Zoe Saldaña seeks both specific hotel features and intangible warmth: a sophisticated lobby bar suited for a Grey Goose martini or a celebratory toast, and staff who are genuinely warm and eager to please. Human connection and atmosphere override hotel size or brand in defining a positive stay. Packing provides personal comfort; she habitually overpacks for a weeklong trip, calling it a pacifier and sharing the habit with her spouse. Early travel memories include a first-class New York–Los Angeles flight for a Vogue shoot that felt comforting despite homesickness. The Dominican Republic remains a favored and meaningful travel place from her adolescence.
"I've had experiences where you go to the best hotels, but there's just a human disconnection that throws me off. I don't care how big or small, how boutique or franchisable a hotel chain is-if the people are warm and aim to please, whether they're offering simple or luxurious things, that is the experience to me."
"For a weeklong trip, I pack six months' worth of items. I can't fix that. It's like my pacifier. It's my comfort, because the moment I only pack the basics, I'm miserable: I wish I had this, and I wish I had that. But I married someone who is also an over-packer, so I don't feel alone. I don't feel isolated in this guilt. We know how to forgive and make fun of ourselves for it."
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