Stay another day: the appeal of unique versus ultra-luxe hotels

As you may suspect, hotels costing billions to develop offer some of the world’s most luxurious accommodation. Yet their more modest counterparts pack in enticing experiences of their own – including private beaches, jungle cabins and cave bedrooms.

In this video, we contrast the charms of accommodation drawn from each category, and the features behind their individual appeal.

While guests of South Africa’s Terra Khaya Eco Lodge have no access to electricity, part of the traditional African-style accommodation’s allure is that it is 100-per cent eco-friendly – and only $10 per night. Then there’s Santorini’s Caveland Hostel, which offers unique underground rooms in caves, and the biggest pool on the photogenic Greek island. Also in this category is the Lazy Beach resort in Cambodia, which offers spacious bungalows on one of the only private stretches of shore left in the world.

By comparison, each room in Macau’s 13 Hotel is worth $7 million, with the most expensive villa costing $100,000 per night. The hotel even has its own fleet of Rolls-Royce Phantoms. Another billion-dollar hotel, the Burj Al-Arab in Dubai, is decorated with chandeliers, gold décor and boasts a menu just for pillows. Then there’s the Lovers Deep underwater hotel – a submarine costing about $300,000 per couple, taking guests deep under the Caribbean for the most private and romantic experience in the world.

The ultra-luxury category would be incomplete without mention of the billion-dollar Morpheus hotel, located in City of Dreams Macau, featuring, among other opulent accents, a rooftop sky pool, and the Palazzo at the Venetian resort in Las Vegas, which has one of the most epic presidential suites in the world.

View the original video here.