E-Tourism

Grand Canyon: The Grand Canyon is a colorful steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park one of the first national parks in the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.

The canyon, created by the Colorado River over a period of 6 million years, is 277 miles (446 km) long, ranges in width from 4 to 18 miles (6.4 to 29 km) and attains a depth of more than a mile (1.6 km). Nearly two billion years of the Earth’s history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted.

During prehistory, the area was inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon (”Ongtupqa” in Hopi language) a holy site and made pilgrimages to it.

The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.

The Grand Canyon was largely unexplored until after the U.S. Civil War. In 1869, Major John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran with a thirst for science and adventure, made the first recorded journey through the canyon on the Colorado River. He accomplished this trek with nine men in four small wooden boats, though only six men completed the journey. Powell referred to the sedimentary rock units exposed in the canyon as “leaves in a great story book”.

10. $15,500 a night – Imperial Suite, Park Hyatt-Vendôme
Paris, France

Situated on the second floor of the Park Hyatt-Vendôme’s Haussmanian building is the hotel’s 750 square-foot Imperial Suite. Thise pricey suite has high ceilings, a dining room, kitchenette and bar. When visitors tire of toiling, they relax with an “In Suite Spa” that comes outfitted with a steam room, Whirlpool and built-in massage table.

9. $16,000 a night – Royal Suite, Four Seasons George V
Paris, France

The George V in Paris boasts a pair of “sumptuous” Royal Suites that each come with private terraces and rooms filled with antique furniture. Each suite has a marble entrance, a full kitchen, a sauna and a separate bathroom for guests. The expensive 2,600 square-foot suites are split into separate spaces for sleeping and entertaining, both of which also have a private office.

8. $17,500 a night – Royal Armleder Suite, Le Richemond
Geneva, Switzerland

Le Richemond’s Royal Armleder Suite reopened in 2007 after an extensive restoration of the hotel’s seventh floor, which the luxury suite occupies the entirety of. The suite is bedecked in gold, mosaics and parquet floors and has a 300 square-foot terrace with stunning views of Geneva and the nearby Alps.

7. $18,000 a night – Royal Suite, Burj Al Arab
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

A two-story suite that centers around an epic staircase, Burj Al Arab’s Royal Suite has Carrara marble floors, mahogany furniture and a master bedroom with a rotating four-post canopy bed. Guests enjoy Hermes bathroom products, Faubourg fragrances, their own private elevator and cinema and for a bit extra– a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce or helicopter.

6. $18,200 – Ritz-Carlton Suite, The Ritz-Carlton
Moscow, Russia

Floor-to-ceiling windows outline the Ritz-Carlton Suite at the hotel chain’s Moscow location. Imperial furniture fills the 2,500 square-foot suite, which comes with a heated floor, a grand piano and a library. The suite has views of the Kremlin, Red Square and St. Basil’s Cathedral and visitors get to enjoy five meals a day and their very own KGB-approved autonomous energy supply system and secure telecommunications array.

5. $25,000 a night – Bridge Suite at The Atlantis
Paradise Island, Bahamas

The 10-room Bridge Suite at Bahamian resort The Atlantis fills the entire space linking the hotel complex’s two flagship towers. Forbes reports the suite has hosted guests including Oprah and Michael Jackson.
4. $33,000 a night – Royal Penthouse Suite, President Wilson Hotel
Geneva, Switzerland

President Woodrow Wilson reportedly suffered from high blood pressure, so it’s safe to assume he would have appreciated a stress-free stay at President Wilson Hotel’s Royal Penthouse Suite. Consuming the entire top floor of the hotel, the four-bedroom suite can hold up to 40 guests in its cocktail lounge and is said to be the best digs for heads of state wanting to make an impression when they’re in town on United Nations business.
3. $34,000 a night – Ty Warner Penthouse, Four Seasons
New York

The Ty Warner Penthouse practically floats in Manhattan. Floor-to-ceiling windows surround all sides of the massive suite, surrounding guests in 360-degree views of the city skyline from atop Manhattan’s tallest hotel. The nine-room suite has walls inlayed with mother of pearl, gold and platinum-woven fabrics, and the room itself includes a private butler, unlimited global calling and TVs programmed to receive every channel in the entire world.

2. $40,000 a night – Hugh Hefner Sky Villa, Palms Casino Resort
Las Vegas

Hugh Hefner’s Playboy-themed suite at the Palms Casino resort has a $700,000 jacuzzi that cantilevers out above the Las Vegas strip. The 10,000 square-foot, two-story suite comes with around-the-clock butler service and (of course) a rotating bed set beneath a mirrored ceiling.

1. $50,000 a night – Royal Villa at Grand Resort Lagonissi
Athens, Greece

The Grand Resort’s Royal Villa gives the world’s most exclusive guests a private version of everything imaginable. The only other people lucky guests have to see while secluded in their heated pool, steam room or private beach is the suite’s dedicated butler, chef and pianist.