Anyone visiting Kempinski Hotel Bahía’s annual Christmas market is invariably guaranteed a dazzling experience. This year, however, the hotel team raised the festive extravagance to an even higher level than normal, with a Christmas tree valued at just under €12 million.
Located on the “New Golden Mile” between Marbella and Estepona, the luxury frontline beach resort described its festive showstopper as possibly the world’s most expensive Christmas tree. Created in partnership with haute couture designer Debbie Wingham, the £11.9 million tree was fashioned from high-value stones and peppered with pink, red, white and black diamonds, as well as edible treats and traditional decorations.
Both hotel guests and locals gathered in the hotel’s recently refurbished lobby for the official unveiling by the Estepona mayor José María García Urbano, hotel general manager Axel Bethke and Debbie Wingham.
The tree’s handmade decorations are encrusted with precious jewels – “all flawlessly cut and ethically sourced” – including three-carat pink diamonds, four-carat sapphires, oval red diamonds, black and white diamonds, and a mixture of remastered, upcycled jewellery from Bvulgari, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Chanel.
Inspired by the feathers of a peacock and the modernist art-deco era, the tree also features martini glasses, perfume bottles and 3D-printed chocolate peacocks, together with such classic decorations as snowflakes, fairies, nutcrackers and baubles, curated with a blend of materials ranging from diamond dust and 24-carat gold to emu and ostrich eggs.
In addition to the one-day Christmas Market (on 30 November), the hotel’s festive celebrations include a Diamond and Champagne Night on 28 December, highlighted by a “decadently curated cocktail dining experience” by executive chef David Fernandez and the opportunity of taking home a diamond valued at €2,000. The tree will remain in place until 29 December.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2019, Kempinski Hotel Bahía comprises 145 rooms (including 17 suites) overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, with subtropical gardens and pools, a meeting and events centre, modern culinary concepts and the exclusive Kempinski Spa.
If you are visiting the Costa del Sol this Christmas-New Year period and would like more information about the area, check out our comprehensive Places to Visit guides.