How the Ultra-Rich Travel

Today’s super-rich travelers want luxury, personalized attention and experiences that aren’t cookie-cutter. They demand private villas with butlers, hotels with impeccable service and, above all, never having to wait or be shephered with other people. Carlo Nocella said they want “to feel that they have something that other people cannot achieve.” That desire has spawned an expanding infrastructure of travel advisers, concierge services and members’ clubs catering to clients with investable assets of at least $30 million.

The industry has become an arms race to offer the most opulent, individualized and singular properties, experiences and services imaginable. Examples of extreme requests crop up regularly: a client who wanted the color red eradicated from his room, a teenager who played with big-name professional soccer players in a national stadium, and a guest who insisted the sun set directly over the sea — a room in Portofino was found.

luxury travel, ultra-rich, private villas, butlers, concierge services, travel advisers, members clubs, investable assets, personalized attention, portofino