Travellers' ChecksTravel deals: Ritz Carlton puts on the presidential glitz; take a Top Gear ride through Myanmar

It's said that the evolution of the hotel presidential suite can be traced back to the 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson. In office from 1913 to 1921, Wilson's accommodation requirements when travelling on official business were quite specific, but modest by current standards. They included an en-suite bathroom and a walk-in wardrobe, setting a standard that evolved into today's most expensive, and expansive, hotel accommodation. Somewhat ironically, a hotel named after him, the Hotel President Wilson, in Geneva (below), offers as its best accommodation not a presidential suite but a more European-flavoured Royal Penthouse Suite, which was quite recently promoted as the most expensive hotel suite in the world. Several Ritz-Carlton hotels in North America are currently offering presidential-suite packages to make the most of election year in the United States, and which will be available until the presidential election is held in November. Some of these packages are more presidentially appropriate than others, with the two Ritz-Carlton hotels in Washington DC offering the most relevant extras, such as private guided tours. Three hotels in Miami include things like a helicopter tour over Richard Nixon's Winter White House or "motorcade" airport transfers. North of the border, the Ritz-Carlton Montreal's package appears to offer very little in the way of presidential privilege, unless the Montreal Maple Sugar Massage Experience has some sort of classified connection. Perhaps sticking with the theme, Ritz-Carlton has already removed the website dedicated to the package, so further details are available only on request, by phone call to a specific hotel.