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Archive for November, 2011

Is there any red-blooded male living who has not thought aat least once of packing it all in and going off to the South Seas? Well, this might be your chance, particularly if you happen to have about two million US to invest in a new business. The popular private resort, Shangri-La Beach Cottages on Muri Beach, Rarotonga, Cook Islands, South Pacific, is now for sale (Feb 2006), as the owner is considering retirement.

The Cook Islands are located in the heart of Polynesia in the South Pacific. They lie about 700 miles west of Tahiti and about 1000 miles east of Samoa and Tonga. Hawaii is about 2500 miles north, New Zealand about 1800 miles to the southwest. The climate is tropical, similar to that of Hawaii and Tahiti. Tourism is a year ’round industry. Rarotonga is the largest of the 15 islands in the Cooks and the main administrative centre.

The population of the Cooks is about 15,000, with about 9,000 living on Rarotonga. The main island has banks, ATM machines and dozens of restaurants, shops and markets. There is a modern telephone and international communications system with internet and e-mail access. Everyone speaks English, which is the official language, along with Cook Islands Maori. It is a stable self-governing democracy in free association with New Zealand and a member of the British Commonwealth. The people are very friendly, with a vibrant local culture of dance, music and crafts. There is a low crime rate.

There is a large international airport that handles wide-body jets. There are about 17 flights a week, which connect Rarotonga with New Zealand, Los Angeles, Tahiti and Fiji. Onward connections to Australia and Europe are well-timed. The main carrier is the well-regarded Air New Zealand and Pacific Blue—the low-cost carrier associated with Virgin Blue—now serves the Cooks from Australia and New Zealand.

Visitor numbers to the Cooks have grown from about 40,000 a decade ago to about 80,000 a year more recently. Projections show it reaching about 100,000 in the next few years. From the 1970s until about the late 1990s the only way to market Cook Islands’ accommodations overseas was through “wholesalers” and travel agents. These middlemen collectively take about 30-35% of what the guests pay to stay at an accommodation. In the last several years the internet and e-mail have opened up new ways of marketing accommodations overseas and Shangri-La has been in the forefront of this more lucrative “direct-booking only” system.

With its continuing popularity assured by excellent reviews in Lonely Planet, Frommers, South Pacific Handbook and travel websites such as Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet Thorn Tree, as well as word-of-mouth by their loyal guests, Shangri-La has been able to avoid the high cost of working through wholesalers and travel agents. By only taking direct bookings they have kept their rates 35% to 50% below comparable properties and also have a higher net return per night. This has been one of the keys to their success as an ongoing business. Their goal has always been to provide deluxe accommodation at a moderate price. They do seem to be succeeding at this and as one former guest succinctly put it on the internet: “Shangri-La provides the best bang for the buck on the island!”

Shangri-La is a small private resort that occupies a prime beachfront section directly on beautiful Muri Beach, considered the nicest beach on Rarotonga. There are twelve deluxe cottages, a large swimming pool, office and owner’s deluxe beachfront two-story home. Five of the cottages are partial lagoon-view and seven are garden cottages. This large property is 4544 sq. m., about 1.12 acres.

Although there are resorts and accommodations all around Rarotonga, Muri Beach is considered the top vacation spot. There are four little islets in the crystal-clear lagoon and the best snorkeling on the island starts adjacent to Shangri-La. Several of the top island restaurants are in walking distance, as are shops, vehicle rentals, the Internet Cafe, the Sailing Club and lagoon tours. All island tours stop at the Shangri-La entrance on the main road.

The Shangri-La is next to the best snorkeling area on Rarotonga and they have complimentary snorkeling gear for all guests. The kayaks are very popular with the guests, as there are four islets within a few minutes’ paddle of us. There are sunloungers adjacent to the beach, under a large almond tree and a nearby beach shower. The entire property is fully-fenced, except for the beachfront of course. The large parking area can hold ten cars, or six cars and eight motorbikes and is rarely filled to capacity. There is room for a couple of rental cars and motorscoooters if you desire to get into vehicle rentals for guests. The local bus also stops at the driveway entrance. Tropical plants abound on the property, including trees such as banana, papaya, mango, coconut palms and breadfruit and flowers such as hibiscus, gardenia, jasmine, bougainvillea and alamander. A large lawn fronts all the cottages on the T-shaped property.

There are several local law firms that handle commercial matters and it is recommended that prospective purchasers consider engaging a local firm to help assist them in the purchase of any local business.

No one connected to this article in any way has any connection whatsoever with the owner of Shangri-La and/or its agents and the content herein is provided solely for informational and educational purposes to the general public.

Nice, the capital of France’s famous Riviera, has once again become the by-word for glamour, charisma and that certain French sense of style that translates into an easy life. The place to been seen, to be hedonistic, to relax and to eat well.

The Riviera has gone through countless transformations over the last 150 years following the discovery of its charms by the British aristocracy and then later the Americans in the 1920s and 30s. In the last 10 years the most famous stretch of beach in the world (from St.Tropez to Menton on the Italian border) has been through a significant renaissance and has once again become the destination of choice for many wealthy Europeans and Americans.

But the extraordinary phenomenon of this area is that you don’t have to be a millionaire to get your slice of the Riviera, especially if you are a fan of urban living. It’s true there is a vast selection of villas and old farm houses in the hills behind Nice that are worth many millions of dollars, but if you want to buy a well presented apartment in Nice itself, just minutes from the beach, your budget wouldn’t need to go much over $180,000. Those who have bought property in Nice do warn potential buyers from the US that if you don’t make an effort to learn at least the basics of the language and try to integrate, it can be a difficult transition. But they add there’s lots of help available for new American buyers with a large expatriate community and clubs like the English-American Bridge club, the English-American library and a vast array of social gatherings all year round.

The vast majority of buyers from North America are looking for bigger more luxurious villas or apartments and according to the British mortgage bank Abbey National, although US purchasers account for only 2 per cent of international buyers on the Riviera they are still the biggest spenders averaging 229,000 euros on a property. The average price for British buyers is 142,000 euros, but the Brits account for around 40 percent of foreign buyers in the whole of France and that figure is even higher in the South.

The Brits have been the busiest buyers in the South of France for the last 6 years due mainly to the birth of a number of highly successful low cost airlines in England and Ireland that dump 40 planeloads of British sun seekers onto the shores of the Cote d’Azur every day. Buyers from other countries are reaping the benefits of the “British invasion” as the city of Nice has seriously cleaned up its image over the last 5 years because of pressure from the mainly middle class buyers who want a safer, tidier, cleaner environment. The Council is updating old streets with new pedestrian friendly areas, a new state-of-the-art tram line will begin services by 2006 and the city’s police force has been told to be more sympathetic to the concerns of foreigners and expatriates living in the area.

The latest French real estate statistics show that present day buyers will probably see a 15 to 20 percent rise in their investment over the next year. But it’s the American invasion that is getting many agents very animated. They say the South of France is seeing many more Americans enquiring about property over the last twelve months. US clients are returning to the Riviera in ever growing numbers following the slump in tourism following 9/11. There is certainly a lot more Americans in the streets of Nice, Cannes, Monaco and St. Tropez than there has been for years.

There is still a great affection in the south of France for Americans who in many ways reinvented the Cote d’Azur in their own image at the turn of the last century starting with the American railroad magnate Frank Jay Gould who single handedly opened up the summer season in Juan-les-Pins and built the magnificent Palais de la Mediterranee in Nice. He was followed by the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway and in later years the jazz greats from the US made their second homes on the Riviera. In one famous incident the American millionaires, Gerald and Sara Murphy, persuaded the Hotel du Cap on the Cap d’Antibes to stay open for their partying entourage in the summer of 1926 – something it had never done before. In more recent times the likes of Ivana Trump have bought on the Riviera and the Microsoft Billionaire Paul Allen has taken to spending more and more time in the South of France using his yacht, the largest in the Port of Antibes, as his base.

The region’s ability to remain on the A-list with so many people is partly the result of its beauty. From the deep blue of the Mediterranean to the glamorous cities and medieval hilltop villages, the French Riviera is hard to resist and many more tourists are buying property after their third or fourth visit.

The market across the entire Riviera is still very buoyant and is set to remain so for the foreseeable future. This is due to the requirements of foreign buyers who are very specific about what they want – mostly based on a romantic idea of the Cote d’Azur and its old stone farmhouses and 1000 year-old hill villages. They also want their ‘perfect’ property to be close to the region’s only international airport in Nice. This means there is a limited supply of prestige and picturesque properties available that fit the criteria of foreign buyers and supply and demand means prices will keep rising as these romantic old properties become more difficult to find.

This, in turn, has forced a change in the expectations of many North American and British buyers who realize the difficulty of finding their ‘dream’. They are now looking at new-build projects and more modern apartment developments up and down the coast. There has been massive growth in this sector of the market with some parts of the coast transformed into permanent building sites.

Those who specialize in finding large properties in the hills behind the Riviera, says the properties are there to be found and the large character properties that many buyers dream about have not disappeared completely, they just cost more. One example was a beautiful picture postcard former 17th century mill in the hills about 30 minutes from Nice. A property where nothing has really changed in the last 100 years. The massive old millstones and the water wheel that drives them have survived and still work and the pond that feeds the water wheel has now been turned into one of the most spectacular pools in the area. The old mill was on the market in late 2005 for 3 million euros.

As in all areas of the world being a foreign buyer comes with its own inherent problems, so you have to be careful, but a good agency will help you avoid any possible pitfalls, steer you through the bureaucracy and make the buying experience a pleasant one. With that in mind there are a few Golden Rules for buying in France.

1. Find an agency with fluent English speaking sales staff. Some of the biggest problems faced by foreign buyers are misunderstandings caused by not knowing the local vernacular.

2. Talk to the agents you want to deal with before you travel or wish to start looking at properties. You’ll quickly get a sense of their professionalism over the phone if they can answer your queries about the local property market in detail.

3. Do your research. Have a good understanding of the region and a fairly good idea of where and what you want to buy. This will help both the agents and yourself in securing the exact apartment or house you want without spending days sitting in a car seeing hopelessly inappropriate properties.

4. Ask for references. If an agency is doing a good job for its English speaking clients they should be able to send you the details of a least 3 happy clients who can tell you all about their purchase and the agency you wish to work with.

5. Get a good Notaire. A Notaire is a peculiarity in the French property market. He’s a semi-government appointee who trains for seven years to deal with every intricacy of your property purchase. The Notaire is essentially a property lawyer who makes sure that there are no debts associated with the property and that a freeway is not going to be built through your living room in five years time. He also administers the now mandatory search for asbestos, termites and lead in the apartment. A good Notaire will hold your hand as an independent party in the transaction. A bad one can be arrogant and off-hand. Technically as an independent party the Notaire can act for both sides in the transaction but it’s always advisable to get your own and it doesn’t cost you any more.

6. And last – come with an open mind. France and many of its buildings have been around in one form or another for a thousand years. Unless you’re spending over 1 million euros don’t expect to find 200 square foot bathrooms or large American fridges. A tip from the most savvy property buyers in Europe – the British – cute and old are always the best investments.

Sitting majestically along the coast of the Florida Panhandle, Destin is part of one of the most gorgeous stretches of beaches in the world. A relative newcomer among the popular vacation destinations of the Emerald Coast, this city is fast becoming one of the best places to go for sun, sand, and relaxation along the Gulf of Mexico. Make your way to Destin, Florida for your next vacation, and the multitude of golf courses, the beautiful beaches, and the abundance of water activities will keep you coming back year after year.

As a part of the Emerald Coast, Destin is blessed with the same attributes as the other cities that line the southwestern corner of the Florida Panhandle. The beaches have sugar white sand, whose color is caused by the Appalachian quartz that arrives at the coast from the mountains, that is perfect for a stroll along the water or for simply throwing down a towel and catching some sun. The most distinct feature, however, is the sparkling emerald-green water, which creates the area’s namesake hue from the sugar white sand that lies beneath the crystal blue water. Whether you want to build a sandcastle, play in the water, or work on your suntan, the beaches of Destin can accommodate your needs and look amazing doing it.

One of the best places in Destin to swim and simply enjoy an all-around exciting day is Henderson Beach State Park. Located off the Emerald Coast Parkway, this park is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico and lays claim to over 6,000 feet of shoreline. While swimming is the most popular activity on the beautiful beach, visitors can also enjoy a nice picnic lunch in the afternoon or cast out a line on one of the docks. If you want to break up your day and experience more than the water, there are nature trails for hiking and wildlife viewing is not an uncommon activity as dolphins regularly emerge from the waters this area.

Since you are visiting some of the most breathtaking waters in the world, why not take advantage of the numerous water adventures and sports at your disposal. Snorkeling is a popular inshore option since the exceptional water quality makes it easy to catch sight of vibrant yellow angelfish, manta rays, and loggerhead sea turtles. If you want to venture offshore, rent a wave runner for some action-packed excitement on the water and to view the impeccable shoreline of Destin. For those looking for a more calm experience, rent a kayak and create your own adventure by paddling into the open waters and exploring different nooks and crannies.

The Destin area is home to some of the finest year round courses in the country, meaning the hardest part any golf enthusiast’s vacation will be deciding which courses to play. While there are over ten courses in the area, there are two that stick out as both visually stunning and worth your best effort. The Emerald Bay Golf Club, designed by Bob Cupp, borders the Choctawhatchee Bay on the back nine and has a unique design that provides for an unrivaled experience. The Sandestin Raven Golf Course was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. and presents a difficult test of golf through marshes, wetlands, and pine trees. There are dramatic changes of color throughout the course and players will face a variety of shot options that will undoubtedly lead to an exciting round.

While enjoying the beach and the emerald-green water of the Gulf of Mexico is probably your top priority, you will need accommodations that make it easy to spend your time soaking up the sun on the sugar white sands. For easy access to the beach and everything this amazing city has to offer, look into Destin vacation rentals for your next trip to the Florida Panhandle. You will find a wide selection of waterfront homes that have all the amenities you need for a relaxing, water-filled vacation away from the stresses of everyday life. Begin your search for the perfect home or condo rental today, and learn what a difference it makes to have all the comfort of home at your fingertips during vacation.