Luxury News from InsideLux – The Daily Luxury News Authority

Celsius is an American calorie burning sparkling drink that’s already favoured by Hollywood stars and was even served up at the HBO luxury lounge at this year’s Emmy Awards.

Every serving of Celsius burns on average 100 calories or more by raising metabolism temporarily over a 3 hour period. This also gives extra energy and increased alertness.

What makes Celsius different is that it’s scientifically proven to work.

The makers have analyzed the drink itself rather than the individual ingredients on their own in 5 separate clinical studies. Celsius has even been tested in controlled studies conducted by U.S. accredited scientific research facilities comparing it with a placebo.

The results of the fifth clinical study have just been released and it transpires that not only does Celsius aid weight loss it also helps to improve cardiovascular health and fitness.

According to the study carried out by The Metabolic and Body Composition Laboratory of the Department of Health and Exercise Science at the University of Oklahoma, drinking Celsius before a moderate workout boosted endurance and helped to burn more fat.

To learn more about Celsius visit www.celsius.com

Some of the biggest luxury hotel operators in the world are putting pressure on the government of Hong Kong to release more land for development.

The move by Starwood Hotels and Resorts and other luxury hotel chains has been prompted by the fact that over the last few years high-end luxury hotels in Hong Kong have been demolished rather than built.

Stephen Ho, Vice president of aquisitions in Asia for Starwood Hotels, told the South China Morning Post “We obviously want to get into Hong Kong island but unfortunately it has limited land supply. Hopefully with reclamation there we could bring the Westin and St Regis brands to Hong Kong.”

In the heart of Hong Kong’s business district, a host of big luxury hotels have stopped operating as developers and real estate agents realise that turning these plush buildings into luxury office space will earn them much more money in rents.

Considering Hong Kong is one of the business capitals of the world there are actually very few hotel rooms available. In the whole of Hong Kong island there are 60,000 hotel rooms and 14,700 of them are luxury hotel rooms in hotels like Hong Kong’s CDB.

Back in 1995 the Hilton was the first major luxury hotel to bow out of the market, leaving Hong Kong with 750 less hotel rooms. In 2001 the Furama Hotel which was bang smack in the middle of Hong Kong closed too, along with it’s 517 rooms. Just last year the Ritz-Carlton hotel also closed and that lost Hong Kong another 216 rooms.

With the Hong Kong tourism board keen to lure more business to the island it’s likely that the government will be pleased to hear of the big luxury hotel chains’ interest in building in the city. According to the tourism board business travelers stay longer in Hong Kong and their luxury lifestyles mean they spend more than leisure tourists.

Pedal bikes aren’t necessarily the first thing that pops into your head when you think ‘luxury’ but that’s all set to change with the launch of Mercedes’ luxury folding bike.

Lightweight, practical, good-looking and high-tech this new luxury folding bike is ideal for traveling the eco-friendly way without compromising on style.

The Mercedes-Benz bicycle takes only a few seconds to fold up thanks to it’s clever design. Plus, unlike some other bikes you can also fold down the bike seat to make it even more compact when you’re not riding it.

The bike boasts disk brakes, bolt lock, hardwearing tyres and an 8-speed gear shift. The whole bike frame is also coated in a protective covering to prevent scratches and damage.

Priced at $2,400, it’s definitely worth leaving your Mercedes E-Class at home every once in a while to enjoy a ride round the city on one of these luxury folding bikes from Mercedes-Benz!

Luxury skin care and beauty brand Clinique seriously know what they’re doing when it comes to formulating new products and that’s why people are getting so excited about Clinique’s new Anti-Blemish range.

Clinique are famed for their 3 step skin care system which includes a cleanser, clarifier and moisturizer and now there’s an Anti-Blemish version available.

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Avanti 8 by Orbita is something watch lovers worldwide will embrace; based on the Avanti 12 line the Avanti 8 is a new watch winder line which gives an easy and convenient way to store your mechanical watches.
Available in two types of wood Macassar and Madrona Burl, the units are powered by an AC/DC adapter; the Avanti 8 also stands 20 inches tall, 23 inches wide and 9 inches deep. Unlike its processors the Avanti 8 offers ample storage space as Orbita has removed the bottom third row of watch winder from the cabinet. This extra space can be used by watch collectors to store additional watch items or accessories.
At $10,000 each, the Avanti 8 uses other materials like carbon fiber, steel, brass and chrome or gold plated steel hinges to make sure your mechanical watches are comfortable and have ample storage space.

Over the weekend (October 3rd-4th) Sotheby’s, the auction house known for selling expensive luxury goods and antiques, held luxury wine auctions in Hong Kong. There was more than $8 million of fine wine sold over the 2 sales.

Some of the top vintage luxury wine lots sold for way above their estimates, including a 6ltr Imperial Chateau Petrus 1982 which went for $93,000. Other lots included a 12 bottle case of 2002 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, sold for $83,000.

The big auction houses like Southeby’s and Christie’s have made a serious b-line towards buyers in Asia since the economic downturn because there are simply more customers willing to pay top dollar for luxury wines.

According to Reuters, Hong Kong has actually taken over from London and New York as the wine auction capital of the world. Reuters also say that Hong Kong has managed to maneuver itself into this position because the government there abolished duty on wine. Inevitably that has made buying luxury wine in Hong Kong even more lucrative for buyers.

Sarena Sutcliffe, head of the international wine department at Southeby’s has said “Asian buyers represented 99 percent of buyers in this two-day sale. Hong Kong has become Sotheby’s most important wine center, ahead of very successful auctions in New York and London.”

Interestingly Christie’s is saying that Asian buyers made up 61% of it’s wine sales in Hong Kong, New York and London this spring. A percentage which is up from just 7% in 2005.