Bubbly for 50,000 euros: The world’s most expensive champagne

by Anna Brones on

It seems like trendy drinks are getting more and more expensive. First it was bottled water, then it was coffee made from animal dung. But if you thought water at $42 a bottle was expensive then you haven’t seen the latest bottles of Perrier-Jouet. The French champagne company is selling a limited edition 12-bottle box set for a mere 50,000 euros. That comes out to about 4,166 euros per bottle, or $6,485!

Who can afford such things? The “community of super rich consumers” of course. Marketing to this kind of consumer in the United States, Britain, Japan, China, Russia, Switzerland and France, Pierre-Jouet is pretty much offering the champagne chance of a lifetime. “We are going to sell these box-sets to 100 people around the world who will have a chance to customise their own champagne, the ultimate luxury,” said Perrier Olivier Cavil, head of communications at Perrier-Jouet. The boxed set wins the prize for the world’s most expensive champagne; the previous record was set by a limited edition Dom Perignon which went on sale in 2005 for 12,000 euros per three liter bottle.

Customers purchasing one of the 100 boxed sets will come to Epernay to meet one-on-one with the cellar master who will add in a liqueur to “personalize” the champagne. Sounds pretty luxurious. Better invite only the classiest of your friends to drink it with.

New luxury train: The Great Brazil Express

by Abha Malpani on

You know a service is for rich Western tourists when: in a non-English speaking country the name of the service is in English, the website is only in English and prices start at $3,500. Their video-promo has nice imagery but is full of clichés and sounds like a monologue for retards. Welcome to Brazil’s first luxury train service: The Great Brazil Express.

The website still lacks information, but we know that its first 7-day tour begins on April 23: from Curitiba (capital of Brazilian state

Oslo, London and Copenhagen: The world’s three most expensive cities

by Anna Brones on

If you’re planning a trip to Europe in the near future, you may want to consider the recent study conducted by Swiss bank UBS which ranked 71 world cities according to their costliness. Oslo, London and Copenhagen made the top three with Dublin coming in at a close fourth.

Thanks to a weak dollar, US cities like New York — which made the 18th spot — have moved down on the list compared to last year’s; in fact , compared to the same study in 2006, London was noted as 26% more expensive than the Big Apple. In Asia, Tokyo ranked the most expensive followed by Seoul, Singapore and Hong Kong.

So where do you go if you want the biggest bang for your buck? Kuala Lumpur, Buenos Aires, or Mumbai, which ranked the three cheapest cities for visitors.

A city within a building: Dubai’s latest “Pearl”

by Abha Malpani on

The latest soon-to-sprout architectural bewilderment in Dubai is the Dubai Pearl.

It’s hard not to be entertained by Dubai’s fetish for constructing (well, wanting to construct) rare-shaped buildings: a cube, a chess piece, a tulip, numbers (1 and 2), a wave, a sail and an iPod, are amongst some of the ‘only-fathomable-in-Dubai’ types. It was therefore a pleasant(?) surprise that this Pearl plan, isn’t in the shape of a pearl. I quite like its design — more of a sci-fi scape and less of a monstrosity, in my opinion.

Anyway, to be constructed at a Dubai-throw-away cost of $3 billion, the Pearl is special because not only will it have the usual luxury mall, hotel, spa, and residences, but it will also have a climate controlled pedestrian city — yes, an interior area built for people to walk!

In Dubai, if you are walking on the street (especially in the heat), don’t be surprised if you are the only soul using his feet to commute, or if someone stops to give you a ride because they see you as mad trying to walk anywhere in the city. But, build a space for people to walk, and people will drive there to go for a walk.
City Center — one of Dubai’s main shopping centers has something like “City Strolling” every Friday morning, where you go there especially for a morning walk. Yes, in a mall. Yes, many people go. So a climate controlled “pedestrian city” with sidewalk cafes will probably be a super hit in the city.

The Pearl will also boast a 21st century Covent garden (not sure if this will be inside or outside) and robot valet service! (*gasp*) I’m not sure what that means exactly, but I doubt people will be comfortable giving their Lamborghinis to some R2D2 to park.

It also says that the building will be the world’s first column-free structure (what does that mean!?), will have the capacity to cater to 20,000 people, and is due to open in 2010.

Top 10 resorts to rent out

by Jerry Guo on

Do you ever spend too much time daydreaming about posh resorts or destinations you could never afford? Whenever’s it’s drizzly or overcast out, I always spend hours surfing those sites about the lives of the rich and famous.

Here’s a good one: the top ten most expensive for-hire resorts. We’re not talking about staying at some ritzy hotel. No, what’s hot these days are renting out entire islands, safari lodges, and Spanish villas. The Colonial style home (scene in the picture), valued at $24 million, can be had for $11,900 a night.

Or how about the original exclusive-use resort, Richard Branson’s Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands. That’ll set you back a cool $47,000 a night.