Everyone has a personal record for the amount they’ve spent on a hotel room. Whether it was for a one-off treat or just because everywhere else in town was full, most people have sampled a luxury hotel at one point or another. Sometimes it’s worth it, sometimes it hurts. In either case, when the bill came, you probably didn’t want to look!
But for the super rich, the cost of our so-called luxury accommodation is just part of the package. All around the world, luxury hotel suites are designed to cater to this elite, with every imaginable feature, priceless furnishings, lavish service, and a price to match. These boutique hotels are the playgrounds of the rich and famous when they travel abroad – celebrities, millionaires, pop stars, heads of state and royalty are the most frequent residents…Some of them pay and others are invited. Here are five of the most expensive luxury hotel suites in the world.
Presidential Suite, Hotel Martinez
Price: $ 18,500 a night
Cannes is Europe’s answer to Hollywood, so it’s no surprise that it contains a luxury hotel suite with this kind of price tag. Decorated in an Art Deco style, it measures 8,000 square feet in total. The wraparound terrace (which can hold over 100 people) is 2000 square feet on its own, and has views of the entire Bay of Cannes. Other features include a Turkish bath, personal sauna, 24 hour on call butler and a free bar – though breakfast is not included in your bill.
Guests at this famous hotel have included Jodie Foster, Francis Ford Coppola and Monica Belluci. One Saudi sheik liked the Presidential Suite so much that he wanted to hire it out for five years. The hotel, confident of being able to fill the suite in spite of its price, refused his request.
Imperial Suite, President Wilson Hotel, Geneva
Price: $ 23,000 a night
You pay for security as much as luxury at this famous hotel suite in Geneva. Positioned next to the United Nations Headquarters and designed for travelling heads of state, the Imperial Suite features bullet proof glass and bedside alarm buttons, and can only be reached by a private elevator.
With views of Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc, the suite contains five bathrooms, four bedrooms, a cocktail lounge, a library, its own Steinway grand piano and a mahogany dining table that can comfortably seat 26 guests. It costs approximately $ 23,000 a night. Breakfast is not included but the service can’t be argued with – when one guest requested a bed that could not fit in the lift, the hotel hired a crane to get it in the bedroom.
The Bridge Suite, Atlantis Hotel, Paradise Island
Price: $ 25,000 a night
The Bridge Suite sits on top of the bridge that connects the two Royal Towers in this resort on the aptly named Paradise Island. For $ 25,000 a night you get your own butler, entertainment centre, 50-foot bar lounge, marble baths and a décor described as conveying “regal majesty” by the hotel staff. For regal majesty, read lots of gilded mirrors and windows, golden sofas, and a ten-foot four-poster bed with hand-painted linen sheets. Subdued and tasteful it isn’t, but if you like to see some eye-watering opulence in your five figure luxury hotel suite, this may be the one for you.
Ty Warner Penthouse, Four Seasons Hotel, New York
Price: $ 30,000
This boutique hotel spared no expense when it came to furnishing the penthouse on its 52nd floor. Gold thread curtains, walls inlaid with mother of pearl, onyx bathroom floors, and even a shark skin coffee table are all part of the package here, along with stunning views over Manhattan and even a waterfall in the so-called Zen room. For those who like a little more than the standard room service, this luxury hotel suite comes with unlimited treatments from an in-house masseuse, a butler on 24 hour duty and a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce.
Hugh Hefner Sky Villa, Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas
Price: $ 40,000
Perhaps it’s no surprise that Hugh Hefner’s name is attached to the ultimate in luxury hotel decadence. At a jaw dropping $ 40,000 a night, the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa is the world’s most expensive hotel suite, located (appropriately enough) in the Fantasy Tower of the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Amongst the eccentric extras are an eight foot revolving bed with ceiling mirrors, an indoor waterfall, an exercise room, sauna, and a terrace pool projecting out over the edge of the Fantasy Tower with the Playboy Bunny logo stamped firmly in the centre.