The developers of the Trump Ocean Club in Panama City just obtained a protective order against Dubai's Jumeirah Group from a Panamanian court. The Ocean Clubbers say they've faced "veiled threats of legal action" from the Middle Eastern luxury hotel chain because Jumeirah feels that Trump's new $220 million tower copies the design of their flagship Burj Al Arab in Dubai.
The Trump Ocean Club, pictured at right, does look a lot like the Burj, at left, but you'd think Jumeirah would be flattered. The Burj Al Arab's sail-style construction has been described by critics as the "pinnacle of tackiness," so it's no surprise that Trump would admire the design. Besides, it's not like the Trump folks copied the Burj's amazing rooftop tennis court.
Jumeirah hasn't tried to sue yet, and we doubt they actually will: This whole thing smells like a Trump publicity stunt. Selling your place as a Burj knockoff is probably a lot easier than getting mega-rich tourists excited about Panama City.
Taking The Ghan right down through the center of Australia is a journey already reserved for those with a fair bit of time and cash, but it's one of those once-in-a-lifetime train trips that are really worth doing. The Ghan's just come up with an option that makes it even more likely you'll only do it once: The new Platinum version costs a whole lot more than the original.
Traveling by rail from Adelaide to Darwin takes two nights and three days, and starting on September 10, 2008, passengers on the Ghan will have the option of booking Platinum Service in one of 24 refurbished cabins. We're talking ultra-luxury for a train here, plus 24-hour in-cabin steward service to satisfy your every whim.
It all sounds wonderful, but it comes at a price--A$2,975 (almost $2,800) for a twin share for the two nights. Not cheap when you consider you could fly that route for a few hundred bucks and just a few hours. Either way, all you'll see in between is vast, empty desert. We'd still probably be game to try it.
He wears sunglasses to the Oscars, goes to every Lakers game and parties harder than you do. Jack Nicholson, the iconic star of Chinatown, The Departed and Anger Management, was snapped partying on a yacht off France's Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat with no fewer than FIVE women in swimsuits. Gotta start that chest tan sometime, right?
A lot of stars rent yachts for their relative privacy, according to Yacht Charters magazine, but in this case Nicholson's babelicious boat was irresistible. Actually, now that we look, the guy in the hat looks a little like Stephen Hawking. Maybe he could teach ol' Jack a thing or two.
Luxury hotels will come up with all sorts of creative ways to rip you off these days. There's the old standby, over-priced WiFi, and its close cousin, the $24 omelet. And the W Union Square, while not in the same category as a Four Seasons-type place, certainly deserves a shout out for its $2.80 8-ounce black coffees. It's always nice when one of 'em decides to throw you a bone.
Rocco Forte Hotels has a nice little feature on its website that allows you to avoid long distance charges by requesting a phone call from the Rocco Forte hotel of your choice. The best part is that it actually works: We got a call from the Astoria Hotel in St. Petersburg just a few minutes after requesting it on the web. Just remember to give them a land line and not a cell phone number, or else you probably will rack up quite a bill.
While you were busy searching for obscure Danish music television performances (or, truthfully, Lazy Sunday), YouTube’s founders were busy getting rich. Your procrastination and online exploits kind of made them who they are, but you won’t see a penny of their money. So how much do they have? Co-founder Chad Hurley will come out of the Google-YouTube buyout with around $326 million, while his partner Steve Chen will get stock worth roughly $290 million. Poor Steve.
Now that Steve is poor rich, he needs to find himself. With mo’ money come mo’ problems, and a whole lot of fair-weather friends. A trip to Amankora Paro in Bhutan is in order, where Steve can stare out into the great beyond and contemplate the sudden inequality between him and his friend Chad, in between yoga sessions and spa treatments, for $925 a night. That’s significantly less expensive than Hurley’s perfect vacation but remember, Steve Chen is the poor one.
Other destinations where rich dudes can go to clear their heads? India, for starters. For something closer to home and more easily reached via private jet, he could try Arizona. Canyon Ranch is nice, though it could require too much interaction with normal people. If all else fails, Chen can give one of T+L’s power broker travel agents a ring. Those bigwigs usually don’t take calls, but they’d probably let his through.
This year luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent introduced a new flavor of trip to its group of travel "series." The "Explorer Series" promises "real, rugged exploration" in "remote" destinations, for the "truly adventurous." A&K will book you into luxury where it lives, but with the Explorer Series, they'll also be ready to stuff you into a yurt if that's what's available. Though we are tour skeptics ourselves, we did love that 50 Tours of a Lifetime feature in National Geographic Traveler.
We are also gonna go ahead and tentatively endorse A&K's Papua New Guinea tour, which is one of the last Explorer packages listed on their website for 2007. That's one trip we'd rather take escorted. PNG is not a place where you want to risk getting sliced up, period. Here's a run-down of how they're packaging it:
Ancient Cultures of Papua New Guinea: Sixteen days through Madang, Mt. Hagen and, um, Port Moresby. Emphasis on culture and nature walks. You will "learn about the diversity of the country and its people through theboundless assortment of tribal art, ritual masks, and statues." You will take a charter flight over glorious, rugged landscapes. You will be in a group of "10-16," which means "16, but 10 sounds better." You will also get to veg out here--add one to the beach lust file. Prices start at a cool $7,990, not including airfare.
All along, we've had the sneaking suspicion that the ultra-rich are ultra-boring. This suspicion was borne out by this month's "private travel" issue of the Robb Report. The Robb Report, for the uninitiated, is the periodical bible of the exceedingly wealthy, with the trademarked tagline "for the luxury lifestyle".
If the articles in the Robb Report serve as any indication, the superrich are primarily concerned with getting as far away from other people as possible. There are descriptions of private yachts that cost as little as $42,000 per week (bargain!) to $58,000 per day. There are also tips on how to obtain private tours of pyramids in Egypt and descriptions of the pleasures of helicopter shuttles from the decks of private yachts to nearly empty snow fields. There's even a long feature on destination clubs, which includes a listing of seven particularly exclusive clubs. One, Solstice, currently has only 38 members.
On balance, it's striking how unadventurous most of these travel modes and destinations are. Yachts? Destination clubs? C'mon. Lame. What happened to spending pilfered millions traveling to places that are actually exotic? A $58,000-per-day yacht is just an insecure tycoon's version of a Carnival cruise.
Future prom princesses, start booking now. This summer, a car-rental company in Chicago will soon be offering a Learjet converted into a limousine. The bright-red monster, which can hold up to 18 people, includes a 4,500 watt stereo and a 42 inch plasma TV for watching Oprah while doing shooters, or whatever it is people do in the back of limos.
The Limojet also includes "Realistic Jet Engine Cranking System", the better to annoy the many other people you will have caused to be stuck in traffic with you. Too bad, becuase they'll be eating jet wash, mwahahaha!
Future prom princesses, start booking now. This summer, a car-rental company in Chicago will soon be offering a Learjet converted into a limousine. The bright-red monster, which can hold up to 18 people, includes a 4,500 watt stereo and a 42 inch plasma TV for watching Oprah while doing shooters, or whatever it is people do in the back of limos.
