genevaswitzerland

Austria, Switzerland Top World's Best Places to Live

vienna Europe – the same corner of Europe, actually – claims the first three spots in Mercer Consulting's annual Quality of Living Survey. Vienna, Austria and Zurich and Geneva in Switzerland lead the list, followed by Vancouver, Canada and Auckland, New Zealand in a tie for fourth.

Little has changed for the top half of the top 10. Last year, Zurich nabbed the top spot, and Vienna and Geneva shared the #2 spot. Vancouver is unchanged year-over-year, and Auckland's #5 finish last year is roughly the same as its tie for fourth in 2009.

Not only are the top places to live ostensibly enjoyable, you're more likely to be there for a while. Life expectancies in these cities start at 79 years. It's better than living a nice long life in a dump, I guess.

The United States doesn't appear until the bottom of the top 30, with Honolulu and San Francisco. From Asia, only Singapore picks up a spot in the world's 30 best places to live. South America and Africa are not represented at all. It's strange, I half-expected to see Mogadishu on this list.

Of the 215 places listed, Baghdad has the distinction of finishing last. Sometimes, common sense prevails.

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Tags: africa, asia, auckland, austria, baghdad, california, canada, geneva, geneva switzerland, genevaswitzerland, hawaii, honolulu, iraq, iraq war, IraqWar, mogadishu, new zealand, newzealand, san francisco, SanFrancisco, singapore, somalia, south america, SouthAmerica, switzerland, vancouver, vienna, vienna austria, viennaaustria, zurich, zurichswitzerland

Hotel President Wilson Bags 'Most Expensive' Title

by Laura Malesich (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Travel is always a great excuse to blow some cash for a fabulous experience and these elite suites help you do just that. Ever wondered how much the most expensive hotel room in the world would cost you? $52,000...a night! (Does that qualify for the Guinness Book?) The gold-medalist in this category (yes, I have been watching too much of the Olympics) is the Royal Penthouse Suite at the Hotel President Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland. Curious as to the winner of "budget-breaker" in the U.S. -- it's none other than the Ty Warner Penthouse at the Four Seasons New York. I'm not sure exactly what that big price tag includes but I would hope that means free champagne and strawberries, a cozy robe to take home and plenty of room service.

Gallery: Hotel President Wilson, Geneva, Switzerland