The Most Insane, Over-the-Top New Luxury Villas of 2015
Thailand’s stunning Ani Villas. (Courtesy: Ani Villas)
By Jennifer Ceaser
A brand-new, private-island “water villa” suspended over the Persian Gulf. A just-renovated, five-bedroom historic estate in the heart of Tuscany. A sprawling 21,500-square-foot oceanfront pad launching this spring in Thailand.
These are some of the eight luxury-packed villas to check into this year.
Sure, they will cost you a pretty penny, but they’re plenty big enough to share with family and friends — so you can spread the joy (or just the cost) with loved ones.
Ani Villas, Thailand
(Courtesy: Ani Villas)
You’ll have to wait till May to bunk up at this brand-new, über-private, 10-bedroom villa set on Koh Yao Noi island — a 50-minute boat ride (or 10 minutes by helicopter) from either the Phuket or Krabi international airports.
Sprawling across 21,500 square feet, the beautifully designed residence, “inspired by the temples of northern Thailand,” boasts a yoga pavilion, a 100-plus-foot-long oceanfront swimming pool, a kids’ pool with a water slide, a spa (staffed with a therapist), and open and enclosed living/dining areas. Your stay comes with a private chef (plus all meals included), all the free premium booze you can drink, and all the high-tech stuff you could want in paradise: Wi-Fi, Apple TV, Rhapsody and unlimited movie downloads.
Lock it in soon: opening rates (May 1 through July 31) are $5,000 a night for the entire villa; it jumps to $12,000 a night for the peak winter holiday season (Dec. 19 to Jan. 2). If you can’t wait that long (or want something closer to home), Ani’s sister villas, on the Caribbean isle of Anguilla, can be booked for $6,400 and $10,700 per night through April 15.
Kamalame Cay, The Bahamas
Kamalame Cay
The four-bedroom, 3,500-square-foot Magnolia villa just revealed herself this month — and boy is she a catch. Enter via the double-height foyer — which features a soaring, 30-foot-high ceiling — and head into the massive, open living/dining area outfitted with chic West Indies décor accented with Balinese pieces.
French doors lead out to the 1,500-foot-long terrace, where you can soak up the sounds and smells of the Atlantic Ocean while enjoying the al fresco dining zone that seats up to 10. There are two beachfront rain-style showers and more inside — the master suite alone has two of ’em (one indoors, one out), along with a soaking tub.
Amenities that come with your villa: fresh flowers, 800-thread-count bed linens, a private chef on request and two golf carts to get around the property. Rates start at $3,850 per night.
Banana Island Resort Doha by Anantara, Qatar
Banana Island Resort Doha (Photo: Brent Madison)
Not only can you boast about visiting an all-new resort set on a private, man-made island just a 20-minute ferry ride from Doha — you can also brag about staying in “the first and only over-water villas in Qatar.”
The top-end ones offer three bedrooms in 1,200 square feet, along with a private pool, a huge deck and lots of lounging areas — all suspended over the turquoise waters of the Persian Gulf. You might never want to leave these luxurious trappings, but don’t miss exploring the resort’s surf pool (with a pro surf instructor!), getting an 18-karat gold manicure at the Anantara spa, or inhaling some superfresh air at the “Oxygen Fern” room.
Three-bedroom villas are $3,433 to $4,120 per night.
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I Bianchi villa, Toscana Resort Castelfalfi, Italy
I Bianchi (Photo: Marco Awerbuch)
It’s not every day that you get to stay in an 800-year-old medieval Tuscan village — albeit one that’s been transformed into an exquisite resort complete with a five-star hotel, golf course, club house, spa and shopping, plus multiple villas scattered throughout the 2,700-acre property.
One is the newly renovated, 7,000-square-foot Casale I Bianchi, with five bedrooms, multiple fireplaces, a private pool and — so you can be just like Gwyneth Paltrow — an outdoor wood-burning pizza oven.
The resort reopens in mid-March, with weekly rates starting at around $10,000 (March 16 through 31), but jumping to around $15,400 for the high season (April through mid-September).
Waldorf Astoria Hutong Villa, China
(Courtesy: Waldorf Astoria)
Wonder how it would feel to live like Chinese royalty? This grand, three-story, 6,000-square-foot, Ming Dynasty-style residence in the capital of Beijing — all done up in reds and golds — will give you a taste.
It features two bedrooms, a private indoor swimming pool with a steam room and sauna, a private courtyard garden, and your own butler, who will serve you a traditional welcome tea upon arrival. Host a dinner party for up to 12 people in the dining room — perhaps catered by the hotel’s Chinese chef? — then kick out your guests and head up to the top-level master suite’s terrace for a nightcap.
Rates are $19,000 per night.
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Villa Toscana, Dominican Republic
Villa Toscana
Love the ocean? Love to golf? This is your kind of getaway. Cap Cana’s new hilltop-situated Villa Toscana, offered through Luxury Retreats, overlooks an 18-hole golf course and the sea just beyond.
Enjoy the view from any of the many outdoor areas, which include a loggia, pool deck (with pool and jetted tub) and many, many balconies. And you can share those vistas with lots of friends and family: The ginormous estate has 10 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms, and the dining room can easily seat up to 24.
The elegant, Tuscan-style home also features two indoor courtyards — one with a stained-glass dome that “brings to mind the conservatories of grand European estates.” All this smack-dab in the tropical Punta Cana area, with gorgeous beaches galore. Rates are from $7,000 to $10,000 per night, depending on the season.
Villa F, Italy
Villa F
You’ve seen that TV show about the Borgias — now you, too, can experience what life was like as an Italian noble (with fewer murders, we hope). This newly restored, 16th-century villa on Giudecca Island (a 15-minute water taxi ride from Venice’s St. Mark’s Square) was once home to many a Venetian noble family.
Related: Tuscan Villas So Charming, You’ll Never Want to Leave
Today the 11-bedroom residence, which can accommodate 12 guests, retains a bit of that history, along with plenty of 21st-century conveniences. Terrazzo floors, priceless antiques, original frescoes — that’s the history part — effortlessly blend with high-tech flat-screen TVs, custom wine cabinets and oversize stone soaking tubs. The BAUERs Villa F also has its own 3-acre private garden, and, naturally, private butler service.
It will all cost you a kingly sum: $65,000 to $70,000 per night. (Yes, that’s per night.)
Paradise Beach, Nevis
Paradise Beach (Photo: Daryl Charles)
This all-villa resort just opened this month, and this fresh four-bedroom, Balinese-meets-Caribbean-style residence has all the luxury trappings: handwoven thatched roofs with 20-foot vaulted ceilings, lush tropical gardens, outdoor showers in the master suites, an outdoor dining pavilion, swimming and plunge pools, and privacy walls to keep prying eyes away.
Plus, the 3,400-square-foot beachfront villa has amazing Caribbean views — of the ocean and neighboring St. Kitts just beyond. Other amenities: concierge and butler service, and a private chef upon request.
The rate for February and March, under a “Winter Warm Up” special (promo code WWU15), is $3,825 per night; starting in April, it jumps to $4,500 per night.
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