William O’Connor | (TNS) Bloomberg News
If you’ve planned a vacation of late, you’ll have no trouble believing the eye-watering figure from Virtuoso—a consortia of some 20,000 luxury travel agents—that luxury hotels are 85% more expensive this summer than they were in 2019. In Paris alone, prices have gone stratospheric, up 300 percent over last summer’s rates, as hoteliers try to capitalize on the Olympic Games.
This new world order has normalized spending $1,000 a night for an entry-level room in most major cities — never mind the cost of a five-star stay in a seasonal resort destination like the Amalfi Coast or the south of France. At the former, iconic spots such as Belmond’s Caruso can command last-minute rates of $3,250 for a standard, 452-square-foot room.
To that, we say: The most expensive resorts may often be the most luxurious ones, but that doesn’t necessarily make them the best choices.
If what you’re after is a great value — a stay that offers appropriate pampering, exquisite décor and a sense of seclusion from the general public, and even some bragging rights — the answer may be to avoid the top spots entirely.
In most major destinations, boutique hotels now offer style and sophistication comparable to their more luxurious counterparts — albeit usually with a less favorable staff-to-guest ratio — at a fraction of the cost and to an oftentimes cooler crowd. If you’ve already come to terms with spending upward of $1,000 per night, getting a large suite at one of these more intimate venues will likely make you feel more like royalty than taking up residence in an entry-level room at a larger and more recognizable resort. And even if there are fewer staff to cater to your whims, you’ll be a big fish in a small pond.
Here are four case studies of just how well this strategy can play out, supersizing your lodging without adding a penny to your budget.
A flaneur’s fantasy in Paris
The fanciest hotels in town carry the government-given “palace” status. There are 12 of these, including Le Bristol, the Hôtel Plaza Athénée, Hotel Lutetia and Cheval Blanc.
They’re fabulous. But in the middle of the week in June, an entry-level superior room at the Plaza Athénée will run you $2,986 a night. For that price, you’ll get 325 square feet and a view of the landscaped inner courtyard.
At the LVMH-owned Cheval Blanc, which sits on the Seine overlooking the Pont Neuf, the prices are similar: $2,823 a night for a starter “deluxe” room, clocking in at 485 square feet.
You’ll spend half that amount — $1,400 — on a corner suite at the new and already buzzy Château des Fleurs, around the corner from the Plaza Athénée in the 8th arrondissement. The vibe, both in its common spaces and its 37 rooms, is art nouveau with a splash of surrealism: think trippy curvy doors in the hallways and elongated silverware in its Korean-French restaurant, Oma, where a mirrored ceiling is crisscrossed with playful spherical molding.
Further along in the 16th is the St. James, which lays claim to being the only “château hotel” in Paris. Rooms in this majestic mansion start at $2,500 a night—less than the palaces, if not by much. But for that sum you get your own small villa facing the estate’s manicured gardens, with with a private hot tub and sauna. It’s a taste of the French countryside, but within a 20-minute walk of the Arc de Triomphe.
A selective sanctuary in Madrid
For all the fuss over the Olympics in Paris, it’s Madrid that has emerged as the hottest city this summer. (See here for our obsessively curated guide to the city.) At the edge of its preppy Salamanca neighborhood you could sleep off the tapas and tintos at the Rosewood Villa Magna, where the least expensive Deluxe Room offers 323 square feet for $1,500 a night. It’s the same price you’d pay just south on the Paseo del Prado, at the recently refurbished Mandarin Oriental Ritz, which bears the Midas touch in its opulence.
Alternatively, you could book into the Hotel Santo Mauro, which is exclusive for different reasons. One of Madrid’s more discreet properties, it’s the former palace of the Duke of Santo Mauro and part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection. Its 49 opulent rooms in the elegant but low-key neighborhood of Almagro, near the Museo Sorolla, feel like urban oases, and king suites that are nearly twice the size of Rosewood’s entry-level rooms go for around $1,340.
All its rooms have been recently redone by famed Spanish interior designer Lorenzo Castillo, who added rich textiles and vibrant wallpapers so that it feels like you’re the guest of a duke. No two suites look alike, but they all come with a well-curated minibar with Spanish wines and snacks, marble bathrooms, and have a turndown service that includes treats from La Pajarita, a nearly 200-year-old candymaker.
Lording over London
London has long been known for hotels with staggering nightly rates, and the new Raffles London at the OWO continues that tradition. Here, rooms measuring a mere 333 square feet start in the low $1,000s. Few spots worldwide have the stature of The Connaught, but a Contemporary Deluxe Room with dimensions of 377 square feet commands $1,992 a night in mid-June. Starting prices are even higher at The Emory, which just opened, though there at least you’re guaranteed to get a suite (and lots of extras) for the $2,000-and-up price tags.
Further east on a cobble street in Shoreditch is one of the city’s more eccentric and adored boutique properties – Batty Langley’s. The whole experience in this 18th century mansion feels like something out of a maximalist period drama with its tapestries, velvet upholstery, and antique furnishings. Modernity is often hidden in its 29 rooms–televisions and minibars are tucked away in wardrobes and some bathrooms behind bookcases.
In the deep blue 710-square-foot Earl of Bolingbroke suite, you can sleep in an immense gold-accented canopy bed originally built for a bishop and decompress in an antique tub from Tuscany carved from a single block of marble. The two-story suite can be found for $896 in July, a bargain when you discover its terrace with views that stretch all the way east to Olympic Park.
Wheeling and dealing in Manhattan
Across the pond in New York City, hotel prices have soared, in part due to a crackdown on short-term rentals. At the brand-new Fifth Avenue Hotel, a kaleidoscopic perch by hotshot designer Martin Brudnizki, a 285 square-feet King room in mid-June was going for $1,045 a night. A room at the Aman New York, just below Central Park, is $2,475 per night. And a Premier King at the Carlyle easily tops $1,000.
In lower Manhattan, one of the coolest hotels of the last few years is Nine Orchard. A former bank, its Swan Room cocktail lounge is a good bet for people watching later in the week. The 400-square-feet Supreme View King Suites, named for the skyline views from the hotel’s top floors, have summer rates of $850. A rare perk for New York, this type of room has a soaking tub inset in a marble-arched alcove that’s decked out with pricey Takamichi hair products. And all guests gain access to the East Room, a stunning urban oasis with a fireplace and coffered ceiling.
A breezy break in the Balearics
Ever since United Airlines introduced direct flights from New York last summer, Mallorca has perfected the one-two punch of glamour and convenience. Paradisiacal Deia on its northern shores remains one of the most magical places in the Med. For the A-list, it’s also known as home to La Residencia, part of the Belmond group. Here at this complex of golden ochre stone accented with pale green shutters, a 376-square-foot double room with a queen-size bed starts at $2,214 a night. Up in the hills southwest of Deia in a restored 16th century estate is Son Bunyola, a new jewel in the crown of Richard Branson’s Virgin Hotels. Here, a charmingly rustic 330-square-foot Mountain View room will set you back $1,200 a night.
But a quick ferry ride away – or by a connecting flight from almost any major European airport – is the much more under-the-radar island of Menorca. On its south shore, not far from its ancient city of Ciutadella, is Vestige Son Vell, which opened last fall. Set in a neoclassical country villa on hundreds of acres, it features multiple pools, extensive flower-filled gardens, and 34 elegantly restored rooms.
Most importantly in this era of overcrowding, at the end of its long southern drive is a secluded sandy cove, a unique asset on an island where the luxury stays tend to be in the countryside. Here, a 500-square-foot Garden Junior suite carved out of a former outbuilding comes with an enormous Balinese bed, a private walled-off garden, and temperature-controlled wide-brick floors. The price tag? $1,100.
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