My father used to joke that every hotel room we stayed in during our family vacations was “the most expensive hotel room in the nation.” None of them were, but chock one up for dad’s attempt to make the six of us feel that we needed to make the most of each stay.
The rooms we stayed in were modest (we were allowed to ride the elevator up to the penthouse floor—-but he never let us get out); nothing at all like the room that actually holds the title as the most expensive hotel room in the nation. That crown sits firmly on top of the Four Seasons New York’s new Ty Warner (as in billionaire, Beanie Baby creator, Ty Warner) Penthouse.
The showplace is larger than most homes. It comes in at a sprawling, 4,300-square-feet (it covers the entire 52nd floor) and contains features that most homeowners (never mind hotel guests) could only dream of. For example, the foyer floor made of amber-striated travertine marble, is so spectacularly expensive (not to mention unbelievably rare), that hotel staff members are required to wear protective booties to cross it.
The foyer opens up to walls of windows that provide views in all four directions. The penthouse’s living room is home to rare furniture by noted French designer François-Xavier Lalanne and the pieces sit under a monumental million-dollar chandelier. In addition, the cream-colored lacquered walls are inlaid with thousands of pieces of mother-of-pearl. The entire suite is filled with bay windows and skylights. Designers blew out the original 11-foot high ceilings–they now soar 25 feet in some places–and added small, cantilevered outdoor glass balconies (at a cost of $2 million a piece) to each of the floor’s four corners. The work was done to maximize the views of Central Park.
In addition to the living room, the penthouse also has a bedroom, a library and a spa/exercise room. The bedroom walls are made of straw, hand-laid by an artist in Paris at a cost of $1 million. The bed is fitted with silk sheets and a velvet bedspread, which was hand stamped in Venice. To add a touch of class, gold-threaded curtains from Morocco surround the bed, which has its own cooling system to eliminate stuffiness.
Not to be outdone, the bathroom shimmers with a rare, translucent Chinese onyx that covers the heated floors, walls and ceiling. In the library, the bay windows frame the spires of the Chrysler and Empire State buildings and you can sit your teacup on a shark skin-covered coffee table.
So how much will all this luxury cost you?
Try $30,000 per night.
Considering it cost $50 million to create and guests practically have the run of the hotel at no extra charge (think all the room service you can eat, the hotel’s Rolls-Royce–with driver–to cruise around town, a personal butler on call around-the-clock and a personal masseuse for unlimited treatments, hotel managers consider the hefty price tag a steal.
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