Melbourne

Luxury

Are we still being served?

Stephen Lacey The traditional butler is enjoying a 21st century resurgence in popularity.

Comments 8

Business Travel

Dare to stay different

Natasha Hughes Boutique hotels offer travellers a hip and sometimes quirky alternative to traditional five-star chains.

Comments 3

Luxury

Destination detox

Rachael Oakes-Ash A wide selection of opulent spa resorts can help you detox and recharge after a hectic summer.

Comments 8

Luxury

Tasted and wasted - world's most expensive cocktail goes undrunk

Steve Colquhoun Amid all the fanfare and hoopla, the most expensive cocktail ever served goes largely untouched.

Comments 184

Luxury

Penthouse poised to set $20m record

Cameron Houston, Chris Vedelago Developer Elias Jreissati's private eyrie will set a new record if it can fetch its asking price.

Posh pools

Splashing around sky-high

Judy Barouch The sky's the limit for the latest jaw-dropping swimming pools perched dizzily atop high-rise balconies or cantilevering vertiginously off rooftops.

Comments 40

Business jets

Come fly with me

Philip Wen Vas Nikolovski is keen to 'dispel the myth' that charter jet travel is a luxury reserved just for the rich and famous.

Air travel

Wallets out, the wine's in

Lissa Christopher Big-spending visitors to Australia are changing the airport retail landscape, writes Lissa Christopher.

Private Sydney

Billionaires play battleships on the Med

Andrew Hornery IT HAS become the catch-cry of the Cote d'Azur: ''Sacre bleu! Les Australiens!'' Around the luxurious villas and gleaming superyachts of the French Riviera, party planners, maids, chefs, caterers,...

Precious pink sparkler lights up museum

''IT'S glamorous and pretentious, and billions of years old,'' says the co-director of jeweller Mondial Pink Diamond Atelier, Michael Neuman. ''Everything you want in a diamond.''

Call to alms

Call to alms: who wants to be a green millionaire?

Saffron Howden The Myers, the Potters, and the Poola Foundation are leading a new trend in philanthropy that fuses indigenous cultural heritage with environmental conservation.

Precious gems

Diamonds are a downturn's best friend

Georgina Safe Retail may be in the doldrums, but resale at the top end of town is booming, with Sotheby's banking on record results for its fine jewellery auction in Double Bay on Monday.

NSW

Alpine property prices on the slide

Toby Johnstone It's that time of year when daydreams turn from idyllic beaches to wood fires.

Lotto jackpot

$70m jackpot sees millions rush for tickets

Stephanie Gardiner Could $70 million buy you happiness?

Comments 20

Handsets of desire

Blinged-up blowers

Sylvia Pennington Got a spare zero or two in the bank account and want to treat yourself to a little high-tech bling this holiday season?

Formula one

Bernie's billion dollar babes

Richard Williams Bernie Ecclestone has made a fortune out of formula one racing - now his daughters are busy spending it.

That's rich

That's rich: Sydney gets knocked off wealth perch

Clancy Yeates Sydney households are no longer the nation's wealthiest after being overtaken by residents in Melbourne, Perth and Canberra.

Posh pooches

Legal pitfalls for millionaire pets

British Fashion designer Alexander McQueen did it and so did billionaire hotel operator Leona Helmsley, but legal experts warn that there can be pitfalls to bequeathing money to a pampered pet.