We all dream about exploring the most beautiful places on Earth without going broke at the end. For most people, though, such tempting thoughts rarely materialize into a fabulous reality except for that lucky 1% of the population – the wealthiest folks out there. And gladly for them, the world is filled to the brim with luxury resorts, packed with all kinds of exotic VIP packages they can choose from. For such folks, it doesn’t even matter how distant, mysterious or expensive a destination might be since they can afford it all.
To give you an idea of how luxury these locations are, we’ve put together 20 exclusive vacation spots that literally smell like money. For all the budget-wise travelers out there, we’ve got a small, yet fantastic surprise as well – a wonderful selection of reasonable vacation spots that are no less spectacular. If you wonder where these awesome places are to be found, follow us on our virtual journey through these fantastic destinations.
From Bora Bora to Cannes, the following places will genuinely make you believe in the existence of Heaven. You see, it’s certainly not that bad to be rich and enjoy such high-end vacations. Now go ahead and see what these marvelous destinations are all about.
25 Bora Bora - Experience The Difference
With its lush mountainous landscapes, charming overwater bungalows, and crystal-clear waters, Bora Bora is, indeed, a dream come true for many vacationers. But guess what – this fancy place won’t let you enjoy it to the fullest unless you’re willing to pay for its luxury character. Speaking of that, the average room rate at this exclusive travel destination goes around $800-$1000 per night. Now imagine the price of an All-inclusive beachfront villa or a 5-star hotel there. Well, it sure goes way beyond that $1,000 when the average rate in the U.S. is $40-$6o per night. This exotic destination might be an incredible place, abcnews.go.com explains, but it’s hardly the best option for budget travelers.
24 Cannes, French Riviera
This wonderful city, located on the French Riviera, has long been known as quite a sensational place. The world-recognized film festival alone easily attracts millions of tourists every year; not to mention the vast number of celebrities and Hollywood stars that regularly wind up there as well. With all that much beauty at hand, it’s really getting hard not to feel envy of the fortunate guys who get to spend weeks there. Generally, the average hotel in Cannes costs roughly $300-$500 per night, businessinsider.com reveals, and that’s without any further exclusive packages, amenities, and all the like.
23 Lake Louise, Canada
Lake Louise is not only one of Canada’s best ski resorts but one of the most beautiful and expensive vacation spots in the world. While most resort towns are home to decent, nicely furnished hotels that charge reasonably per night, Lake Louise is home to lavish hotels, most of which start at about $300+ per night – and that’s quite an unnecessary expense for the budget traveler. But since the resort has once again claimed the title of Canada’s Best Ski Resort, according to skilouise.com, it’s quite normal that this achievement would affect the average room rates there as well.
22 Salmiyah, Kuwait
Salmiya is a city area, administratively divided into a dozen blocks and can be found in Hawaii Governorate in the State of Kuwait. First-time visitors are usually most interested in exploring Salmiya’s Al Shaheed Park, Boulevard Mall, Kuwait Towers, and Mirror House. Similarly to the previous example, an average trip there usually means staying at not so low-cost hotels, starting at $323 per night, businessinsider.com states. All in all, the city area is quite an astonishing place to be; but sadly, few tourists are willing to overspend on unnecessary things, such as VIP walking city tours, accommodation, and all the like.
21 Seven Mile Beach, Cayman Islands
Known as one of the most exclusive, and luxury beaches in the area, Seven Mile Beach excites A-class visitors with an expansive waterfront, high-end resorts, and beach bars. Here, at Seven Mile Beach, sun-lovers will inevitably stumble on top-notch restaurants, proving that Cayman is serious about quality. But as we all know, quality often requires a full wallet, especially if you want to partake in parasailing and other fun water activities as well. When it comes to the bill, though, it can surely bring sweat to the forehead of the less wealthy travelers. Seven Mile Beach, for instance, usually comes with an overstated room rate of over $300 per night, businessinsider.com says.
20 Capri, Italy
This magical island, situated about 3 miles (5 km) off Italy's Bay of Naples, is regularly visited by vacationers from the nearby southern Italian cities. Every day, boatloads of wealthy travelers come here to explore the island’s rugged 61-meter crags while taking in the gorgeous sight of Sorrento. The island itself is often referred to as a beautiful extension of the steep Amalfi peninsula where Sorrento rests undisturbed.
Carpi – the island – might be about a few km long, but this place is home to two beautiful towns, Capri and Anacapri (sitting high above it), planetware.com reveals. And as you might expect, you can have all this beauty, but you’ve got to be willing to spend at least $326 on accommodation (the basic option, at that).
19 Palm Beach, Aruba
The stunning island of Aruba, sitting north of Venezuela, is quite famous for its blonde beaches, wreck-diving opportunities, and wind-kissed desert landscapes. This tiny island with fairly dry character and consistently mild weather can be discovered far south of the Caribbean family, planetware.com details. Thanks to its unique location, the island can barely be touched by hurricanes. Generally, the whole region looks like a gorgeous painting, with Palm Beach placed somewhere in the front.
With its 11-km sweep of white sand and sky blue waters, Palm Beach truly makes the perfect vacation spot. Perhaps the only downside is the lack of reasonable accommodation - most of the average hotels charge about $331 per night, businessinsider.com shares.
18 Anse Marcel, St. Martin
Anse Marcel Beach is hardly the typical luxury summer resort - it’s certainly more like a state of grace. Here, tourists are stunned to explore its pearly white sand beaches, all nestled in the most discreet nook in the area of Saint Martin. Anse Marcel Beach is easily accessible by land and sea as the exclusive yachts can also be anchored in privacy, www.ansemarcelbeach.com/ reveals. This secret island, dedicated to the preservation of nature, surely goes beyond the basic idea of luxury – it’s actually a state of mind, the website says, therefore the average hotel price there goes over $338 per night.
17 Hamilton, Bermuda
The lovely city of Hamilton works as the island’s beating heart and capital of Bermuda. It’s a marvelous harbor town with fantastic harbor views and a vibrant cosmopolitan vibe that’s worth exploring.
Every morning, the city center of Hamilton welcomes Bermuda’s commuters passing one another with a friendly “good morning”, gotobermida.com reveals. Indeed, this tiny detail adds a touch of elegance to the city, thus making it so inviting and charming. When nightfall comes around, the city bustles with energy, especially when the bar scene warms up.
Strolling through the downtown area, tourists will surely stumble on lovely gardens, shops and museums, and boutique hotels that the city is graced with. Here, the best hotel deals start at $342 per night, and it's a bit much for most travelers.
16 Positano, Italy
Similarly to the epic Sirens of Li Galli, Positano always lives up to expectations - it merely never fails to appeal to the most pretentious visitors. This overly sophisticated resort now abounds in colorful houses, pebble beaches and calm skies with delicate shades of blue. Once a mighty sea force, Positano is now a marvelous vertical town with no roads but dozens of steep flights of steps, positano.com reveals. Upon arrival, architecture lovers will surely find this place to be remarkably beautiful.
Also, Positano boasts a typical Moorish-style architecture with steep slopes gazing out on the Sirenuse islands. But apart from its marvelous views, this tiny village offers a plethora of smart boutiques, luxury villas, 5-star hotels, cozy cafes and all kinds of lovely things. Expectedly, the average hotel price in a place like Positano doesn’t charge less than $352 per night.
15 Paget, Bermuda
From Elbow Beach to Bermuda Botanical Gardens, Paged sure offers everything you need for a laid-back getaway over the weekend. Interestingly, the Elbow Beach surprises sun-lovers with its gentle curve that somehow resembles an elbow, thus naming it Elbow Beach. The stretch offers both private and public sections; however, the only issue is the overpriced accommodation. Most hotels here charge nearly $400 per night, businessinsider.com shares.
This centrally located parish overlooks the stunning Hamilton harbor to the north and the picture-perfect Elbow Beach to the south. When it comes to its curious name, the Parish is named after the fourth Lord of Paged, known as William Paged.
14 Mahe, Seychelles
Mahe is the largest of all the 115 islands that make up Seychelles in the Indian ocean. The island is home to at least 33% of the overall population of Seychelles, most of which largely concentrates around the capital and chief city, Victoria.
As a bustling port and commercial center, Victoria offers a variety of luxury resorts and boutique hotels, mahlatini.com details, most of which are perfect for a luxury Seychelles getaway. Most of the hotels, though, charge about $389 per person per night. Well, apparently, Seychelles doesn’t love stingy travelers at all.
13 Paradise Island, Bahamas
Formerly known as Hog Island, this Paradise island is a dazzlingly beautiful place, dotted with secluded beachfront properties, resorts, and luxury villas. Pick your Nassau Paradise island beachfront house at random, and you’ll surely wake up to the mesmerizing views of azure skies and fine-grained beaches, nassauparadiseisland.com/stay claims. When darkness falls, you can enjoy the calming sound of the waves caressing the shore. Indeed, it’s quite an idyllic image, except for the 3-digit price tag on the average hotels in the area. Most of the beachfront properties charge $398 per night, businessinsider.com says.
12 Providenciales, Turks And Caicos Islands
The commercial capital of Turks and Caicos is by far the busiest and most visited of the island, with superb snorkeling opportunities and spectacular beaches. This fancy vacation spot is merely the pearl of the Caribbean as it offers beautiful coral reefs close to the shore as well as exclusive beachfront properties with stunning vistas. Initially, Provo was quite an unknown resort until the 80s when the tourism boomed in the area. But before that, Provo was only known for its three fishing villages, visittci.com/providenciales says. Today, the same Provo has got no problem keeping tourism at pretty steady levels. No wonder why most hotels charge $435 per person per night.
11 Monte Carlo, Monaco
Set in the heart of beautiful Monaco, Monte Carlo offers mild weather, boutique hotels with modern rooms, some commanding views of the harbor, beach and the Mediterranean Sea, accorhotels.com reveals. Interestingly, a great number of Monaco’s most iconic landmarks are situated in the Monte Carlo quarter, built on the old Spelugues plateau in the 1870s. Apart from Monte Carlo’s variety of luxury casinos, located in the city center, the quarter is also known for its high-end fitness & spa centers where VIP guests can finally unwind in the evening. Indeed, this fabulous place has been made for wealthy visitors, not students who barely make ends meet, let alone afford to spend $442 on a hotel.
10 Pembroke, Bermuda
Pembroke is tightly connected to Bermuda’s Elizabethan patron – William Herbert and Sir Phillip Sydney’s nephew – Pembroke – both being the richest people in England at the time. Today, Pembroke takes the most central part of Bermuda and is said to be the parish with the highest population on the island, www.elbowbeachcycles.bm details. Anyone who can afford to pay an average hotel price of $467 per night will be able to enjoy beautiful landscapes, stunning Clarence Cove beaches, and lagoons. Admittedly, each is totally worth seeing, but to explore the area, you’ve got to make sure that you can afford it.
9 Moorea, French Polynesia
As part of Windward islands, Moorea is a wonderful location that’s believed to have inspired the legendary Bali Hai from J. Michener’s Tale of the enigmatic South Pacific, tahiti.com explains. But what truly makes this place pretty spectacular has got nothing to do with such century-old tales, now covered in thick layers of dust. Moorea boasts immaculate beauty, relaxing vibe, and a friendly spirit, but it turns out that it’s "playing hard to get" - it's accessible only by plane or boat.
This high island in French Polynesia might be only miles away from Tahiti, but once you get there, you’ll realize that this place is not only surreal but quite pricey as well. According to businessinsider.com, even the basic, super average hotels charge about $472 per night.
8 Southampton, Bermuda
Perched on the oceanfront of Bermuda’s beautiful south shore, this opulent resort is nicely packed with lush beaches, tennis and golf courts, bougainvilleas and private, VIP areas, fairmont.com says. When it comes to the fancy guestrooms at Fairmont Southampton, visitors can enjoy sweeping vistas out their window, secluded balconies, and marble bathrooms. But for those, who’d love an extra touch of seclusion to their exotic vacation, fairmont.com suggests that they book a room on the exclusive Gold Floor. No wonder why the price here goes around $473. After all, luxury always comes with a price tag.
7 Soufriere, St. Lucia
With a population of 7,935, Soufriere is a quaint resort town, set on Saint Lucia’s West Coast, in the eastern part of the Caribbean Sea. Both tourists and locals love this place for its inexhaustible source of fun water sports opportunities and splendid sights. And if we must pick one city to be the heart and soul of Saint Lucia, it would have to be this magical place. For a considerably small place, Soufriere offers a fantastic range of activities for anyone, including colonial-era buildings, colorfully painted wooden storefronts, all well combined with a vibrant seafront. But much like the other fancy resorts, this magical place comes with an unusually high hotel cost per night that usually goes around $500 per person, businessinsider.com says.
6 St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
St. John is a picturesque island that encompasses miles of lush forest, including The Virgin Islands National Park, vinow.com shares. This tiny island is home to carefully preserved national beauty, where nature lovers can enjoy a ton of fun outdoor activities, from snorkeling to hiking, horseback riding, and all the like. But for those modern visitors, St. John can also offer an equal array of awesome activities, starting right on the fine-grained beaches. There, VIP guests can book oceanfront villas, packed with all sorts of luxury amenities and a “measly” price tag of at least $507 per night.