Vacation Getaways for Wall Street Bankers

These vacation getaways for the rich and famous book out up to a year ahead of time.
By Michael Martin ,

LOS ANGELES (TheStreet) -- Last-minute travel deals these aren't. The following vacation getaways book out a year ahead of time.

A few hotspots dominate summer across Europe as Russian billionaires, London media tycoons and Wall Street hedge fund managers vie for the best rooms and restaurants.

Costa Smeralda at $2,000 a night:

It's not the Mediterranean destination for most Americas, but for upper-crust Italians, it's the Hamptons of Italy. Located on the northern edge of Sardinia, Costa Smeralda was made uber-famous by Aga Khan in the '60s. From afar, it looks like a fairytale fishing village awash in bright Mediterranean colors, but up close, it's a show-off getaway more like a private island. And it's home to Cala di Volpe.

Cala di Volpe isn't your usual restrained European luxury resort. Visitors arrive by private Maybach or yacht ready to show off at the beach club and, later, at hotpots like the Billionaire nightclub. Rooms in August start upwards of $2,000 a night. For that, you get twin beds pulled together to form a king, a spacious deck and access to Italy's most extravagant summertime party pad.

Almost sold-out in St. Tropez:

There's no sight quite like St. Tropez in August. France's preeminent summer-fashion capital cordons off financial modesty. You can have a $1,000 lunch at La Voile Rouge beach club or a $750 round of drinks in the village's Le Quai Joseph. While newer hotels come and go every year, the Chevanne family's Floriat Gorupe has managed to hold on to the world's glitziest summertime glamour grounds since current owner Antoine Chevanne's grandfather opened Hotel Byblos to celebrity fanfare in 1967.

This year, Byblos debuts the final touches of its remodel, which includes all-new furnishings in expanded entry-level rooms, the opening of Byblos Spa in 2007 and last year's facelift of Le Caves du Roy that was the first since the club's opening. It wasn't an easy feat, with most weekends already sold out in August, but we managed to find a room from Thursday through Sunday at a rate of $1,090 for an entry-level deluxe double or $1,795 for an upgraded junior suite.

No Cannes-do at Hotel du Cap:

Majestically situated in a Napoleon III-style palace overlooking the Mediterranean, a grassy porte-cochere is lined with sculpted topiaries and a solitary stone staircase leading to a creamy white lobby of shiny marble floors and columns. It looks like the waiting room to heaven. Multi-week and shorter summer stays are enjoyed by Madonna, Angelina and Donatella. Earlier guests have included Sinatra, Picasso and Chagall.

Stays at Hotel du Cap include 30-euro bellinis at the signature hotel bar or $1,000 meals at the hotel's Eden-Roc restaurant along the seafront swimming pool that's dug out of the rocks with adjacent boat mooring for James Bond-style getaways. High-rollers will want one of the villas that surround the main property, with private entrance and security detail. An entry-level guest room in summer will set you back $1,236. From May 12 to 23, you'll have to find another hotel because of the Cannes Film Festival.

Capri's hush-hush island hotspot:

Along a tranquil pedestrian walkway off the main village, home to Hermes and Louis and most every other luxury brand recognizable in one name, is the manicured street of Punta Tragara. It is here where you'll pass some of Capri's chicest residences and privately owned hotels. To locals, Punta Tragara needs no introduction. It's one of the island's best hotels, with a facade designed by Le Corbusier in 1920.

Less brash than the Quisi and better located than the Capri Palace or JK Capri, Punta Tragara can boast of the best real estate of any hotel on the island, complete with private infinity decks with tear-inducing panoramas from a penthouse suite that could get an ooh-la-la out of the most fickle jetsetter. A sophisticated design aesthetic free of trends includes bi-level guest rooms with creamy limestone floors and loft-style bedrooms with slab-marble bathroom. August rates hover at $691 a night for entry-level double rooms with the bi-level suites at $1,297.

Michael Martin is the managing editor of JetSetReport.com -- a luxury travel and lifestyle guide based in Los Angeles and London. His work has appeared in In Style, Blackbook, Elle, U.K.'s Red magazine, ITV and BBC.

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