The Price Tag Battle: Cheap VS. Expensive

Imagine you had all the money in the world, and you could afford to stay at the world’s most expensive hotel. That would be nice, huh? But say you’re broke and have almost no money at all to spend on accommodation and all you can afford is a shabby and moldy hotel. What would that look like? We’re taking you on a journey through the cheapest versus most expensive scenarios you could live out in this life.

First, hotels. If you were looking for the most expensive hotel experience in the world, you would be staying at the Lover’s deep submarine hotel. You heard it right: this hotel takes you underwater, on a private submarine, so that you can soak in all the luxury it has to offer. The views are unforgettable, as your captain will park in front of the most beautiful coral reefs St. Lucia can offer. St. Lucia is an island in the Caribbean, where you’ll have to fly to reach the submarine.

For 150,000 dollars per night price, a speed boat is included to take you to and from the submarine. On board, you’ll have the privilege of having all your meals cooked by a private chef. If you fancy fresh fish or even the world’s most expensive caviar, you’ll have it! After all, it’s not just about spending the night away from home, it’s a wholly immersive experience beneath the waves. Immersive ha — get it? What do you say — do you think you’d enjoy yourself? I certainly would.

Say you spent all your money on this magical one-night experience under the sea and now your only option is to book the cheapest hotel in the world. For the incredible price of 1 dollar, you can book a bed at the Garden Village Guesthouse in Siem Reap, Cambodia. You should know this is not your typical hostel, though. It’s more like a campground.

The 1-dollar fee will assure you no more than a mattress, pillow, towel, and mosquito net. You will be needing those. The beds are placed in a thatched-roof hut, and it is partially open to the nature around it. You’ll be sleeping next to the kitchen, so do expect occasional food scents. You know what they say, money can’t buy happiness. But it might buy you a good night’s sleep.

Fancy some pizza? Regular pizza is usually not that expensive. But there is one special type that costs 70,000 dollars. Can you believe that? A famous social media personality convinced a fancy chef who only cooks for billionaires to make him the most expensive pizza he could think of. And the result was pretty unbelievable.

The base of the pizza is covered with an ounce of edible gold. Then, the first layer of sauce is béchamel made with Parmesan cheese that had been aging for 10 years. For toppings, the chef added a Japanese beef marinated in grape juice that costs 10,000 dollars per bottle and Hudson Valley foie gras seared and flambéd [flam-BAYD] with a 6,000 dollar bottle of apple juice. They topped it off with 4,000 dollars worth of truffle shavings and some extremely rare caviar. I mean — wow! It’s a bit exaggerated, but I bet it tastes awesome. Can you imagine eating gold in your lifetime?

After that, maybe your stomach will reject cheaper pizzas. But in case it doesn’t, you can walk the streets of New York and buy a delicious slice of 1-dollar pizza. But if that isn’t cheap enough for you, you can always fly to Mumbai to experience the deliciousness of a 40 cents pizza. For that price, you’ll get an entire but relatively small pizza covered with green and red sauce, chopped vegetables, and a lot of grated cheese. The pizza is made on the grill, not in the oven. And it’s cooked in about 20–30 seconds. Yummy!

On the topic of food, the world’s most expensive steak is Kobe beef. Prices can vary from 1,000 to 2,000 dollars for a piece. But according to Forbes, chef Polmard is charging 3,200 dollars for a vintage rib steak. How can a steak be vintage? Well, like wine, this Black Aquitaine specimen gets better and more expensive with age. There are only 103 vintage beef ribs ranging from 1998 to 2009, which makes them rare and expensive.

And if you’re feeling really rich, how about splurging on the world’s most expensive grilled cheese for an afternoon snack? You’ll have to take a trip to New York City and stop by Serendipity 3. Sit at the table with their best view and get ready for this delicious surprise: The bread is brushed with a mixture of white truffle oil and corn flakes. Ops, no sorry. Not corn flakes — gold flakes! It’s stuffed with imported aged Italian cheese and costs $214 dollars. Next to the $70,000 pizza this may sound cheap, but it’s still a grilled cheese right?

When you think of the most expensive flight experience, you’ll probably think of Emirates, right? And you’re correct. If you don’t count private jets, which are ridiculously expensive, a first-class ticket on an Emirates flight is right up next. For starters, you get your own personal cabin. As breakfast options, you can choose croissants —wait make that more Frencher — CROISSANTS, honk honk — this other French thing [pain au chocolat], fizzy lifting drinks, and much more.

For lunch, you’ll have a 5-course menu delivered to you by an extremely skilled and thoughtful flight attendant who is there to make your experience the best it can be. And when your tummy is full, you can walk down to the first floor of the plane (yes, it’s a double-decker) and enjoy a relaxing hour at the in-flight spa.

Still not convinced of the luxury of this experience? Let’s just say you’ll leave the flight with a series of amenities of luxury brands such as Bulgari. I’m talking face cream, perfumes...a goodie bag like you’ve never seen before. If you’re wondering how much an experience like this will cost you, well it depends on the route you choose. But, if you were to fly from Dubai to New York, for example, you’d pay upwards of 10,500 dollars for this trip. Woo.

The world’s cheapest flight, however, is due to a combination of a cheap airline and the best booking moment. But one of the cheapest options found was a Ryanair flight from Poland to Belgium, costing from 9.50 to 11 dollars. Of course, without adding any type of extra luggage or luxurious options such as ample legroom. But it’s only a few hours so, I’d say it’s worth it. Maybe.

Have you ever slept inside a capsule? I’m talking about this amazing architectural trend of capsule hotels where your room is a tiny, but extremely comfy pod. These types of lodgings were invented in Japan, but they grew popular in all parts of the world. One of its cheapest versions costs around 7 dollars a night, and it is already stunning. The capsule hotel has decor highly inspired by space stuff — sometimes it might even look like you’re on the inside of a spaceship.

The facilities have cool and hyper-technological Japanese toilets equipped with a control panel where you can maximize your toilet experience. Hey, maybe you can get that edible gold back. On the inside of your pod you can control lighting, air temperature, and even watch some TV in the built-in set. It’s great value for money if you ask me.

Now, the most expensive hotel in this sleep pod category charges 175 dollars a night. Located between the beautiful Swiss mountains, this capsule looks like it fell directly off the galaxy onto the face of the Earth. Also, extremely futuristic in its design, the pod has over 5 rooms to explore inside. Tiny rooms, I must say so.

The kitchen electric burner is powered by the pod’s solar panels, and it’s good enough for one person to cook. The water for the sink and bathroom is 100% reused and comes from the capsule’s rainwater collector. The capsule is so “spatially conscious” (another way of saying small confined cozy — you pick) that you can open an adjustable table in the living room and turn it into a dining room.

The bedroom, for example, can fit a single or a double bed — you just have to pull out the folded part of the bed. It’s pretty cozy if you ask me. Plus, you get the amazing view of the Swiss alps, which are mesmerizing per se. Excited to try some of these out? Leave me a comment.