The Wellesley
By Harper’s Bazaar Singapore Team - published
In the ever-competitive world of five-star hotels, top stays are continually upping the ante for luxury-loving guests. It's no longer enough to provide artisan chocolates on the pillow or Frette robes in the marble-lined bathroom—now, the norm is Picassos in the bedroom suite, diamonds in your drink, champagne bubble baths and Bentleys on-demand. Here, the most jaw-dropping, over-the-top experiences from hotels around the world. Prepare for some serious #travelgoals.
From: Harper's BAZAAR US
Brazilian Court Hotel, Palm Beach, Florida
One of Palm Beach's most celebrated hotels goes above and beyond with their three-night, $90,000 "90th Anniversary Package," featuring round-trip airfare on a private jet. Included in the cost are a staggering number of amenities, like a vintage Rolls Royce with personal chauffeur, a 90' private yacht for 9 hours and diamond and emerald cufflinks for him and earrings for her. There's also a caviar, Godiva and Dom Perignon Butler (whatever that means, but we want it), a private 9-course dinner with wine pairings at Café Bouloud and a bottle of Dom Perignon in suite upon arrival.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
The Ritz Carlton Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs
When staying at The Ritz Carlton Rancho Mirage, a five-star resort in Palm Springs, guests can heat up their desert experience with a $40,000 package that includes two nights in the 1,700 square-foot Ritz-Carlton Suite, a convertible Bentley to use at leisure, and dinner at The Edge Steakhouse. Also included are a private dining experience under the desert stars, a night of guided stargazing, a personal private butler, a couples' spa treatment and a Jeep tour and a picnic at the San Andreas Fault.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Calistoga Ranch, Napa Valley, California
Nested into a private canyon in Upper Napa Valley, serene getaway Calistoga Ranch offers a romantic package that takes advantage of America's most celebrated wine region. Guests can stay in the two-bedroom, 2,400 square foot Estate Lodge—with an expansive deck, outdoor living space, private hot tub and outdoor shower garden—and enjoy a private candlelit dinner for two in Calistoga's majestic wine cave carved deep into the hillside. Dinner in the cave underneath its iron chandelier features live violin music, a menu completely customized to your wishes and a bottle of 2007 Screaming Eagle, Cabernet Sauvignon valued at a whopping $8,000.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, Mexico
The town that gave the spirit its name comes to life in this resort's Ultimate Tequila Tour. For $21,000, two people can take a private helicopter ride to the Mundo Cuervo distillery in Tequila, Mexico, where Jose Cuervo and Hacienda Centenario are produced. After tequila tasting with an expert sommelier, you'll bottle your own spirits, enjoy a private meal with live music and then return to the Four Seasons via helicopter for one night in a suite.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Enchantment Resort, Sedona, Arizona
Get up close and personal with the majesty of the Grand Canyon thanks to the $11,000 "Over the Top Grand Canyon Adventure" package at Sedona's Enchantment Resort. Guests spend three nights in a two-bedroom Full Casita, including breakfast each morning, and get four 60-minute Sedona Clay Wrap spa treatments at the resort's Mii Amo destination spa, plus a private guided hike. The highlight of the trip is a private helicopter flight from Sedona to the Grand Canyon to view the famous red rocks, dip into canyons, and explore ancient Sinagua Indian ruins.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
L'Apogee Courchevel, Courchevel, France
Located in one of the world's top skiing destinations, it's only fitting that guests staying at L'Apogee Courchevel—in the celebrated Trois Vallées region—can train with the best. For $2,300 per day, including nightly accommodations, the five-star hotel offers private ski lessons with triple Olympic medalist (and 15-time French Champion) Florence Masnada in partnership with the exclusive Somewhere Club. Each day includes a morning workout, skiing in the Trois Vallées, recovery exercises and a post-ski pow-wow over drinks back at the chalet.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Burj Al Arab Jumeriah, Dubai, UAE
Considered one of the most extravagant hotels in the world,
Dubai's Burj Al Arab
Jumeirah goes all out for guests staying in the $8,900 per
night Royal Suite. One of the coolest amenities on offer in the duplex—which also includes a rotating canopy bed and private cinema—is the
24-karat Gold iPad given to each guest upon arrival. iPads are programmed with
access to all guest services and hotel information, and guests can purchase the
64 GB version for $8,154.65.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Viceroy L'Ermitage Beverly Hills, California
In the heart of Beverly Hills, luxury-loving foodies can enjoy the "Caviar and Vintage Champagne Royal Package," which costs $20,000 per night and accommodates up to ten guests in the 3,800 square foot Royal Suite. On offer are an array of delicacies ranging from Beluga caviar and Kusshi oysters to Alaskan king crab and Maine lobster tails, with a bottle of 2002 Salon "Le Mesnil - Grand Cru" Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne provided.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills, CA
Get your Julia Roberts on with the $100,000 "Pretty Woman for a Day" experience. Including a one-night stay in the Presidential Suite, the package features three hours shopping on Rodeo Drive, including a clothing allowance of $2000 per person, a ride in a Rolls-Royce to a park for a romantic "shoeless" picnic complete with a musical serenade and a private photographer, a 90-minute couple's massage, a Diamond Manicure & Pedicure and the appearance of Wolfgang Puck himself during a private dinner on the Veranda Suite.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Dream Downtown, New York City
A super cool suite like Dream Downtown's new GuestHouse presidential suite—which includes a 900-square-foot garden terrace, a glass-bottom Jacuzzi, a Champagne Bar vanity, a private barista and a personal security guard—means you're practically required to throw a party. The Vibes Curator, on offer to guests in the $5000 per night suite, has a litany of duties, including arranging art installations in partnership with the Morrison Hotel Gallery, customizing bedding and pillows, building bespoke music playlists, personalizing the in-room coffee program, coordinating consultations with in-house salon IGK, setting up personal fittings with stylists and tapping into a network of DJs and mixologists worthy of the downtown NYC scene.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
The Egerton House Hotel, London, England
With an art collection that would put many small museums to shame, this five-star boutique townhouse hotel in Kensington is dripping with priceless masterpieces, including works by Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, Matisse, Renoir and Chagall. For $2,000 per night, guests staying in the Victoria and Albert suite—which includes a private garden terrace overlooking Egerton Gardens, valet service and a welcome flute of champagne—can get up close and personal with Picasso's Au Pont des Arts.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Four Seasons at Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, Florida
It's not enough to just fly the extended family to Disney World. For the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World's $66,000 per night "Ultimate Suite Experience," guests can reserve the entire 18,120 square foot 16th floor for their family and friends. The buy-out includes the nine-bedroom Royal Suite, the four-bedroom Presidential Suite, and eight additional guest rooms, featuring twenty-one bedrooms and four living rooms in total, sleeping up to 42 people. Guests receive their own private concierge, butler service, a fully-customizable experience including wine, specialty foods and amenities requests as well as a secured elevator with the entire floor keyed-off, special access to shows and views of both the nightly Magic Kingdom fireworks from the 1,000 square foot wrap-around terrace in the Royal Suite, and the EPCOT fireworks from the Presidential Suite.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
qualia, Hamilton Island, Australia
Hands-down one of the best luxury resorts in the world, qualia offers travelers a little slice of paradise on remote Hamilton Island, in Australia's Whitsundays. For $9,000, guests can enjoy three nights in the airy two-bedroom Beach House (where Oprah stayed during her famed Australia trip), featuring a 40-foot-long private infinity pool and massive wrap-around deck overlooking the Whitsundays. The package includes a helicopter to your own private island, where guests will experience lunch for two and bottle of champagne. After returning to the Beach House, you'll have a private dinner by torchlight, Bachelor-style.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria, Rome, Italy
Travelers to the Eternal City have a bevy of benefits waiting for them at the Rome Cavalieri. For $2,550 per night, you'll stay in a top suite, with perks including a transfer to and from the airport in a Mercedes S Class, a welcome flute of champagne and canapés, complimentary access to the Imperial Club & Grand Spa and a 7-course tasting menu dinner for two at La Pergola—Rome's only three-star Michelin restaurant with a 60,000+ bottle wine cellar. Even better, you'll get a private tour of the Vatican, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica along with tours of the four Basilicas, including St. Peter's, St. John in the Lateran, St. Mary Mayor and St. Paul outside the Walls.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
The Dorchester, London, England
Channel your inner Lady Mary in the Dorchester Hotel's Harlequin Suite. For $6,100 per night, guests have a bevy of butler services on offer, including the option to have your clothes unpacked and repacked for you, clothes pressed and shoes shined to a "Royal Household" standard and a chauffeured round-trip airport or train transfer in an executive saloon. Guests also receive a welcome gin & tonic, and a welcome bottle of Dom Pérignon upon arrival. The Harlequin Suite has a glamorous history—it's where Elizabeth Taylor stayed when she was offered the part in Cleopatra. The pink marble bathroom that was installed for her still remains, and the suite also features a wrap-around terrace overlooking Hyde Park.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Il Salviatino, Florence, Italy
Bubble baths are passé—for the ultimate indulgence, fill your tub with the nectar of the Gods. At Italy's Il Salviatino hotel, you can choose between Prosecco, Spumante, or Champagne, and a butler will fill your bath with your preferred bubbly. They'll also light scented candles to set the mood and provide a chilled bottle to drink—all for the cool price of $10,000.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Laucala Island Resort, Fiji
This might just be the coolest hotel perk ever. For $2,000 per person, guests at Laucala Island Resort in Fiji—a 3,500 acre private island Pacific resort featuring volcanic mountains, tropical rainforest, beaches and lagoons with 25 luxury villas, 5 restaurants, a spa, and an 18-hole golf course—can arrange a 30-minute ride in a custom submarine called the DeepFlight Super Falcon, which goes up to 60 feet below the surface to see the areas gorgeous Fijian coral and marine life.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Le Meurice, Paris, France
Even the most fabulous hotel stay requires navigating the hell of airport customs first. Not so for guests staying in Le Meurice's $7,500 per night Presidential Suite. One of the suite's many perks as part of the "Arrive in Style" package includes being greeted by a Le Meurice representative when deplaning. They'll escort you through the airport and through customs, retrieve your luggage for you and then whisk you off to your Parisian suite in a Mercedes E-Class. Other perks include access to Spa Valmont and a complimentary bottle of Krug champagne.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Little Palm Island Resort & Spa, Little Torch Key, Florida
Perfect for weddings and reunions, for a cool $1 million dollars, guests will have exclusive use of the private island in the Florida Keys for four days and three nights—including 30 one-bedroom suites. As if that weren't enough, each suite has a bottle of Cristal waiting (30 bottles in total), Tumi luggage is mailed to all guests before arrival, and two seaplanes (plus pilots), a limo and a driver are always on standby. On your last night on the island, they'll arrange a grand finale fireworks show.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
The Wellesley, London, England
Not every luxury hotel has its own luxury yacht. With three decks, a sundeck and a Jacuzzi, as well as diving equipment, jet skis, an outdoor cinema and a private chef, MY The Wellesley—the 56 meter superyacht owned by The Wellesley London—is over the top enough to have received the "Best in Yacht" show award in Geneva at the MYBA Charter Show. Guests can charter the yacht—which includes one master bedroom with panoramic views and five guestrooms—for $275,000 per week. Optional packages are available for guests to include an overnight stay at the the hotel in Knightsbridge prior to their departure.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, California
For $25,000, guests staying at The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco's Presidential Suite can celebrate their silver wedding anniversary with a vow renewal overlooking the city skyline, on the suite's 1,200 square foot balcony. The experience includes a cocktail reception for 25 guests, a silver Gump's fortune cookie box keepsake with a personalized fortune and a 25-year-old vintage bottle of California wine from 1991.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
The Ritz Carlton Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo's tallest building, The Ritz-Carlton, serves up its epic views with an eye-popping drink: for $14,000, you can sip on a chilled Grey Goose vodka martini with a lime twist, served with a one-carat diamond garnish. Just in case that's not lavish enough for you, the martini is served in front of the panoramic view window as "Diamonds Are Forever" plays.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Palazzo Victoria, Verona, and Il Salviatino, Florence, Italy
Feel the need for speed? Spend three days driving around Tuscany in a Ferrari with the two-night "Italy Full Throttle" package for $6,500. Budding Danica Patricks will start with an overnight stay at Il Salviatino, a luxurious fifteenth-century villa in the hills of Tuscany, and then drive to Verona, spending their second night at Palazzo Victoria for a three-course dinner and luxury stay. Other highlights include a scenic drive through medieval villages, including the Futa and Raticosa passes from the legendary Mille Miglia race and a stop at the Ferrari museum in Maranello.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
e by Jose Andres, Cosmopolitan Hotel, Las Vegas
A small dining room hidden inside the Cosmopolitan Hotel's Jaleo restaurant, e by Jose Andres dazzles and delights eight diners per sitting during two dinner seatings a night. Guests apply online for spaces, with lucky recipients receiving a Golden Ticket in the mail. For $600 per person including wine, diners enjoy a 23-course molecular gastronomy tasting menu in a mind-bending Alice in Wonderland-esque experience, designed to mimic the experience of being inside Chef Jose Andres' head.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida
The only thing better than a gigantic 4,400 square-foot balcony overlooking the Atlantic Ocean is if that balcony has both a private pool and a private Jacuzzi. The Fontainebleau's nearly 10,000 square-foot, two-story Sorrento Penthouse, which goes for $7,500 per night, features 5 bedrooms and 6.5 baths, plus a formal dining room for eight. The iconic hotel—beloved by Frank Sinatra and enjoying a renaissance as one of Miami's coolest stays—also features a Hakkasan, Scarpetta, Stripsteak by Michael Mina and LIV nightclub.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World
Eden Rock St Barths, Caribbean
For music fans, the Eden Rock St. Barths offers the seductive opportunity to record in a piece of musical history. For $20,359, guests staying in the 16,000 square foot Villa Rockstar suite are invited to record their very own vacation soundtrack in a private recording studio, including instruments, production equipment and a screening room. The piece de resistance is the 8088 Neve console—the very same console used by John Lennon to record "Imagine". The Villa Rockstar also features private beach access, as well as a Glen Affric whiskey bar with 40 whiskeys.
The Most Extravagant Hotel Experiences In The World