A 2,100-square-foot suite on the 37th floor of a Manhattan tower with the Empire State Building, One World Trade and the Statue of Liberty in one sweep of glass. A two-bedroom suite that can expand until it takes over an entire hotel floor. A 3,000-square-foot Presidential Suite with its own wood-panelled library. This is the current state of play at the top end of Marriott's luxury portfolio, where the humble hotel suite has been reworked into something closer to a private apartment — with a butler on call.
Marriott Luxury Group, which spans The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis and JW Marriott among others, has been leaning into the idea that the suite itself is the destination. Several recent openings and redesigns make the case.
In New York, The Ritz-Carlton NoMad's top suite pairs its skyline panorama with a dedicated media room, a fitness room kitted out with a Peloton, and a Terrazzo marble bathroom. Guests also get access to the Club Lounge one floor below, which serves everything from breakfast to evening desserts under executive chef José Andrés.
Across town, JW Marriott Essex House has just added the Promenade Suite to its Central Park Suite Collection. Debuting in August on the 38th floor, it sleeps six across two bedrooms, has an open kitchen and a dining table for six, and can grow into three or four bedrooms — with the option to book the entire floor privately. The design nods to Central Park's Literary Walk, and the surrounding collection leans into the hotel's Art Deco bones.
The St. Regis New York, meanwhile, has finished a full redesign of its 67 suites, among the largest in the city. The refresh honours the hotel's Astor family heritage, and the signature Butler Service — packing and unpacking, garment pressing, welcome coffee — remains central to the stay. The Presidential Suite runs to 3,000 square feet with a wood-panelled library and Central Park views.
The story isn't only New York. The Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C. takes a civic angle: its Presidential Suite draws on the capital's political history with statesman-like fabrics and brass detailing, while the Ritz-Carlton Suite adds a fireplace living room, a formal eight-seat dining room and an outdoor terrace over the West End. And in Canada, the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver's Sky Suites are two-bedroom residences with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over BC Place, the skyline and False Creek.
Why should a traveller care? Because the top suite tier increasingly comes with perks that genuinely change a trip — private lounge access, butler service, expandable multi-bedroom layouts that work for families or small groups, and views you'd normally pay a fortune for at an observation deck. If you're celebrating something or travelling as a party of four to six, one of these suites can replace booking multiple rooms, sometimes at surprisingly comparable maths once you factor in the included services.
