Monaco: Splashing the cash on the French Riviera

May 25, 2017

Billionaires’ bolt-hole, playboys’ paradise and, for one week at the end of May, host to the most glamorous motor race in the world.

Today, more than 40% (13,400 out of a total population of 30,600) are millionaires with many of their number worth considerably more — there are an estimated 2,400 multimillionaires, 116 centa-millionaires ($100M+) and seven billionaires.

A Ferrari cabriolet drives by Monaco’s Cafe de Paris terrace.

There are plenty of theories on the secrets to a long life but holing up in Monaco could, statistically, be your best bet.

Cash-rich, care-free living on the sun-kissed French Riviera is clearly good for longevity with residents on average living for 89.5 years — longer than any other nation in the world.

Cars competing at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix.

The grand prix is the centerpiece of Monaco’s sporting calendar but so far this year it’s been the Principality’s footballers and Formula E that have taken center stage.

AS Monaco claimed the French Ligue 1 for the first time since 2000, fending off the might of big spending Paris Saint-Germain and earlier this month, electric cars took to the streets for the Monaco ePrix with drivers racing on an abbreviated version of the F1 track.

The grand prix, however, remains unquestionably the biggest draw — for fans, and drivers.

The Sky Penthouse at Odeon Tower.

Forget Hong Kong high rises, Manhattan lofts or anywhere else for that matter, Monaco is the most expensive place to buy a property in the world.

Apartments attract premium prices with $1 million equating to 17 square meters of floor space, or $59,000 per square meter, according the Knight Frank 2017 Wealth Report.

Appropriately enough, Monaco is home to the world’s most expensive apartment, the five storey “Sky Penthouse” at Odeon Tower costs $335 million — although that price does include an infinity pool and your very own water slide!

Land prices are a drop in the ocean compared to the yachts moored in Monaco’s Port Hercule — as seen here in this 360-degree photo.

Bernard d’Alessandri, Secretary General of the Monaco Yacht Club, estimates that around 1,000 super yachts visit every year.

Prices for these high-end vessels start at $1 million per meter and hiring one out for grand prix week doesn’t come cheap either — a 100-meter yacht costs $1.2 million with Princess Yacht Charter.

“You know in French we say: ‘quad on aime, on ne compte pas’ (‘when you love something you don’t count’),” D’Alessandri says.