While many fight for a small space in the sand of a crowded beach or to find tourist accommodation in one of the new fashionable destinations, millionaires look towards other options to travel and enjoy their vacations: the train. Specifically, the Orient Express, a century-old train that your great-grandparents probably traveled on.
The new journey of the luxury train par excellence is committed to a new concept of luxury that Belmond, a company belonging to Bernard Arnault’s LVMH group, calls Slow Luxury. In its latest proposal, the luxury experiences firm presents its L’Observatoire car, a luxury bubble within the luxury train.
An exclusive car just for you
The newest addition to the Belmond catalog will go live from March 2025 and is a unique work designed by French artist JR specifically for Belmond.
L’ Observatoire is one more step towards extreme luxury and the Price of your reservation is testimony to this. Booking this exclusive accommodation has a price of $100,000 per night. Without a doubt, this is one of the most expensive tickets in the world that can only accommodate two people on each journey.
The sleeping car offers all the luxury expected from a train like the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, which covers the 3,012 kilometers that separate Paris from Istanbul, passing through Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and Romania with stops in Vienna, Budapest and Bucharest .
The car that L’ Observatoire occupies is divided into several rooms, among which, of course, is a double suite that includes a bathroom with a separate bathtub that recalls the classic luxury of the early 20th century.
True to the philosophy of slow luxury, the car includes a library with more than 1,000 books selected by the French publishing house Gallimard, which hides a secret tea room with a fireplace and a scale reproduction of the train.
The designer JR has been inspired by Renaissance astronomical observatories and cabinets of curiosities to develop this space. Therefore, when guests lie down to rest on the bed in the suite they have a direct view of the sky while they travel, thanks to an oculus on the roof of the car.
“I imagined the car primarily through shapes, with curved corners and round windows, so guests have little places to daydream. Guests can now stay in an artist’s private space while aboard the world’s most iconic train “experiencing this creative crossroads during a trip is very special and has never been seen this way before,” said the designer in the presentation of the project.
What Belmond’s train division with L’ Observatoire proposes goes beyond a simple train trip. The designer has created a complete experience that goes from the selection of the photos that decorate the walls, to the musical selection of the car, chosen specifically by the designer and available on vinyl.
In addition, the accommodation brand offers guests who choose this time travel experience all the services and amenities on board. That includes 24-hour exclusive cabin butler service, the finest wines and spirits, and a private in-suite dining experience as you cruise through the landscapes of Central Europe.
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Imagen | Belmond Orient Express
