Luxury Homes

The term luxury yacht refers to a very expensive privately owned yacht which is professionally crewed. Also known as a super-yacht or a mega-yacht, a luxury yacht may be either a sailing or motor yacht.This term began to appear at the beginning of the 20th century when wealthy individuals constructed large private yachts for personal pleasure. Examples of early luxury motor yachts include M/Y (motor yacht) Christina O and M/Y Savarona. Early luxury sailing yachts include Americas Cup classic J class racers like S/Y (sailing yacht) Endeavour and Sir Thomas Lipton’s S/Y Shamrock. The New York Yacht Club hosted many early luxury sailing yacht events at Newport, Rhode Island, during the Gilded Age.More recently, over the last decade or two, there has been an increase in the number and popularity of large private luxury yachts. Luxury yachts are particularly bountiful in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas, although increasingly luxury yachts are cruising in more remote areas of the world. With the increase in demand for luxury yachts there has been an increase custom boat building companies and yacht charter brokers. Luxury boat building and yacht charter companies are predominantly based in the United States and Western Europe but are also increasingly found in Australasia, Asia and Eastern Europe. European manufacturers such as Azimut-Benetti, Feadship and Lürssen dominate the very top end of the yacht building market.Some yachts are used exclusively by their private owners, others are operated all year round as charter businesses, and a large number are privately owned but available for charter part time. The weekly charter rate of luxury yachts around the world ranges from a high of Euro 661,500.00 (M/Y Annaliesse)to around Euro 20,000.00. [1] Expenses of approximately 25-30%, such as food, fuel, and berthage are charged as an extra as well as a customary 10% crew gratuity for good service. The luxury yacht charter industry functions effectively because private yacht owners mitigate their running costs with charter income as well as keeping their yachts and crew in top running order. Conversely, private charterers charter yachts (rather than owning them) because it is generally considered to be less expensive, and less hassle, than owning a yacht and it also provides them with extra choice related to yacht type, location and crew.Yachts from 23 metres (82 feet) and up qualify for design awards from the Superyacht Society, [2] but at the bottom end of that scale yachts will not necessarily be crewed and many set the minimum length for a superyacht considerably higher. A 45 to 50 metres (148 to 164 feet) yacht, the smallest with a generally accepted claim to superyacht status, will usually be a three decker with cabins for 10-12 guests (that is a preferred number, more common than 14, and is found on yachts across quite a wide size range), and for a crew of a similar size. The accommodation on this type of yacht is typically as follows:Lower deck: exterior swimming platform at the stern; four (sometimes five) guest cabins with en-suite bath or shower rooms aft; engine room amidships; crew quarters forward.Main deck: sheltered exterior deck aft leading into the salon; dining room and galley; entrance amidships; owner's suite forward, usually includes either a study or a second twin stateroom.Upper deck: exterior deck aft, often used for outdoor dining; second salon (often called the sky lounge); staffed bar inside or outside or both; sixth stateroom will be amidships if it is not on the lower deck or part of the owner's suite; gym (may also be on the lower deck or part of the owner's suite); captain's cabin; bridge.Sun deck: on the roof of the upper deck, often features a jacuzzi.A 50 metre yacht will have one or more luxury yacht tenders for reaching shore and other "toys" which may include a speed boat or sailing boat, jet-skis, windsurfing and diving equipment and a Banana boat. Up to date yachts have multiple flat screen televisions and satellite communications.The number of very large yachts has increased rapidly since the 1990s and increasingly only yachts above around 65 metres (213 feet) stand out among other luxury yachts. Yachts of this size are almost always built to individual commissions and cost tens of millions of dollars (most super-yachts cost far more than their owners' homes on land, even though those homes are likely to be among the largest and most desirable). A yacht of this size usually has four decks above the water line and one or two below. It is likely to have a helicopter landing platform. Apart from additional guest cabins, which are likely to include one or more "VIP suites" besides the owner's suite, extra facilities compared to a 50 metre yacht will include some or all of indoor jacuzzis, sauna and steam rooms, a beauty salon, massage and other treatment rooms, a medical centre, a discotheque, a cinema with a film library, plunge pool (possibly with a wave-maker), a playroom, and additional living areas such as a separate bar, secondary dining room, private sitting rooms or a library. There will be more boats and "toys" than there are on a 50 metre yacht.As of 2006 yachts above 100 metres (328 feet) are still sufficiently rare, but increasingly more common, that many yacht enthusiasts can name them all. They typically have five decks above the water line and two below. The very largest yachts have begun to incorporate such features as helicopter hangars, indoor swimming pools and miniature submarines. The burgeoning number of "small" super yachts has led to the introduction of the hyperbolic terms mega-yacht and giga-yacht to demarcate the elite among luxury yachts.

Luxury real estate

The characteristics that define Luxury real estate differ among countries. However, location largely defines the property's value, especially with respect to whether it offers views (particularly, waterfront ones) or amenities such as proximity to golf courses, school districts, and the downtown district. Thus, a 750 square-foot waterfront home with less than one acre of property might be worth more than a 10,000 square-foot mansion with ten acres of property.In the previous example, the former would be called a "luxury property", whereas the latter would be called a "luxury home". Both properties, however, owing to their high value, would be classified as "luxury real estate".Luxury real estate in any particular region is generally defined as property worth more than a certain lower limit; for instance, homes worth more than $1 million in the United States are generally classified as Luxury real estate. The classification also takes into account the presence of surrounding homes, amenities, views, waterfronts, absence of crime-rate, industrialization or unwanted commercialization, customizations of the home, and historical or architectural significance.

Canada

In Canada, houseboats are gaining major popularity in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec as there is an abundance of perfectly suited rivers and lakes for houseboaters to enjoy. The Rideau Canal system is a historic waterway known for its picturesque setting and quaint villages. The town of Sicamous, British Columbia, is said to be the "Houseboat Capital of the World".

Europe

Houseboat for Students in Zwolle, NetherlandsIn Europe, some of the finest and costliest examples of houseboats can be seen along the canals of Amsterdam (in the Netherlands), which even has houseboat hotels. Houseboats are very expensive nowadays in Amsterdam because of the limited number of moorings; this expense has reduced the likelihood that the approximately 2,400 families that live on the inner waters of Amsterdam will find themselves confronted by new neighbour boats.

United Kingdom

United Kingdom, canal narrowboats are used as homes and also as mobile, rented, holiday accommodation. Narrowboats were originally used for bulk transport of raw materials and fuel on canals constructed at the start of the Industrial revolution. Nowadays, the canal network is mainly used for recreation and is different to typical holiday locations, which are usually based in coastal or rural areas, because canals are inland and often pass through many former historical, industrial, urban areas.In coastal regions of the United Kingdom, the beached hulls of old boats and ships have been used as homes in the past, for example, Peggotty's houseboat of the 1840s in the novel David Copperfield. The few that remain today are more likely to be used as holiday accommodation than as homes.

India

In India, houseboats are common on the backwaters of Kerala, see below, and on the Dal Lake near Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir]. Kerala houseboatsMain article: KettuvallomsThe houseboats in Kerala, south India, are huge, slow-moving, exotic barges used for leisure trips. They are a reworked model of Kettuvallams (in the Malayalam language, Kettu means "tied with ropes", and vallam means "boat"), which, in earlier times, were used to carry rice and spices from Kuttanad to the Kochi port. Kerala houseboats were considered a convenient means of transportation.The popularity of Kettuvalloms has returned in the function as major tourist attractions. Many find the Kettuvallom an ideal means of exploring the beauty of the Kerala backwaters.Such a houseboat is about 60 to 70 feet (about 18 to 21 meters) long and about 15 feet (about 5 m) wide at the middle. The hull is made of wooden planks that are held together by ropes of coconut fiber; the usual wood is 'Anjili'. The roof is made of bamboo poles and palm leaves. The exterior of the boat is painted with protective coats of cashew nut oil.

Kashmir

Unlike their counterparts in Kerala, the houseboats in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir are usually stationary. They are usually moored at the edges of the Dal and Nageen lakes. Some of the houseboats there have been built in the early 1900's, and are still being rented out to tourists. These houseboats are made of wood, and usually have intricately carved wood panelling. The houseboats are of different sizes, some having up to three bedrooms apart from a living room and kitchen.Many tourists are attracted to Srinagar by the charm of staying on a houseboat, which provides the unique experience of living on the water in a cedar-paneled elegant bedroom, with all the conveniences of a luxury hotel. Srinagar's thousand or so houseboats are moored along sections of the Dal and Nagin Lakes and river Jhelum, each decorated fancifully and named romantically and even whimsically. Like hotels, houseboats vary in degree of luxury and have been accordingly graded by the Department of Tourism. A luxury houseboat, like a luxury hotel has fine furniture, good carpets and modern bathroom fittings, while the ‘D category’ (the lowest category) of houseboats, like low-budget hotels, is spartanly furnished. Like hotels too, houseboats vary widely in their locations. Some overlook the main road, others look out onto lotus gardens and yet others face tiny local markets and villages, all right in the middle of the lake! All houseboats, regardless of category, have highly personalized service. Not only is there always a "houseboy" for every boat, but the owner and his family are never far away. The cost per day of hiring a houseboat includes all meals and free rides from the houseboat to the nearest jetty and back, as no houseboat on the lakes is directly accessible from the banks.Every standard houseboat provides a balcony in the front, a lounge, dining room, pantry and 3 or more bedrooms with attached bathrooms. All houseboats not moored to the bank of the river or lakes provide a shikara as a free service from the houseboat to the nearest Ghat (jetty). Virtually every houseboat in Srinagar has been provided with a municipal water connection.