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

If I were to typecast a Rolls-Royce owner, I'd probably pick out an extremely wealthy older gentleman or woman who was constantly in business attire, attended concerts and performances that sold out three weeks before they went on sale, ate only the finest cuisines with seven different types of forks, had a strong opinion about the Australian grapes from 1996, and hasn't washed his own car since he was in high school.

None of these things could remotely be said about me. For one, I love washing my own car, but also because I'm, you know, a twenty-something living in a city that laughs at the words "savings account." However, because I am an exceptionally lucky person who happens to get to write about cars for a living, Rolls-Royce invited me to fly to Austria to test out its new GT, the Wraith. Getting to my destination and living there for a couple days was as exhilarating as driving the 624hp beast. I would like to share this journey not to brag, but to open you up to a life that many might not know even exists: the Rolls-Royce life. Take a trip with me.

RELATED: This Is How Rolls-Royce Makes the Wraith's Starlight Roof

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.

I've provided plenty of photos and a video tour, awkwardly narrated by yours truly, but I'll add a few things you might not notice. First off, this room, the 402 Suite, had it's own button in the elevator. I know there are several elevators for the various areas of the hotel, but I have never, and probably will never again, feel so important in my life. That's probably the only time I'll ever feel like I'm silently bragging to somebody simply by pressing a button, "D" to be exact.

I was personally escorted up to my room, and when I arrived, there was chocolate waiting for me in not one, but two spots, accompanied by about eight different drink choices, a large selection of different coffees, robes in 5 different spots, and sunlight beaming in through the skylights, which I could open or shade, if I preferred. Not to mention there was an entire bookshelf completley filled with extremely interesting historical facts about the hotel, Vienna, and Austria.

The set up of the room was extremely well done. For not having any doors that closed (aside from the bathroom's), the single room felt like four. The open walls and the bookshelf created an entirely different feel when you were in the "TV/Living" area, the enormous jacuzzi (I sat in it, and it was actually extremely uncomfortable) tub also felt tucked away, and when you lied down in the water bed (unfortunate that I was alone on this trip), you felt like you were overlooking your domain. You had a feeling of ownership and at-homeness that's pretty difficult to find in a foreign hotel room. Not that I could really compare a room with three separate balconies overlooking the city to anything I'd ever stayed in before. Check out the full walk-through below.

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.