World's largest superyacht: a floating private members' club for billionaires
World's largest superyacht: a floating private members' club for billionaires
For £2,000 a night, the lucky few can bag a berth on a £213m, 220-metre-long yacht as it drops anchor at most glamorous events.
It is being billed as the “world’s largest floating private members’ club”. A 220-metre-long superyacht where the cost of a room for the night starts at about £2,000, offering wealthy clients the chance to tour the globe calling in at glamour events from the Monaco Grand Prix to the Rio carnival.
Five billionaire friends have paid €10m (£8.5m) each towards the cost of building the luxury yacht, in return for a suite. Most of the €250m bill will be borne by wealthy concierge firm Quintessentially, which will operate the ship as a seaborne private club for its elite members.
As well as hosting parties the yacht – which planned to launch in 2013 but struggled to attract enough funding – will operate as a hotel, with a restaurant run with the Mayfair institution The Wolseley.
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Aaron Simpson, Quintessentially’s co-founder and chairman, said he hit upon the idea of building the firm’s own yacht after finding it difficult to cater to wealthy clients when they all descend on the same high-profile events at the same time.
“It will travel the globe to where the wealthy want to go and be seen,” Simpson said. “We know the events where there is huge demand and not enough supply.
“It will be the world’s largest floating private membership club,” he said. “Where the traditional cruise model is to go somewhere, dock and get off; we will dock and people will want to get on.”
Quintessentially has secured debt financing from Norway and Italy, where the yacht will be built and fitted out. The yacht, which will be 40m longer than the world’s biggest private vessel Azzam, owned by United Arab Emirates ruler Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is due to make its maiden voyage in 2019-2020.
Simpson envisages the yacht, to be named Quintessentially One, hosting exclusive parties with famous performers putting in a star turn. He points out that Quintessentially has long-standing ties with artists such as Elton John, who it has booked to sing at its ultra-wealthy clients previous birthdays.
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