Hotel boasting the world’s largest suite to Join SPG Luxury Collection

Which city do you think boasts the world’s largest hotel suite? Dubai? Vegas? According to the Guinness Book of World Records that honor goes to the Grand Hills Hotel and Spa in Broumana, Lebanon. Broumana is about 30 minutes outside of the country’s capital, Beirut.The hotel boasts the largest hotel suite at 44,500 square feet – in its own right, the size of a small hotel. The Royal Residence takes up six floors and has not one, but two private pools, two saunas, a turkish bath, a gym, private gardens, and enough space to accommodate the entire native population of the UAE.

With all this grandiosity, you’d expect a hefty price tag. However, compared to presidential suites half its size, the Royal Residence at the Grand Hills Hotel is relatively cheap at $7,905 per night. I use that term loosely, of course. Obviously, it’s an astronomic markup over what the average person would spend on hotel accommodations. But considering presidential suites in Vegas go for $20,000-$40,000 per night, this is a bargain in comparison.

I reached out to the hotel to get more details about the suite. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that while the hotel is closed for renovations until May 2015, it would be rebranded as a Starwood Luxury Collection property. No word yet on which category it will be or whether the Royal Residence will still be available. Or, more prudently, turned into a separate wing of the hotel. My guess is they won’t want to give up their claim to the world’s biggest hotel suite. The Royal Residence will probably return bigger and glitzier than ever.

In the never-ending pissing contest that is the points and miles world, if you wanted to stay at this hotel to make everyone jealous, there are a few ways to get around the huge price tag:

1. Split the $7,905 bill 100 ways, bringing everyone’s share of the bill down to a reasonable $79.50. Turn your stay into a trial run as a hotel manager. With the suite occupying it’s own separate building roughly 1/3 the size of the resort, it’s not such a stretch. Run a few ads on Airbnb and you’ve got yourself an eclectic group of roommates.
2. Charge the stay to you Barclay Arrival card. You only need 790,500 miles per night. Plus, you’ll get 10% of those miles back (79,050). Can you say bargain?
3. Take one floor and sublet the remaining 5 to a Saudi royal who will consider the $6,587.50 price tag akin to raiding the $1 bin at Target.

Aside from the suite, the hotel itself looks like a very relaxing place to stay. Now that the property will be joining SPG’s Luxury Collection, I look forward to the day when someone posts a review on Flyertalk about the world’s largest hotel suite.