Scenic change ... a lodge on Waiheke Island in New Zealand is on the home swap website.
LUXE Home Swap is a new website that has luxury homes for exchange. The site is British but its originator, Debbie Wosskow, says there are more than 500 homes listed, including in Europe, Australia and North America as well as Britain.
Anyone can put their home up on the site as long as they pay the $175 annual fee. Wosskow says she monitors the site daily but in three months of business has not had to remove any because they have not come up to standard. "The process tends to be self-selecting as people take a look at homes on the site and make a judgment on whether LHS is the site for them," she says.
Wosskow decided to create luxehomeswap.com after trying out a home-exchange site in England and was bombarded with properties she didn't feel were good enough.
While the main advantage of swapping homes is financial, Wosskow says living like a local is an added bonus. Homeowners are encouraged to divulge tips and ideas about how best to enjoy their area.
Wosskow promises the second year's fee will be waived if you don't exchange in your first year. "It's worth mentioning that Australia is in our top-three most requested swap destinations worldwide."
See luxehomeswap.com.
Mercure in Marlborough
According to AC Nielsen data released last year, three of the top selling white wines in Australia were sauvignon blancs from the Marlborough district of New Zealand.
So, if you fancy a tipple in situ, the region now has its first internationally branded hotel in the Mercure Picton Marlborough Sounds.
Formerly known as the Yacht Club Hotel Picton, the property has been redeveloped with 17 rooms added to the original 31. And, naturally, the hotel's Chartroom Restaurant and Boatshed Bar feature a wide selection of the region's finest wines.
Rooms start from $NZ105 ($80). Phone 1300 656 565, see mercure.com.
Picnic, Geeves?
The Lanesborough, the only hotel in London to offer each guest a butler, is introducing butler picnics for the English summer.
The champagne picnic includes lobster served with Beluga mayonnaise, truffled foie gras and asparagus jelly, all of which is to be washed down with chilled Taittinger rose champagne. What isn't so appetising is the price — £250 ($410) a person.
On the upside, you don't have to lift a finger beyond putting in a call to order your picnic. The butler serves you and when you're finished all that is required is a quick call and he will reappear to clean up.
You don't even have to be staying at the hotel to indulge. The butler picnics are available to non-residents.
See www.lanesborough.com.
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