The world’s most expensive destinations
FLAUNT YOUR WEALTH
1. Costa Smeralda, SardiniaThis spot on the northern tip of Sardinia is the very definition of a billionaire’s playground – it was built by one. Prince Karim Aga Khan IV kicked off what became known as the Costa Smeralda in the 1960s when he bought a humble fishing village in the area and transformed it into one of the world’s most prestigious holiday destinations.
The 55km stretch of coastline now boasts the highest concentration of marinas in the world. There is also a private airstrip for VIP guests, who sip £30 cocktails while sitting on the terrace of their £1,500-a-night hotels.
This Swiss institution has long been home to the world’s most expensive hotel room. At £26,450 a night, the Royal Penthouse Suite at Hotel President Wilson is a 17,000 sq ft retreat accessible via a private elevator. It also seems to have been designed with the ultra-paranoid in mind. The room comes with bulletproof windows, security cameras, armoured doors and panic buttons.
More calmingly, you also get breathtaking views of Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc and space enough to entertain 40 people. Back to mine, everyone!
The billionaire businessman Sir Richard Branson bought Necker Island, in the Caribbean, in 1982 and soon set about turning it into an exclusive-use resort. Architects used local materials to build private villas and lush gardens that can be rented for a rumoured £30,000 a night.
Mercifully, all food, drinks and activities on the 74 acre retreat, including the use of a yacht, are included in the villa rental. Harrison Ford, Oprah Winfrey, Princess Diana and Google founder Larry Page have all stayed here.
There may be gold in them-there hills, but the most precious commodity on Colorado's slopes these days is snow. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the town of Aspen, where the average house price has climbed to $6 million (just under £4 million) because of all the wealthy tourists competing to own winter hideaways in the area.
Downtown Aspen is wall-to-wall upmarket boutiques, salons and decidedly non-budget restaurants. The mountainside is littered with mansions that are empty most of the year. One, Peak House, can be rented for $200,000 a month. What credit crunch?
The word club in its title may make this Fijian resort sound low key and welcoming but unless you have between £1,200 and £4,300 a night to spend on accommodation, you aren’t getting in to the Wakaya.
The actor Russell Crowe and the Rolling Stone Keith Richards are among the stars to have made the most of the 12-to-one staff-to-guest ratio here. Bill Gates spent his honeymoon at the resort. There are eight bures (thatched huts) for hire, all with a private garden, and you must stay at least five nights.
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