Westin is to roll out a global revamp of its health and fitness centers around the world, it confirmed January 31.

The luxury hotel brand will make over gyms and fitness centers at all of its 186 properties this year, it said, as part of an attempt to tackle upscale competitors such as Crowne Plaza.

Westin will become the first hotel chain to use ActiViva lighting, fluorescent tube designed by lighting giant Philips which contains a high percentage of blue light and is claimed to result in an increase of performance of ten percent or more.

Guests will also find the traditional rubber floor replaced with natural woven flooring and a soft-tone color palette and a built-in entry unit in every club which holds essentials such as towels and water in one place.

The selection of gym machines has also been overhauled, Westin said, with some machines being cut to make way for floor exercises.

For many travelers, a good gym is an essential part of the hotel experience — although as mobile technology becomes more popular, it seems guests are increasingly concerned with other amenities.

A study of travelers commissioned by TripAdvisor US and released this week suggests that by far the majority consider wifi and internet access the most important amenity, citing it as more important than breakfast, loyalty points or a restaurant.

On top of the well-conceptualized luxury fashion that Yves Saint Laurent is expectantly known to produce, accommodating accessories have also become a common theme for the high fashion outlet. Here we see a premium leather iPhone case. The minimalistic piece notes an open-ended slot for easy accessing of your phone, as silver YSL branding has been implemented towards the center. Retailers such as Restir are currently stocking the case.

Even before Facebook goes public, Silicon Valley is buzzing in anticipation of the “instant millionaires” that may soon be looking for ways to spend their wealth.

Eight years after Mark Zuckerberg founded the company in Harvard, the stock market debut is expected to value the social media giant at as much as $100 billion.

While Zuckerberg and other longtime staffers stand to benefit the most, the initial public offering, which is expected as early as Wednesday, could also make millionaires out of much of the company’s rank-and-file.

Local real estate agents say they expect the IPO — anticipated to be the largest ever by a technology company — to boost already high home prices as newly wealthy staffers at the social media giant begin shopping.

“It’s going to have a great effect,” said Pierre Buljan, a Silicon Valley real estate agent who shows homes to young technology executives. “I believe with 1,000 new millionaires, they’re going to need a place to live.”

Buljan said his typical client often seeks “modern, high-tech structures” close to the airport and good schools. ”They don’t like the stuff their parents used to live in.”

Typically clients pay cash for the homes, he said, which can range anywhere from 4,000 to 15,000 square feet (372 to 1,393 square meters) depending on the size of the family.

Real estate agent Dawn Thomas said she is already seeing home prices rise in areas surrounding Facebook’s Menlo Park headquarters and expects that to continue.

“You’re going to have all these instant millionaires on the streets,” Thomas said. “The trickle is already happening.”

Thomas described her tech-savvy homebuyers as “very, very green-minded” and in search of smaller, tech-equipped, energy-efficient homes with high-end amenities.

“They don’t want ‘McMansions,’” she said, referring to super-sized houses that can gobble up energy.

Thomas and Buljan both cautioned that it will take time to see the full effect of the IPO. Facebook shares will not actually begin trading on Wall Street until later this year.

The social networking company may also be taking steps to avoid sparking a buying craze that could spark another housing bubble.

Buljan said he’s heard Facebook has cautioned its soon-to-be millionaires to take their time when purchasing a home in order to avoid staffers flooding the market and essentially bidding against each other.

“They’re very young, 20s and 30s, and the fact is they’re getting some good warnings from inside company execs,” Buljan said. “They don’t want it to be about Facebook has got all these crazy people out there shopping.”

That’s good advice, according to Sam Hamadeh, chief executive of the financial research company PrivCo.

Hamadeh said employees can typically start selling their shares 180 days after a company goes public.

But he said he would advise staffers to resist the temptation to borrow heavily against vested holdings or cash in immediately once those six months are up.

With past IPOs, “a lot of people have gotten devastated by putting down big down payments on homes” that they later couldn’t afford when share prices dropped, Hamadeh said.

Instead, he said shareholders should sell slowly and not expect prices to soar indefinitely.

“When they can start selling, everyone can start selling,” Hamadeh said. “Between the IPO and six months, you’d be surprised how fast shares can tank sometimes.”

A Chinese shipping magnate has paid a world record-high $328,000 for a Dutch pigeon, according to PIPA, an international pigeon auction house.

The buyer of the most-expensive pigeon on record, PIPA said, is Hu Zhen Yu, who runs a shipbuilding company in China.

He bought the bird for breeding rather than racing in China, where pigeon fancying is a fast growing sport and big business.

The bird was auctioned off in a group of 245 pigeons on the Belgian website Pigeon Paradise. The auction total take of $2.5 million was also a record.

Pigeon racing has a long and storied history in Western Europe. The sport dates back to the Romans and Charlemagne, who made pigeon-raising the exclusive privilege of nobles.

In today’s races, pigeons are launched hundreds of miles from their home, or “loft.” The first birds back win the race.

The sport has taken off in Asia, and especially China, which loves any kind of race that creates a betting opportunity.

Here’s a look at the Richard Mille RM057. This Exclusive Timepiece is a tribute to The Chinese Year of the Dragon and to Action Actor Jackie Chan.

The RM057, successor to the $1.7 million RM056 commemorates the Year of the Dragon that lasts between January 23 2012 and February 9, 2013.

It has a movement baseplate of pure, deep Black Onyx and a dazzling golden dragon engraving and colored scales that grips the tourbillon bridge in one of his claws.

The round, engraved Jackie Chan signature set in the black Onyx baseplate side rotates once every 60 seconds in time with the tourbillon’s rotation, adding a refined visible touch to the design.

The RM 057 Dragon-Jackie Chan is a limited edition of 36 pieces in 18K red gold or white gold with a red gold dragon.

Vertu has unveiled the Constellation Quest Ferrari, a luxury smartphone inspired by the Ferrari 458 Italia Sports car.

The most striking feature of the product is the iconic Cavallino Rampante, intrinsically crafted from polished stainless steel and embedded in the titanium battery cover. The Ferrari logo is embossed in the leather on the front of the handset.

The luxury handset is meticulously crafted from the most luxurious of materials such as polished sapphire crystal, Ferrari calf leather and polished black ceramic.

The leather used in the creation of the product is the same handmade Italian calf leather Ferrari uses in the interior of its GT cars.

Each Constellation Quest Ferrari handset is built by just one craftsman who signs the handset as an assurance of Vertu’s commitment to quality.

The new analogue clock on Constellation Quest Ferrari is inspired by the distinctive rev-counter on Ferrari’s 458 Italia.

A new set of ringtones was obtained from live recordings of a Ferrari 458 Italia on a test circuit and is available exclusively to this handset.

With Constellation Quest Ferrari, Vertu has enhanced its offering of relevant, tailored services even further. Once a customer registers the handset with Vertu Concierge, it becomes the key to the world of Ferrari.

By pressing the specially created Cavallino key, prominently featured on the front of the handset, customers are able to access unique Ferrari content and experiences.

London’s Cadogan hotel has launched a new ‘Champagne bath menu’ in time for the most romantic day of the year.

All 120 bottles of Champagne  that it takes to fill one of the hotel’s baths will be the task of one’s own personal butler assigned by the hotel.

The butlers will be sure to place some chocolate covered strawberries and a complimentary bottle of vintage Champagne within easy reach of the bath.

The “Champagne Bath Menu” will be available to guests from Valentine’s Day 2012.

Champagne Bath Menu – Per Bath

Louis de Custine Brut – £4,000
Perrier Jouet Grand Brut – £6,000
Perrier Jouet ‘Blason’ Rose – £8,000
Dom Perignon Vintage – £25,000

The price tag for One World Trade Center, the signature skyscraper under construction at Ground Zero in New York, has risen to more than $3.8 billion.

According to WSJ, the price tag for the building has shot up $700m from the latest public estimate, making it the world’s most expensive new office tower.

Once completed, the 1,776-foot tower will be the tallest in the U.S., but it won’t be the highest in the world.

In comparison, the developer of the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, said it cost $1.5 billion to construct.

Most of the cost overruns are due to the security measures being taken in the design of the building which sits on a site that has been bombed twice by terrorists.

Conde Nast has already signed a lease to move its headquarters to more than 1 million square feet at 1 World Trade Center!

Luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz is to play a major role in Germany’s forthcoming air hub, Berlin Brandenburg International, when it opens in June.

A partnership between Mercedes and Berlin Brandenburg will leave passengers in no doubt that they have landed in the home of luxury cars when they land at the new airport, with Mercedes-Benz featuring prominently across the new airport.

Airport authorities said this past week that a ‘star tower’, topped by an eight-meter-wide Mercedes star, will be constructed on the route into the airport.

The brand will also feature on the 190-meter departure screen, which is set to be one of the largest screens in the world.

For those already driving a Merc, the services will be even better thanks to the construction of an Airport Service Point, adjacent to the terminal.

This will include 24-hour valet parking service for passengers behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz, along with a maintenance and valet service — meaning travelers can pick up their freshly serviced and washed car to drive home in when they land.

Usefully, drivers don’t have to reserve but can drop off their vehicles at short notice, making airport parking problems a thing of the past for some lucky passengers.

For those eager to join the club, a new Mercedes-Benz showroom with space for 100 cars will be constructed right next to the airport.

‎”To always play to win”: Adam Senn is the new face of DOLCE&GABBANA THE ONE SPORT fragrance.
The new spot will be unveiled tomorrow, Feb. 01 2012, at 17h (GMT+1), stay tuned!