Imagine for one moment that holidaying in a suite in a sun-drenched coastal Four Seasons resort wasn’t enough luxury for you.
Having spent one incredible weekend in a Premier Sea-View Room on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, the mind boggles to think there are people out there who are so rich they wouldn’t consider anything less than their own palace. That’s literally what Four Season Resort Sharm El Sheikh’s priciest holiday rental is called. Having been given a tour around it, I can confirm it’s with very good reason too.
It is hardly surprising that those putting up the money for such accommodation do so with some pretty eccentric demands. Not least having their own waiting staff from maids to butlers - after all, a property that size isn’t going to take care of itself. The price to book out The Palace is not publically available and must be requested by the would-be guest - or rather their PA as I’m sure is more often the case.
Despite The Palace’s ability to blend in with the rest of the resort’s architecture, it does have one immediately noticeable feature from the off. Because the pretty winding, vegetation-lined cobbled paths to rooms just don’t cut it when you’re dropping the big bucks. Instead an electric gate keeps out us common folk, while on the inside more than enough space for a golf-like buggy – obviously. To reach the front door, first guests must stroll past a water fountain in their private courtyard. 'Grand entrance’ doesn’t quite cover it.
But it’s on the inside which is where my jaw really began grazing the floor. My wife and I had already joked our Premier Sea-View room was bigger than our house, but The Palace would swallow up half our street. The rooms went on and on. luckily I don’t have to rely on my own memory, or even worse, maths, to tell you the walk you through it because a floorplan and my video (above) reveals all.
As I was shown into a very roomy and smart study, I wondered who on Earth comes here for a holiday only to hide away on their laptop while family or friends relax by the pool. Then I remembered that those working-when-away types are exactly the sort who can afford to rent such a gaffe. Perhaps barring sports stars and royalty, the only type.
If carting across the resort to its huge recently renovated gym feels like too much effort, guests needn't step a foot outside for a workout as The Palace obviously has its own fitness room. Despite the vast array of restaurants on the resort, Palace guests can enjoy a fully equipped kitchen, not that they're likely to see inside it. With its own service entrance, guests needn't even be bothered by the comings and goings of staff rustling up their dinner.
If we park the concept of having a personal butlerm then the most jaw-dropping feature of The Palace has to be its walk-in wardrobe. Its official name is dressing room and with good reason. It's twice the size of any space my football team and I have had the misery of getting changed in this season.
Hilariously we were told the multiple wardrobes weren't enough for one princess whose clothes were spilling out of the dedicated storage space. Quite how long she was staying at The Palace, I don't know but something tells me she didn't have to worry about easyJet's baggage allowance.
At this point it should probably come as no shock to you that the residence has its own swimming pool big enough to make some entire hotels blush. After all, why mix it with the riff-raff at one of the hotel's massive pools when you can take a dip in private?
Rooms at Four Seasons Resort Sharm El Sheikh start from $300 (£240) ++ per room per night, including breakfast for two guests.
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