A battle of amenities: Boston luxury towers compete on who can offer the most extravagant perks

it was frigid out, and so icy that all over town pedestrians were tumbling. But on the 35th floor of the Millennium Residences at Winthrop Center, life felt as easy as a summer afternoon, and Richard Baumert was marveling at the lap pool: 75 feet long, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows, its water a bewitching shade of . . . let’s call it concierge blue.“You’re doing laps in the sky!” exclaimed Baumert, the managing partner of Millennium Partners. He sounded as awed as a child — and as strategic as a developer positioning his building against rival luxury buildings. “This is a huge draw for people.”Down on earth, where rents have grown punishing and some Bostonians are being pushed from their homes, affordable housing has become a central issue in the mayoral campaign.But in the sky — the city’s new status neighborhood — the fight is not over meeting the basic needs of life, but over lifestyle. It’s a war of amenities. On beast mode.

Penthouses sell for tens of millions of dollars

In a world where two-bedroom condos routinely go for $2 million plus, monthly homeowners associations costs can run you $2,000 or more, and penthouses sell for tens of millions of dollars, buildings are no longer just buildings. In the words of Ricardo Rodriguez, a Coldwell Banker luxury real estate agent, they’re “vertical country clubs.”There are resident-only restaurants run by fancy chefs. Golf simulators that come with a wet bar. Children’s playrooms that are so perfectly staged no children should be allowed. Decks landscaped to evoke the Mediterranean, screening rooms for private movie nights, IV drips, “Succession”-worthy work spaces, fitness centers with locker rooms more lavish than many homes. Places just for stretching. Service so gracious it spoils you for interactions with members of your own family.