InsideLux – The Luxury News Authority

5 star hotel chains have been hard hit by the worldwide recession, some even offering their garden space as a camping space in an effort to balance the books.  With luxury tourism at an all time low, Starwood Hotels & Resorts is the latest conglomerate to take drastic measures and announce that it will be downgrading some of their 5 star resorts.

“Maintaining stars requires enormous capital investment,” says Stephen Bollenbach, former Hilton CEO.  He further claims that 5 star ratings do not always gurantee the best return on investment, especially during a recession.

As holidaymakers have been forced to take cheaper vacations this year and as business budgets continue to be slashed, luxury hotel chains are reporting negative year on year occupancy rates.  Despite positive economic indicators in the US and much of Europe, occupancy rates for luxury hotels fell from 71 per cent in July 2008 to 57% for the same period this year.  The downgrading of a 5 star resort will see savings in areas such as 24 hour room service, welcoming gifts and flowers in the rooms and complimentary newspapers, savings which will allow the hotel to charge more reasonable rates and attract a wider range of guests.

Luxury lovers can now anticipate the creation of a ($168million) €115 million luxury spa hotel and adjacent housing development in Andalusia, Spain, whose first images have just been revealed by Amin Taha Architects. Read the rest of this entry »

The Mardan Palace was built in Turkey by billionaire Telman Ismailov and opened earlier this year. To describe the Hotels luxurious worth becomes very analytical but here goes…. It cost $1.4 Billion, it holds over 500 rooms, has a 12,000 ft Spa, 17 Bars, 10 Restaurants, a Crystal Staircase and even possesses it’s own beach, which contains 9,000 tons of unique grains of Egyptian sand. The interior consists of Crystals,  Italian Marble and a heck of a lot of Gold. Phew, Basically, the  definition of Luxury is the breathtaking, Mardan Palace.

Who would of thought you can now experience a disco whilst you shower, relaxing Spa treatments and explore fun, unique snow caves all at the Butlins holiday camp in Bognor Regis! The founder of Butlins had the intention of appealing to the working class family describing the Butlins experience as: “A week’s holiday for a weeks pay”, however, holiday makers can expect to pay at the most popular time of year £1,440 for a stay of seven nights, in this new £20 million Ocean Hotel. It seems even the basic of things have the potential to deliver a luxurious experience.

Is that really Butlins!?

A new exclusive private members resort called Dall House is to be created in Kinloch Rannoch, Scotland. You can join as long as you have liquid assets worth £100million or more!

Members of Dall House will pay a £2million joining fee and around £500,000 a year in further rates in order to enjoy the privacy, security and tranquility of the new luxury resort.

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The official hotel of London Fashion Week, The May Fair Hotel, is offering guests an exclusive package to celebrate the event’s 25th anniversary. The experience costs $409 and includes a King Superior Room in The 5* May Fair Hotel, a Great British Breakfast, a classic cocktail and a copy of The File – the official guide to London Fashion Week. Read the rest of this entry »

It all began when Dutchman Ben Thijssen bought the 1960′s Ilyushin 18 vintage plane that used to transport former East German officials like Erich Honecker through the Cold War period to Cuba, Russia, China, and Vietnam until the late 1980′s and later got converted into a restaurant located in Harbke, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Thjissen paid 35.000 $ for it and invested around 640.000 $ to turn a four engine plane into a luxurious five star hotel with whirlpool, sauna, bar, kitchen, flat-screen televisions, and wireless Internet.

You can find Holland’s new Honecker Hotel at Teuge airport, just east of Amsterdam.

A night for two people in a 40 metre long suit costs you a bit less than 500$ and you could bring 15 people in total to reach the luxury hotel’s maximum of capacity.

The plane will never be ready for take off, but will let you feel like you were in heaven.

The luxury resort chain Aman is about to open a brand new luxury hotel in Utah, USA.

This new addition to the Aman family is called Amangiri and it’s situated in the Utah desert in the Southwest of America where the states of Utah,New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado meet.

Due to open it’s doors to guests in September this year, Amangiri offers some of the most stunning and unusual views of the USA from it’s luxury hotel rooms.

Read the rest of this entry »

Live your dreams at the luxurious Atlantis the Palm resort, Dubai.

‘Where water meets wonder’ is the tagline for the lavish Atlantis the palm resort, which promises an incredible world of aquatic wonders and luxury.

This recently opened flagship resort is situated on the man-made Island Palm Jumeirah. Located approximately one hour away from Dubai international airport, this extravagant resort offers a combination of thrills and relaxation for all types of people. Read the rest of this entry »

China’s first urban resort, the PuLi Hotel and Spa is set to open this June. The hotel includes the “Long Bar”, Shanghai’s longest selection of vintage and non-vintage wines and champagnes by the glass, a heated infinity pool overlooking JingAn Park, a health club and a library.

The 209-room PuLi Resort and Spa offers simple and authentic touches of historic and cultural references sitting side by side with new benchmarks in innovation, leading edge technology and design.

The most lavish room being the Jing’An Suite costs close to $3,000 and boasts two master bedrooms each with its own walk-in closet, a separate living room, large dining table and well-stocked mini-bar.

An opening special includes one additional night with every night paid, complimentary breakfast, mini bar and wireless internet access as well as a dinner by award-winning chef Dane Clouston in Jing’An Restaurant and a spa treatment at the Anantara Spa.
Prices start from $650 with opening specials available until the end of September.