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And there's always more up. According to Angers, some BBJ clients (there are currently around 90) have expressed interest in customizing new Boeing models such as the 787 Dreamliner and the 747-8. All new orders are delivered "green," without any interior detailing; that's when the creativity starts.
"Everything we do is unusual," says Jerry Fain of Fain Models, a Bedford, Texas, design firm specializing in high-end interiors. "Our clients don't want to see their stuff in someone else's plane." Fain has honored several requests for dance floors.
Custom interiors demand time and money -- sometimes as much as a quarter of the sales price. And interior decorating is always a delicate process; Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page recently parted company with the designer of their Boeing 767. According to The Wall Street Journal, the separation was far from amicable (perhaps it was the hammock request).
Gulfstream and Boeing aren't the only options, of course. Oprah Winfrey travels at just under the speed of sound in her new Canadian-made Bombardier Global Express XRS. So does Celine Dion, and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté. Harrison Ford is partial to his trusty De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, while Sydney Pollack flies his own Citation X.
But as with yachts, it's the maintenance that gets you. That's probably why several celebrities have decided that the hassle and cost of ownership just aren't worth it; pioneering fractional ownership company NetJets has attracted names like Jerry Seinfeld, Nicole Kidman, Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.
It's safe to say that business is going well when A-listers have you on their speed-dial.
See our slideshow of celebrity jets.
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Viceroy Santa Monica
Chef Concierge Samantha Srinivasan joined the Viceroy in September 2002, two months after the hotel opened.
BEST RESTAURANT
Grace Restaurant.
BEST GIFT FOR A SPOUSE
Jewelry from Hilary Druxman or Belgian chocolate from Leonidas.
BEST GOLF COURSE
Trump National Golf Club.
BEST DAY TRIP
The Getty Villa.
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