‘Personal Magician’? Abu Dhabi’s $100K Valentine’s Day Deal

If you are running out of options for buying your love the most expensive Valentine’s Day evening on earth, Abu Dhabi has a deal for you. Already fabulous for having an inland waterway that allows you take a boat through a moat that runs through the hotel, the Shangri-La Hotel Qaryat Al Beri in Abu Dhabi recently advertised a package for Valentine’s Day 2015 that aims to have every top luxury item on the planet.

In general, Abu Dhabi is known for hosting international attractions like the World Solar Challenge racing car event, but this package shows that it also has a romantic side. Interestingly, Abu Dhabi’s Valentine’s Day offering is much more expensive than any other luxury package of its kind available in 2015 — except one latecomer that insisted on taking this $100K challenge and raising it by about $20,000.

How much does this night in Abu Dhabi actually cost you? The prices offered for the Abu Dhabi Valentine’s Day hotel package are listed in local currency. The Shangri-La Hotel says they will charge you Dh400,000 in Abu Dhabi currency. Since Abu Dhabi is an extremely small country that borders the United Arab Emirates, they borrow UAE currency. That means 400,000 Abu Dhabi AED-UAE dirhams translates into approximately $108,880 in U.S. Dollars — depending on the value of the dollar that day.

So what makes up a $100,000 night in a hotel? Gulf News reports that the Abu Dhabi Valentine’s Day package includes, “limousines, helicopters and presidential suites.” Shangri-La Abu Dhabi hotel general manager, Thomas Guss, was interviewed by Gulf News and stated, “We create the extraordinary – our guests experience the finer things in life, where money is no issue and true love is the priority. With this package, we believe we are providing an exceptional Valentine’s experience – where the happy couple can relax and have their every need attended to.”

Other noted amenities at the Abu Dhabi hotel that are expressly for the Valentine’s Day package include special fresh flowers in the rooms, gourmet chocolates, a caviar facial during the spa treatment, and vintage champagne. On the rooftop, the couple can enjoy a seven-course meal that has luxury French gourmet food — and the dinner is accompanied by a personal musician for serenades.

A unique angle to this Abu Dhabi Valentine’s Day package is that your dinner also includes your own personal magician. When you finish your desserts, you can exchange the gifts that your personal shopper helped you pick out. A couple of the items that the Abu Dhabi hotel gives you as a gift are Dior Couture and Montre Ublot pieces. After that, you are on your way to your helicopter ride to see the night sky in Abu Dhabi.

But is it the most expensive Valentine’s Day hotel or package in 2015? As it appears, there are a few challengers out there this year, and one hotel that decided to top this record on February 11. The Four Seasons Hotel Baku in the Azerbaijan capital decided to challenge the Abu Dhabi hotel by offering a 2015 Valentine’s package for $127,756. According to the Arabian Business News, “the package starts with a limousine pick-up from anywhere in the world, first-class flights to the Baku, and a two-night stay in the Presidential Suite at the hotel.”

While the two packages are similar, the Baku package offers a, “24-carat gold massage and ultra-hydrating milk bath, to relax and rejuvenate and, to finish off the package, his and her Cartier watches with names and date engraved… and a personal butler.”

[All images from the Abu Dhabi Shangri-La Hotel website.]