After their July 2008 foreclosure it didn’t look like Chicago’s Hotel 71  had many prospects but finally the hotel has sold for an all-cash deal.

Hotel 71 sold for $37 million after the hotel was up to its head in debt.  If you recall this is the same hotel that housed the Dark Knight’s Bruce Wayne luxury apartment.

This shell-shaped dish you see before you, while not really an ashtray, was used as one by one Sir Winston Churchill.  Heard of him?

The 200-year-old dish was used by Churchill while at a dining club function at London’s Savoy Hotel.  The tray fetched $7,000 at auction.  Guess it’s time we started saving someone else’s ashtray….

Gaston & Sheehan Auctioneers Inc. will soon host an auction for Bernie Madoff’s personal possessions.

On November 14 at 10am you can bid on everything from Bernie’s Rolex watch collection, golf clubs, stationary and even a satin New York Mets jacket.

Now, who’s gonna start the bidding?

Glittering bait for the well-heeled shopper: Harrods department store has added gold bars to its merchandise line.

The store announced yesterday that it has joined with Swiss refiner Produits Artistiques Metaux Precieux to offer

Harrod's offers gold bullion bars for sale off the shelf.

gold bars weighing 27.5 pounds (12.5 kilograms). The move comes as gold prices have been going through the roof. On Wednesday, they hit another record high of $1,072 an ounce.

Based on yesterday’s afternoon gold fixing price in New York, a gold bar would cost about $462,440. Customers can buy the gold through Harrods financial arm Harrods Bank, which is located in the central London’s department store.

Chris Hall, the head of Harrods Gold Bullion, says the financial environment has kindled new demand for physical gold amongst British private investors.  Many investors believe it is currently safer to invest in gold than in stocks, property, or currencies.

Mehdi Bakhordar, managing director of Produits Artistiques Metaux Precieux, said Harrods was the only location in London where investors could buy a 27.5 pound (12.5 kg) gold bar “off the shelf.”

Another luxury resort has sadly bitten the dust.  The Nikki Beach Resort & Spa in Turks and Caicos has been closed after only being open for business less than two years.

The British Caribbean Bank is now controlling the 430-acre property after owner Leeward Resort Ltd. went into receivership.  The bank will be managing the resort until a buyer comes around.

The Four Seasons Resort Great Exuma at Emerald Bay was recently closed but it looks like the Bahamas resort might get a lifesaver after all.

Sandals Resort has saved the Four Seasons at Emerald Bay and will be re-opening come January 2010.  This will be the 14th Caribbean Sandals resort and the third located in the Bahamas.

Gucci’s new chief executive officer, Patrizio di Marco has unveiled his strategy for the Italian brand’s future. His strategy includes cutting production and multiple variations of the same style and solidifying the mid-range of the brand. Di Marco, who comes to Gucci from another PPR-owned company luxury leather brand Bottega Veneta, wants to balance contemporary fashion with the Gucci traditions, emphasizing craftsmanship and quality. Di Marco is also behind the lawsuit filed against Guess? Inc. last month.

Driving Gucci sales currently is the revival of the Jackie bag by creative director Frida Giannini. The bag which was named for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, sells for around $3,000 has received fashion acclaim this season. Di Marco has nothing but praise for Giannini he is quoted by Bloomberg as saying that she “knows how to balance the fashion elements with Gucci’s heritage,” Di Marco and Giannini, shown above, represent the continuation of the Gucci aesthetic fine-tuned by Tom Ford in the 1990s, chic and soigné with a dash of lethal sexy.

The gentle sobbing you hear permeating the airwaves are the tears from 17 owners of the exclusive Bugatti Veyrons which are currently for sale at JamesList.

The Veyron was introduced in 2005 as the fastest production car in the world and it is currently the fastest accelerating and decelerating production car in the world, with a 0 – 100 km/h – 0 time of 8.6 seconds and, at 1.1 million euro (1.5 million USD), it is also one of the most expensive cars in the world.  The car is named named after French racing driver Pierre Veyron, who won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1939 while racing for the original Bugatti company.

Perhaps the 17 Veyrons currently for sale on JamesList  seemed like a logical investment during the boom days  is proving either an expensive liability these days or a way to raise some much-needed cash.

The number of Veyrons being offered up is even more astonishing when one takes into account the fact that, although over 200 Veyrons had been sold, only 132 had actually been built.

But for the savvy shopper, the Veyrons on offer range from a relative bargain for a 2005 model in Germany at about $1 million all the way up to $2.6 million for the first model in the 2006 production run.

Of course, no two Veyrons are exactly alike.