Las Vegas businessman Larry Ruvo believes success should be shared. As senior managing director of Nevada’s Southern Wine & Spirits, he has grown the company into one of the state’s largest importers and distributors. Yet the direction of his life changed when, in 1992, his father developed Alzheimer’s disease. The …
Monthly Archives: December 2009
Bruce Wallin on Family Ski Resorts
Bruce Wallin, Robb Report’s Editorial Director and seasoned traveler, lists his favorite family ski resorts and hotels.There are several great options this season, as a number of new properties have opened in the past year and more will follow in the coming months. I would recommend any of the hotels …
Exclusive Chalet Opens in the French Alps
The Hotel de Charme Les Airelles in Courchevel, France, unveils its latest escape from the cold this winter: a nine-bedroom, five-floor private chalet, located less than 20 feet from the Bellecôte slopes. The 3,000-square-foot Chalet Ormello, which officially opened in December, can accommodate up to 15 guests and features a …
Blue Star Jets
Even while flying First Class, traveling on commercial planes can be a migraine-inducing hassle. And while private planes offer comfort, security, and luxury in the friendly skies, owning a private jet can be cost prohibitive (and even seem a tad outré) in this economic climate.
But what if you could find a semi-private jet that would ensure sophisticated, non-commercial airline travel for less? That’s just what you’ll find with the ShareAJet exchange, (created by Blue Star Jets, the world’s largest private aircraft broker) a “social networking site” for travelers who seek to fly privately together.
Confused? Here’s how it works:
The ShareAJet Exchange helps clients connect with other flyers planning trips to similar destinations, and assists in arranging shared flights aboard specific private jets. If a trip to your destination is not posted, you can also upload your own itinerary in order to “match” with that of another traveler.
Think of the benefits: a typical flight from NYC-LA on a private jet can cost around $25,000, while a similar flight through the ShareAJet exchange costs just $12,500, saving you serious green—Alexis Korman.
For more info:
Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa
In 2007, Emirates Hotels & Resorts purchased a 4,000-acre site in Australia’s Blue Mountains with the intention of building a resort-cum–conservation project. Two years later, the new Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa—which is based on Emirates’ Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve and Al Maha resort in the Middle East—delivers on both …
The Mark Hotel
French architect and interior designer Jacques Granges has transformed New York’s classic Mark Hotel into a stylishly modern neighborhood scene that features a Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurant, Frédéric Fekkai beauty salon, and the fashionable Bar Mark. Located in the heart of New York’s residential Upper East Side on Madison Avenue and …
Vacation Homes: Sweet Equity
Not many real estate companies can say that the slumped economy has helped their business, but for Equity Estates, the last year has been its strongest yet. The three-year-old destination club has grown 50 percent—its highest rate to date—since December 2008.
The company’s equity-based model, in which members purchase interests …
21 Ultimate Gifts: Charting an Old Course
THE GIFTAn 11-day golf trip for eight through Scotland aboard Harmony II, a vintage 189-foot yacht that recently underwent a million renovation. Rounds of golf at Royal Dornoch, Castle Stuart, Royal Aberdeen, Carnoustie, and Kingsbarns. VIP grandstand seating on the 17th hole of the Old Course at St Andrews for …
Travel: Sonoma Sleuth
Geoff Kruth steers his Toyota Camry down a gravel road lined with industrial-size waste bins and derelict autos. At a dead end, he pulls up beside a brick-and-wood warehouse, where a friendly Red Heeler mix greets the master sommelier and his guests from the nearby Farmhouse Inn.
Kruth, the wine …
The Pierre, Finally
For the past four years, New York locals and visitors have watched in anticipation as one of the city’s most famed hotels, The Pierre, underwent a 0 million renovation after its purchase by Taj Hotels. This fall, the Pierre reopened with 11 new Grand Suites (including the two-bedroom 1,980-square-foot Presidential …