Japan’s first luxury train started operating in 2013, and was refurbished in 2022. — JR Kyushu
In 2025 the most luxurious new hotel room may be on wheels.
L’Observatoire, a two-person suite on Belmond’s Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, will command rates of £80,000 (RM443,520) per night when it enters service in March, making it the most expensive train cabin ever. For that sum, guests will get to sleep inside a cabinet of curiosities created by French photographer and street artist JR. It includes two oculus-shaped skylights that open for stargazing, a “secret” tearoom with a fireplace hidden behind a bookshelf, and a free-standing brass bathtub near the foot of the double bed.
