To make this holiday a memorable one, hotels all over the world are going above and beyond their usual packages. Instead of a decorated tree and Christmas cookies — most years, that’s more than enough to get us in the holiday mood — hotels are trotting out in-suite Nutcracker performances, a private penthouse party for New Year’s Eve and gifts like luxury watches.
Whether you want to celebrate Christmas, New Year’s Eve or the winter season, these hotels will give you the VIP treatment:
Go on a Hublot watch shopping spree in Sydney
Watch aficionados will want to check into The Langham, Sydney. The Four-Star hotel offers a special Christmas-themed afternoon tea with Swiss luxury watch brand Hublot and an exclusive shopping excursion to Hublot’s store. Plus, you’ll open a lavish holiday gift: two Hublot Big Bang One Click Steel Diamonds watches. After your shopping spree, you’ll retreat to the Observatory Suite, which overlooks Observatory Hill and the gorgeous city skyline. And make time for a four-hour luxury sail around Sydney Harbour with a gourmet picnic basket during your two-night getaway.
Get your own skating rink and Nutcracker performance in NYC
Even Santa couldn’t best the gifts you’ll receive at The Mark’s Holiday Suite Spectacular. You’ll stay in one of the world’s largest penthouses, which has its own skating rink atop the 2,500-square-foot terrace overlooking Central Park. The New York Theatre Ballet will perform The Nutcracker in your suite. You can sing carols while a Juilliard-trained pianist plays in the penthouse. Get Bergdorf Goodman all to yourself for a late-night, private shopping spree. Have an in-suite masterclass with a Frédéric Malle perfume expert to discover your perfect scent. And renowned fashion photographer Alexei Hay, whose work has been featured by magazines like Harper’s Bazaar and brands like Gucci, will shoot your family portrait. Top it all off with a four-course holiday feast from revered chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten in your dining room.
Party in Vegas on NYE and recover in Cabo
This two-city, $200,000 trip kicks off at Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas, where you will get exclusive experiences, including a Rémy Martin Louis XIII tasting and a table in SkyBar, a helicopter tour over the Strip, a private shopping excursion at Alice + Olivia and a couples’ treatment at the spa. You will ring in the New Year in the Presidential Suite, where a bartender will serve open-bar drinks and canapes for up to 20 revelers.
Then a private jet will whisk you away to Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal to recuperate. The stunning Five-Star beachfront hotel will host you in a premier suite, where you’ll wake up to savor a floating breakfast in your own pool with a panoramic view of Baja’s unending sand and surf. You’ll also have a private beachside tequila and oyster tasting at Va y Viene Bar, a 90-minute spa treatment on the beach, a one-on-one agave tasting (encompassing a range of tequila, mezcal, raicilla, bacanora and sotol) at the Agave Study at Peacock Alley and a sunset dinner at a secluded seaside table at El Farallon, which dramatically sits on the edge of a cliff.
Be a VIP at Boston Ballet’s Nutcracker
The Langham Hotels & Resorts is curating extravagant packages throughout its properties. In the spirit of giving, each hotel has chosen a local non-profit to receive a portion of the proceeds. At The Langham, Boston, A Night at The Nutcracker features a stay in the opulent Chairman’s Suite, which will be transformed into a sugar plum fairy’s dream, and a meal for four prepared by executive chef Stephen Bukoff and served in your dining room. Cap off the evening with four VIP tickets to the Boston Ballet’s iconic Nutcracker and access to the Citizens Bank Opera House’s VIP lounge.
Escape to the beach in St. Thomas
Buck the winter blues at The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas. Running January to July, the $87,300 über-luxe package puts you in the chic new Three-Bedroom Presidential Suite for four nights. In addition to staying in the resort’s top suite, you’ll have a full itinerary with private sails (such as Sea Ray charter rides, a Lady Lynsey II catamaran charter to snorkel with turtles, and a sunset and dinner sail); in-suite multicourse meals (including a terrace dinner with a personalized tasting menu and libations and a beach gazebo dinner); an oceanfront cabana with a personal butler for a day; a seaside cabana massage for two to four people; and a Caribbean cooking class.
Celebrate the holidays like a president in D.C.
The St. Regis Washington, D.C. created a holiday fit for the leader of the free world. Stay in the hotel’s White House Holiday Suite made up in official festive décor from the White House Historical Association, a private, nonprofit organization founded by Jacqueline Kennedy to preserve the history of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The two-night package also includes a four-course suite dinner inspired by favorite White House dishes, a moonlit tour of D.C. monuments and holiday sights with a professional photographer, an in-suite champagne sabering, a holiday afternoon tea and spirited cocktails in The St. Regis Bar. You’ll go home with one-of-a-kind mementos, including the White House Christmas Ornament Collection.
Have a white truffle Christmas in Nashville
The Joseph, A Luxury Collection Hotel, Nashville will gift foodies with a white-truffle-filled holiday. Wake up in the Presidential Suite to room service featuring eggs topped with shaved white truffles, and enjoy more of the delicacy during an eight-course wine dinner for two at Yolan, the hotel’s upscale Italian restaurant from popular chef Tony Mantuano. Back in your suite, bask in the festive atmosphere with a decorated tree, locally monogrammed denim stockings, a selection of holiday records to play on the Audio-Technica turntable and carols available on the self-playing, fully restored 1920s-era Steinway Model A salon grand piano.
Enjoy New Year’s Day’s most exclusive jazz performance in NYC
Ring in 2022 from InterContinental New York Barclay’s Harold S. Vanderbilt Penthouse, a 2,700-square-foot suite with a living room, kitchen, gym and a sprawling 1,300-square-foot private terrace with skyline views. The terrace will have heaters and plush blankets for live-streaming the ball drop outdoors. The next day, enjoy an in-suite brunch for up to four with a live jazz trio along with a private candle-making class with NYC’s famed luxury candle brand Thompson Ferrier. You’ll receive other perks during the $100,000 Dec. 30-to-Jan. 2 trip, including helicopter transfers and more than 2 million IHG Rewards Points.
Find the North Pole in Pasadena
Have your own winter wonderland inside The Langham Huntington, Pasadena’s Santa Suite. The two-story Tournament of Roses Presidential Suite will be decked out in seasonal décor, a build-your-own hot chocolate bar and a gingerbread house kit. You won’t have to leave the suite — a four-course dinner will be served there, a pianist will provide the meal’s yuletide soundtrack and you’ll get popcorn and candy for a holiday movie night. If despite all that, you’re tempted to venture out, you’ll receive four tickets to Universal Studios Hollywood, where you can see displays like Grinchmas and The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle.
Fly private to wine country
Gather seven pals and hop on a private charter flight to toast the New Year in wine country. Sonoma’s MacArthur Place Hotel & Spa will give you a two-night stay, a $100 resort credit per couple as well as VIP access to an array of local New Year’s events. To make the celebration even more decadent, add on amenities like a Grand Cuvée Private Tasting at Ashes & Diamonds Winery, a behind-the-cellar-door wine tour with Bohemian Highway Travel Co. or a New Year’s Eve prix fixe dinner at the boutique hotel’s Mediterranean restaurant Layla.