Have you ever dreamt of taking a sabbatical in retirement from household management, saying goodbye to daily chores and putting your feet up for a few months?
If you decide to escape, which would be the best value: a world cruise; a five-star hotel in London; or living in a luxury apartment in a retirement community?
Three tempting alternatives, all priced differently, with different levels of inclusions in the cost and optional extras.
Let’s have a look.
THE LUXURY WORLD CRUISE
107 nights – £49,466 for two
Entertainment ranges from pools to pub quizzes, deck games, lectures and art classes to dancing to the orchestra in the ballroom
You can sail away from Southampton on glamorous new Cunard cruise ship Queen Anne on January 9.
The route takes you to the sunny Americas, Australasia, South East Asia, the Gulf and Mediterranean, arriving home when spring is sprung.
On the 107-night circumnavigation of the globe, as well as breakfast, lunch and dinner, afternoon tea is served by white-gloved waiters in the Queens Ballroom every day, and should you still be peckish you can order room service any time of night or day, all included in the fare.
As well as the four main dining rooms (allocated by cabin grade) and buffet restaurant, there is a choice of many other places to eat costing extra.
Entertainment ranges from the well-stocked library to pub quizzes, deck games, lectures and art classes to dancing to the orchestra in the ballroom, concerts and plays in the theatre, gala dinners and the captain’s cocktail party.
On a tour that includes New York, the Panama Canal, Sydney and Hawaii, you’ll visit 28 destinations in 18 countries and relax for 68 days at sea with time to lounge beside the pool.
The cost for two people sharing an ocean view cabin with a good-sized window is from £37,298 (cunard.com) working out at £348.60 per cabin per night, for two. But there are further costs that must be taken into account.
Although service charges – that apply on shorter cruises from $16pp (£12.50) per day; £25 per couple – are included in the fare on world voyages, using the internet is not, costing $1,444.50 (about £1,136) for the basic package for just one device – about £10.60 a day.
You’ll also need to add compulsory travel insurance, offered from a not inconsiderable £11,032.70 for a couple by Holiday Extras (holidayextras.com), Cunard’s recommended insurance provider.
It all adds up to £49,466.70, about £462.30 for two per night.
5 STAR LONDON HOTEL
107 nights – £50,386
If you prefer to stay put while being waited on in style, with plenty to see and do in easy reach, a long stay in a five-star hotel in the capital ticks those boxes.
Check in to the Hilton Park Lane and you’ll never have the bother of making the bed, a concierge will help with sightseeing advice and theatre bookings and you’ll have the freedom to dine in or out with a vast choice of restaurants nearby – but unlike a cruise, meals are an extra cost.
The hotel’s brasserie has two courses for £22 and three for £26. All rooms have kettles, coffee machines and mini fridges, so you could save on the hotel breakfast (up to £44pp) by making your own.
At London’s Hilton Park Lane hotel you’ll have Hyde Park and Green Park on your doorstep
You’ll have Hyde Park and Green Park on your doorstep and free museums such as the V&A, National Gallery, Tate Britain and Wallace Collection within 30 minutes walk, or a short bus ride (free with older person’s bus passes from other regions of England).
And hotel guests can go to the gym, sauna and steam room without charge.
Canny bookers will get the best room rates through the Hilton Honors programme, which is free to join and has the benefit of free internet and bottled water and other perks, plus clocking up points for future stays.
To stay at the Hilton Park Lane for the same dates as the Cunard cruise, January 9 to April 27, 2025 – 107 nights in a park or city view, double room, the total cost would be from £39,686.26. Add, say, a modest £50pp a day for meals (£10,700) and it all adds up to £50,386.26 – from about £471 a night for two.
RETIREMENT COMMUNITY
107 nights – £56,280
Auriens Chelsea, a complex of 56 flats for well-heeled over-65s in the smart London neighbourhood, has the air of a swish hotel
A more permanent option that is becoming increasingly popular among well-off older people is renting, rather than buying, an apartment in a luxury retirement community.
Auriens Chelsea, a complex of 56 flats for well-heeled over-65s in the smart London neighbourhood, has the air of a swish hotel, with hot and cold running attentive staff. The head chef of the private restaurant is a former head chef at the Savoy. And the restaurant and bar manager is from the Mayfair club, Annabel’s.
Daily housekeeping of your flat can be arranged, along with other extra services.
There is a gym and spa on site, and the beautifully tended garden, designed by a Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winner, is a tranquil spot to read with a coffee.
Residents can be as private or as social as they like and are offered a programme of events and activities, such as joining the choir, book talks and piano recitals.
Located off the King’s Road, Auriens is just a stroll up to the Royal Court Theatre, Cadogan Hall and Peter Jones department store on Sloane Square, or over the river to Battersea Park.
For this carefree life in a one-bedroom apartment, rent starts at £16,000 a month, covering maintenance, utilities, council tax, broadband, telephone and TV package and television licence – but not meals.
That’s £192,000 a year.
To compare the cost of living in Auriens (auriens.com) for the same period as the 107-night Cunard world cruise or hotel stay, we can divide the annual rent by 365 (£526.27 a day) and multiply by 107. The result is £56,280.93 for two people plus restaurant bills (Sunday roast in the restaurant is £60pp), or the cost of food to be prepared and eaten at home.
So the least expensive way of spending just over 15 weeks cocooned in comfort is the Cunard (cunard.com) world cruise on full board at £462 a night per couple.
Coming close behind is the hotel stay at the Hilton Park Lane (hilton.com), but eating more sparingly, at £471 a night for two.
And in third place, Auriens Chelsea retirement community, a long-term commitment with no meals included at £526 a night.
The same, for less…
The cruise – 99 nights
A 99-night world cruise offered by P&O (pocruises.com) on child-free ship Arcadia with evening entertainment and menus designed with British tastes in mind, sails from Southampton on January 3, 2025.
The voyage heads to the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, Mexico and the US West Coast, crosses the Pacific to Australia and New Zealand, through South East Asia to Mauritius and around Cape of Good Hope, heading to the Canary Islands.
A cabin with a window including full board is from £21,898 for two. Basic internet is from £757.35 for one device.
Travel insurance for a couple is from £2,693.19 with Saga (saga.co.uk/travel-insurance). The total is £25,348.54 for 99 nights for two (£256.05 a day).
The hotel – 99 nights
The Grand Hotel in Torquay (richardsonhotels.co.uk) harks back to the golden age of seaside holidays on the English Riviera. Two staying in a sea view, double room at the Grand pay from £21,893 including dinner and breakfast. If you add £10 each a day for lunch it’s £23,873, so £241.14 a night.
The retirement community
Cooper’s Hill, a former stately home and part of Brunel University, is a community of 128 retirement apartments for over-55s, set in 67-acre Magna Carta Park near Egham in Surrey. It is one of nearly two dozen Audley Villages (audleyvillages.co.uk).
Residents have communal gardens, a restaurant, tennis courts, minibus service and social events. For permanent residents who choose not to buy, prices start at £6,000 a month for a two-bedroom flat, covering service charges and a night porter. Annual rent of £72,000 a year (£19,528.77 for 99 nights) works out at £197.26 a night.
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