Two ways to work with us.
The Benson Preferred Guest List is a private travel membership built around extraordinary places, meaningful experiences, and trusted relationships.
Become Benson Preferred
A working relationship. You extend meaningful benefits to our members, and your property is featured within our curated travel recommendations. Preferred rates, upgrades, credits or experiences for members; personal vetting by Paul and Diana or a qualified designee; and placement in destination guides, member recommendations and hosted trips. We are not an OTA, and we never discount your brand publicly.
Request a Benson Awards evaluation
An independent assessment. We evaluate the representative experience an ordinary guest can reasonably expect, score it against a published standard, and tell you what we found. Be considered for Benson Select or Benson Icon recognition, earn Outstanding Distinctions for your defining strengths, and gain a confidential assessment of the full guest journey whether or not an award is earned.
The Benson Awards.
Earned on the evidence of a stay, evaluated against a published standard, and valid for two years.
Recognized for excellence, with high ratings in all areas of the comprehensive Benson evaluation. A property worth building a trip around.
Iconic properties that receive the highest ratings in our comprehensive Benson evaluation. A property worth making the journey for. Only the most distinguished properties qualify.
Winners receive a digital badge, a public page travelers can check to confirm the award is real, wording they can use in their own marketing, and the right to display all of it for the two years the award lasts. A property’s own point total is not published.
Outstanding Distinctions.
These Distinctions are awarded to properties who go above and beyond in key areas that guests remember long after they leave.
An unusually powerful connection between the property and its destination.
Warmth, care and anticipation consistently extended to every guest.
A host or small team whose personal care becomes central to the stay.
A property that meaningfully unlocks the destination around it.
An experience that stays compelling at the ordinary guest price.
Dining that becomes a defining part of the stay.
Design that strengthens function, setting, comfort and memory.
An awarded property still under-recognized relative to its quality.
What you get, award or not.
The public value is recognition. The operational value is an experienced third party seeing your property with fresh eyes and telling you what they actually found.
- A confidential summary with category scores and defining strengths
- What we would tell close friends about staying with you
- Where marketing, pricing or service create expectations the stay does not meet
- Prioritized opportunities, ranked by what would move a future evaluation
- Consideration for editorial coverage and inclusion in Benson destination guides
A rigorous 100-point evaluation.
Properties are judged relative to the experience they promise. A remote safari camp, a refined urban hotel, and anything in between, can excel by delivering its intended experience exceptionally well. Eight categories and 40 individual criteria.
The number is not the whole decision. Select and Icon Awards also require category minimums, editorial conviction, and no overriding concerns in the stay. Sense of Place and Guest Experience alone carry 40 percent of the score, so a small unique boutique property can often outscore a polished but generic hotel.
How it works.
- Request consideration. Tell us about the property. We screen for fit, timing and whether a representative stay is possible.
- Agree on the representative stay. Dates, room category, hosted components and access, settled together before anyone travels.
- Receive the decision and confidential assessment. Category scores, defining strengths, and specific opportunities, whether or not an award is earned.
They are separate on purpose.
Partnership does not create, improve or preserve an award, and an award does not oblige you to partner. A property may hold either or both.
- Benson Preferred
- A vetted partner offering meaningful benefits to Benson Preferred members and featured within our curated travel recommendations.
- Benson Rated
- A property that completes the comprehensive Benson evaluation. Being rated does not by itself produce an award, and no badge is issued.
- Benson Select Award
- Properties we recommend building a trip around. Recognized for excellence with high ratings in all areas of the comprehensive Benson evaluation.
- Benson Icon Award
- Rare properties worth making the journey for. Iconic properties that receive the highest ratings in our comprehensive Benson evaluation.
- Outstanding Distinctions
- Awarded for defining strengths, with or without a Select or Icon Award.
Independence
Hosting makes a representative evaluation possible. It has no influence on scoring, editorial judgment, or whether an award is earned.
Stay somewhere
worth remembering.
Be part of our private travel membership with hand-picked resorts and unforgettable experiences minus the hassle of timeshare or vacation home ownership.
We bought in so you don’t have to.
Simple, by design.
We personally travel the world finding extraordinary places and negotiating preferred-member access. You simply select which of them you’d like to experience too.
Members do three things.
Select your stay
Choose your destination and tell us the dates you have in mind.
We arrange it
We confirm availability and send your confirmation. You just show up.
Places that made the list.
Making memories and living life more fully.
Bull Sharks in Playa
They gather off this coast for a few months a year. Close enough to count the scars, calm enough to stay a while.
The walk at golden hour
Costa Rica’s Pacific coast empties out just as the light gets good. Most evenings, the beach is yours.
Hot chocolate at the bottom
The part of the day nobody photographs, and the part everybody ends up remembering.
First chair, fresh snow
Up the mountain before anyone else, on a morning that still has every track left in it.
And so much more…
Hosted personally by Paul & Diana Benson.
We're lifelong adventurers who believe travel is one of life's greatest investments. Not because of the places you'll go, but because of the memories you'll create and the people you'll share them with.
The Benson Preferred Guest List is simply our way of sharing some of our favorite places and experiences with our circle of friends, family, and people we're glad to know. Read more about our story →
Extraordinary places, the world over.
From Whistler to the Amalfi Coast, Niseko to Turks & Caicos · a growing collection of luxury resort destinations, hand-chosen and added as inventory opens.
Questions, answered
Is this a timeshare?
No. There’s no ownership interest, deed, points system, or long-term obligation · it’s a private membership for access to resort stays, and you can cancel anytime.
Is airfare included?
No. Members arrange and pay for their own flights and ground transportation.
Do members get member-only hotel rates?
Yes — because we arrange stays directly with each property rather than through public booking channels, members receive rates and terms that aren’t published or available to the general public. See how membership compares to other travel clubs.
Are you open to partnering with hotels, resorts, and other properties?
Yes — we’re always looking for distinguished, place-defining properties that meet our standard. If you represent a resort, boutique hotel, private residence, or unique experience, tell us about your property and we’ll be in touch.
Are resort fees included?
Your resort accommodation is covered. Any mandatory resort fees, meals, and local taxes are disclosed before you confirm a stay.
How long can I stay?
Request 3–7 nights. A full membership year covers up to a five-night stay for two; additional nights may be available based on inventory.
Can I bring more people?
Yes · add adults or children to your membership at signup or later. Your total party is limited by the accommodation’s capacity.
What if my preferred dates aren’t available?
Stays are subject to availability. We’ll suggest alternate dates or destinations to find something that works.
When can I book my stay?
Your dues prepay your stay night by night: a 3-night stay once you’ve paid about two-thirds of the year, four nights a little later, and the full five at a year (or prepay the year up front to book right away). Booking uses your one guaranteed stay for the year; additional stays may be available subject to availability.
Browse the properties.
The resorts available to members. New properties are added as inventory opens · join the list to be the first to know.
Choose how to begin.
Read the full Membership Terms & Disclosures before joining. Invitation-only, limited to founding members.
Guest List
- Free account · log in anytime
- Browse the collection & request stays for any open inventory
- No monthly dues · pay per trip when you book
- Upgrade to Priority whenever a membership opens up
Always free. Upgrade only if you want a guaranteed stay.
Solo Membership
- Priority access
- Luxury stay each year, for one (up to 5 nights)
- Book 3–7 night stays, subject to availability
- Priority Pricing on every stay
- Add a guest anytime · adults $50/mo, children 13 & under $25/mo
- 3% annual increase · cancel anytime · 3-day cooling-off period
Priority Membership
- Priority access
- Luxury stay each year, for TWO (up to 5 nights)
- Book 3–7 night stays, subject to availability
- Priority Pricing on every stay
- Add family at signup · adults $50/mo, children 13 & under $25/mo (adjust anytime)
- 3% annual increase · cancel anytime · 3-day cooling-off period
Envoy Membership
- Everything in Priority
- A guaranteed stay at a higher-end property — or 2–3 stays each year at our luxury destinations
- Envoy Pricing on every stay
- Add family · adults $50/mo, children 13 & under $25/mo
- 3% annual increase · cancel anytime · 3-day cooling-off period
Ambassador Membership
- Everything in Envoy, plus additional perks
- Up to one stay every month — or guaranteed stays at our highest-end properties
- Ambassador Pricing on every stay
- Add family · adults $50/mo, children 13 & under $25/mo
- 3% annual increase · cancel anytime · 3-day cooling-off period
Now accepting new members · spots limited. Get updates on new destinations and openings.
Request your stay.
Choose a property, room, and your dates. We'll check availability and confirm · you'll see the status under My Membership.
Stays are subject to availability. Specific resorts and dates are not guaranteed until approved.
Welcome back, Member.
Your requests
+ New requestLooking for somewhere specific that’s not in our current selection? Tell us where you want to go and when you’re looking — the Benson Concierge will get back to you as soon as possible with our best options.
Plan trips together
Build a multi-stop itinerary, split rooms with friends and family, and add activities everyone can see. Share your trip with one link.
Places worth writing about.
How you’d say it out loud. The web address comes from this.
Hold ⌘ or Ctrl for several. These become the “stays in this area” links on the guide.
This sets the voice. A guide that fakes a memory costs more trust than it earns clicks.
Optional, but this is the difference between a guide and filler. Nothing gets invented if you leave it blank.
For a guide you’ve already written. Your words go in exactly as pasted — nothing rewrites them. The AI only reads it, pulls out the metadata, and tells you how it would fare in AI search.
One per line. Or paste a spreadsheet with a header row for per-guide control:
destination,property,connection,note,focus,days
Quote any name with a comma in it — "Roatan, Bay Islands". Multi-value cells split on ;. Cap is 200.
For rows without their own. Leave it here — it’s the honest default for a long list.
Roughly 30–60 seconds each, one at a time. Close the tab if you like — progress is saved as it goes.
Things you and Diana already know. Every future guide for a destination inherits its memories automatically — say it once here and you never retype it.
In your own words, as you’d say it out loud. This gets quoted into future guides exactly as written.
Decides whether a future guide may write “we”.
Short form is fine — “Roatán” finds a guide called “Roatán, Bay Islands, Honduras”.
Leave blank if you or Diana said it. Filled in, the guide credits it instead of claiming it.
The “Follow our adventures” grid at the bottom of /our-story. Nine slots, three per row — fill three for one row, nine for three. Each tile shows your photo and opens the Instagram post it belongs to.
The timing layer. Pick a guide, say which months it is at its best, and give it the Benson Test. Guides with months set appear on /when-to-go and grow a timing block on their page. Leave months empty and nothing changes anywhere.
No guide yet — this creates a draft to hang the timing on. It becomes the guide when you write it, and shows on /when-to-go once published.
Paste a When-to-Go article (the Costa Rica format) and the sections below fill themselves. Nothing saves until you review and hit Save timing.
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Round-ups — a curated list that answers a time-based question like “Where are the best places to go in January?” It links out to timing pages and guides; it never becomes a long article. Lives at /when-to-go/collections/<slug>.
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The voice rules live here as text, not in code — change how every future guide reads without a deploy.
Placeholders: {{destination}} {{featured_property}} {{nearby_properties}} {{connection_context}} {{connection_note}} {{focus_areas}} {{word_count}} {{suggested_days}}
{{destination}} and {{connection_context}} are required — without them a guide has no subject or no voice rules.
All three required. A voice missing “going back after years” fails on the one guide that needs it most.
What’s working.
Where members come from · first touch
Attention by section
Most-viewed properties
The collection & partners.
Properties
Concierge Network
B2B inquiries · properties, tourism boards and experiences
Membership capacity
— of — memberships available · one per resort week held. (— members · — held off-membership.)