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Oct 08, 2023

Inside the Biggest Hotel Suite in the U.S.: First Look

Any high-roller traveler knows that not all hotel penthouses are created equal.

Any high-roller traveler knows that not all hotel penthouses are created equal. Most are a zhuzhed-up version of a top suite with more living space, perhaps nicer amenities, a private concierge and some original art.

But a regulation-size half basketball court, plus scoreboard? A walk-in closet with bulletproof glass to protect handbags and timepieces? And a wine cellar that holds up to 300 bottles from prestigious vineyards and chateaus? Not exactly standard.

Indeed, absolutely nothing about the 22,000-square-foot, two-story penthouse suite at The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston veers even close to run-of-the-mill. And it starts with the price tag: $125,000 a night, minimum two nights.

The hotel believes it now boasts the biggest private suite in the United States. (In an Elite Traveler ranking of the biggest hotel suites in the country from 2021, a five-bedroom accommodation at the Faena Hotel Miami Beach held the top spot at 14,507 square feet.)

"I knew I wanted to do something really, really special that would separate us from someone else," says the hotel's owner, billionaire Tilman Fertitta, who also owns the Houston Rockets, the Montage Laguna Beach, five Golden Nugget casinos and the Landry's restaurant group, which includes Morton's, Chart House, Mastro's and The Palm. Fertitta built his empire first in the restaurant industry by buying a majority stake in Landry's Seafood in the mid-’80s and rapidly adding venues and brands to his burgeoning portfolio as he took it public and, later, private again.

Fertitta — who was also the host of CNBC's Billionaire Dollar Buyer for its three-season run, in which he met and placed orders with small businesses around the country — went above and beyond in creating what he modestly an "extremely nice" suite.

"In my mind, I built something that if I ever wanted to move into it, I would be comfortable," he tells The Hollywood Reporter of the four-bedroom pad, completed in late 2022 and never before publicly revealed.

The $350 million, 250-room Post Oak Hotel — where Kendall Jenner, Pitbull, Eva Longoria and Bryan Cranston have all stayed since it opened in 2018 — is all about indulgence, with nine restaurants and bars, a world-class wine list and a Rolls-Royce showroom that allows guests to charge one to their room.

Naturally, the penthouse needed to go big, too, with Fertitta engaged in the in-house design team's process from start to finish.

Occupying the 32nd and 33rd floors and boasting prized 360-degree city views, the suite, which took 18 months to build out, is accessible not only by private elevator but also by helicopter. There's a helipad on the roof, and, the Houston Rockets owner says, "you never see anybody." It's likely for this reason that the suite has already slept some of "the biggest acts" in the music industry and A-listers in Hollywood. He won't name any stars, but Fertitta confirms that each of the four U.S. presidents directly preceding Joe Biden have been in it, "either for an event or to spend the night."

Fertitta opted for a plush aesthetic for the penthouse that he describes as "soft contemporary," complete with tufted silk rugs by Madison Lily, a glamorous pool table by California House in Madagascar ebony and 108 painstakingly selected marble slabs. The suite drips with more than 20,000 crystals hanging from custom Preciosa chandeliers.

Of utmost importance to Fertitta was creating a bit of drama for the arrival experience: "You come off the elevator and you really can't see the outside with the pool, so I got doors from Europe with a really small frame so the whole living room opens up and you turn the corner and it's just wow — kind of like in Beverly Hills. It's not something you’re expecting to see in Houston."

Fertitta reserved the lower of the two floors for the basketball court, a game room, a high-tech golf simulator, a private gym and other amenities: "I knew that sometimes … you want to have a party but don't necessarily want people in your living room. So you can go downstairs and you have a mini nightclub, a movie theater, and on and on." The soundproof theater seats 16 in leather lounge chairs and features a popcorn machine, candy bar and stocked fridge. In the sprawling open-air living room, a double-sided TV rises out of a console near the Taj Mahal marble-wrapped fireplace and gargantuan velvet sectional.

Further, there's an eight-person sauna, steam room and spa treatment room (guests receive four complimentary treatments per stay), a handful of fully stocked wet bars (including one with a backlit onyx wall displaying only top-shelf liquor), a generous heated infinity pool and two hot tubs.

There's a dog run and not one but two dining rooms; a state-of-the-art system controls lighting, sound and security. The 3,050-square-foot wraparound outdoor terrace — which is outfitted with Janus et Cie and Palecek furniture and has a comprehensive outdoor kitchen and bar — is Fertitta's favorite part of the suite, and he derives a lot of joy from its panoramic views. "It's very special," says Fertitta (whose first job as a teenager was working at a seafood restaurant in Galveston, Texas, owned by his dad).

No detail was too small to agonize over. Says Fertitta, "If you want to know the truth, when I travel and they want to upgrade me to a suite, I truly [prefer] a small, small one-bedroom with a sitting room. Believe it or not, people tend to not think about big suites as perfectly as they do a regular room, and so I wanted to make sure we thought about everything and made everything perfect."

The two custom-everything primary bedrooms are clad in hand-woven silk wall coverings and have deluxe showers equipped with multiple body sprays. Monogrammed robes and pillowcases await every guest and are souvenirs of their stay. "The closets are unbelievable," says Fertitta. "You’ve got to remember, we have presidents stay here, the biggest people in the Saudi royal family." Throughout, there are 17 original artworks by the likes of Robert Motherwell and Helen Frankenthaler, with a first print of Charlie Chaplin by Mr. Brainwash. "All art is not art," says the hotelier. "Expensive art looks like expensive art."

To access the wine cellar, guests "wave a card on a little lock and can go right in," says Fertitta, who notes that the penthouse is staffed 24 hours a day by six employees, including a personal butler, a Les Clefs d’Or concierge, a Bentley chauffeur and a sommelier.

"If you want food cooked on the teppanyaki, the chefs come up there," adds Fertitta. "It's whatever you want. No request is too big. I don't know of anything somebody can ask for that we would tell them no."

A version of this story first appeared in the May 24 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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