The Olympic rush to fleece rich foreigners

Leeds Castle is up for rent during the Olympics - that is if you happen to have a spare £1 million lying around.

Plenty of people are busy trying to fleece rich foreigners in the run-up to next summer's Olympics, and the owners of Leeds Castle in Kent don't want to miss out. The castle is owned by a trust and, according to The Sunday Times, the trustees are looking for someone prepared to spend at least £1m to "shut [it] down for private use", as a source puts it. The 12th-century moated castle, remodelled by Henry VIII as a home for Catherine of Aragon, has 40 bedchambers, a maze, a nine-hole golf course and a helipad. Victoria Wallace, the castle's chief executive, says the money will go towards the £14m cost of restoring its Ragstone walls. "We're completely flexible as to how the castle might be used," she says. You bet: £1m for 17 days or so is a tidy sum, whoever's paying.

Like Leeds Castle, the owners of five-star hotels and superyacht marinas near London are all out to cash in too. Berths at Canary Wharf and the Royal Docks, for example, have already been taken, says The Sunday Times, at prices ranging from £2,000 to £11,000 a day based on a minimum three-week stay. Mark Upton, director of the yacht advisory company MGMT, says he is offering round-the-clock butler services for yachts and private homes. "We have Michelin-starred chefs who can come and cook for you, plus personal shoppers, helicopters, tailors and jewellers on stand-by. A speedboat service will take you straight to the Olympic Park." I'm all for entrepreneurs making as much out of the Olympics as possible. I'd be doing the same myself, if I could just so long as I didn't have to go anywhere near the actual Games.

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