hollywood billionaire

Chapter 300 The tested indifference

“To be honest, before this trip to Europe, I didn’t even know there was such a category as a ‘museum hotel.’”

“It wasn’t until I went to Nice and walked around Negresco that I truly realized the charm of this kind of hotel.”

“Not only does it have an art collection comparable to a regular museum, it not only provides a five-star living experience, it is not limited to its excellent location and a view that no one else can replicate. Negresco is the combination of these three. Body, art, scenery, and life are all integrated into one, so there is such a unique one that has been established for nearly a hundred years and can't be found in the entire Côte d'Azur."

"Indeed." Zhao Youzhen nodded slightly, "There is only one Negresco."

"you've been to?"

"Not yet, I want to go." You Zhen took a deep look at Han Yi and said, "I've seen it in documentaries before."

"Next time I will take you to the site to experience it."

"It's hard for me to trust you anymore."

"Really, Lagou." Han Yi stretched out his little finger, "When this music festival is over, please go to Europe to relax during the New Year."

"Don't go."

With a tough mouth but an honest body, Zhao Youzhen entwined his slender little finger with Han Yi's and sealed it with his thumb. Then he bit his lower lip and raised a smile of joy at the corner of his mouth. arc.

"We'll see then...just go on."

"I'll go on... Oh, yes, Negresco." Han Yi thought for a while and continued to state, "I have been thinking about this issue since I left Nice. Can the same hotel be replicated elsewhere? Or is this kind of environment only found in Southern France?”

"I checked the information online and found that there are similar museum hotels in many cities. CitizenM in New York cooperated with the New Museum of Contemporary Art to fill every room with art. Over in Rome, the Waldorf Astoria opened The Cavalieri Hotel, too, has a series of collections from the 16th century to modern times. There is Rubens's "The Judge of Paris", tapestries from the Qing emperors, and the Polish king's... toilet."

"Toilet." You Zhen couldn't help laughing, "You won't really use it for guests, right?"

"I checked it specifically...the hotel uses it directly as a flower pot."

"It has the same effect."

"This is not important." Han Yi smiled and shook his head, "What is important is that the Museum Hotel is not only a characteristic of Southern France. There are one or two similar five-star hotels in tourist resorts around the world, and they are all well-run. Pretty good. The Cavalieri Hotel has an annual revenue of 2700 million US dollars and a profit margin of almost 20%, which is very profitable."

"So you want to open a hotel in Lake Como on the same model."

"I just have this general idea in my mind. It's not necessarily Lake Como...it's just that it's the closest to Nice, and it's also the first place I went to inspect." Han Yi answered honestly, "I didn't expect this lake area. It does have its uniqueness. The scenery, culture, and tourism facilities are all very complete. And there are already many manor houses that have been transformed into tourist attractions, such as Barbianello, Olmo, and Carlotta. The public spaces are filled with famous paintings and are open to tourists, with a ticket costing more than ten euros, and they are also rented out as wedding venues.”

"However, none of them have a business model like Negresco. Attractions are just attractions, and museums are just museums. They have no residential properties. Tourists who come to Lake Como regard estate exploration and cultural curiosity as the most important part of their trip. The link...Xiao Zhen, have you ever heard of a hotel in Lake Como called Villa d'Este?"

"I've heard of it." Youzhen nodded, "It's very famous. It should be considered the most famous hotel in Lake Como, right? Many newlyweds in Korea like to go to this hotel on their honeymoon."

"Yes, I saw a lot of Koreans there...all over Lake Como." Han Yi spread his hands, "After leaving Passalacqua, Antoine took me to visit Manor d'Este. He said that if he wanted to take over Passalacqua and renovate it, Esther would be a good reference. When I saw it, it was indeed good. The overall structure of this manor was similar to that of Passalacqua, with a few buildings. After restoration, the main building looks magnificent and there is a Baroque park covering an area of ​​25 acres."

“The service team, decoration, meals, views, and entertainment facilities are all top-notch. It was already early October when I went there, but the rooms were all full, and they were occupied by rich people from Europe and even the world. Some people just stayed there. Half a month, a month, do nothing, just stay in the manor, take a walk, go boating, bask in the sun every day, and recover. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars, spent lightly."

"Yes, it's very popular." Zhao Youzhen thought for a moment, "It seems that even if you want to eat inside, you have to make a reservation in advance, otherwise you won't be able to get in and you will be stopped at the door."

"Yes, we entered the manor based on an afternoon tea reservation." Han Yi nodded, "So I was thinking that since Manor d'Este does not have an art collection, we only rely on the garden, lake view and the quality of the guest rooms. It can sell for one or two thousand dollars a night, so if I can make a museum hotel that combines Este and Barbianello, and put a lot of valuable works of art and precious cultural relics that can’t be seen elsewhere , can it become the most popular and expensive hotel in Lake Como or even the entire northern Italy in one fell swoop?”

"So, you went to London because you decided to buy Passalacqua and turn it into a museum hotel?"

"No, my trip to London has been planned long ago. I was planning to take advantage of the Frieze Art Exhibition to see if there are any suitable art investments." Han Yi replied, "After I visited Christie's Before going to the Sotheby's showroom, I actually had doubts about whether Passalacqua could be transformed into a museum hotel...because I didn't know where to find so many works of art. But when I arrived in London, I understood that it was simply No need to look for it, just collect it directly from these auction houses."

"There should be a lot of good works in the exhibition, right? I mean Frieze." Zhao Youzhen asked, "After all, it is the largest art exhibition in the world, with more than a hundred galleries participating."

"I just went to Regent's Park for a long time and never went there again."

"why?"

"In fact, the main exhibition doesn't have many works of art that match the tone of Passalacqua. They are all contemporary art. Let alone understanding them, my head hurts after looking at those things for a while." Han Yi grinned, "That's the master exhibition." They are almost the same, basically all masters of the [-]th century... Maybe I am too extreme and too conservative, but I don’t know any of the artists, let alone understand their sculptures and paintings. Put it in Passalacqua It’s so out of the blue, and if I take it back to Los Angeles... I’d be tempted to stick them in the washing machine.”

"So exaggerated?" Zhao Youzhen looked at him and smiled.

"Just like I can't understand experimental electronics, I can't understand a painting that is postmodern art with just two strokes." Han Yi raised his eyebrows and responded with the same smile, "Although there are some dealers who have A good collection, for example, a mummy mask from the 26th Dynasty is quite good. But these independent galleries have many rules and few services. Inspection, packaging, transportation, and insurance generated during the transportation process not only require us to bear the cost ourselves, We have to find a third party to sign another contract ourselves. They can at most recommend some long-term contractors for us. As for Christie's and Sotheby's, all the procedures will be completed for us... For example, the Klimt painting, It’s stored in Christie’s New York showroom. I don’t have to do anything. I just write down a shipping address and they will charter a plane to ship it directly to LA.”

"Transportation fee...are they paying for it?"

"Of course I'll do it." Han Yi tapped his chest, "But it's a lot more convenient. If I have to ship art to Italy in the future, I definitely don't want to do these things myself. In addition, some import procedures and tax exemptions , only the two major banks have enough energy to run down."

"The bottom line is... I really don't like the atmosphere at Frieze."

"What kind of atmosphere?"

"Let's put it this way, I've never seen... so many gold diggers."

It’s no secret that billionaires have a set travel schedule.

There are many occasions where ordinary people cannot enter at all.

Entry to the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, the Met Gala and Cannes Film Festival in May, the Venice Film Festival in August, and the non-public opening days of the Monaco Yacht Show in September requires an invitation to enter the venue.

Other activities are luxuries that most people cannot afford. For example, in St. Barth, where the rich like to go during New Year's Eve, there are almost no hotels on the island that cost less than two thousand dollars before and after Christmas. Another example is the Super Bowl every February. Any second-hand ticket costs upwards of $4500. If you want to buy a good seat with a good view, such as the front row near the 50-yard line, $[-] or $[-] is simply not enough. It takes at least [-] to get even one ticket from scalpers.

You mean VIP box? Even if you have the money, you can't book it. It has already been taken care of by billionaires and big brands.

As for the rest, Aspen skiing, Wimbledon, and the Melbourne Cup, they are all itineraries that can only be experienced by buying expensive tickets.

For money-worshiping girls who want to fly on a branch and become a phoenix, the cost is too high and the price/performance ratio is too low.

As a result, the Frieze Art Exhibition and Art Basel Art Exhibition, which are open to the public, have become places where fake socialites and Internet celebrities from Europe and the United States gather.

They are wearing fakes that look expensive but are actually sourced from big-name brands. They are usually bold and avant-garde designs that real rich girls would never choose. Sequins, silks, high-cut skirts and deep V-necks have become their unforgettable trademarks. In the exhibition halls of each gallery, girls gather in small groups, taking photos of each other’s silicone faces pretending to admire the works of art, discussing in low voices which filter should be used and at what time the photo should be posted on Instagram.

The real purpose of these girls is not to appreciate art or buy paintings, but to hunt for prey at the annual collectors' event, pinpointing wealthy single men from the vast crowd in order to catch a golden husband.

They know this, and so do the men hanging around them. Many men know that there are many women with special purposes gathered here, so they also adopt similar strategies, pretending to be wealthy upper-class gentlemen to attract their attention. They wear expensive borrowed suits and watches that are full of flaws and try their best to imitate the conversation and behavior of real billionaires. They roamed around the exhibition hall like sharks, expressing specious 'deep insights' about art and artworks.

In this game, everyone is looking for their own prey, and at the same time, they may become the prey of others. In this case, the Frieze exhibition has completely separated itself from the nature of the exhibition in a sense, and has become a complex social drama, a savage primitive jungle, where people switch between various masks at will, and their identities are prey. Constant changes with hunters.

Hauser & Wirth, Michael Werner, P.P.O.W... no matter which gallery you are, no matter what you are exhibiting, most of the conversations surrounding artworks are about things that have nothing to do with art. .

"I heard that Raf Simons was here just now for an exhibition?"

"I just saw that Michael Bloomberg bought a sculpture... How much did it cost? I don't know, but it looks like a long list of things written in the checkbook!"    "I'm telling you, Andrew Garfield was at... today."

A small picture frame cannot capture the name and desires of human beings.

Just like under the four-foot stage, only the drama of money and power will be performed.

Whether it is an art exhibition or an opera house, any so-called high-end cultural venue is nothing more than a miniature model of boring life, a complex maze that shines with the light of money and power.

Under the veil of art and culture, there are multiple aspects of human nature: desire, vanity, struggle, and endless strategic games.

Of course, there will always be onlookers who are just curious, but at least in this scene, they are just close to the curtain, passing by on the stage in a fleeting way.

Han Yi may be one of the few people at the Frieze Art Exhibition in London in 2016 who really went to see art and were really considering collecting and investing.

Imagine a picture like this: a young man dressed simply and elegantly, without any extra pretense, accompanied by a middle-aged man who is equally exquisitely dressed and looks kind but shrewd. Next to him is a burly man with a strong Albanian aura.

Moreover, this young man also has an Asian face.

Is there any combination that better highlights the temperament of a billionaire?

Either a trust fund baby or a digital currency winner.

Since 2011, more and more Asian consumers have come to Frieze to spend big bucks.

Among other things, after the scandal involving Malaysian tycoon Low Taek Jho was exposed at the beginning of this year, his affair with Miranda Kerr also appeared in the press.

A Victoria's Secret fantasy brought Miranda Kerr expensive jewelry worth $900 million.

And this is an in-kind gift that the U.S. Department of Justice can detect, excluding cash.

The reputation of rich Asians, especially Chinese rich, as quality hunting targets has once again been solidified.

They don't have as many bad habits as European and American rich people, and they don't have the disgusting quirks of Middle Eastern rich people who treat people like porta potties. They spend generously and seldom care about anything.

If you catch this kind of top quality fish, you will earn it.

Isn't it better to go to Hong Kong and Tokyo to enjoy the prosperous urban life than to be in London on tenterhooks all day for fear of being discovered by your family, or to go to Dubai to swallow big mouthfuls and cry and vomit all night long?

So, in just half a day, the female hunters at the Frieze Art Exhibition showed their talents and gave Han Yi a vivid Rizzology lesson.

The first professor of the course, Andrea Rosales.

In front of the immersive lighting installation at Kane Griffin Kirkland Gallery in collaboration with light art master James Turrell, Andrea asked Han Yi sincerely about the meaning of this art installation. After hearing the latter's "I After an honest answer, Andrea said, "Then why are we wasting our lives here?"

"My name is Andrea Carolina Rosales Castillejos..."

The 1 meter tall girl lifted up her long brown hair, revealing exaggerated three-section diamond earrings and a slender and charming neck.

"But if this name is too long and complicated for you, you can also call me, Miss Venezuela..."

"Or Venezuela... Miss Universe, something, I can't remember."

Han Yi shrugged and added.

Can't remember?

Of course I remember it clearly.

Miss Earth Venezuela 2015.

Representative from the state of Amazonas.

Any man will remember the first time he was accosted by a beauty pageant.

But in front of the girl you like, no matter how clear the memory is, it must be covered with a layer of frosted glass.

"Miss Venezuela." Zhao Youzhen frowned slightly, "Will someone really introduce themselves like this?"

"Obviously, there is." Han Yi curled his lips, "Maybe it's because this title is very useful. As long as you throw it out, most men will be interested."

"But you're not interested?"

“You see there’s a Venezuelan girl next to me?”

“It’s not available now, and it’s not necessarily available in London.”

"Conscience of heaven and earth, you can ask Feiyamu." Han Yi raised his right hand, "If I am interested in this kind of title, there are them everywhere in Hollywood."

"Then you were in London..." Zhao Youzhen put his hands on the chair, leaned forward a few inches, and winked at him coquettishly, "What other titles have you expressed your disinterest in?"

"What titles..."

Second title, MA in History of Art from the University of St. Andrews.

She has fiery red and loose curly hair, deep light green eyes, and white nose and cheeks dotted with freckles, but they cannot conceal her simple beauty from the north. The old leather bag slung over his shoulder was filled with art books and a drawing board that was too big to fit completely inside.

She "accidentally" bumped into Han Yi's shoulder, and pencils and brushes of various styles were scattered on the floor. She thanked Han Yi who helped her pick it up, stared at him with her big Bambi-like eyes, and told him her name was Ellie Fraser.

A beautiful and timeless Scottish name.

Elide's natural carvings are as clear and pure as Lake Mali. The soul of any man who wants to find peace in beauty cannot help but tremble slightly with Elide's eyelashes.

The rank is higher than Andrea, but Han Yi is still indifferent.

"It's too deliberate." Han Yi commented, "It's like... the difference between mineral water and purified water. They look similar, but you can taste the difference as soon as you take it in."

"Oh." Zhao Youzhen nodded with understanding, "You've entered."

"Let's not play word games, you know what I mean." Han Yi glanced at Yu Zhen helplessly, "Maybe it sounds a bit pretentious, but in London... I can really feel that many people want to Approach me intentionally or unintentionally.”

"The reason why I share this with you so frankly is because I found that although there are all kinds of temptations, I seem to have developed a... how should I say..."

"Tested indifference."

(End of this chapter)