Tourists from all over the world love Fort Lauderdale, FL for its awe-inspiring miles of blue waterways, soft golden sands and gentle ocean breezes.

Add a St. Regis Resort to the mix of already diverse hotels, arts as well as entertainment offerings and things get even more interesting, in this coastal paradise.

The St. Regis in Fort Lauderdale is presented as the ultimate haven of style on Florida’s Gold Coast. With the Hollywood Beach and the Downtown Riverwalk nearby, that’s quite a pitch but with unimpeded views of the Atlantic and the Intracoastal Waterway, this ultra luxury resort definitely takes the legendary St. Regis lifestyle to the beach.

Demanding guests will be happy to learn that the seaside elegance of the St. Regis’ rooms is mainly the work of famed interior designers, Hirsch Bedner Associates.

The 187 guest rooms, including 8 oceanfront and 20 Intracoastal suites, are designed to evoke the glamorous era of vintage yachting and luxe travel.

For most tourists looking to enjoy their stay in Fort Lauderdale, the resort’s irresistible combination of pampering, fitness and relaxation is their ticket to a pleasant stay. Pool side, beach side, at the spa or out boating and fishing, St. Regis’ guests may well experience the ultimate in sun-drenched Floridian luxury and style, in a 100% smoke-free environment.

Many visitors head to Fort Lauderdale for a well deserved spa day or even a day cruise but there’s a lot more to do. Families can visit the area’s museums to explore acclaimed art, culture, science and history exhibits. Taking the local bus is also a smart alternative, when staying at the St. Regis.

The glamorous energy of this South Floridian city provides a nice counterpoint to the wide ribbons of pristine sandy beaches (hence, the Gold Coast) which are perfect for beachcombing, sunbathing and a fabulous array of water sports.

Tags: st. regis, fort lauderdale, hotel, resort, florida, gold coast, beach, sand, spa

Located a mere 30 minutes south of sunny San Diego, just before entering the Mexican city of Rosarito, the Trump Baja Ocean Resort lets you enjoy the Pacific ocean waves in a breathtaking coastal setting.

The Trump Baja resort banks on it’s enviable location in Mexico’s North Baja to lure the rich Southern Californians into buying their share of this condo-hotel project for roughly 250k$, instead of over 750k$ for an equivalent oceanfront property, North of the border.

What makes this particular high-rise towers and resort development so interesting is that it stands to be the first such property along the North Baja peninsula to combine luxury resort amenities and services with premier “Trump-style” real estate ownership.

The world-class design team for this project, dubbed the Punta Bandera and featuring 400 meters of ocean frontage, is led by Guerin Glass Architects in New York and HOK in Mexico City.

Donald J Trump and Irongate are ahead of what’s expected to be a real estate stampede in the area and for rich folks looking for an income-generating vacation home (thanks to S&P Destination Properties’ services), it’s allegedly a good time to jump in a oceanfront resort project like this one.

Consistent with other Trump properties, this resort is set to cater to owners and guests (read: tourists) with a collection of amenities typically found at luxury resorts.

Features of the Trump Baja Resort are expected to include an owner’s concierge, lobby bar & lounge, pool house bar & cafeÃÅ, fine dining restaurant, infinity edge resort pool, lap and family pools, a spa, fitness center, tennis courts and walking trails.

Nearby, the cool activities abound, namely fine dining, outdoor sports, deep sea fishing and wine shopping in the Valley de Guadalupe, home of the land mark Adobe Guadalupe which is reminescent of Napa, in its early stages.

The first condo-hotel tower should be finished by year end and two more towers should be built within a few years, depending on how fast they’re sold to their new owners. In other words, if you’re looking to buy a luxurious condo in this sunny Mexican retreat, you still can.

With real estate prices in Southern California going through the roof, people are looking South of the border for a little financial relief. This is expected to fuel a furious realty development blitz over the next five to fifteen years where those who moved in first might see their North Baja property’s value skyrocket.

The numbers say it all — already, over 1.5 million Americans own homes, in Mexico, according to the Mexico Association of Real Estate Professionals. The group predicts this number will explode to 12 million, by 2025, as more baby boomers retire, in more affordable homes, South of the border.

For some people, this is just another condo-hotel project in a sunny destination but for others, namely those who follow the Mexican real estate rise, Trump’s Baja Resort project might be nothing short of a perfect fit.

Tags: trump baja resort, donald j trump, irongate, condo-hotel, resort, north baja, mexico

While some girls just want to have fun, a select group of women want a lot more than that.

Forbes evaluates that Celine Dion’s fortune is roughly the same as those from both Julia Roberts and Jennifer Lopez… which adds up to a cool 250M$. Singing in Las Vegas, in front of audiences who pay an average of 136$ per ticket, has worked wonders for this female show-business monument who sold over 140 million albums, over the years.

Let’s take a peek at 2006′s the Top 10 weathiest women, in entertainment:

1. Oprah Winfrey – 52, 1,5MM$ – She pockets roughly 225M$ per year through her vast commercial empire of media properties.
2. J. K. Rowling – 40, 1MM$ – Perhaps you didn’t know that the author of Harry Potter has already been on social welfare… but nowadays, she’s enjoying the other end of the rainbow, to say the least.
3. Martha Stewart – 64, 638M$ – She’s spent 6 months in jail for playing the insider game, as the head of her own publicly traded company. Now, she’s out to make the world even prettier, Martha-style.
4. Madonna – 48, 325M$ – Although her fortune now comes more from her shows than her album sales, she keeps pumping the hits enjoyed by a very large fan base.
5. Celine Dion – 38, 250M$ – Of the 140 million albums she’s sold, worldwide, 15 million were for her hit song “My Heart Will Go On” from the hit movie “Titanic”.
6. Mariah Carey – 36, 225M$ – Back with a vengance in 2005, she’s already sold over 160 millions albums, in her career.
7. Janet Jackson – 40, 150M$ – She’s never been as rich as her brother Michael but hey, she has enough to get by.
8. Julia Roberts – 39, 140M$ – She now gets over 20M$ per movie and overall, she’s the actress who’s been paid the most… of all times.
9. Jennifer Lopez – 38, 110M$ – Her revenues come from all over: television, music, cinema, clothes, perfumes and restauration.
10. Jennifer Aniston – 37, 110M$ – At the time when Friends was still a popular series, there have been times when she was banking as much as 1M$ per episode.

Quick legend: name – age, fortune – comments.

About Oprah Winfrey’s ascension to absolute financial freedom, it’s important to keep in mind she’s originally from a poor, rural area in Mississippi. That’s probably why so many women, from around the world, can relate to her. To this day, she’s also one of only two black female billionnaires, the other one being Sheila Crump Johnson. Her annual revenue of over 225M$ comes from TV (namely through Harpo Productions), satellite radio, magazines and various multimedia ventures. For the handsome men out there, she’s still single… and doesn’t have kids.

Popular teen idol, Britney Spears, doesn’t make the Top 10 list even though, at a relatively young age of 25, she’s earned a 100M$ fortune, mainly from her 75 million music albums sold (remember the hit “…Baby One More Time”). More recently, her multimillion-dollar endorsement deals, namely her profitable line of perfumes, has helped pad her wallet.

Entertainment is a huge market segment which is driven by culture, innovation, quality and flair. These women have proven it’s possible to succeed in a world still massively dominated by men.

There’s no end in sight for the appreciation of the fortunes held by these generally young women who continue to… entertain the world.

Social networking is all about staying behind a computer while having the feeling to still be connecting with other human beings. While MySpace is typically open to anyone, at the opposite end of the spectrum exists a community you can only join if you’re invited and it’s called A Small World, or ASW for short.

Nobody knows for sure who’s active in there but there have been media reports about Paris Hilton and Naomi Campbell being members. This online community, created by the Weinstein Company (generally known for their movie ventures) expects the small membership base to help create closer ties between members. Around 130,000 people are allegedly members but the Weinstein brothers would like to grow that number in the lower millions, in the coming years.

This international network is meant to share information that might come in handy for anybody with lots of money and very little free time. Matters as mundane as choosing the best restaurant to eat snails, in Los Angeles to more commercial interests like where to find a 60 ft yatch already anchored in the Meditarranean sea are the bulk of what supposedly available, in A Small World.

It’s always assumed this information is correct because no media, including Expensive.Name, is being granted access to see, first-hand, what’s really in there. You’re free to watch the CNN and CNBC interviews, for added insight on this.

On her web page, for instance, Naomi Campbell is said to describe herself as a "busy worker" instead of all the other things that would come to mind considering the recent legal ramblings she’s been into. In other words, this is probably just another place to show off as well as ask about anything glitzy, expensive and more often than not, largely unknow to the general public.

While there have been members raving about A Small World’s ability to help them find reliable photographers for their wedding or even nannies for their kids, it’s pretty clear such "quality services" can be found elsewhere, just as easily.

Perhaps the people who get invited (read: sucked) into this social network feel some kind of peer pressure to actually invest time in it and eventually sprinkle a little dough around so some level of spin enhances their actual or perceived "reputation", in the group.

Without going so far as to say this whole thing is about the "herd mentality" where everyone wants to be there because everybody who seems to be anybody is already there, the fact that it’s private says a lot about how narrow the networking can get — it’s like digital inbreeding on steroids.

The whole thing and the mentality behind it appear to be the web equivalent of a gated community. People should rightfully ask themselves why they would trade their current access to a world of unlimited discoveries for a limited, secretive and closed community?

If the members of A Small World are having a blast burning their money among themselves, good for them. Happy people are always good for our planet’s karma but "gated web sites" (like ASW’s) look like the metaphorical equivalent of lonely islands within a sea of exciting… and unlimited discoveries.

Are you getting tired of Ferrari and Lamborghini shiny sports cars? Rejoyce because there’s another brand of cars that’ll surely get your blood pumping, lightning fast!

The beautiful Saleen S7. Saleen’s delivery bay. Saleen’s 2006 Race Team.

Meet Saleen, based in Irvine, CA. Celebrating 20 years of car manufacturing excellence, they specialize in the manufacturing of vehicles for enthusiasts which includes technology developed by the Saleen/Allen Speedlab Race Team.

In other words, they offer road cars that are race track friendly, especially when it comes to the high-end. Saleen is known to be quite creative when it comes to building eye-catching cars destined to street racing.

The fast-car crowd will rave at the S7 supercar which is capable of over 200 miles per hour. Zero-to-60 time is under three seconds. You read that right, people: 3 seconds!

The Saleen S7 is currently selling for around half a million dollars US but you’ll probably get close to a million bucks by adding the maintenance, gas and proper insurance.

The S7 is designed to compete with the fastest, quickest, best handling and most luxurious grand touring cars in the world, while providing a distinctly American driving experience for the fortunate few who will own one.

The “wow-factor”, on a scale of 10, is a definite 20!

The company was started by former racing driver Steve Saleen, in 1983. Saleen profited from his business degree from USC, coupled with experience in his father’s manufacturing business, to build and grow the company. Steve’s passion for racing also played a big part in the directions the company has taken, over the years. Steve began autocrossing, then rapidly moved into SCCA pro series (Formula Atlantic, Trans-Am Championship) and then into Indy car racing.

By 1984, the first Saleen street car was ready for sale. It boasted special aerodynamics, an attractive and highly functional cockpit and a precise handling suspension package.

The result was a car built as a limited edition model with individual serial numbers, further insuring the authenticity. Later, demonstrating the car’s performance, the company’s race team brought home a victory for Saleen, Ford and sponsor General Tire at the 24-hour race at Mosport Park in Ontario, Canada.

It’s great to see an entrepreneur and his friends succeed at something they like. Saleen is about passion about cars but also about the American dream of building awesome products.

Perhaps GM and Ford could take a hint or two from Saleen, businesswise and productwise… well, especially the later!