Luxury

Feadship Royal Dutch shipyards will offer a glimpse into the rarefied world of superyachts at the Dubai International Boat Show later this month (March 13-17). The luxury watercraft manufacturer's 56 meter (183.75 ft) Future Concept vessel Qi (say "chee") will be showcased (scale model only) along with a few of Feadship's real-world 70 meter-plus (229 ft+) multimillion dollar models, the 81 meter (266 ft) Air, and the 77.7 meter (252 ft) Tango. Built for a realm where just turning the engines on at the dock for ten minutes will set the owner back hundreds of dollars, these are designs that are sure to impress.  Read More

While we love the dangling treetop retreats located at Sweden's Treehotel, and the House Arc had us yearning for a private backyard hideaway, the eco-PERCH has to be the Rolls Royce of modern modular tree-houses. This eco-lodge concept was created by the UK architectural firm Blue Forest, which has a background in the design and construction of luxury treehouses and lodges.  Read More

Billionaire oligarchs, ahoy! Designer Gian Paolo Nari has been in touch to tell us about his NPe75 mega-yacht design. The 75-meter (246-ft) vessel incorporates not only a helipad, but also a hangar to accommodate your preferred flying machine. The design has actually been reduced in size from 85 meters (279 ft) to make it marginally less impossible to dock - a decision made easier by the omission of a second helipad in the bow, which was deemed impractical due to the bow movement typical of such vessels.  Read More

Hotel Endemico is a new eco-retreat set on 94 hectares (232 acres) of wilderness, and features a collection of 20 low impact "Eco-Lofts" that blend into the surrounding environment. The romantic hideaway is located in Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California, Mexico, and is just a little over an hour's drive from the San Diego/Tijuana border. Designed by San Diego-based architects Gracia Studio, each cabin is set privately along the sloping hillside and is intended to offer simplistic luxury.  Read More

While it doesn't boast the same kind of square footage as the Wally Island or the WHY, Wally's new Ace displacement yacht will still provide plenty of room to stretch one's legs while cruising the ocean waves. With 1,378 square feet (128 m2) of outside deck space spread over two decks and a 441 square foot (41 m2) interior saloon area contributing to a total square footage of 3,035 (282 m2), Wally says the Ace has 30 percent more space than its nearest competitor of the same length.  Read More

Chrysler has launched its new 300 Luxury Series with what it has dubbed “the most luxurious and fuel-efficient Chrysler flagship ever.” Coupling a ZF 8HP45 eight-speed automatic transmission to a 292 horsepower, 3.6-liter aluminum Pentastar V6 engine, the 2012 Chrysler 300 Luxury Series sedan gets 31 mpg (7.5 l/100 km) on the highway and 19 mpg (12.4 l/100 km) in the city, for a combined fuel economy figure of 23 mpg (10 l/100 km).  Read More

The Romantik Hotel Muottas Muragl located in Switzerland has recently been awarded the highly-coveted Swiss Solar Award 2011, Milestone 2011 Tourism Award and the PlusEnergieBau (PEB) Solar Award 2011, the only prize in the world for buildings that generate more energy than they consume. The 104-year old Berghotel underwent extensive renovations during 2010 to transform it into an environmental-friendly location, giving rise to the first plus-energy hotel in the Alps. The hotel's recent success demonstrates that luxury accommodation can be implemented within the framework of a plus-energy building concept even at 2,456 meters (8,058 ft) above sea level.  Read More

The SL is a defining vehicle for Mercedes Benz. It represents the core values of comfort, style and effortless power, and was for many years the default choice for successful lawyers and lucky lottery winners. With the outgoing model, introduced in 2003, MB somehow lost its way. Over time the “Sports Light” model had gained significant weight and lost design coherence. As a consequence of the ludicrous Daimler/Chrysler merger costs were slashed, build quality suffered and the electronics were notoriously quirky. Fortunately Mercedes has turned that ship around and after the successful launch of the flagship SLS it’s time to introduce a completely new, and it must be said, strikingly handsome version of the iconic SL.  Read More

When a cycling helmet is priced at nearly US$900, a pair of cycling gloves at over US$300 and a water bottle at US$105, it's a sure thing that the bike that goes with them is going to be really, really expensive. Such is the case with the new Bianchi by Gucci carbon fiber two-wheeler, which sees two Italian veterans come together for the release of this US$14,000 bike. Read on for a rundown of the key specs.  Read More