The Most Expensive Hotel Room In America – Secret Lives Of The Super Rich

The Mark Hotel's general manager, Olivier Lordonnois, gives the first ever on-camera tour of the most expensive hotel room in America.

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I spent the day inside the most expensive hotel suite in America. Despite its astonishing $75,000 a night price tag, I still think it is worth every cent.

The most I've ever spent on a hotel was splitting a $500-a-night room with my best friend in the south of France. But as a segment producer for CNBC, I've been trying to get cameras inside The Mark Hotel's luxurious 10,000-square-foot penthouse suite for almost two years.

The hotel has a strict vetting process, and few people have been inside because of the room's very high price tag (which The Mark confirms is the most expensive in the U.S.; its regular suites start at $1,895). However, the biggest obstacle was that a family had checked in for 16 months (yes, months). When the VIP guests eventually checked out, management approved my request, making it the first time TV cameras have ever been given access.

So what is it like?

The moment I step into the lobby of The Mark, on New York City's Upper East Side, my eyes are drawn to the bold, black-and-white-striped marble floors.

The hotel's interiors — including the duplex penthouse — are by French designer Jacques Grange. You may not know his name, but you almost certainly know his A-list clients, like the late Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld and Valentino, a.k.a. Valentino Garavani.

From the lobby, a hotel staff member with a master key takes me to the penthouse on the 16th floor (only suite guests and staff have access).

At 10,000 square feet, it's literally the size of a mansion.

The elevator opens to a small foyer. The hotel's general manager, Olivier Lordonnois, greets me for the tour.

Normally, Lordonnois personally chauffeurs penthouse guests from the airport in whatever car they prefer, like a Mercedes-Maybach or S class, and sees them to the suite. There, a bottle of rare wine or champagne and snacks, like a truffle pizza from Mark Restaurant, will be waiting.

Since I'm not actually staying at the hotel or paying $75,000 a night, my tour of the 15-room suite (enough room for a family and its entourage) starts in the "reception" room. That space alone is almost larger than my first NYC apartment.

From there, we enter the great room. The ceilings are 26 feet high with four large skylight windows cut into the roof line that drench the room in sunlight.

The room smells of flowers; it's coming from a giant arrangement of hydrangeas. (Almost every room has fresh-cut flowers.)

Next, we walk through two sets of double doors into the "library" — which feels more like a cool lounge.

The library's fireplace (one of four in the penthouse) looks wood-burning but is fueled by natural gas and lights with the press of a button.

The suite has five bedrooms, including two master suites. In both of the master baths, there are fine soaps from the Italian perfumery La Bottega. White bathrobes hang and plush towels are monogrammed with an "M" for "The Mark."

I'm told turn-down service can include everything from ornate and rare chocolate truffles left on guests' pillows to personalized Loro Piana slippers (some of the brand's slippers retail for nearly $700).

Next, we head up the suite's grand staircase to a room enclosed in glass.

Lordonnois refers to this room as the "atrium," and on a sunny day, you'd need SPF up here. The room's glass doors open to a massive wraparound terrace.

So, the $75,000 question: Why is The Mark's mega-suite worth the money?

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I spent the day in the most expensive hotel suite in America—at $75,000 a night, here's why it's worth every cent | CNBC Make It.