Vertu Signature Dragon cellphone

Nokia’s luxury brand Vertu is celebrating the Chinese new year with a luxury dragon-themed mobile phone based on its Signature collection.
Each quad-band dragon phone comes in stainless steel with emeralds, black steel with Rubies, or gold with diamonds.
The handsets cost about $20,800 ; buyers get a leather case, a charging base, and one year of Vertu Concierge service free.

Tiger’s ex knocks down $12M North Palm Beach mansion

Elen Nordegren and 15250 Seminole Beach Road

Tiger Woods’ ex-wife, Elen Nordegren, has demolishedthe $12.2 million North Palm Beach mansion she boughtlast March, shortly after finalizing a $100 million divorce settlement with the golfer. According to TMZ, she plans to rebuild a bigger, better house on the plot, at 12520 Seminole Beach Road.

Earlier reports suggested she would live in the six-bedroom, eight-bathroom, 17,718-square-foot home with the two children she conceived with Woods. But TMZ reported that she hired a high-priced architect to build something new on the lot while she temporary takes up residence in a nearby mansion. [TMZ]

New York’s Serendipity 3 opens on Lincoln Road

New York landmark Serendipity 3, known for its frozen hot chocolates, has opened its doors on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach, according to Four Courses. The eatery, which also has a guests-only location at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, follows several successful New York eateries that have headed to Lincoln Road, from Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack to Rosa Mexicano. Last year, it opened a Washington, D.C. location as well, in addition to Vegas and Boston outposts. [Four Courses via Eater]

Miami-Dade County pending home sales jump 25 percent

The total number of condominium and single-family homes in Miami-Dade
County that pended jumped 25 percent last month compared to
November 2010, according to a report from the Miami Association of
Realtors. Cumulative pending home sales were up 6 percent through
November compared to the first 11 months of 2010. “Miami pending home
sales have consistently increased over the past couple of years,” said
Jack Levine, chairman of the board of the Miami Association of Realtors.
“We continue to see increasing pending sales, which points to increased
future closed sales, price appreciation and market strengthening.” In
Broward, the total number of listings was up 44 percent in November. — Alexander Britell

Miami Beach’s Lido Park hotel sells for $3.5M

By Alexander Britell

The Lido Park hotel

The Lido Park hotel in Miami Beach has been sold for $3.5 million, according to broker Susan Gale of the Susan Gale Group, who was the only broker on the deal

The 13,600-square-foot property, which was first built in 1934, had been undergoing a series of capital improvements by its owner, a native of France, Gale said.

“[Miami Beach] is a very good [hotel] market,” said Gale, whose firm’s hospitality division has handled three hotel transactions in the last six months, including the Blue Ocean in Miami Beach.

The buyer, whose name was not disclosed, is Colombian, and intends to position the property as a four-star art hotel, with its location at 2216 Park Avenue, a few blocks from Miami Beach’s Bass Museum of Art.

Several million dollars in further improvements are planned, according to Gale.

The deal is part of renewed investment in Miami Beach’s hotel market, particularly those in smaller size ranges.

The last few years have seen a number of new boutique hotels sprout up in Miami Beach, from Myles Chefetz’s Prime Hotel on Ocean Drive to the Fashionhaus hotel on Washington Avenue.

“The hotel market is on fire, as far as I’m concerned,” she said. “I haven’t seen it like this in probably about five years.”

Much of that interest has come from abroad, as has been the case in the local residential market.

“It’s a combination of European, South American, as well as local markets - meaning New York, Chicago and Los Angeles,” she said. “We have a local market of people [in Miami] that already own hotels that now want to buy more hotels.”

Qantas A380 first class

The first class cabin of Qantas’s A380 super-jumbos, designed by Marc Newson, looks astonishingly like the U.S.S. Enterprise in Star Trek, reports Daily Mail.
The interior includes LCD touch panels, leather seating, plants, sheepskin-covered full-length beds and more than 1,000 videos to choose from.
Each berth even has a dresser for storing clothes – naturally, pyjamas are provided and there are just 14 berths in the whole cabin.


The central area is provided for flyers to stretch their legs and sit down for a drink.
According to the Qantas website, the planes are being introduced progressively with the latest flight schedule being Sydney to Hong Kong beginning Jan. 15.
The Qantas planes currently operate between Los Angles and Sydney and Los Angles and Melbourne, among other international destinations.
Source: Dailymail

Roman Abramovich’s $5M New Year’s Bash

On Saturday night, Roman Abramovich opened his French Caribbean paradise, the 70-acre Gouverneur Bay Estate, to 400 guests for a New Year’s Eve party.
The Russian oligarch’s guests were informed to dress “island chic.” and were treated to a show from Red Hot Chili Peppers, a buffet and a DJ.
This party cost a reported $5 million and attracted a host of big-names including Rupert Murdoch, George Lucas, Marc Jacobs, Martha Stewart, Mischa Barton, Harvey Weinstein, Georgina Chapman and Jimmy Buffett.


Platters of canapés greeted the guests when they arrived, catered by St Barts restaurateur Xavier Pinet and Michelin-star chef Thomas Chiarelli.
Dishes included Russian dumplings filled with island-caught Mahi Mahi and pancakes with a vodka and lemon zest sauce.
Locally caught langoustines, lobster and tuna were also served as sushi and Aquitaine caviar topped blinis canapés.
Chilled vodka and crates of Cristal Roederer and Ruinart champagne were on tap for the guests.

Many guests stayed on the Russian’s 536ft super-yacht Eclipse – the world’s largest private yacht with two helicopter pads, a submarine and two swimming pools.
Abramovich’s New Year’s Eve party last year featured a performance by the Black Eyed Peas and was attended by celebrities such as Demi Moore, Salma Hayek, David Geffen, and Ellen DeGeneres.
St Barts is a well-known celebrity magnet, and is part of the French West Indies, along with Guadeloupe, Martinique, and St Martin.
Sources & Photos: Dailymail - Telegraph