For the last few years, my Christmas present to my family (my parents, brother, his girlfriend, my wife, my son) has been to pay for lodging for a long weekend trip to the mountains. We cook together, hang out by the fire, snowshoe, etc. This has worked out well in the past as everyone has a good time, I get my Christmas "shopping" done in one fell swoop, and it's not just a bunch of stuff to later end up in a landfill.
This year, my brother wants to get in on giving the gift and have the snowy weekend getaway be a present from both of us. I'm fine with this.
My dilemma is as follows: now that there is one other party paying for this big family gift, I'm really tempted to splurge on a much nicer place than ones we've stayed at before. Whereas before, the lodging has typically cost about $300/night, I'm currently very tempted by a place that is going to be more like $550/night. Is this crazy? It feels like "lifestyle inflation" and makes my mustache hurt. On the other hand, with one other person splitting the bill, it won't actually cost me any more than what I have done in years past.
Some pertinent details are as follows:
1.) My wife will have just given birth 2 months earlier, so she may not yet be up for snowshoeing/skiing. This has me more inclined to splurge on our accommodations this year since we may be spending much more time inside than we usually do.
2.) My folks have a very nice house/lifestyle, so while I know they have loved the previous trips for the quality family time and outdoor adventures, I'm sure the accommodations have not felt at all "luxurious" to them.
3.) The spot I'm considering would be "luxurious" for all involved - it looks like something out of Architectural Digest
4.) I have a high income, so this isn't breaking the bank for me. On the other hand, as high as my income is, I'm annoyed at myself that my savings rate is only about 50% - I really have no great excuses for not being able to push that up to 60 or 70% and am thinking maybe it's things like this trip keeping me from getting there.
5.) The option of having my brother do a separate trip so that we get TWO family get-togethers (and go cheaper for both) has crossed my mind, but finding mutual time off to schedule one trip is hard enough.
So... splurge on luxury accommodations (at the same personal financial outlay I've done previous years) or rent a similar cabin to years before and be stoked to spend half as much this year since my brother will be covering the other half?