PINNACLETALK complete package far left: four seasons hotel george v, paris. left: turndown for the hilton million dollar package. below: your new convertible bentley, courtesy of the sydney hilton. How to spend a Million Dollars in a Day Luxury hotels offer packages to take your breath and your retirement fund away. By Kathryn Eisman I n 1985 a very lucky man by the name of Montgomery Brewster was given the impossibly divine task of spending 30 million dollars in 30 days. Unfortunately, he was just an actor in the movie Brewster’s Millions. However, for some, the idea of living large and spending enormously is as real as ever. To cater to a small elite group of guests keen to blow their end-of-year bonus or celebrate a momentous occasion in style, luxury hotels are now offering packages that literally take your breath and retirement fund away. This is a long way from hotel packages of the past that offered guests ‘package deals’ that included room and a few extras at a reduced rate. Today’s premium packages are all about spending, not saving. Forget the million-dollar man, say hello to the million dollar hotel package. The Hilton Hotel, Sydney, now offers the ‘Million Dollar Package’ for the guest who wants a lot more than a late checkout. And for a cool Hilton Million, that’s right, a million Australian dollars, prepare to be spoilt. The package includes two nights in the hotel’s master suite, which happens to be the entire level 42 and if you want to share your riches, you can invite 100 of your nearest and dearest to spend the night in one of the 100 executive rooms at your disposal. What follows 018 w w w.pinnaclemagazine.com.au is a party experience unlike any other. It starts with a scrumptious degustation meal in famed chef Luke Mangan’s ‘Glass Brasserie’ where guests will have the entire space to themselves to discuss whether the sashimi of kingfish, Persian feta, ginger and shallots, adored by Nicole Kidman, is better than the slow-cooked fillet of beef, fragrant pumpkin puree and asparagus madeira jus, apparently favoured by Richard Branson. Then those deliciously sinful calories can be burnt off on the dance floor as DJ Jim Wood (who happens to have been flown in directly from London) spins your favourite tunes at your own private party at the hotel’s Zeta bar. “From check-in, the ‘Million Dollar Guest’ will have it all, with every little detail taken care of, from personalised bathrobes to Dom Perignon in all the guests’ rooms, Hilton Sydney will provide the Million Dollar guest and his party with the ultimate luxury experience, unlike any other hotel”, said Jerome Auvity, Hotel Manager at Sydney Hilton. However, even the most hedonistic spender might expect more than a hangover and a few extra pounds to show for their million dollars, and what separates this package are the million dollar goodies you get to keep. The goodies start with a brand new convertible Bentley Continental GTC, customised to your preferences, drive away, nothing more to pay, apart from the million dollars, that is. And for the ladies, awaiting your quivering finger is a Bunda diamond that happens to be the largest in Australia. That’s 12.16 carats of sparkling carbon to wear and enjoy when the wildly indulgent weekend is but a distant memory. The package also includes a wardrobe from Henry Bucks, a Breitling watch, Payot skincare and a Joh Bailey spa service that’s guaranteed to make you look and feel a million dollars, literally. The Hilton isn’t the only hotel cashing in on the lavish package craze. The Four Seasons Hotel group has created a package so indulgent it can’t be enjoyed on one continent alone. Beverly Wilshire hotel has partnered with its sister property, the Four Season Hotel George V in Paris, for the ultimate sleepover. To celebrate 80 years of business for both hotels, in 2008 guests can enjoy eight glorious days away for a cool $US80,000. For this outrageous amount you and a very lucky partner will be flown by private jet (from anywhere in the world) to LA for four nights. Beginning with the keys to the penthouse, a personal butler, stylist and jewellery ambassador to help you shop yourself silly down Rodeo Drive, after which a chauffeur-driven Phantom Rolls will whisk you away to the hotel to enjoy five hours of personal spa pampering poolside. And just when you’re about to go la la in La La Land, you’ll be jetted off to the city of lights where you will stay in the Royal suite, nibble on black truffle toast and sip your bottle of Chateau Latour 1961. Enjoy a lavish dinner at LeCinq, with a bottle of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1959 and Champagne Krug 1971. Then relax in style with an orchestra cruise for two, down the River Seine on a private yacht. It’s enough to make you love the French. And just before you start to sing, ‘I love Paris’, your private jet will fly you back to earth and your repossessed house. “The 80th anniversary package is obviously for those guests who enjoy extravagant adventures. It’s also perfect for the couple who really wants to create a memorable experience,” says Jennifer Cooke of the Four Seasons Beverly Hills. However, she does admit that even for her high-end clientele it’s more fantasy than reality. “It creates a feeling of luxury and decadence - and even if you can’t afford it, at least you can dream!” Speaking of dreams, The Four Seasons Shanghai offers brides a ‘Fairytale Wedding Package’ at a cost that’s guaranteed to make the hardest father of the bride weep. For close to a million dollars, the bride will be flown to New York to have her couture bridal gown fitted by Vera Wang. Then she will enjoy three nights at the Four Seasons New York and three days being chauffeur-driven in a Rolls Royce. She will then fly back to Shanghai to inspect the wedding venue (decked out with flowers created by one of France’s most revered florists). On the big night, 200 guests will feast on an imperial-style banquette and indulge in the eight-tiered wedding cake, that’s sure to put Vera Wang’s hard work to waste. She’ll then crash in the Presidential suite surrounded by a private chef and butler, oh and her husband. If everyday married life isn’t a comedown after this package, it never will be. So is the fairytale wedding a financial nightmare? It’s hard to say. Hotels refuse to give a breakdown of the collective costs. Bjorn Hanson, principal of the Hospitality and Leisure practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers, believes these packages are more about indulging the senses, than common sense. “Indulgent packages are intended to be just that-indulgent, not necessarily economical.” However there is a value to them: “most include activities that guests would either not be able to arrange or would involve substantial amounts of time, research and effort”. So if you’re one of the 146,000 millionaires in Australia and you feel like spending a night in someone else’s bed, be prepared for your expectations to be exceeded. PINNACLETALK sporting glory roger federer in action at the 2007 french open, left; be vying for a finals berth in the super 14 rugby final, below; lewis hamilton at last year’s monaco formula one grand prix, right. grand finale far left: the west coast eagles celebrate after winning the 2006 afl grand final at the melbourne cricket ground. left: the 2007 nrl grand final between melbourne storm and manly sea eagles at telstra stadium. spectator Whatever football code happens to quicken your pulse, it’s in the fading light of winter that champions are crowned amid a spectacle that history has marinated in a uniquely Australian flavour. By David Smiedt. Photographs by Getty Images. I t’s that time of year when the coulda-beens, shoulda-beens and were-never-in-its are either conducting football post-mortems or strategising how to keep their players out of the papers on their endof-season trips to tropical destinations which take group bookings. For the few garrisons of combatants that remain, the notion of glory anaesthetises a season’s worth of fractured bones, frayed ligaments and the creaking joints of men three times their age. And while the occasions of all codes have undeniable similarities – the ubiquitous national anthem from the latest winner of a singing-based reality TV show and the equally ubiquitous refrain of “wake up ref, he’s been doing it all day” – each has a distinct character you have be there to fully appreciate. AFL No matter how hard the other football organisations try, they can’t match the home-grown code when it comes to staging the grandest of grand finals. History, geography and the psyche of an entire state are against them. No Australians 20 w w w.pinnaclemagazine.com.au have an appetite for sport like that of the voracious Victorians and on September 27, this will once again come to the fore. For a week beforehand, Melburnians will be able to speak of little else. Should their traditional barracking loyalties be taken out of the equation with only two teams left standing, they will lean towards the one for which they have least venom. “I don’t mind who wins as long as it’s not…” is a common refrain from Docklands to Doncaster. The near religious fervour which permeates this occasion is undoubtedly underpinned by its high altar. Part cauldron, part house-ofworship, the Melbourne Cricket Ground is so intrinsic an element of the city that when its taxi companies were switching to voice-recognition software, they felt compelled to include its nickname “the G” among their destinations. Holding 100,000, the MCG has not been subjected to the same financial pressure that has seen other historic venues throughout the country lose fixtures to larger stadiums. With hope in their hearts and club songs learned by rote on their lips, the faithful meander into the ground past statues of footballers such as Ron Barassi, Leigh Matthews and Dick Reynolds (as well as cricketing greats Don Bradman and Dennis Lillee) – all of whom plied their dazzling trades on this very patch of turf. This sense of history and tradition – the member’s areas still demand a collared shirt – coalesces with the raw passion of punters on grand final day to reliably produce the utterly remarkable. For package details go to www.events. com.au. NRL With the move from both the Sydney Football Stadium to the whatever major sponsor now claims the Olympic venue and an afternoon to a night-time kick off, the National Rugby League grand final has in recent years lacked the sense of familiarity which marks sport’s grandest occasions. Added to this was the discomforting fact that for the past three seasons, the competition’s premier outfit has been from – shock horror – Melbourne. This year, however, is shaping up to be a belter. After a close State Of Origin series, which introduced the rugby league watching public to a generation of new rep stars and a looming – if slightly less grand than it sounds - World Cup on the horizon, the 2008 Grand Final will be suffused with a back-story 100 years in the making. It was in 1908 at Sydney’s Birchgrove Oval that rugby union prodigy Dally Messenger and a host of other footballing talents infamously switched codes. In relinquishing their amateur status, they became heroes for generations of working-class men whose ball skills, lightning feet and defensive muscle could at last be monetarily rewarded. Despite its expansion in a predominantly northern direction, rugby league is still true to its suburban roots: fans who now live on the other side of town but whose granddads called Balmain home still bleed Tiger orange and black. On October 5, this long overdue sense of tradition – all too often marred by squirrel grips, grapple tackles and drunken player indiscretions splashed across the tabloids – will be given its due. Somewhere in the crowd will be Bill Keato. He’s 89 this year but back in ’38 was a goal-kicking fullback for the Magpies. The first year he played, he cleared 13 pounds, of which two shillings and sixpence was garnished as membership fees. In an era of half million dollar salaries for petulant prodigies, this year’s Grand Final will be a timely reminder of who made the game what it is and why it still can and should be described as great. For package details, go to www.astsports.com.au. Rugby Union If it’s the proving ground of international competition that you hanker for, head to Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on September 16 to see the Wallabies take on the All Blacks. Aside from the niggle that comes with any Bledisloe and Tri Nations encounter, new coach Robbie Deans will have a point to prove. Overlooked for the Kiwi coaching job, the man who guided the Crusaders to a record number of Super 14 titles is all about making a running statement. For package details, call Wallaby Travel on 1300 200 900.