Enjoy the world's best sights without leaving your luxury hotel room. Photo / The Dolli© at Acropolis
Travelling to a tourist hotspot this year? There is a way to see the world’s most iconic landmarks from the comfort of your own hotel bed, writes Michelle Tchea
Travelling can be exhausting - sometimes you just don’t want to get out of bed, bash heads with other tourists and line-up in one-hour-long queues to see some of the world’s most revered tourist hotspots.
The good news is, there is a way to see Greece’s Acropolis, New York’s Empire State Building and Sweden’s Old Town from the comfort of your hotel. More and more luxury hotel suites are being strategically built in the most well-positioned places to allow travellers the opportunity to wake up and go to bed with something like the Taj Mahal in clear sight.
The hotel suites and rooms do come with a caveat, they are much more expensive due to their prime location and central real estate and yes, you are right: mostly it is the most prestigious and opulent suite in the hotel that has these views.
But if the result is not having to elbow other tourists for a picture-perfect shot of your favorite landmark the splurge might actually be worth it. Here are the best luxury hotels with stellar views of national landmarks.
You either have to jump on a super yacht or helicopter to get both of Sydney’s national landmarks in full shot but as a guest of Crown Sydney, you wake up to the sun rising over both the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House and the views are stellar on the 88th-floor.
With 76 residences and 349 hotel rooms, Sydney’s luxury hotel on Darling Harbour is one of the tallest buildings in the city and with this, you get stunning panoramas but while some of the simplest and lower grade rooms do have views of both landmarks too, the Presidential Villa is where you want to sleep, rest and linger. The 800sq m palatial villa is split over two levels so you can enjoy the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from your very own infinity pool and bathtub - whatever takes your fancy.
New York has many great landmarks and you can get a crick in your neck just looking at all of them from the ground floor, but rather than annoying New Yorkers (by stopping, looking up and taking photos), the best view is definitely from the luxurious Presidential Suite of the Carlyle. Located on the 26th floor, guests have 360-degree views of the city with sweeping vistas of midtown and of course - Central Park. Inside the suite, there are Art Deco-inspired murals for art lovers to enjoy but it is really hard to not spend every waking moment peering over the edge and looking at the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building from the comfort of your king-sized bed.
There are many luxury hotels with views of Paris’ Eiffel Tower, but one of the most over-the-top suites has to be the Suite Lalique by Patrick Hellmann in Prince de Galles, Paris. Smaller in size compared to other suites, the 180sq m suite offers a beautiful and unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower. From the terrace, guests can enjoy 280-degree views of the prestigious Avenue George V and the Iron Lady for the perfect chic Parisian weekend. The piece de resistance has to be that the entire suite is adorned with Lalique crystal with the duplex apartment only accessed by private lift - so this is Paris at its best. The second floor offers the best view of the Eiffel Tower and there is also an uninterrupted view of Sacre-Coeur from the dining room if you want to hit all your landmarks in one easy picture-perfect moment.
The Necker Suite at Chateau de Versailles has breathtaking views over the lush Orangery garden and the Palace from the free-standing bathtub, but if you are going to relive your dream of being French royalty, you definitely want to opt for the most opulent suite available: the Le Grand Appartement. Boasting an 18th-century vibe, the entire apartment has the most luscious views of the garden and is actually a combination of the Turgot Room, the Madam de Fouquet Room and Necker Suite - with all of them interconnecting. The apartment has a 30sq m terrace and a grand library too - if you need more reasons to book. Guests are treated to a gourmet breakfast by famed French chef Alain Ducasse, as well as an afternoon petit four and Champagne aperitif each evening to round off a grand and royal stay in Versaille.
Greece just screams summer and while many tourists enjoy walking up to the Acropolis, the best place in Athens has to be at the five-star luxury hotel, the Dolli at Acropolis. The historical acropolis can be seen from both the bedroom and bathroom as you have a bubble bath with Champagne flute in hand. If you get tired of hanging out in your room, head out to the Dolli’s infinity pool and float on water or sit under a sunshade with legendary views of the Parthenon in clear sight.
One of the most historical hotels in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, the Grand Hotel still garners the attention of luxury travellers because of its location and views of some of Sweden’s most loved landmarks. Home to Swedish celebrities since 1874, the luxury hotel overlooks the city’s waterfront and has views of the Royal Palace and Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s old town. The most luxurious suite is the Wilhelmina Skogh Suite, which has chandeliers, free-flowing Champagne and of course direct access to the hotel’s newest Michelin-star restaurant, Seafood Gastro by Mathias Dahlgren.
In a city where superlatives are worth every penny, the Wynn Resort takes everything to a whole new level when guests check into the Wynn Panoramic Corner Suite. The suite is affixed with in-room tablets for that futuristic and hands-free living in a city that never sleeps and it’s hard not to fall asleep with the 507-thread-count linens but what sets this suite apart from others is the rotating programme of commissioned artwork featuring a curated collection of “refined, modern pieces”. At 59sq m, the sought-after rooms are the most requested with spectacular views of the Strip and Las Vegas Valley - depending on how lucky you are - the gamble is all yours on which suite you get.
Visiting the Taj Mahal during India’s summer can be a death wish with temperatures reaching more than 49C. But if you find yourself in Agra, you can still enjoy the best views with the AC on full blast in your luxurious suite at the Oberori, Amarvilas Agra.
As the capital of the Mughal Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries, Agra is home to three Unesco World Heritage sites, the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and the ancient city of Fatehpur Sikri. Located just 600m away, the Kohinoor Suite is the jewel of the property with 230sq m and views of the Taj Mahal in every single room. Elegant yet historical with the Mughal palace designs featuring white marble elephants and golden-domed ceilings, the stay is truly one of a kind.
Perched on level 39 of the Shard, the Shangri-la suite and premier city view room offers 270-degree views of London’s most iconic landmarks. Stretching as far as the eye can see, the views include Canary Wharf, the London Eye and of course, Tower Bridge. A personal butler is available to grant you all your travel wishes. It’s easy to visit these national landmarks but life seems far too good and luxurious, doesn’t it?
Not considered a landmark but definitely a national treasure and culture centre for the Danes, the Tivoli Gardens is a theme park similar to Disneyland (Walt Disney is said to have visited and was inspired to create Disney World after staying as a guest) in the city of Copenhagen. Created in 1843, the Moorish-inspired fairytale castle is home to Copenhagen’s most luxurious hotel, Nimb, which has 38 rooms and suites sitting right next to the Tivoli Gardens - a place where young and old come to ride rollercoasters, eat roasted candied peanuts and drink Danish beer. Apparently, Tivoli Gardens was built because the founder Georg Carstensen suggested to King Christian VIII that an amusement park was essential to stop him from being dethroned since, “When people are amusing themselves, there is no time for politics”. An interesting theory that created one of the most loved destinations in Copenhagen’s history and yes, in case you were wondering - King Christian did keep his crown.
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