The World's Most Expensive Hotel Rooms!

The world's most expensive hotel rooms

Credit crunch? What credit crunch? Global recession has barely touched the peak of the luxury hotel market. Rates for the best rooms remain at astronomical prices: one night will equal some people's yearly salary. And the perks! Giant Jacuzzis and rotating beds are just the start; try in-room grand pianos, a personal staff of seven and your own private elevator.

And who's staying in these price-is-no-object parlours? (Surely bankers are keeping their heads down?) Find out with our guide to some of the world's most expensive hotel rooms. The below list is in random order.

 

Hugh Hefner Sky Villa, The Palm Fantasy Towers, Las Vegas

Perks: A private glass elevator delivers you to a scene of 24-hour temptation. Highlights of your two-floored suite, decorated in emulation of the Playboy Mansion, include a Jacuzzi jutting over the neon-flooded Vegas Strip below, a day-and-night butler service, two fully stocked bars, a rotating 8ft-wide bed beneath a mirrored ceiling, a lap-dancing pole in the shower (which is big enough to fit eight people), an outdoor terrace with playboy bunny mini-pool, a steam room, gym, private spa and wet bar, a poker table and a fireplace. With the room's capacity of 250 people, you could have your own Playboy party (although you would have to provide your own bunnies).

Nightly rate: $40,000 (£27,000)

Who's stayed there? Hugh Hefner (Playboy founder) stays for free; Britney Spears has been back a few times.

 

Villa Cupola, Westin Excelsior, Rome

Perks: Climbing over two floors, the Villa Cupola attempts a classy look. Hand-painted Italian frescoes cover the walls, next to stained glass windows. There is a walnut-panelled library, a wine cabinet with 160 vintages, a sweeping living room overhung by the domed cupola itself and a mosaic-tiled dining room lit by an antique Murano chandelier. 

Choose from six bedrooms with period furnishings, when you're not spending time in the fitness room, boardroom, eight-seat cinema, study or steam bath or sunbathing on the 2,000 sq ft (186 sq metres) balcony overlooking Via Veneto. Choose the flowers in your room when you make your booking, and why not arrange a helicopter transfer at the same time?

Nightly rate: €15,000 (£13,500)

Who's stayed there? Madonna and Demi Moore.

 

The Bridge suite, Atlantis resort, Paradise Island, the Bahamas

Perks: The Bridge suite spans the entire 23rd floor of the resort's two towers, giving you one of the best all-round views of the Bahamas. You have 10 rooms to play in, each with a marble floor. The 1,250 sq ft (116 sq metre) living room contains not one, but two, fully kitted out entertainment centres, plus a grand piano; in the dining room dangles a 22-carat gold chandelier. Seven personal staff are at your disposal and the hotel itself has a waterpark, an enormous aquarium and 38 restaurants.

Nightly rate: US$25,000 dollars (£18,000)

Who's stayed there? Bill Gates, Michael Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Celine Dion and Michael Jordan – not altogether, obviously, but there is room had they wanted to.

 

Ty Warner Penthouse, The Four Seasons, Manhattan

Perks: You get the entire 52nd floor of the hotel, comprising four main rooms: a bedroom with fully leather-lined dressing room, a living room, a library and a spa and exercise room with unlimited treatments from a masseur and a personal trainer. Floor-to-ceiling bay windows give you a 360-degree view of Manhattan. A personal butler on call 24 hours a day will cater for your every whim.

Decor is extravagant with mother-of-pearl inlaid walls, a coffee table covered with shark skin, curtains with real gold thread and, in the bathroom, crystal sinks, an onyx floor and a toilet that cleans, dries and warms you. Want more? You've got it, including TVs programmed for every channel worldwide, an infinity-edge bathtub and, for the busy entrepreneur, unlimited global telephone calls.

Nightly rate: US$34,000 (£23,000)

Who's stayed there? The hotel is reluctant to reveal the identity of its guests, merely describing them as "international businessmen".

 

Royal Penthouse, Hotel President Wilson, Geneva, Switzerland

Perks: With commanding views over Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc, this suite is a favourite of heads of state for its high-end security including bullet proof windows and doors, myriad surveillance cameras, bedside panic buttons ("Help, I need a glass of water!") and, perhaps justified in this case, a private elevator. 

You have 17,000 sq ft (1,600 sq metres) to get lost in, comprising four bedrooms, six bathrooms and a cocktail lounge. Scattered about are a 1930s billiard table, a Steinway grand piano and a Daum crystal vase collection. You have to square a booking with the chairman of the hotel but, beware, the price doesn't include breakfast. Perhaps you could negotiate taking home the robe.

Nightly rate: US$33,000 (£22,400)

Who's stayed there? The former US president Woodrow Wilson is, unsurprisingly, one illustrious former guest.

 

The Bridge suite (Dubai), The Palm

Perks: You may have only three bedrooms at the Atlantis's new sister hotel in the UAE but, never fear, there are three bathrooms, too, and four staff (a butler, a chef and a sous-chef and a washer-up) to show you around. You eat at an 18-seat, gold-leaf-coated table in a separate dining room, move to the lounge for cigars, then perhaps to the library, which, as well as the odd book, contains a throbbing electronic entertainment centre. A private elevator ascends to your palatial quarters and takes you down to an aquarium swirling with rays, dolphins and sharks.

Nightly rate: US$35,000 (£25,000)

Who's stayed there? Follow in the footsteps of the Beckhams, reportedly the first guests to spend the night in the suite.

 

Royal Villa, Grand Resort Lagonissi, Attica, Greece

Perks: You not only enjoy the attention of a butler and other dedicated staff in this Grecian pad but there are servants' quarters for them, too. Guests enjoy two master bedrooms with king size beds equipped with auto-massage, a collection of highly auctionable paintings to enjoy and a spacious kitchen (not that you'll need it) with fully equipped BBQ and a personal chef provided at your request.

The indoor pool area sits adjacent to a gym and there is a large outdoor heated pool with hydro massage, a steam bath and a separate massage room. If your friends visit on their boat, they can dock in a private marina and you can frolic together on a private beach.

Nightly rate: US$50,000 (£34,000)

Who's stayed there? Mel Gibson and family, Andreas Papandreou (the late Greek prime minster), plus the president of Nigeria and assorted Russian oligarchs and Saudi Princes.

 

Imperial suite, Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme

Perks: This second floor suite has an enormous lounge with adjoining dining room, kitchen and study – but such features come almost as standard in the world's top hotel rooms. The real indulgence here is a bathroom cum fully fitted spa incorporating a whirlpool bath, steam-shower room and massage table. The location is prime for discovering the city; you are a stone's throw from the Opera, Place de la Concorde, the Louvre and the shops of the exclusive Faubourg St Honoré street.

Nightly rate: US$21,000 (£14,000)

Who's stayed there? Sharon Stone, Russell Crowe and Madonna (again – the singer clearly knows her hotels).

 

Royal suite, Burj Al Arab, Dubai

Perks: The Royal suite, on the 25th floor of the one of the tallest buildings in the world, comprises 750 sq metres of unrestrained excess. The decor encompasses a marble and gold staircase, leopard print carpets and richly veined marble-floored bathrooms, each with its own Jacuzzi. 

A rotating four-poster canopy bed will help you to appreciate the views through floor-to-ceiling windows of the ever-rising skyline of Dubai. Should you become bored of such glittering sights, there is a private cinema whose remote control includes a button to open the front door. Here, in other words, you find the ultimate in indulgent laziness.

Nightly rate: US$28,000 (£18,900)

Who's stayed there? Michael Jackson and Bill Clinton.

 

Penthouse suite, The Martinez Hotel, Cannes

Perks: The big selling point here is the spectacular views of the Bay of Cannes from the roof terrace wrapping around this art deco suite; there is room for a 100 guest-list party up there. Inside you will find a free bar in the sitting room, plus a private butler and driver available every hour. The furnishings and fitting scream French elegance: designer silk curtains lined with satin, oak furniture, teak parquet flooring in the lounges and on the terraces, marble in the bathrooms and a Turkish bath. Fantastique!

Nightly rate: US$18,000 (£12,000); however, during the Cannes film festival week in May, the price rockets to US$48,000 a night.

Who's stayed there? Jodie Foster, Francis Ford Coppola and Monica Belluci.