The most ridiculous over-the-top hotel services
FREE shampoo? Boring. Bathrobes. Yawn. These hotels have brought their A-game to the table offering the most insane services to attract its guests.
FREE shampoo? Boring. Bathrobes? Yawn. Travellers have come to expect these once-special hotel amenities, whether we’re plopping our heads on the pillows of hip hostels or posh penthouses.
And it seems hotels are taking note, seeing our expectations and raising us some carefully selected and sometimes off-the-wall amenities that not only stoke our vanity, but also create experiences to remember long after we’ve checked out.
From in-room Glamour Bars to use of a convertible Porsche, these hotels are bringing their A-game when it comes to amenities and making sure we look and feel fabulous day and night.
Glamorous minibars
If ever a hotel minibar could be sexy, it’s the one at the Gansevoort Hotel in New York’s Meatpacking District.
In March, the trendy downtown hot spot introduced in-room Glamour Bars, beauty stations outfitted with Hollywood dressing room-style vanity mirrors and a cache of top beauty brand cosmetics and hair products for purchase, such as Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara ($30), Hampton Sun bronzing mist ($55), and Bumble and Bumble styling spray ($20).
Your own wingman
Something borrowed takes on a whole new meaning at the Wild Dunes Resort on Isle of Palms, South Carolina, where a “Best Man for Hire” is your BFF for an hour, day, or weekend.
Based on Kevin Hart’s character in the movie “The Wedding Ringer,” released in January, in which a lovable but slightly awkward groom-to-be hires a charismatic best man to make him look good at his own wedding, this, too, is the ultimate wingman with charm and wit out the wazoo.
He is sure to be a hit come speech and toast time ($195 per hour; $845 for a half-day; $1300 for all day; $2600 for a full weekend).
A bath bar
The Après-ski bar is always hot in Vail, Colorado, especially at The Arrabelle at Vail Square, where a spa-on-demand menu delivers it to your bathtub. From the in-room iPad, order the Bourbon Revival: a Dilo Rescue bath milk, an after-bath body gel, an under-eye collagen revival mask, and a glass of bourbon ($64).
Starting on April 20, all suites at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago will sport a Bath Bar filled with step-by-step soaking instructions (apparently we’ve been doing it wrong) and therapeutic accoutrements, such as a recommended Spotify playlist, a Supracor exfoliator, lavender Epsom salts, and a selection of herbal teas for a self-indulgent hot night in.
Playing dress-up with vintage costumes
You’re never too old to play dress-up, and it’s hard to resist at Ballyfin, an aristocratic manse set amid 600 acres of Irish countryside, complete with 40 fancy costumes available to wear around the grounds or to dinner.
The dresses, suits, bonnets, hats, and other accessories were purchased from the Lyric Opera of Chicago, making it not only possible to stay in a house befitting a 19th century aristocrat, but also dress like one, too.
Your own personal Porsche
If you can’t own a Porsche, pretending you do is the next best thing at Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa in Rancho Santa Fe, California, where three newly released models are available to guests: a 911 convertible, a Panamera Hybrid, and a Cayenne GTS.
Thanks to a partnership with Porsche of San Diego, resort guests can take cars out (complimentary) at any time, for as long as they’d like, provided they return the vehicle the same day.
The concierge happily supplies recommended routes, whether along SoCal’s stunning beaches or through the nearby wine country of Temecula. Anywhere you go, you’ll rev the engines of a few admirers, and turn some heads, too.
Aura adjustment
Like a chiropractor for your atmosphere, the Aura Architect at Nicaragua’s posh Mukul Beach, Golf & Spa will adjust your wellbeing by arranging your room according to your desires, drawing the curtains, setting the ambient music, and adjusting the light to ensure maximum inner peace.
Eliminate worry lines by choosing from a wellness aura menu, which includes aromatherapy, healthy snacks, in-room yoga sessions, and other mood-setting activities to keep your aura from being knocked out of whack.
Digital detox
When those pesky electromagnetic fields from your digital devices foil your beauty rest, head to Villa Stéphanie in Baden-Baden, Germany, where going off the grid is easy. With the switch of a button located on the bedside table, guests disconnect the entire room from the electric grid and Wi-Fi network.
Triple-insulated shielding cables and metal sheets in the walls block neighbouring signals and significantly reduce “electrosmog,” making eight hours of sleep and a retreat from the overly digitised world a real possibility.
Fragrance butler
Travelling with a bottle of signature scent is a thing of the past now that airlines have cracked down on onboard liquids. Enter Rosewood Hotels’ fragrance butler. Summon him and he’ll appear, white-gloved, at the door carrying a silver tray laden with 10 perfumes and colognes for men and women.
The scent menu differs by city, from Chanel No. 5 or Burberry Touch at the Hotel Georgia in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Givenchy Dahlia Noir or Halston Man at the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas.
Personal shopper
Lost luggage? No time to shop? No worries. Last year, the WestHouse Hotel in New York partnered with Net-a-Porter, the world’s premier online luxury fashion site, to offer bespoke shopping services to guests.
In-room tablets link to hot-off-the-runway fashions from today’s top designers, while a “NAP” button on the phone connects directly to a Net-a-Porter personal shopper for suggestions and advice.
Need to find a chic ensemble for dinner tonight? Order before 10am for complimentary same-day delivery, and book a suite for three or more nights and receive a $650 Net-a-Porter gift certificate.
Tie butler
For anyone who has ever dreamt of sporting a tie at a beach resort, get thee to Georgia’s Lodge at Sea Island, where an onsite tie butler will loan you a chic cravat from his selection of Peter Millar neckties in an array of patterns and colours.
Feel free to ask for instruction on tying a Windsor, Prince Albert, or myriad other knots that are sure to make your day more dapper.
This article originally appeared on Yahoo Travel and was reproduced via the New York Post with permission.