Month: December 2008

Buena Vista Palace is the latest addtiion to LXR Resorts who have Gone Green

Buena Vista Palace is doing it’s part to help preserve the magic, recognizing the importance of keeping our environment healthy. The resort is asking guests to help them preserve Florida’s precious surroundings by taking part in resort-wide green initiatives. Efforts are designed to preserve and protect Florida’s natural resources and keep the magic alive.

Fort Lauderdale to Host the 49th Annual International Boat Show

The 49th edition of the International Boat Show is coming to Fort Lauderdale.The show will take place October 30th through November 3rd, 2008, and will feature more than 3 billion dollars worth of boats, yachts, superyachts, electronics, and more. Preferred accommodations conveniently provided by Luxury Resorts & Hotels very own Bahia Mar Beach Resort, Fort Lauderdale Grande Hotel & Yacht Club, and the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six.

A Worldly Winter Escape At The Grand Hotel Esplanade Berlin

Discover Berlins worldly charms this winter and warm up with an enticing offer at the epicenter of one of the most noted cities in Europe. The Grand Hotel Esplanade Berlin invites you to indulge this season with 50 percent off breakfast, a complimentary room upgrade if available, a warm trip to our sauna, free wireless Internet, and a late checkout when you book now.

Vacheron Constantin Malte Tourbillon Regulator Watch Judged Year’s Best Tourbillon

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A consistent favorite among Vacheron Constantin fans, the Malte watch line’s Tourbillon Regulator has recently been chosen as the best tourbillon watch of the year by the 2008 Premier Middle East Watches, Jewelery, & Pen Awards held at the Ritz Carlton in Bahrain last month. Judges were comprised of industry members as well as the general public. This Malte watch combines a tourbillon and regulator complication using an in-house Vacheron Constantin tonneau-shaped caliber 1790R movement. A power reserve indicator assists with managing the manually wound movement. The dial features rich guilloche texturing and classic Vacheron Constantin hands in gold, for a stunning yet unpretentious look. Seconds are counted by the tourbillon which makes a full revolution in its cage each sixty seconds. The case is superbly hand-finished and decorated with a design that improves upon the original Malte. Versions are available in platinum or 18k gold, with alligator straps. This Malte Tourbillon Regulator is the finest example of classic watch aesthetics that Swiss Vacheron Constantin watch manufacture produces.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Vacheron Constantin Malte Tourbillon Regulator Watch Judged Year’s Best Tourbillon originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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Then and Now: Domestic Help

Was it really just eight months ago that I sat at the Luxury Summit listening to Robert Frank, author of Richistan, speak about wealth and spending. .Frank’s adventures in Richistan, his name for the parallel universe the wealthy inhabit, have taken him to some pretty interesting places including Starkey International Institute in Denver, Colorado, the “butler bootcamp” that teaches people how to cater to those at the far end of the wealth spectrum. Frank said then that a good butler can earn as much as 0,000. But those butlers may find themselves out of a job or taking a pay cut now. Both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times have pieces on people firing their domestic help. Agencies which once struggled to find enough qualified nannies and household staff are now finding their offices flooded with those who have recently lost their jobs.

While a recession was being discussed all those months ago, it hadn’t quite eaten into the upper tier. People saw having help as an investment, a way to maximize their own time available for recreation, family time and work. As their own income and wealth has started to fall the time equal money equation has tipped in favor of money. Nannies and domestic help are finding their salaries cut or are being let go. Nanny sharing is on the rise as people find ways to get by with less help but not lose a person who in many cases is practically a member of the family. Some people have decided to gradually cut back in an effort to mitigate the damage to the housekeeper or nanny’s income. People are doing their own housework and even outdoor chores, dispensing in some cases with the lawn service companies which are so ubiquitous in California. Even dog walkers are finding it harder to make a living. And those butlers, whose jobs were more administrative than hands-on may find themselves running the same large households with less and less staff.

In some cases it becomes a question of what people are interested in giving up, the help or other creature comforts. The WSJ article quotes a woman who decided to lay off the nanny rather than give up her Botox treatments. Whereas in the NYT article a woman cut back on her gym membership and lunches out before she decided to make the decision of giving up her housekeeper.

Then and Now: Domestic Help originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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