Unveiled on March 1, the new Empathy Suite at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas costs $100,000 a night. (Clint Jenkins on behalf of Palms Casino Resort)
Sin City is now home to the world’s most expensive hotel room.
Unveiled on March 1, the new Empathy Suite at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas costs $100,000 a night. Among its over-the-top features is a pool that juts out high above the strip and two bull sharks suspended in formaldehyde beside a game room.
The Palms Casino in Vegas is separated into three separate towers: The Fantasy Tower, The Ivory Tower (which are right next to each other) and Palms Place, which is connected by a tunnel. This pool is for the Palms Place, thus its name. It's much smaller than the Palms Pool for the two towers.
(Clint Jenkins on behalf of Palms Casino Resort)
(Clint Jenkins on behalf of Palms Casino Resort)
Designed by boundary-pushing British artist Damien Hirst, the two-story, 9,000-square-foot suite requires a two-night minimum stay, so guests won’t make it out of there without dropping at least $200,000 (or spending $1 million on the casino floor).
The suite also features a 13-seat curved bar. Hanging above it are Hirst’s “Here for a Good Time, Not a Long Time” work, and two glass display cases, containing the skeleton of a marlin fish and a taxidermic marlin. A lounge and media area can accommodate up to 52 people.
(Clint Jenkins on behalf of Palms Casino Resort)
The suite includes extras such as 24-hour butler service, a chauffeured car, a private behind-the-scenes art tour, VIP access to entertainment venues and a $10,000 resort credit.
For comparison, the Royal Penthouse Suite at the Hotel President Wilson in Geneva starts at $80,00 a night. The Grant Penthouse Suite at The Mark in New York City, where Meghan Markle had her baby shower, is $75,000 a night.
The Palms has never been known for subtlety: It is, after all, the place where “The Real World: Las Vegas” was filmed in 2002, and it once had the largest Hooters in the world.
(Clint Jenkins on behalf of Palms Casino Resort)
The Empathy suite has two master bedrooms, each with a massage room, and an additional salt relaxation room.
(Clint Jenkins on behalf of Palms Casino Resort)
Palms Casino Pool Party
But the highlight is the art: Hirst created six special pieces. In collaboration with architectural firm Bentel & Bentel, he also designed other aspects of the villa, including the furniture, carpeting and a large pill cabinet filled with diamonds.
Palms Casino Pool Renovation
“It’s really his greatest hits, if you will,” said Jon Gray, vice president and general manager of Palms.
The Empathy Suite joins five other redesigned Sky Villas, ranging from $25,000 to $50,000 a night.
The Palms is now on the verge of completing a $690 million renovation that will also result in new restaurants and bars as well as a swimming pool with a 65-foot Hirst-designed statue as its centerpiece. The property’s public spaces are sprinkled with other pieces of fine art by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and others.
Palms Casino Resort Pool
“We wanted to create a sense of discovery throughout the property, and art was the perfect way to do it,” Gray said.