Edo Competition Maserati MC12

Edo Competition Maserati MC12
Inside Line shows us another tease car, a one-off that has already found a home. This is a souped-up version of the Maserati MC 12. Edo Competition, a tuning company which specializes in exotics, created it for a "wealthy Russian enthusiast." The car has 700 horsepower and can hit speeds over 230 mph. It also has bigger ceramic brakes, an adjustable suspension, Bridgestone tires instead of Pirellis and a spiffy new paint scheme.

World's Most Expensive Hotel Suites

World's Most Expensive Hotel Suites
Though there is still time to spare before summer, it might be difficult to get a reservation at one of the Travel Channel's picks for most expensive hotel suites. When you are spending upwards of $4,000 a night, however, the "necessity" of reservations may just turn out to be a minor inconvenience. Here is the list, with the rates listed per night:

10. Coco Chanel Suite, Hotel Ritz, Paris - $4,300 to stay in the room that Coco herself lived in for 37 years.
9. Presidential Suite, Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills - $4,700 for a chef, butler, kitchen, grand piano and a chance to live like the stars
8. Peninsula Suite, The Peninsula, Hong Kong - $4,875, including butler service and a chauffeured Rolls Royce
7. Royal Suite, The Lanesborough, London - $5,837, with private security and personal butlers for the 3 bedroom suite with a floor-to-ceiling view of Hyde Park
6. Royal Suite, Burj Al Arab, Dubai - $6,800 to stay in the world's tallest hotel, with a private screening room, views of the ocean and use of the hotel's helipad

5. Royal Floor, President Wilson Hotel, Switzerland - $9,090, with state of the art security and a room that takes up an entire floor of the massive hotel
4. Triplex Suite, The New York Palace, New York - $10,000 includes a 4,000-square-foot room, rooftop getaway and personal butlers with room service from Le Cirque
3. Presidential Suite, The Four Seasons, New York - $10,000 for a sleek, ultra-contemporary room with a 24-hour staff, lots of TV monitors and marble baths with whirlpools
2. Presidential Suite, St. Regis, New York - $10,500 includes the ultimate in elegant opulence, with wall-to-wall antiques, tapestries and a complete personal staff
1. Presidential Suite, The Plaza, New York - $15,000 per night buys 7,800-square-feet of space and an entire floor of the hotel. The suite has 6 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms, a library, two living rooms, a private wine cellar, four balconies, maids, a butler and chauffeur with a Rolls Royce, not to mention an on-call personal chef.

Custom Couture Designer's Portfolio

Custom Couture Designer's Portfolio
Once little girls are old enough to accompany their parents on shopping trips and start having an input in what they want to wear, it is not a big leap for them to want to design their own outfits. Most girls don't get the opportunity to do this, but with the Custom Couture Kit they can make their dream a reality. The design portfolio that is included has fabric swatches, pencils, sketchpad, and a questionnaire, which will help determine the final design. The design will then be made by a professional designer in New York, who will consult on color, fabric and fit, before completing the garment and sewing in a custom label bearing the designer's own name. Price: $800.

German World Cup Team Lodges in Luxury

German World Cup Team Lodges in Luxury
With the 2006 World Cup coming up, teams are making their travel arrangements to stay in Germany for the duration of the 64-game tournament. The German team does not have far to go, but will be staying at the Schlosshotel im Grunewald, a 5-star luxury hotel in Berlin. It is situated in what was formerly the seat of the von Pannwitz family in 1914, essentially a palace that was known for its elegance and extravagance. The hotel offers 42 rooms and 12 suites, all with full amenities that include a wide array of personal technologies, from the standard minimum of three telephones and two lines per guest room to high speed wireless internet access.

The largest room is the Kaiser suite, which is fit for a king at 5-rooms and nearly 2,000 square feet. It is furnished in historic, antique elegance with silk sofas and marble bathrooms. The suite runs about $3,600 per night.

Sunday Real Estate Round-Up

Sunday Real Estate Round-Up
From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Katie Couric will be summering in the Hamptons. She leaves the Today show in May and doesn't start at CBS until after Labor Day leaving her a full summer of play with plenty of dough in her pockets. Rumor has it she's hunting in the $300,000 price range, that is if she doesn't just snap up a summer home in the $6 million to $7 million range. Behold the power of cute.
--Real-estate heiress Connie Milstein is in at 998 Fifth Ave. In order to claim her new four-bedroom duplex which was listed at $15.7 million, she had to pass muster with the coop board. Milstein got in a wee bit of trouble when she was caught on camera bribing the homeless with cigarettes in exchange for a vote for Al Gore.
--Final details on Woody Allen's townhouse on E. 70th St. He paid $22.625 million for the five-story, 20-foot-wide structure with 17 rooms.

From Forbes Movers & Shakers:
--Sharon Stone has paid around $10 million for a home in Beverly Hills. She bought from a young investor who bought Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt's former home. The home has a gym, screening room and a tennis court with a $70,000 surface. Sounds like a much more sound investment than her recent movie, Basic Instinct 2 for which she was reportedly paid $13.6 million.
--The home of McDonald's heiress Joan Kroc (she of the million dollar diamonds) is on the market for $28 million. The Montagna De La Paloma (shown above) is located in Rancho Santa Fe (which we recently mentioned as being the home of the $40 million Ultimate Estate). This compound has more than 12 acres and has the main residence has a 1,000-bottle wine cellar, two-story library, pool and health and fitness room. There is also a two-bedroom guest house, a 3,500-square-foot second home with its own pool and a gate house.

--Howell Raines, the former executive editor of The New York Times, has picked up a New York townhouse on West 11th Street for $3.5 million.
--Writer Jodi Della Femina and her husband, investment banker John Kim, have closed on their two-bedroom Greenwich Village home which sold for $100,000 above the asking price of just under $1.6 million.

From The New York Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
Will the condos at 1200 Fifth Avenue be able to lure deep-pocketed investors? The area is on the path to gentrification. Studios start at around $767,000 and apartments top out at $6.6 million excluding the ten-room penthouse that is listed at $14.5 million. Building amenities like a private fitness center, individual storage, a refurbished lobby, a 24-hour concierge, and appliances throughout by Wolf, Miele and Sub-Zero might be enough to wash away those worries of the unfashionable address.
--Music mogul Antonio (LA) Reid has purchased a $10 million home in Sagaponack. The two-story home has six bedrooms, tennis courts and a bond.
--Gallery owner Paula Cooper and her husband, book publisher Jack Macrae, sold their Chelsea home for $6.05 million and spent $5 million on two London Terrace penthouses that belonged to photographer Annie Leibovitz.
--A West Village townhouse belonging to financier Enrico Marone-Cinzano has an asking price of $19.5 million The home which was built in 1833 is known as the Bacchus House and has a Beaux-Arts façade. Inside the home has expansive entertaining spaces, service quarters, garage and a full spa with infinity pool.

From the LA Times: Hot Property:

--Indiana Pacer center/forward Jermaine O'Neal has listed his two-bedroom Wilshire Corridor tower condo at close to $1.7 million. Good for the height-blessed, the condo has custom vaulted ceilings

--Musician Lindsey Buckingham and his wife have moved out of the Bel-Air home that they built in 2002. They had sold it for around its $21.5-million asking price last year but then leased it back while their new house was being remodeled.

M-5.5 Playhouse by Gregg Fleishman

M-5.5 Playhouse by Gregg Fleishman
This module-style M-5.5 Playhouse is made of 1/2-inch thick birch plywood panels that are 28-inches square. With 85 pieces to work with, the fort of any child's dreams can be made easily. The playhouse, designed by Gregg Fleishman, assembles by hand without the need for tools; the pieces snap together securely and will support almost any geometric construction. It comes in a natural, weather-resistant finish and has smooth edges, which are safe for children. Think of it as being the largest, most stylish set of Lincoln logs you've ever seen. Price: $18,000.

The $3,000 Martini

The $3,000 Martini
The Bombay Sapphire Martini at Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut is for anyone with rich tastes - specifically with a taste for diamonds. The $3,000 drink is made with Bombay Sapphire Gin, Blue Curacao and a splash of dry vermouth, served in a glass rimmed with blue sugar crystals and garnished with custom-made blue sapphire and diamond earrings atop a sterling silver pick. Some are describing it as "pure decadence in a glass," but the Algonquin's $10,000 martini still probably has the edge in the decadence department if your criteria is based on price and the size of the stones that come with the drink.

Paradisus Palma Real

Paradisus Palma Real
Tourism in the Dominican Republic is booming lately (most recently Brad Pitt has been rumored to be looking at land there). A new resort, Paradisus Palma Real had its official grand opening this month (its soft opening was in December). The $120 million new resort is Sol Melia's 2nd Paradisus in Punta Cana and their fifth in the Paradisus brand. The five-star all-inclusive resort has 554 suites which have mahogany furniture, Jacuzzis for two, plasma televisions and private terraces. There are seven restaurants including an Asian bistro that has a sushi bar and tepanyaki and Passion, an “adults only” fine dining venue. There are three pools including a 37,600-square-foot beachfront free-form pool that is the largest on the island, two small children's pools, a spa and health club and a casino with poker, black jack and slot machines. Their royal service option in 102 suites and two oceanfront Presidential Suites provides personal butlers, access to royal service lounges, access to a private pool and a private beach area with concierge service. The service also includes a DVD library, personalized pillow menu and a special in-room aromatherapy menu. According to some reviews on TripAdvisor, the hotel is still working out some of their opening difficulties, although many of the reviews did say that this is a beautiful resort. Their Romance package with an ocean view suite costs $509 per night.