InsideLux – The Daily Luxury News & Lifestyle News Source

Tiger economies, Dragon economies and now we have Pig economies (Portugal, Italy and Greece).  Greece facing a close to economical collapse has come under immense pressure to sell off its prized assets which include some of its famous islands.  With a German bailout on the cards, the German press playfully ran headlines to the tune that German’s would “buy” a piece of Greece, but in reality only private investors will have the chance to snap up one of the islands.  One of the Onasis islands is currently up for sale at $300m, potential buyers include Bill Gates and Madonna, but this is just one of 600 or so that could be sold.  Brokers suggest a figure closer to $2m for a small sized island with potential to build a holiday complex or at least an extravagant villa.

While Tiger Woods lies low and stays out of the limelight, his wife Elin Nordegren has been spotted in the French Alps.   An $8,000 a night chalet was booked to allow the golf icon’s wife to relax in privacy as the world’s press speculate on an upcoming divorce and child custody proceedings.

African Homesteads offers luxury villas in a private game reserve on the fringe of KwaZulu Natal’s

Savour the luxury of Africa’s wide open spaces with the sky and savanna theme of The Homestead at &Beyond Phinda. Breathtakingly stylish and sophisticated yet refreshingly simple, The Homestead provides the ideal venue to reconnect with friends and family.

With the warm, friendly faces and helping hands of a full complement of staff ready to welcome you on arrival, you will instantly feel as though this is your second home.

Inviting rooms designed around retro trinkets, Zulu crafts and sleek, contemporary touches reinforce the impression that this private safari villa is designed for comfort and ease.

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.

According to established Estate Agents Savills, the cost of purchasing a luxury london home has risen by 4% in the last 3 months. Savills say the price rise is due to more buyers fighting over less available luxury property.

Camilla Dell who is managing partner of luxury estate agents Black Brick Property Solutions has said “There isn’t enough property on the market in prime areas and priced attractively to satisfy demand.”
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The price of renting retail space on the most expensive shopping streets around the world has seen the biggest drop in 24 years.

According to real estate brokers Cushman & Wakefield Inc. rental prices haven’t gone down to such a low level since 1985. Their report also found that Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, a haven for luxury shoppers, has retained it’s title as the priciest retail address for the eighth year in a row.
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The Russian billionaire Roman Abromavich has purchased a luxurious Caribbean estate, in one of the most expensive private home sales of all time. With an $89 million sale price, the property is described as a Balinese-style bungalow with ocean views, tennis courts, swimming pools, music and dining pavilions. However, the former owner insists it remains a naturally beautiful venue: ‘“It’s very open bungalows, and it’s like you’re basically living on a beach. It’s not like a lot of things you might see on St. Bart’s which are kind of fancy.” This appears to be in reference to the illustrious reputation that the island of St. Barts is known for as a popular vacation spot for celebrities and millionaires.

Frequented by the jet-set, Russian oligarchs and royalty – where Prince William and Kate Middleton vacationed last winter – Courcheval in the French Alps has become not only the place to be seen on some of the world’s best ski slopes, but also home to some of the most expensive real estate. Not everyone can afford a chalet in this exclusive ski destination, but for those who don’t have private villas, it’s still worth the splurge to stay at the newly renovated five-star Hotel de Charme Les Airelles. Read the rest of this entry »

Disgraced Wall Street Financier Bernard Madoff has been forced to sell his $7m Hamptons pad. The Money will be used to compensate the victims of his huge Ponzi scheme, who are estimated to have lost $50bn in all.

The property in New York has 4 bedrooms, a pool and 1.2 acres of land-Madoff’s house is considered as relatively modest compared with some of the houses that belong to the billionaires near by who escape to the Hamptons in the summer.

Other properties belonging to Madoff including his Palm Beach villa and his Manhattan apartment will all be auctioned off at a later date to the highest bidder.

Madoff might have made off with billions of dollars from his victims, but it seems he won’t be let off by being allowed to keep his assets.

Forget stunning luxury apartments with views of the river, that’s so passe.

If you want to really live the life of luxury next to the water don’t just live by it, live on it.

The new Citadel Floating apartment complex has been designed by Dutch architect Koen Olthuis for Waterstudio and not only is it going to be the first floating complex to be built in Europe, it’s also eco-friendly because the apartments will harness the power of the water and cut energy use by 25%.

Citadel will be constructed on a Dutch lake and is designed to rise and fall with the ebb and flow of the changing water levels.

The Citadel complex will include 60 luxury apartments, garage, floating road and garden terraces and boat docking stations for every home.

Here’s the official company blurb from Waterstudio:

“The first project of the New Water will be the apartment complex ‘The Citadel’. Ecological, recreational and residential demands are integrated into a landscape that is organized into different thematic compartments , each offering a specific experience of the water, specific building typologies, and a range of different ecological habitats, in the ecological zone there will be the stilthouses they are free from the floor so they don’t effect the zone. Construction will start in 2009.”

At the moment there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of information about how to invest or register interest in one of the apartments. However, if you click here you can sign up to the Citadel newsletter which will inform subscribers of any news as and when it becomes available.