From the Publisher’s Desk

This monthly e-magazine is dedicated to “the art of living well”. The contents of these pages are all personal and subjective experiences and observations of the editors and correspondents of LuxuryWeb.

Luxury is, in our view, an undefinable quality.

Governmental bodies and industry associations have attempted to objectively define what is luxurious and what is not. In the hotel industry, for example, governments award stars, indicating the level of luxury, by setting minimum limits as to the size of rooms and public spaces and the cost of furnishings and amenities. That, according to them, defines the level of luxury. Yet, what is not taken into consideration is the level and quality of service in the hotel... the expertise and attitude of management and staff... the overall ambiance.

In the mind of this writer, linen bed sheets and fresh flowers in the room are an indication of luxury. Handmade chocolate truffles, instead of a commercially produced chocolate mint on the pillow, is an indication of luxury. Staff discreetly pampering you and making sure that all your creature comforts are well taken care of, is an indication of luxury. If a sense of well-being is generated while experiencing the product, it is an indication of luxury.

Luxury should never be pretentious or overbearing. Many restaurants considered luxurious in the major cities of the world suffer from one or both of the above mentioned sins. The attitude “if you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it” prevails and is a common theme within some industries.

We present this e-magazine in an effort to expose both the establishments, products or services that deserve to bear the appellation of luxury and those that do not. Some products are slightly esoteric others are world known. We will attempt to give kudos (LuxuryWeb Gold Awards) as well as brickbats (LuxuryWeb Tin Awards) to those  deserving to be so treated.

The products and services featured, have all been personally experienced by our editors and correspondents. Many of the establishments and suppliers are not aware that their product(s) were being rated. As stated above, the observations are personal and therefore subjective and biased by the life-experiences of the researchers. As we discover new favorites in our frequent travels, we will be adding to these lists, as well as adding Tin Awards for the places where we found the product or the attitude wanting.

Publisher & Managing Editor
Manos Angelakis

Ownership:
LuxuryWeb Magazine is a publication of ISV Interactive, Ltd.

Our postal address is:
90 Prospect Avenue
7 Floor, Suite B
Hackensack NJ 07601-1957

Tel: (201) 342-4513
Fax: (201) 342-4632

Publisher & Managing Editor: Manos Angelakis
Senior Travel Features Editor: Barbara  Penny Angelakis
Senior Food & Wine Editor: Manos Angelakis

Correspondents:
At Large: Marian Betancourt
Travel:    Babbie DeDerian
Automotive: Joel Levin
Travel:    Prof. Barry Goldsmith
At Large: Bob Schulman
Travel:   Susan McKee
Travel:    Melanie Votaw
Travel:   Sharon Spence Lieb
At Large: Bo Zaunders

Some Current Statistics (Q3-2011):

Our mailing list has over 3,000 qualified readers that have requested to be notified every month (note: the mailing list is cleaned and updated monthly).

Total readership averages over 30,000 unique addresses per month, viewing an average of over 52,000 pages monthly. Average over 1.7 million hits per month.

The top 10 countries are:

United States (65.3%), United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland), Canada, Italy, Australia, Brazil, Germany, India, Mexico, Portugal.

Other countries that contribute significant readership are: Austria, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden, Israel, Japan, Ireland, China, Denmark, Spain, Norway, and Thailand.