What It's Like To Live Life as a Rolls-Royce Owner

Image via Complex Original

To many people, a flight from New York to Toronto to Vienna, Austria sounds like a long, uncomfortable mess. A one-and-a-half-hour flight, then a three-hour layover, then a nine-hour flight? That can't be fun, right? Normally, no, but Rolls-Royce isn't exactly a normal company. They were kind (and rich) enough to fly all of the journalists out in first class. On the short flight, that meant seat 1A, some complimentary snacks and juice, and priority boarding (one of my favorite perks).

Once I'd landed in Canada, even the layover was infinitely better than it normally would have been, thanks to access to the Austria Airlines lounge. The restricted area was a large, sprawling space with plenty of couches, segregated office areas, dining tables, and plenty of outlets. It also had a buffet with fresh, hot food, a full bar with our choice of every type of hard liquor (Johnny Walker Black, thank you), some wines, and three beer taps, and a dessert bar. I defintiely said a few thank-yous to the based God for not having to eat Auntie Annie's pretzels and drinking $6.00 Dr. Pepper.

When it finally came time to make the longest flight of the journey, the first-to-board really came in the clutch. And so the looks of "what in the world is that kid doing in first class?" began. Waiting in the short line to get on, I was probably the youngest person by maybe 15-20 years, save another kid traveling with his dad. Everybody else was in slacks, suits, ties, while I was getting on with my duffle, no checked luggage, and a hoodie. It made it even more satisfying.

The experience of flying first class is nothing short of incredible. I'm the last person to have something done for me (what have I done to deserve somebody carrying my luggage and opening the door for me? And really, does anybody "deserve" that, aside from men doing it for women?), so I felt extremely out of place when I sat down and was instantly greeted with some orange juice, a hot towel, and my choice of a number of magazines and newspapers (might or might not have slipped a Complex on the cart for them).

As you can see from the photos, the captain-like, lie-flat seats on Austria Airlines are practically brand new. The seats moved to multiple positions, including all the way down (I slept better on those flights than I had all week in my apartment) and included a massage option. Every first class passenger had his or her own personal plug and USB port, right next to the reading light. For some reason, Austria Airlines doesn't have international wifi yet, but that was not really an issue, considering I had a 20-inch, very intuitive touchscreen in front of me with up-to-date movies like Monsters University and The Great Gatsby included.

One of the best parts was the continuous stream of drinks and food, but I'll get to that a little later. Is first class really worth the the thousands of dollars you have to pay for it? Ehh, by my standards, probably not. But should you splurge for just one time in your life (hopefully by using airline miles) and make the upgrade for an international flight? Definitely, just so you can experience the ridiculousness that it entails.

On top of all of this, the chauffeurs were driving us around in Ghosts and Phantoms. Normally, I'd sit up in front with the driver, but it's pretty hard to pass up stretching out in the backseat of a Rolls-Royce. 

There are two 2-Star Michelin chefs in Austria. Rolls-Royce lined up both of them for our two days in Austria, one of which was Silvio Nickol (recently named Austria's No. 1 chef) at the Palais Coburg. Seated at a private table in a basement room that used to be used for weaponry storage, the presentation of the five-course meal was fantastic. I've never had so much silverware and glassware set before me in my life.

My vegetarian meal, with each course paired with its own wine, went like this: Kohlrabi (cottage cheese, sunflower seeds), Carpaccio (melon, pine nuts, rocket), Raviolo (egg, spinach, cap mushrooms, hazelnuts), Pasta bake (parmesan, tomato, leek, beans), and Banana BBQ (sesame, topinambour, passion fruit, lapsang souchong). To call it phenomenal would be an understatement. And not to be all high and mighty, but most of the meat-eaters all wanted what I had. The pasta bake was even flame-kissed with a handheld blow-torch that my inner pyro really, really wanted to keep. All of that just for one meal. 

The second dinner was at DO & CO Hotel in the middle of Stephensplatz, with a breath-taking view of St. Stephen's Cathedral, the 449-foot masterpiece that was completed back in 1433 and is the tallest church in Austria and one of the tallest in the world. Seeing it on the ground was one thing, seeing it at eye level while eating delicious sushi and a made-to-order vegetable stir fry was in another class. I didn't eat the other apps, because they had meat, but the guys said the chicken skewers and the beef cutlets were fantastic.

I'm not a wine drinker. My drink preferences include coffee and chocolate stouts and porters and whiskey. But when I'm at the Palais Coburg, which has a wine cellar that has six different rooms and a bottle of wine that is worth more than $100,000, it's only proper to have a taste of the grape. As I mentioned, each course of my meal had a different pairing.

The wine drinking went as follows: Neumeister Sauvignon Blanc Klassik (Styria, Austria), 2006 Nigl Riesling Privat (Kremstal, Austria), 2005 Ott Grüner Veltliner Reserve Haram Edition (Wagram, Austria - this one was described as full bodied, from gunpowder to yellow fruits, so there's that), 2003 Kollwentz Steinzeiler (Burgenland, Austria), and finally the 2006 Kracher Beerenauslese Traminer Coburg Selektion (Neusiedlersee, Austria).

Following the dinner, we went down to a small bar even deeper below the hotel. This bar had a specially designated drink called Domo Pérignon. You might have heard of it. With a backdrop of bottle after bottle, the bartender filled our glasses with champagne until we could drink no more. And this completed the night that my stomach was filled with a meal probably worth more than any of the cars I have owned. 

The Palais Coburg is also a spa and resort. It's known as a place where Rolls-Royce owners usually stay, when in Vienna, so that's why we were put up there. For the first time in my life, I had a personal massage. Somebody was sent up to my room for the private 25-minute session (before your minds start to wander, it was a dude, so that was ... weird ... and nothing like the fantasy that half of you are probably dreaming up right now) and it was included with the room.

Outside of the hotel, RR set us up nicely on drive day, as well. Halfway through, we stopped in a small, religious town, where we were given gelato, and any coffees, teas, or refreshments of our choice. From there, we went to Steirereck am Pogusch for lunch, an extremely exclusive little bed and breakfast-type lodge set in the Austrian countryside. It was sort of a farm set up, where they got many of their foods for the restaurant and included cabins, which are rented out up to a year in advance. The area was surrounded by gorgeous alps and plenty of hiking and walking trails. Oh, and across the street, there is a field for people to helicopter in from Austria.

The entire purpose of this trip was to test out the new Wraith. We're finishing up our full review, which will be up later this week, but simply put, driving a Rolls-Royce is the top of the top, as far as comfort goes. Everything on the trip was relaxing, and that fully includes sitting in the Wraith's super soft leather seats. The luxury is, of course, as good as it gets, and the power in the new car is massive. We were almost a little upset that the winding alpine roads didn't allow us more time to completely open the car up. But like we said, cruising under the starry optic roof was fantastic and made the dreary, rainy day much more pleasant.