Posts for 'General' Category

Moscow retained its ranking as the city with the most expensive average hotel room rate in the world, a survey by business travel agency Hogg Robinson Group Plc showed. The average rate in the city in the first half was 256.83 pounds ($407), Hogg Robinson said in a report on its website today. Geneva followed as the second-most expensive city at 199.11 pounds and Hong Kong at 197.61 pounds.

The hotel market in Europe and the U.S. “appears to be stabilizing,” with cities including Amsterdam, Stockholm and Zurich showing increases in average room rates, according to the report.

Hotels are recovering after struggling to attract business over the past two years as the recession deterred holidaymakers and forced companies to cut budgets.

“Globally, the hotel industry has shown signs of recovery in the first half of 2010,” Hogg Robinson spokeswoman Margaret Bowler said in the report. “Moscow yet again retains its place as the city with the highest average room rate for the sixth year, despite a fall of 12 percent when measured in local currency.”

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For all the lovers of luxury cars in India, there's good news. Aston Martin, the British manufacturer of luxury cars made popular by video games and Bond movies, has decided to enter the expanding markets in India. Priced at about 3 crore, the car would be available at the Infinity Cars showroom in Mumbai.

Sean Connery became the first 'James Bond' to own an Aston Martin when he sported the car in his movie 'Goldfinger' in 1964. The DB5 model which carried a number plate of JB certainly was one that did justice to Bond's personality.

When you have way too much money to spend, what do you do with it? Some of us would love to be in such a position, since it would be able to solve many of our material “problems” (more of wants than needs if you ask me). Well, imagine for a moment that you are one of the tycoons who regularly appear on Fortune magazine covers as well as other business publications.

With a whole lot more dough you can spend on frivolous items, what would be at the top of your list? We know that getting a good night’s rest is extremely important, so why worry with sleepless nights when you can always sink your head down onto a soft pillow and mattress?

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Parking in Manhattan is still more expensive than it is anywhere else in the country. But if you’re just driving in for a day, you’re currently getting a better deal than you did last year.

Midtown monthly parking rates fell 2% to a median of $538, while downtown rates rose 6% to $529, according to a survey of parking rates released Thursday by real-estate brokerage Colliers International.

That means Midtown and downtown Manhattan have the highest monthly rates in the U.S. Boston — where salaries are higher — places third, at $425 a month.

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This is the most expensive bikini in the world. It is consists of 150 carats of D-Flawless diamonds and worth about 30 million U.S. dollars. Designed by Susan Rosen, the bikini can best be worn only at beaches. True confession, its fall into the lingerie category is not justifiable as the fabric used for this bikini is a layer of pure diamonds and not a bit of clothe.

"It's not about the bike," according to the title of Lance Armstrong's autobiography. Except, perhaps, when the bike costs half a million dollars.

A few months after last year's Tour de France, the Trek Madone road bike Armstrong had ridden down the Champs d'Elysee in the final stage of the 21-day race was auctioned in a Sotheby's cancer benefit.

Besides having been graced by the legs of the world's only seven-time Tour winner, the carbon fibre cycle was designed by artist Damien Hirst and adorned with hundreds of real, shimmering butterfly wings clear-coated to the frame.

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Sure, there might be some kind of problem with the signal bar — perhaps it is software, as Apple claim, perhaps not — one day we’ll know. Meanwhile the adoring iPhone loving or loathing public might as well get their gossip going on this O.T.T. rich person’s creation, the $20,000 diamond-encrusted iPhone 4 from designer, Stuart Hughes.

Hughes likes to bling out his Apple devices — you’ll usually find at least one diamond and gold and dragon’s claw-encrusted Apple product emerge shortly after each Apple product introduction. (OK, I made up that bit about dragon’s claws).The iPhone 4 costs $20,000 and has 6.5 carats of VVS quality, F-color diamonds on the metal band between the screens.

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The Vieuxtemps Guarneri, which was made in 1741, has been put up for sale in Chicago through one of the world's leading traders in rare violins, Bein & Fushi. The violin was named after 19th century musician Henri Vieuxtemps and has been played by some of the greatest virtuosi in the world, the Guardian reports. Dubbed the Mona Lisa of violins.

It is owned by a retired British financier and music philanthropist, Ian Stoutzker, who bought it from Sir Isaac Wolfson, founder of Wolfson College, Oxford. Geoffrey Fushi said the instrument was one of the most unusual made by Guarneri thanks to its size and sound.

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According to the latest Cost of Living Survey from Mercer. Tokyo is in second position, with Ndjamena in Chad in third place. Moscow is in fourth position followed by Geneva in fifth while Karachi is ranked as the world's least expensive city. The survey found that Luanda is three times as costly as Karachi.

From the survey, London (rank 17) is the UK's most expensive city, followed by Aberdeen (149), Glasgow (155), and Birmingham (158). Belfast (182) is ranked as the UK's least expensive city. There's some great country comparisons below. What can you do with the data?

London is the 17th most expensive place for foreign workers to live in the world, research has suggested. Consultancy group Mercer ranked London as the 17th most expensive place for expatriates to live, while Aberdeen was the UK's second most expensive city coming in 149th place, followed by Glasgow at 155th and Birmingham at 158th.

But Belfast was found to be one of the cheapest places for expats to live, ranked 182nd out of the 214 cities considered. Luanda in Angola was found to be the most expensive place in the world for foreigners to live, the first time an African city topped the list. It was followed by Tokyo and N'djamena in Chad, with Moscow coming in fourth place and Geneva fifth.

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