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Spain, Gold plated trees, Saudi sheikhs, and Qarun

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Spain, Gold plated trees, Saudi sheikhs, and Qarun
lucid9
10/02/03 at 11:39:50
     
I think I heard about this on the BBC.  Apparently 25 tons of gold were used to plate the fixtures in a single suite of this hotel.  Gold dust is sprinkled in the swimming pools, and fountains.  And get this: the trees are plated with gold!!!

When asked who in their right mind would stay there:  the hotel's spokesman replied on the BBC that the King of Saudia Arabia is a regular visitor.  Apparently he may spend large parts of the entire summer there.  And how much is the cost?  10,000 pounds per night!!

Now how much closer can the King of Saudia Arabia get to Qarun, the timeless example of greed gone mad, so much so that even as a jew, he was reluctant to follow Moses out of Egypt (as far as i know)?


Spain to be home to gilded hotel, maybe world's most luxurious


Madrid, Sep 11, 2003 (EFE via COMTEX) -- At least 12 tons of gold will go into the gilding of a Spanish Mediterranean hotel that could become the world's most expensive and luxurious inn, where the super-rich will be able to swim in gold-dusted waters and even eat small amounts of the mineral.

"Walls, floors, doors, furniture, trees ... everything will be gold-plated to give the hotel an aura of sophistication and luxury unmatched in the world," executives of Aurum XXIV, the Spanish firm entrusted with decorating the luxurious project, told EFE.  

The hotel will be a replica of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington and is slated to open its doors at the end of 2005 on the so-called "Golden Mile" of Marbella, a Mediterranean resort town that is home to some of the most exclusive golf clubs, villas and hotels in the country.

"The project is being carried out with much discretion and will be unveiled in upcoming weeks," said attorney Maria Jose Lucas Carbonell of the firm De la Torre, which is handling the administrative side of the project.

The lawyer told EFE the new hotel has the backing of a major international chain, which she declined to identify "so as not to jeopardize an unprecedented real estate operation in Spain that is on the verge of being concluded."

It will cost more than $150 million just to gold-plate the new 20,000-square-meter (215,000-square-foot) facility.

Aurum XXIV says it has the necessary technology to cover all the objects and furniture in the hotel with gold, including the helicopter and the limousines that will be used to ferry guests to the facility.

The firm has worked on other similar projects in several Persian Gulf nations, including Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, especially in the palaces of the governing royal families, sources said.

The future hotel will also use the expensive metal in its kitchens to prepare sophisticated dishes, especially desserts, and even to add dazzling color to different drinks.

In ancient times, Aurum XXIV executives said, gold was used as a dietary supplement, medicine and beauty aid, so there is really nothing new in using it now to concoct gourmet dishes and drinks.

Fountains, pools and waterfalls will be colored with powdered gold and there will also be a line of cosmetics made with the precious metal on sale in the hotel, where the cheapest room will cost some $6,000 a night.

Despite its huge size, the hotel will only have 41 suites, but its luxurious bars, restaurants, pools and beauty salons will be open to visitors who are not paying guests.

Rooms will range from 500 square meters (5,375 square feet) in the presidential suite - which will cost some $15,000 a night - to a more conventional 20 meters (215 square feet).

The installations will also include a yacht four stories high, "as sophisticated and luxurious as the rest of the establishment and also covered in gold-plate," the designers indicated.

But the most spectacular part of the building is to be the main dome, which is to enclose a heliport for guests who arrive by air.




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