Luxury hotels that may be worth eye-watering price

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 percent 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.

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 sanctuary in Madrid

For all the fuss over the Olympics in Paris, it’s Madrid that has emerged as the hottest city this summer. 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.