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10 Things You Didn't Know About Blair House
Tweet Share on Facebook January 14, 2009 Comment (3)It's no secret that President-elect Obama and his family requested to move into Blair House, the official state guesthouse of the president, but were bumped by the former prime minister of Australia, John Howard. Double-booking! Incoming presidents and their families traditionally move into Blair House on January 15, five days before inauguration. The Obama family asked to move in several days earlier than the due date—before their daughters started school—but they were denied access by the Bush administration. They ended up moving into the historic Hay-Adams, instead. Howard, by the way, was booked for only one night: January 12.
Tomorrow, the Obama family will finally have access to Blair House, which stands right across from the Old Executive Office Building of the White House. Here are 10 things you may not know about the presidential guest manse:
1. The original Blair House was built in 1824.
2. Francis Preston Blair, a newspaper publisher and adviser to Presidents Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, and Abraham Lincoln, acquired the home in 1836.
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Lexus Debuts First Hybrid for Entry-Level Luxury Market
Tweet Share on Facebook January 13, 2009 Comment (1)With the Obama administration's new alternative and renewable energy plan—which includes efforts to put 1 million plug-in hybrid cars on the road by 2015—Lexus found an opportune time to unveil the HS 250h at the Detroit Auto Show. This is the luxury automaker's first hybrid designed for the entry-level luxury market. "Did you know that more than 60 percent of entry-luxury car buyers would have considered buying a hybrid if one had been available?" said Mark Templin, group vice president and general manager of Lexus after unveiling the new model.
The automaker says the HS, which shares a number of components with the latest-generation Toyota Prius, is the most fuel-efficient model currently in the Lexus lineup. Thirty percent of the interior and cargo area utilizes "carbon-neutral, plant-based" plastics, and 85 percent of the sedan, including the battery, is recyclable.
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Golden Globes Swag Ignores Recession
Tweet Share on Facebook January 12, 2009 Comment (1)Recession? What recession? The only mention of the economic downturn at last night's Golden Globes ceremony came from actor Sacha Baron Cohen, whose jokes about the recession elicited few laughs: "This recession is affecting everyone, even celebrities," said Cohen. "Even Madonna had to get rid of one of her personal assistants." Maybe it was the word recession that made the crowd nervous, or maybe the celebrities were just scared of Madonna's wrath.
Either way, you couldn't really tell if the Golden Globes show was affected by the economic slump, especially when you take into account the extravagant gift swag provided at suites around Beverly Hills.
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Why Luxury Brands Have a Difficult Time Online
Tweet Share on Facebook January 8, 2009 Comment (12)With 94 percent of the ultra affluent in the United States regularly buying products online, according to a 2008 Unity Marketing study, why do so few premium brands sell their goods online? It would appear to be a fruitful space for the luxury goods and services market to penetrate. So, why the reluctance?
Last month, I wrote about how it would behoove the luxury market to become more adept with online strategies and make websites the focal point of business. But I also failed to discuss why the luxury industry has been slow to embrace the Web and how consumers' intentions, expectations, and behavior are completely different at a brick-and-mortar store than when they are perusing a site online.
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9 Luxury Hotels in Manhattan Offer Third Night Free
Tweet Share on Facebook January 7, 2009 Comment (8)It's rare to see discounts or special promotions offered by luxury hotels in New York City. "Hotels in the Americas in particular have been feeling the effects of the wider global downturn for the past six to nine months, and we have seen extensive price cutting already," said David Roche, president of Hotels.com. "U.S. hoteliers may have to cut prices further to maintain occupancy in the months to come."
This is fortuitous news for you, because nine luxury hotels in New York City are offering a third night's stay free if you book and pay for two consecutive nights between January 9 and February 27. It's part of a promotion with the city's marketing, tourism, and partnership organization. The luxury hotels participating in this program are Jumeirah Essex House, Loews Regency, the London NYC, the Sherry-Netherland Hotel, Trump International Hotel & Tower, Waldorf Towers, the Plaza Hotel, the New York Palace, and the Carlyle, a Rosewood Hotel.
The average price for hotel rooms worldwide fell over the summer, according to the Hotels.com hotel price index. This is the first year-over-year decline in prices measured in any quarter since the HPI began in 2004. The decline in prices globally was driven by falls in room prices across North America, including New York hotels and Las Vegas hotels (where prices fell by 5 percent), Latin America (where prices were down 1 percent), and the Caribbean (prices down 4 percent), states the Hotels.com report. Prices in Asia remained flat.
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Manhattan Apartment Sales Drop for Fourth Straight Quarter
Tweet Share on Facebook January 6, 2009 Comment (1)Lehman. Merrill. Bear Stearns. AIG. Fannie. Freddie. Wachovia. Epic stories of failure revolved around these names and with them came thousands of layoffs. The turmoil on Wall Street has undoubtedly shaken the confidence of the local real estate market; those who've lost their jobs or that cushy bonus are uncertain about taking the plunge in terms of buying or selling.
According to Bloomberg: "Fourth-quarter transactions dropped 9.4 percent to 2,282 units from a year earlier, New York property appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate said in a report today. While the overall median sales price rose 5.9 percent, luxury prices dropped 3.9 percent and the median for all resale apartments slid 3.6 percent."
"You could say it started the second week of September when Lehman (Brothers) filed for bankruptcy," said Dottie Herman, chief executive of Prudential Douglas Elliman.
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The 8 Breakout Places to Travel in 2008
Tweet Share on Facebook January 5, 2009 CommentWhat were the breakout places to visit last year? Here's the list, courtesy of my favorite online travel site, TripAdvisor, which offers traveler reviews and opinions of hotels and vacations.
1. Dubai, UAE—Regularly swarmed in 2008 by celebrities—even Michael Jackson, who surfaced here in 2008. Beat the desert heat at Ski Dubai, an "engineering marvel" with 25-story-high indoor slopes.
2. Las Vegas, Nevada—See Vegas; think bargains. 2008 made Sin City more affordable than ever, with deals everywhere on hotels, airfare, even show tickets. (Gambling—still pricey.)
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Obama Family Moves Into Hay-Adams
Tweet Share on Facebook January 2, 2009 Comment (2)Fresh from a 12-day holiday vacation in Hawaii, the Obama family returned to Illinois yesterday for a brief visit. The future first family will check into the Hay-Adams luxury hotel in Washington on Sunday, just in time for Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, to commence classes at Sidwell Friends School on Monday. Whew!
Although the Obama family will be staying at the historic Hay-Adams for only two weeks—they'll be moving into Blair House, the official guest house of the president, on January 15—it's a splendid place to crash. Not to mention it's a stone's throw away from the White House.
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