Looking for something new under the Caribbean sun? The Sheherezade is a new five-acre villa – one acre for every star, I guess – on Mustique. This is one of only a handful of properties on the island that offers access to the Mustique Moon Walk and is adjacent to a 100-acre reserve, tennis court and private gym. Located on the south side of the island, Sheherezade features views of where the Atlantic and Caribbean meet from one of the highest points on Mustique, turning the home into a paradise within a paradise.

Designed by Mexican architect Manolo Mestre, this seven-bedroom compound includes a main family residence and three private guest villas, connected by an expansive palapa with infinity pools along a carefully landscaped ridge. Bathrooms are spa-inspired, and 280-degree vistas are offered from the verandas. The primary residence, with four bedrooms, integrates exotic woods, a pebble mosaic and hand-chiseled floors, with organic materials included in the construction. The three private cottages feature one bedroom each and tranquil gardens. A lap pool and sun terrace are accessible from all four buildings. All four buildings are supported by a staff of six. In total, the Sheherezade has a capacity of 14 guests.

While you can disappear to the Sheherezade to chill, the active will not be bored. Wireless internet is up and running for those (like me) desperate to stay connected, and there's a tennis court on the property to feed those with the green ball addiction. The most important amenity, however, is privacy. When you step into this corner of Mustique, you will be lost to the world ... until you decide to return. Of course, at $40,000 a week, you'd expect nothing less.

VillaVida owns large and luxurious villas in the Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo area of Portugal. Their Luxury Collection of the fifteen most beautiful properties has been selected and published here on their website.

Each of the selected villas features 4+ bedrooms and a swimming pool, and many include saunas, gyms, tennis courts, waterfalls, and more.

The Quinta do Lago Bonaparte 6-bedroom villa you see above includes gardens with extensive flowerbeds, manicured lawns, an ornamental lake, and an orchard of citrus trees alongside the private tennis court. The villa is fully furnished with American-style kitchen conveniences and is just two kilometers from the beach. It is available for €7,000 to €13,000 depending upon the season; maid service included.

I first wrote about Amangiri, the second U.S. offering from AmanResorts (the other, the Amangani, is in Jackson Hole, Wyoming) way back in 2005. Now three years later the first eight villas in the Lake Powell area of Southern Utah, are hitting the market at a very hefty $7 million each. The first eight are part of a total of 31 villas being created by the resort's developer, Canyon Group. The Amangiri Resort is scheduled to open at the start of 2009. The villas sit on private home sites that range from 1.3 to 10 acres and are designed to blend into the landscape. They feature multiple pavilions around a central swimming pool and firepit and each villa also incorporates a unique signature feature, such as an arroyo meditation platform. Can the struggling Southwest real estate market support this type of high-end real estate? Three years ago it seemed like a great idea, now it's less of a sure thing.

Why rent a luxury hotel room when you can step it up a notch and have a villa instead? Many people don't consider villas by sheer reason that the thought doesn't occur to them, or if it does it's intimidating because people aren't sure how it works. It's really not that complicated, and the benefits of having your own luxury home (as opposed to just a suite in a hotel) at your disposal for the duration of your vacation are amazing.

As far as which villas you might want to consider take a look at the 10 on this slide show, which are complete with villa renting tips like how to consider whether or not you'll need to rent a car and how to choose the best season. Apparently Croatia is becoming one of the hottest villa-vacation hot spots in Europe, and Meikloeur Castle in Scotland is one of the priciest renting for $37,200 per week (but for that you get your own 18 hole golf course).

Another luxury project that bears the unique stamp of Philippe Starck is Cape Yamu on Phuket's East Coast in Thailand. The project includes both villa residences and a five-star boutique hotel, the Yamu. The project has some serious design clout, both Adrian Zecha of GHM Hotels and Aman Resorts and architect Jean-Michel Gathy are also involved. The Yamu will have 63 hotel rooms as well as a large swimming pool, spa and restaurants. There are also twelve villa estates and 15 club villas for sale. Just two estate lots are left for purchase. The style is Thai-modern, clean, spare and yet tropical. Starck adds his own touch of whimsy but seems to have gone for elegant over wacky in this particular design using a more muted color scheme. The Yuma complex includes a restaurant and five other "glass cubes" around the hotel grounds that are host to a wine room with a wine cave, a cigar lounge, a private kitchen, a chocolate room and a private boutique. There is also a play area with chess, a lounge and a bar. The Yamu is set to open in 2008.

Many of the people who indulge in rented luxury villas don't always get what they bargained for. You'd think, compared to a hotel, that a villa would be a nicer, better experience -- but most of the time it isn't. So Christian Jagodzinski decided to fix that by starting his own company of luxury villas that would deliver as he expected they should: Villazzo was born.

With most everything pre-arranged, Jagodzinski thinks of Villazzo as more of a hotel-type service than villas. He even makes a point to offer the same services as top hotels, such as porters and maids, strawberries and champagne, and even a helicopter in the France location to help guests avoid pesky traffic when traveling to nearby retreats -- there are 35 specific luxury services offered altogether.

So if you've been frustrated in the past and haven't yet tried Villazzo, maybe you should consider it. There are six locations around the world, with prices around $2000 per night/$14000 per week.


Via BusinessWeek

Developer ETA Star has announced a $326.7 million project, the Taj Exotica Resort & Spa and The Grandeur Residences at the Palm Jumeirah Crescent (the piece of land shaped like a date palm with a crescent-shaped breakwater surrounding it). The Taj Exotica Resort will be a five-star hotel with the Jiva Spa, which will be the largest spa in the Middle East.  The residences were modeled on the palaces of Rajasthan and promise the royal treatment for their clients. The project is estimated to be completed sometime between late 2008 and early 2009.

[via Breaking Travel News]

One of the last remaining undeveloped areas on Wailea Beach in Maui will now host luxury condominium residences. The Wailea Beach Villas are 98 residences located in an 11-acre tropical garden. The residences will be two or three bedrooms with an open design including lanais with built in Viking barbecues. The first floor villas will have outdoor showers and a private plunge pools. The villas will share two swimming pools, a fitness facility, business center and an activity room. Rates are expected to range from $825 to $3000 nightly and the villas will open in April.