montenegro

What are the Next Hot-Spots in the Luxury Resort Scene?

Filed under: Video

Luxist Awards asked three of our Expert Panelists, all veterans of the travel industry, about the hot destinations of the future. Their answers may surprise you.

Adam Stewart the chief executive of Sandals Resorts International; Nikheel Advani, Chief Operating Officer and Principal of Grace Bay Resorts; and Ed Steiner, Senior Vice President, Latin America and the Caribbean, One&Only Resorts share their vision with Luxist.

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Abramovich to Complete World's Largest Yacht

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Wealth

It seems that despite a disastrous economy in which he lost a reported $20 billion, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich is pressing on with plans for the Eclipse (above), the $355 million megayacht which will be the world's biggest upon completion next year. The 555-ft. ship, which includes a military-grade missile defense system, armor plating and bullet-proof windows, will literally eclipse the recently-debuted $350 million, 531-ft. Dubai owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the Emir of Dubai.

There has been much speculation over whether Abramovich would shelve the Eclipse and / or sell off some of his other superyachts such as the 377-ft. Pelorus, but the Moscow Times reports he plans to keep them all. In fact, Abramovich is said to have already purchased a berth for the Eclipse at Porto Montenegro, the new megayacht marina under construction in the former communist country being billed as "the Monaco of the Balkans" (which we reported on last year).

Gallery: Abramovich's Megayachts

Tags: Dubai, megayacht, Montenegro, Pelorus, Roman Abramovich, RomanAbramovich, Russia, Russian billionaires, RussianBillionaires, yacht

Another Luxurious Resort Planned For Montenegro

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

Montenegro is having quite the moment lately. Just a few weeks ago, my colleague Jared Paul Stern reported on some ambitious new plans for the seaside destination. Now comes news on one of the biggest projects on the the Montenegrin Riviera, Royal Montenegro Grand Resort. The resort will include a five-star 220-room hotel and conference center, a casino, nightclub, yacht club, spa, villas and condo as well as retail and restaurant space. The resort will open in 2010 and is being developed in partnership between Joud Real Estate Funds and Monte-Mena.

Colliers International Montenegro in co-operation with Colliers Greece, is the exclusive consultant for the project and is opening sales of residential units which are comprised of three types : palatial residences, villas and condos. Palatial Residences have their own private garden, swimming pool and Jacuzzi. Cascading Villas will be slightly smaller villas while Sea Front Condos with ocean views will be available in two or three bedrooms and one or two levels.

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Tags: montenegro, royal montenegro grand resort, RoyalMontenegroGrandResort

LVMH Chief and Russia's Richest Man Want to Make Montenegro the Next Monaco

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Real Estate Developments

A group of billionaire investors including Oleg Deripaska (Russia's richest man) and LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault are backing a scheme to turn Tivat, a derelict port and ex-Yugoslav naval base in the former communist country of Montenegro, into the next playground for the megarich. The site's former naval dockyard fronting the Adriatic Sea will be converted into a lavish marina for superyachts, officially dubbed Porto Montenegro and biiled as "the Monaco of the Balkans," at a cost of around $350 million, the Times of London reports.

"The yachts are getting bigger and bigger," says Canadian mining magnate Peter Munk, who conceived of the project. "And people are complaining that they can't find proper berths for their boats. That's no problem in Tivat. It used to cater to warships." In addition to the great natural beauty of Montenegro, the development will feature moorings for up to 800 yachts as well as repair yards, hotels, restaurants, shops and possibly a casino. In addition, the Four Seasons is building its first Mediterranean resort there on the site of a former warehouse, slated to open in 2010.

Meanwhile, another oligarch, Luxist mascot Roman Abramovich, is said to be in talks to purchase an eight-mile strip of beach to build his own Montenegrin luxury resort, while Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones and Venus and Serena Williams have recently been spotted house-hunting in the area, the paper reports. This is something of a throwback to the 1950s and 1960s, when stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren and Kirk Douglas holidayed on Montenegro's beautiful red-tiled resort island of Sveti Stefan (above). See the gallery for more.

Gallery: Magnificent Montenegro