The mega-rich demand privacy and discretion in their elite lifestyles - and the Irish are joining their ranks, writes Haydn Shaughnessy.
Prestige is the shadow of money and power, the American sociologist C Wright Mills wrote in the 1950s, commenting on the growth of elite activities in the US of his day. He saw prestige being "slowly consolidated into a truly national system". For the US and Americans in the 1950s read Ireland and the modern Irish, in the early part of the 21st century.
Whether at the K Club (€775 a night for the Garden Suite), the Park Hotel in Kenmare (€734 a night for two sharing a suite), or on a yacht anchored in the Caribbean in winter ($100,000 a week), Irish participation in elite activities is on the increase, consolidating Irish wealth into the global system of prestige and privilege.
"All our Irish clients are top-end business men, entrepreneurial, and most likely to be 'new money'," says Laurent Perignon, marketing director of yacht brokers Camper & Nicholsons International. Camper & Nicholsons are in the business of selling yacht charters and in the past couple of years Irish customers have started to be noticed.
"There are not that many Irish charterers," says Perignon, "although we do have a few, with quite a number being new ones," confirming an impression that the integration of Irish wealth and aspirations with the global elite, while under way, is relatively recent.
Irish participation in the yacht market, though new, extends to ownership of even the most renowned yachts on the charter circuit. The yacht Christina O, formerly owned by Aristotle Onassis and recently refitted at a cost of $50 million, is 325 long and takes a crew of 34. Those inside the luxury yacht business believe the Christina O Limited Partnership, formal owners of the yacht, is largely an Irish concern, although precise ownership details are obscured by confidentiality regulations.
The discretion attached to the Christina O's ownership is becoming typical of elite lifestyles in general. With an average rental cost of $100,000 per week plus $25,000 for fuel, food and drink, luxury yacht charters are for the few, and that is their main attraction. The super-rich who can afford week-long holidays at these rates have begun to separate themselves from the average wealthy.
According to Elite Traveller magazine, there is now a definitive gap in the luxury market between those who might visit any of the world's spas once a year, and those who travel to them regularly in private jets, or between those who travel first class for leisure and those who only do so when the company picks up the tab.
Exclusive leisure providers are seeking ways to further serve the needs of those at the upper end of the market.
Sámas, the Spa at the Park Hotel in Kenmare, the number two Spa in Europe according to Condé Nast Traveller UK, now offers "couples' day suites for those craving seclusion and privacy". Each suite provides double treatment couches, two hand-carved chaise-longue style recliners and a private garden with spa pool and garden swing. At a cost of €890 for the day, including two hours of treatment each and a light lunch, the day suite's exclusive clients don't have to step into the same footbath as other guests.
"For the few, five-star service is not good enough any longer," says Stuart Shaw of London-based personal concierge service Courture. "Today's elite is looking for privacy, security and discretion, and you can't have that when you recognise guys coming out of the lift. They're also on the look-out for what's different. Don't go to a film première - get an invite to the party afterwards and stand close to Nicole Kidman. Don't go to Wimbledon - get your ticket to Boodles, the champions' tournament the week before." (Boodle and Dunworth, Boodle's full name, advertises itself as the garden party with championship tennis thrown in.)
Discretion and privacy, the hallmark of elite services, are increasingly important, says Perignon.
"Privacy is one of the key expectations of charter clients. This comes in addition to exclusivity, standards of service and personalisation of such service. One important reason for the success of yacht charter is that on a yacht people feel, rightly so, that what they are given is not given to the guys next door."
Hilary Finlay, who publishes Ireland's Blue Book, a guide to the 42 top Irish destinations agrees with the general principle that the wealthy are seeking discretion and to distinguish themselves further through their purchases. "People are looking for something different and unusual. Five-star can be very sterile," she says. "What matters to the discerning customer is that they deal with owners, not managers. Even a simple property can offer the required discretion if its owners are on hand."
Ownership is becoming vital in other ways. As the elite few flee public interaction they are looking increasingly to own their mode of transport, and their destination. Fractional ownership is a key trend supporting their new lifestyle aspirations.
Fractional ownership - owning a substantial share in a commodity or service - gives the wealthy access to private jets without buying them outright. They may own a fraction of one plane's flight time but they also buy the right to access a charter plane of some description on demand. By 2002, the big three fractional ownership promoters globally owned a combined total of 630 aircraft with around 5,000 owners, according to Aviation Now.
In Ireland, since 2001, business ownership of private jets has been steadily increasing, according to Andrew Sullivan of Mercury Aviation in Dublin but, says Sullivan, "Helicopters are the biggest plaything of the businessman. A helicopter is easier to use when you're going village to village, or dealership to dealership." Alternatively, Irish business leaders can buy blocks of time in business jets, for around €130,000 for a block of 25 hours' flying time. Fractional ownership extends also to yachts and elite accommodation. A fractional share of a holiday home typically means owning half of a luxury house, enabling people in the foothills of wealth to take a step up in the quality of property they own.
The American resort company Starwood recently announced its own entry into fractional ownership. By offering a small number of shares in properties priced at around $430,000 to $1,500,000 at its Aspen Colorado resort, Starwood enabled buyers to tap into butler and maid services.
The personal concierge market is proof that wealthy people are not necessarily finding it easy to fit in, even with each other. This is a troubled market.
Courture recently won a contract to provide personal concierge services to footballers playing for clubs in the north of England, including some Irish international players. Five million euro a year, plus revenue from personal appearances and endorsements, is now in the reach of twentysomethings, and they need help.
"These people need to know where to be seen and who to be seen with," says Shaw, who argues that the financial community has now realised that many of their main assets are young men with little knowledge of how to play the elite game once off the pitch.
With entrants to the fractional market and the tyros of soccer snapping at their heels, is it any wonder the super wealthy are taking refuge, but of course only in superlative style?
