When booking a trip, many travelers like to research the perks and bonuses that come along with their hotel stay. Luxury accommodations always come with the expectation of top-notch service, stunning lobbies, decadent spa treatments, and well-appointed suites, but some destinations offer amenities that go beyond the chocolate on your pillow at night or even complimentary car service.
Most people don’t know that some hotels offer “secret” amenities. These features are so furtive that even seasoned travelers wouldn’t know about them unless they saw them firsthand. The bonuses range from one-of-a-kind experiences to amazing take-home goodies, and often reflect the local culture in a unique way. Think things like beekeeping, hidden menu items, surprise gifts, or the opportunity to hold a rare item that only few in the world will ever be able to touch.
To find out about these special experiences or gifts, guests would have to rely solely on word of mouth, be considered a VIP, or just be surprised with them upon arrival. Even the concierges at these hotels would be confused if you called and asked about these perks — they're that exclusive.
Luckily, Travel + Leisure has been able to dig up a few of these amenities to give you an edge when booking your next trip, or simply feel like you’re part of some exclusive club.
This article originally appeared on Travel + Leisure. It is reprinted here with permission.
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VIP Shopping At Bulgari
Bulgari Hotel in London offers tons of lavish amenities for their guests, but they really kick it up a notch for VIPs. Important guests are chauffeured to one of London’s Bulgari stores, which will open early or close late to ensure a private shopping experience.
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Hold The World Series Trophy
Guests in the new Fenway Park Suite at Hotel Commonwealth can have the World Series trophy delivered to their room and take selfies with it through the hotel’s partnership with Fenway Park. The suite starts at $1,000 per night and is full of priceless Red Sox memorabilia. You can also see into the stadium right outside on your private balcony.
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Enjoy A Soap Concierge
The Viceroy Riviera Maya offers a signature complimentary amenity called the Soap Concierge, where guests arriving at the resort are warmly welcomed with a “Mayan Blessing” and are personally escorted to their villa. Then the Soap Concierge arrives to explain and provide a variety of soaps, each offering a different sensory experience. Once guests make their selections, they receive personalized bars.
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Private Cycling Guide
Guests of the Rosewood Royal Suite, the four-bedroom suite located in the Private Residence tower at Rosewood Hotel Georgia in Vancouver, can experience a wide range of special amenities such as a wardrobe consultant and private cycling tour with managing director Philip Meyer. In addition to these offerings, guests receive daily spa treatments from the hotel’s signature Sense, A Rosewood Spa and meals prepared by a personal in-suite chef.
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Painting Kit
Visitors who stay at Rosewood San Miguel de Allende ’s Artesana Private Residences are welcomed with an easel in their room, complete with paints and all the tools needed to create a unique piece of artwork to take home. Better yet, the kit includes a special adult-sized easel as well as a kid-sized easel so all members of the family can participate.
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Rooftop Guitar Lessons
The Westin Austin Downtown offers a VIP Austin Music Scene Experience that includes an in-room guitar, exclusive access to famous venues and historic blues clubs, and lessons from local bands on the rooftop.
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Secret Lobster Dish
There is an item at Mr. Chow at W South Beach that only regulars would know to order: the White Lobster. It’s lobster tail folded into a cloud of egg white. Bon Appétit!
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Beekeeping Experience
Guests in the Towers of the Waldorf Astoria have exclusive access to the hotel’s rooftop garden and beehives with a luxury beekeeping experience. Priced at $1,800 per guest, the outing includes one hour exploring the hives with a culinary team member (trained as a beekeeper) and a three-course lunch of honey-infused dishes. To cap off the hard work, guests can choose one the Guerlain Spa’s signature honey treatments, including the Abeille Royale Youth Facial or Urban Island Escape body treatment, which were both inspired by the honey and rooftop ingredients.
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Personalized Jerseys
Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria in Sorrento, Italy, has supplied a secret amenity of Italia football jerseys for a group of American kids with their surnames printed on the back, and regularly go above and beyond to personalize gifts for other patrons.
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Surprise Welcome Gift
The Otesaga Resort in Cooperstown, New York, offers “surprise and delight” welcome amenities to Otesaga Select guests such as wine and a bottle opener, for example, or an assortment of truffles in the room.
Want more secret hotel amenities? Continue reading this story on Travel + Leisure.
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