Gadling

Highclere Castle, the picturesque home of the famous television series “Downton Abbey” and current home to the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, has been sold to an Chinese-based hotel investment company that plans to turn the famed historic estate into a luxury boutique hotel, scheduled for opening in early 2015.

First Class Holdings, LLC, the property’s new ownership group, says that the new property will have fewer than 100 rooms, including a presidential suite in what was formerly the Earl and Countess’ bedroom.

The property’s existing features will be converted for use in a hotel – with the former servant’s quarters housing staff and the existing kitchens revamped for use in the hotel’s restaurant, which will serve traditional English fare.

A full-service spa will take the place of the former estate stables, and a rooftop swimming pool is planned, offering scenic views of the English countryside.

The cost of the project? An estimated $350 million. The planned hotel development is not scheduled to impact the filming of the beloved television series – the hotel will be closed for one month out of each year to allow for production to continue as usual.

Would you stay in the Downton Hotel? Let us know in the comments below.

Tourism officials at Loch Ness made a shocking revelation today – the Loch Ness Monster is a creation of their marketing department.

“It all started back in the early years of the 20th century,” says Nigel Pratt, Public Relations Manager for the Loch Ness Convention and Visitors Bureau. “You have to remember that Scotland was very poor back then. Tourists generally went to vacation hotspots like Blackpool. It was tough to compete. “Highlander” hadn’t come out yet so nobody knew the first thing about Scotland. They didn’t know their haggis from a hole in the ground.”

So like all good marketing departments, the folks at Loch Ness decided to create a sensation. A few faked photographs and a bogus legend later, a star was born.

“My grandfather Phineas Pratt was the leading force in creating Nessie,” Nigel recalls. “His work was carried on by my father Angus, so you could say the Nessie legend is really something for Pratts.”

While many locals took the announcement with a wink and a laugh, not everyone was amused. A group of American tourists is threatening a class action suit, and cryptozoologists are dismissing the announcement as a cover-up.

Edwin Dupewit, president of the Nessie Appreciation Society, says, “We’ve seen this sort of thing before. The U.S. government claimed the Roswell crash was just a weather balloon, and there’s heaps of evidence that it was really an alien spaceship. And as for Nessie, I’ve seen enough blurry photos and interviewed enough vague eyewitnesses to be convinced there’s something strange living in Loch Ness.”

[Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons. They’re in on the conspiracy.]

Hunting men and women for sport has become the No. 3 most popular vacation activity for world’s ultrawealthy, according to a new survey released today by Businessweek Magazine.

Swimming in pools filled with $100 bills filled the second spot in the survey for the third year in a row, while yachting remained in the top spot.

Unwitting men and women are typically captured on American streets, transported to a remote Caribbean island owned by National Rifle Association head Wayne LaPierre, then given a 20-minute head start into the woods, where they are hunted by wealthy CEOs and business owners in Jeeps and armed with bolt-action hunting rifles and crossbows.

“My company has more than $2 trillion in assets and more than 250,000 employees,” said JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dixon. “Dealing with that kind of pressure is enormously stressful. Coming here, hunting people – sometimes even my own employees – relieves that pressure and allows me to return to my duties refreshed.”

Dixon, who earned $18.7 million in compensation in 2012, was on his fifth trip in as many years, bagging four trophies, including a 14-year-old boy with Down syndrome whom he was having stuffed and mounted for his Colorado vacation home.

Former vice president Dick Cheney’s last heart transplant came from a Tennessee father of four who happened to share Cheney’s blood type, according to hospital records. Cheney is said to have shot Ben Meadows, 42, in the legs with a Remington Model 673 Guide rifle from 45 yards away, then removed the still-beating heart from the churchgoing family man. Cheney was then taken to the island’s field hospital, where it was successfully transported into the Wyoming Republican’s chest.

Meadow’s family would later receive a handwritten letter of gratitude from Cheney, along with a $100 check to help pay for funeral expenses.

Hunting “the most dangerous game” has long been practiced in secret, and has been a long-time rite of passage for many a rising corporate star fresh out of Harvard’s secretive Skull and Bones Society. But the sport has come out of the shadows in recent years after the U.S. Justice Department refused to prosecute the businessmen for fear of weakening the country’s economy.

“These men and women run some of the most powerful corporations in the world,” Attorney General Eric Holder said during a Friday press conference. “If we were to prosecute, it could have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy.”

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, who made $7.4 million in 2012, stood behind a visibly teary-eyed Holder during the press conference holding his wrists and slapping him while taunting, “Why are you hitting yourself? Why are you hitting yourself?”

In a similar study, for the sixth year in a row, the No. 1 vacation activity among most Americans was looking at old Disneyland brochures with your crying 8-year-old daughter while telling her, “Maybe next year.”

[Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr]

Virgin America has today announced the latest class of service on domestic flights – Main Canine Select. The new cabin service (located in the airline’s current First Class cabin – rows 1-2 on most of Virgin America’s Airbus A320-Family fleet) will cater specifically to the airline’s four-legged clientele.

Virgin America’s Official Pet Liaison, Boo – “The World’s Cutest Dog” – was the inspiration.

“We recognize how important it is to cater to our canine companions onboard,” said Phil Seward, Director of Loyalty at Virgin America. “Dogs – and their very discerning owners – are a priority for us in terms of our frequent flier base.

The new Main Canine Select service, set to roll out today on select flights nationwide, offers furry travelers an interactive light installation that allows pups to chase fully rendered cats, an “open air” lavatory with mood-lit fire hydrants, custom-designed air vents situated at each seat to simulate that head-out-the-window feeling of a car ride and a curated selection of features via the airline’s Red in- flight entertainment platform, such as an endless loop of tennis matches and a thumbs-free, on-demand, tapas menu.

To coincide with the launch of Main Canine Select, Virgin America is also launching a new Elevate “Top Dog” status level designed exclusively for the airline’s four-legged frequent fliers that includes a complimentary checked “doggy bag,” Virgin America pet hoodies and curbside hydrants for added convenience.

As the only airline based in Silicon Valley, members of the new Top Dog status level can also earn Elevate points via the airline’s enhanced social rewards. Virgin America was the first U.S. airline to award frequent flier points for virtual “check-ins” via Topguest. Elevate Top Dog members can now earn double reward points by virtually “checking in” at the airline’s airport terminals, gates and even dog parks through applications like Facebook, Instagram and Foursquare.

Sounds like a pretty great perk for pampered pooches and their owners. Would you let your pet fly Main Canine Select?

[Image Credit: Virgin America]