How Much a Real-Life Vacation at the 'White Lotus' and 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Resorts Would Cost You
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Luxurious, exclusive resorts seems to be all the rage this summer — at least on television.
HBO’s “The White Lotus,” set in a tropical Hawaii paradise, took the internet by storm, racking up 1.9 million viewers for its finale and providing plenty of meme inspiration. Meanwhile, Nicole Kidman plays a, uh, wellness guru of sorts at a secluded, scenic Californian retreat in “Nine Perfect Strangers." The show kicked off with three episodes on August 18, and new episodes are coming out weekly on Hulu.
It would be nice if we could just enjoy these shows without having to know exactly how much a vacation like this would actually cost. But, if you’re anything like this Money reporter, that’s not the case.
Sadly (or probably for the best), you can’t actually find the White Lotus resort’s manager Armond or any of its zany and insufferable guests in Hawaii. But you can stay at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, where the show was actually filmed.
That is, if you have around between $1,000 and $26,000 to spend per night. You read that right: a week-long stay in a 3-bedroom suite could put your bill in the ballpark of $180,000. Might as well throw in $16,950 for a speciality coffee tour via a helicopter and $23,750 for a five-hour whale watching and snorkel photography excursion, or at least $495 for an 80-minute facial. All are offered at the resort.
Meanwhile, filming of “Nine Perfect Strangers” at the Tranquillum House, a fictional retreat in California, actually took place in Byron Bay, Australia. The area is a popular spot for retreats that look — at least online — to have much of the beauty you can see in the Hulu limited series.
While the original plan was to film in and around Los Angeles, COVID-19 pushed the crew to Australia, the production designer Colin Gibson told Architectural Digest. That’s where the team found Soma, the actual retreat you see in much of the show, in New South Wales’ Byron Bay.
At Soma, retreats include meditation training, ice baths, guided forest walks, daily yoga classes and more. Soma Meditate, a three-day, two-night retreat costs $2,500 Australian dollars for one person and $3,995, which is roughly equal to about $1,800 U.S. dollars for one person and $2,870 for a couple.
A quick drive to the local beach will probably be enough for me this summer.
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