Las Vegas is no stranger to lavish excess and the hard-earned reputation of the strip has recently been bolstered by the introduction of a Damien Hirst-designed suite, a move that cannot claim to be anything other than pure hedonism.
For the eye-watering price of $100,000 per night, guests can stay in the 9,000-square-foot, two-story villa named the ‘Empathy Suite’, inside which reside six of Hirst’s original works. The artworks are thought to be worth around $10 million.
The suite has two master bedrooms, a custom-made swimming pool, fitness room, two massage rooms, as well as a dining area, 17-seat bar and home theatre which can seat 52 people.
Guests will also be able to use the 24-butler and chauffeur service, plus they'll be given $10,000 credit to use in the hotel's resort.
Winner/Loser
Would it be a Hirst suite without the inclusion of a couple of formaldehyde sharks encased in resin? Probably not. The pair of bull sharks are suspended in perpetual immobility in the foyer’s wall – the warm, welcome-home greeting everyone wishes they had.
Here for a Good Time, Not a Long Time
A work that echoes the price of the suite with grim satisfaction, two glass cases hang above the 13-seat curved bar. Inside, a marlin skeleton and a taxidermied spear-snouted fish live out their days, interrupted only by the assortment of medical gloves and needles that fill the bar below them.
Casino Royale
Real butterflies are laid out on canvas for the 10-panel collection that is dotted throughout the suite, with butterflies also adorning chairs, carpets and headboards, as well as being laser cut and embedded in the tile of the suite's outdoor Jacuzzi. If anyone had doubted that Hirst had designed the room, this should convince them.
Vegas
Across from the bar, a colour-coded medical cabinet is filled with an array of pharmaceuticals. Warning: these are not intended for consumption, drugs are for decorative purposes only.
The Winner Takes All
If the glittering reputation of both Vegas and Hirst isn’t enough, there’s an entire wall of glitter to appease visitors. In the lounge of the suite, an 18-foot-wide case is filled with cubic zirconia diamonds.
Money
In keeping with the pill motif that is littered on every surface of the $100,000 per night suite, a cabinet sits next to the dining table, lined with pills of various shapes and sizes. After-dinner mint, anyone?
Jon Gray, General Manager of Palms Casino Resort, said: “The Empathy Suite designed by Damien Hirst is the pinnacle of luxury, combining museum-worthy art and a truly legendary hospitality experience for the discerning hotel aficionado and casino guest looking for a once-in-a-lifetime Las Vegas stay.”
Find out more at the Palms Casino Resort.
