free upgrade since the standard room we had booked was not available and the rest of the joint was full up.

An upgrade to what, you may ask?

...the $800/night penthouse suite.

Without a doubt, this was the finest hotel room I've ever been in. The space was enormous, more like a complete two-bedroom condo than a hotel room. It took up the entire top floor of the hotel, and although I didn't measure the square footage, I'd say it was comparable (if not larger) than my actual house.

There was a deck that ran the entire perimeter of the room around the roof's edge, giving a panoramic view of the city, not to mention the hot tub and shower that were installed outside. Inside, we had two full bedrooms and bathrooms, a washer and dryer, a full kitchen and dining room, a sauna, multiple flatscreen HD TVs with cable, internet access, and a huge living room with couches and chairs to stretch out on.

The kicker? This place was so swank, the toilets were completely silent when they flushed. If that's not fancy living, then I don't know what is.

Now, I'm not saying all this to brag because it's worlds away from what we usually get and not at all within our travel budget. It was just a completely unexpected and lucky circumstance that felt like winning the damn lottery to the three of us after being on a plane all day and getting wiped out on an exhausting trip. I couldn't have imagined anything sweeter waiting for us when we landed, and it was the bright ray of absolute joy that we needed.

It got me thinking, though... it must be really nice to have the kind of money to be able to stay in places like that every time you take a trip. If it hadn't been for this stroke of luck, I don't think I would have seen firsthand how the other half... No, more like how the other 10% lives.

It's pretty damned nice.