As material splendor becomes ubiquitous among the wealthy, experiences are emerging as the new frontier for emotional and social capital. For the world’s ultra-wealthy, owning the rarest car or watch is no longer enough. The true status symbol lies in the extraordinary — scaling the North Pole, floating above Earth in a space balloon, dining one-to-one with master chefs or having Rihanna serenade one’s wedding in India. Experiential wealth has become the ultimate currency of prestige, offering lasting memories that no physical object can rival.
From private wilderness lodges and transformative wellness retreats to extreme travel adventures and immersive dining at the edge of space, these curated experiences exemplify how the super-rich are elevating luxury. Be it the Bezos-Sánchez wedding in Venice or the Ambani family’s months-long pre-wedding extravaganza, it is clear that for the ultra-high-net-worth, money is increasingly invested in unforgettable experiences rather than possessions.
Wellness as Splendor
&Beyond Suyian Lodge, Kenya
For the ultra-wealthy, the value of a journey lies in both rarity and immersion. The newly opened &Beyond Suyian Lodge in Kenya’s Laikipia region offers all three across 44,000 acres of private wilderness, with no other lodge sharing the land. Guests can walk with Samburu herders, ride on horseback across the plateau or track nocturnal wildlife on night drives, with the possibility of spotting one of Africa’s rarest predators — the black leopard.
The design — created with Nicholas Plewman Architects, Michaelis Boyd and Fox Browne Creative — merges Afro-Wabi-Sabi aesthetics with 14 suites, each with private plunge pools and views across the escarpment. Wellness amenities include a spa, gym, yoga studio and steam room, while meals draw on produce from the highlands and the lodge’s gardens.
Read More: 8 Luxury Travel Destinations With a Cause
Beyond luxury, Suyian functions as a conservation engine, managed in partnership with Space for Giants and owned by a Kenyan trust. Guests not only gain exclusive access to one of the continent’s most biodiverse landscapes but also directly fund the protection of endangered species and the support of local communities. Here, exclusivity and conservation go hand in hand, resulting in an experience that pairs the privacy of a rarefied estate with the impact of meaningful stewardship.
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Ananda in the Himalayas
At Ananda in the Himalayas, experiential wealth is framed through advanced wellness. The retreat has broadened its core programmes with weekly sound healing and mantra chanting, practices that root guests in Vedic philosophy while offering an immersive cultural and meditative dimension. Alongside these contemplative rituals, Ananda has introduced an Integrated Diabetes Management Programme that fuses Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yoga, physiotherapy and nutritional science.
Images courtesy of Ananda in the Himalayas
Structured as a 14-night minimum stay, the initiative reports tangible results in glucose control, sustainable weight reduction and lowered reliance on medication. For investors and travellers alike, the draw lies in a model where ancient knowledge is not just preserved but validated through contemporary clinical frameworks, positioning Ananda as both a sanctuary and a benchmark in the business of transformative health. Within the rare seclusion of the Himalayan foothills, Ananda delivers not only the promise of renewal but also a measurable framework for what transformative health can achieve in a luxury context.
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Extreme Travel
The “Glimmer Travel” Trend
Luxury travel experts at Scott Dunn are predicting a new trend for affluent travellers dubbed the “glimmer travel” movement. The term “glimmer travel” comes from the pursuit of fleeting natural phenomena that cannot be manufactured or repeated. Gwen Ho — Scott Dunn’s Team Lead and Africa Specialist — explains, “There is clearly an appetite for the rare among the well-travelled, but we are now seeing more guests seek out visceral, fleeting encounters. They are not just chasing a checklist of attractions, but are looking for meaningful travel that allows for reconnection and restoration.”
One experience highlighted by Scott Dunn in line with the “glimmer travel” trend for 2026, was witnessing the 2026 solar eclipse in the Nordics. Travelling for the solar eclipse is part of the “dark sky tourism” also known as “noctourism” which is gaining traction for a variety of reasons — f”rom escaping high daytime temperatures and large crowds to the simple desire to see the world in a different light,” says Gwen.
The total solar eclipse of 2026 is one such phenomenon. It will be the first of its kind since 1433 and demand is so strong that some guests are booking up to two years in advance. While the eclipse will be visible from multiple regions, the Nordics are emerging as a leading destination.
Many travellers will watch from land, but interest in eclipse expeditions by sea is growing rapidly. One standout itinerary charts a 15-day Arctic journey, where dramatic glaciers, active volcanoes and ancient fjord systems form the backdrop for this celestial event. In Svalbard, guests kayak through ice-laced waters, encounter walruses and visit Inuit communities in East Greenland — culminating on eclipse day, when the ship positions itself within the path of totality for 2 minutes and 18 seconds of what is described as “absolute darkness and awe”.
Another sought-after glimmer experience is viewing the Northern Lights in Scandinavia and Iceland. Peak season runs from November to March, with increased solar activity this year driving higher demand. These regions offer rugged landscapes — from glaciers and waterfalls to lava fields and hot springs — and specialist operators such as Scott Dunn provide access to rare vantage points and customised itineraries. In one instance, a guest secured a last-minute helicopter flight over an erupting Icelandic volcano, turning a natural event into a curated, once-in-a-lifetime encounter.
Immersive Dining
Kiwami Omakase
Kiwami Omakase offers one of the most exclusive Japanese dining experiences in the world, with seating limited to 12 guests per day by reservation only. Priced at ¥350,000 (approximately $2,475 USD), this exclusive 20-piece sushi course has been certified by Guinness World Records as the most expensive sushi in the world. Founded in April 2023 by chef Nishihara Hideto, the restaurant is designed to showcase the balance and delicacy of traditional Japanese flavours.
The Special Meal Set features only the finest cuts of Wagyu beef — graded A5, the highest quality available — paired with premium seafood sourced from both Hai Phong and Japan. The Premium Meal Set continues this standard of excellence, offering Wagyu A5 beef alongside a curated selection of the freshest seafood from Hai Phong and Japan, ensuring every dish highlights the finest ingredients and authentic Japanese flavours. Each meal is handcrafted by chef Hideto using the finest ingredients and menus are ever-changing, offering a new, immersive experience with every visit. Kiwami Omakase represents the pinnacle of sushi dining.
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Michelin-Starred Dining in Space With Space Perspective
For a truly once-in-a-lifetime culinary adventure, six explorers will join Michelin-starred Chef Rasmus Munk from Alchemist for an immersive dining experience aboard Space Perspective’s carbon-neutral Spaceship Neptune. Ascending 100,000 feet above Earth in a pressurized capsule lifted by a SpaceBalloon™, guests will enjoy a multi-course, six-hour meal while watching the sunrise over the planet’s curvature. Outfitted by French luxury fashion house Ogier in made-to-measure ensembles crafted with cutting-edge fabric technology, explorers will experience the ultimate combination of gastronomy and adventure.
Chef Rasmus’s menu tells a story of space exploration over the last 60 years, blending Holistic Cuisine with scientific and philosophical reflections on humanity’s relationship with Earth. Guests will dine on thoughtfully curated dishes that heighten the transformative impact of witnessing the planet from above — a phenomenon known as the “Overview Effect”, which fosters a profound sense of interconnectedness.
Priced at USD 495,000 per ticket, the journey begins with a pre-flight dinner at Alchemist in Copenhagen, followed by a gentle ascent on the Spaceship Neptune, offering Wi-Fi for livestreaming the extraordinary views. After two hours of viewing Earth’s curvature from the trip’s apogee, explorers will descend safely into the ocean, completing a thrilling itinerary.
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Private Events
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, Venice
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s multi-day wedding in Venice this June is being hailed as one of the most extravagant nuptials of the year. The celebrations, attended by roughly 200 to 250 guests, reportedly cost between USD 46 and 56 million. Guests enjoyed world-class entertainment — including a performance by Elton John — while the bride changed into 27 outfits over the course of the festivities.
The event featured private water taxis, three-Michelin-star catering, hand-blown Murano glass gifts and luxury accommodations across Venice’s top hotels, solidifying its status as a billionaire-level celebration of unprecedented scale and exclusivity. For ultra-high-net-worth individuals like Bezos, such experiences represent a shift in luxury spending from possessions to unforgettable, highly curated life moments.
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The Ambani Pre-Wedding
Rihanna reportedly commanded a USD 5 to 9 million fee for a private live performance during Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s pre-wedding celebrations — continuing the longstanding tradition of A-list artists entertaining Asia’s wealthiest families. Other global superstars, including Justin Bieber and Katy Perry also performed at various pre-wedding events, with Bieber’s appearance rumoured to have cost around USD 10 million. These performances took place across multiple venues, from the Ambani family’s ancestral compound in Mumbai to a four-day Mediterranean cruise and a masquerade ball in Cannes, underscoring the global scale of the celebrations.
The festivities reportedly hosted over 1,200 guests, including tech moguls like Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai, Bollywood stars and former world leaders such as Tony Blair. The family went to extraordinary lengths to accommodate their elite guest list, chartering three Falcon 2000 jets for travel, organising private water taxis and ensuring luxury accommodations across Mumbai and Europe. Industry estimates place the total cost of the wedding — from décor and cuisine to star-studded entertainment — at an eye-watering USD 600 million.
For families of such immense wealth, events like the Ambani wedding are less about expense and more about creating unparalleled, bespoke experiences — a vivid illustration of how ultra-high-net-worth individuals choose to spend on unforgettable, highly curated moments that transcend conventional forms of luxury.
Read More: Inside the Lavish Ambani Wedding
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