How the ultrarich in the US are reshaping luxury by seeking total privacy

(Representative Image)

For Masoud and Stephanie Shojaee, a night out no longer means navigating a crowded restaurant or waiting for a table. When they arrive at the members-only section of a Miami Beach dining club, they are ushered directly to a table where their cocktails are already poured and chopsticks engraved with their names are neatly placed. On overseas business trips, they step off their private jet into a waiting Maybach, are driven through concealed entrances and escorted to suites where the check-in process happens in silence, overseen by a private butler. These small gestures of orchestration define a pattern that is becoming standard for the world’s wealthiest families: luxury as the complete removal of friction from daily life, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Across Miami and other global hubs, an entire parallel world has emerged, designed specifically to keep the ultrarich separated from the inconveniences now considered unbearable—airport lines, hotel lobbies, restaurant queues and even brief encounters with strangers. Developers, concierge services and hospitality groups have built a network of private spaces where access is tightly controlled, surfaces are immaculate, and service anticipates needs before a request is voiced. Residents of the Bentley Residences tower under construction in South Florida will never have to leave their cars for a valet, as vehicle elevators will lift them directly to sky-garages beside their living rooms. Private restaurants restricted to unit owners will even position booths to ensure guests cannot see one another.

The preference for isolation is not new, but its scale has changed dramatically. The net worth of the top 0.1 percent of American households has more than doubled in the past decade, allowing a much wider section of the wealthy to behave as discreetly as the global elite once did. In Miami, where pandemic-era migration boosted incomes and accelerated the arrival of tech and finance executives, this appetite for privacy has created an entire economy of premium experiences accessible only to those willing to pay. Developers describe privacy not as an add-on but as the very core of their business model, shaping everything from apartment layouts to elevator systems to how restaurants manage sightlines.

The wealthy may seek solitude in travel and transit, but they prefer their social circles carefully curated. Private clubs such as Faena Rose admit members only through a vetting committee and offer exclusive access to cultural experiences that resemble intimate salons rather than public events. Members attend private recitals, small-format artistic performances and one-on-one conversations with high-profile guests. Newer entrants in the private-dining space go even further, designing rooms where a “culinary concierge” will build an entirely bespoke menu for any occasion, sourcing rare ingredients or recreating a guest’s honeymoon dinner with a few days’ notice. These clubs serve as social buffers, where wealthy families interact with others of similar status in spaces free from scrutiny, noise or unpredictability.

For many, the goal is not simply to upgrade an experience but to remove the public from it altogether. Some wealthy families now rent entire wellness centres for uninterrupted use, converting clinics into personal rejuvenation hubs for days at a time. The most exclusive wellness offerings include highly specialised treatments, private recovery suites and on-call staff who manage everything from catered meals to medical equipment. At birthday celebrations or personal gatherings, private concerts by major performers transform what would once be a shared cultural moment into an intimate event for a few dozen guests. These gestures reinforce a sense of insulation and total control over the environment.

Private aviation remains the backbone of this lifestyle, but the ecosystem around travel has expanded. Personal travel designers curate itineraries built around private islands, after-hours access to iconic fashion houses and chefs flown in solely for the duration of the trip. Some clients spend nights above the Christian Dior flagship store in Paris in a rare booking that includes a private dinner and exclusive shopping. In Scotland, estates offer helicopter transfers, dedicated horseback excursions and fully staffed kitchens. Every detail reflects the same idea: travel should feel customised, frictionless and unshared.

For many wealthy families, these private realms offer a sense of emotional safety as much as physical comfort. Conversations feel freer without strangers nearby, and social interactions feel more meaningful when those around them share similar tastes, ambitions or resources. Some say this creates deeper friendships, while critics see it as a retreat into closed, insular networks. But the financial capacity to live in controlled environments has become so widespread among the affluent that the trend shows no sign of slowing. From doorstep to dinner table to departure lounge, the richest households now move through cities as though gliding on a separate layer, interacting with the world only through carefully managed gates.