Super-Yachts Converge on Monaco as Hotel Room Prices Skyrocket

(Bloomberg) -- It’s fall and late September, and that means one thing in the super-yacht world, the Monaco Yacht Show.

Over 125 super-yachts are expected to participate in the show, which started Wednesday and runs through Saturday. Ten of the 11 hotels in Monaco advertised by the show’s sponsors were sold out, with the only rooms available going for 3,000 euros ($3,281) a night.

The 210-foot Attila, built by Italian shipyard SanLorenzo, won the eco-friendly award at the MYS kickoff gala on Tuesday, while the Excellence took home prizes for best exterior design and finest new yacht offering.

The Attila, the largest yacht built by SanLorenzo, epitomizes a trend noticed by the SuperYacht Times, with first-time buyers being pushed up in size by a tightening market. Yacht sales last year totaled 194, the highest since the “extreme” peak of 241 sold in 2008.

The yacht count off Monaco has increased 248% since last month, with 108 super-yachts reporting a position off the principality in the last five days.

Neighboring France moved to the top of the leaderboard this month, with a month-over-month change of 50 yachts, while the count off Italy plummeted by 116 vessels. The U.S. came in second with 180 yachts.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kevin Varley in Washington at kvarley@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Peter Eichenbaum

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