I don't think 'novelty' is what the author was missing in the luxurious portion of his trip. In fact, he seemed like he got plenty of novelty during it. I would suspect that what was missing was authenticity and risk with the opportunity for serendipity.

I do believe it is quite possible to still incorporate luxury into risky/adventurous/serendipitous travel, but I think you will find that affluence will tend to isolate you and make it more difficult to find authenticity, regardless of how comfortable you are with your affluence.