'Billion Dollar Playground': Luxico shows us inside the world's most exclusive luxury holiday homes

Scrolling through the Luxico website is an exercise in real-estate dreams. A glamorous whirl of beachfront beauties and country estates, its 330 opulent villas are the rootstock of high-end holidays around Australia – and now they come with a lavish layer of service going straight for the jugular of the modern luxury traveller.

Established in 2013 by Alexandra Ormerod and her husband Tom, the idea for Luxico was sparked when the avid travellers had their first child.

“We learnt pretty quickly that we’d been relegated from hotel rooms into horrible little executive apartments,” Ormerod says.

Her expertise in advertising and marketing and Tom’s expertise in real estate  – compounded by the indignity of trying to get their infant daughter to sleep in a drawer – led to the realisation that there was a gap in the luxury market.

“Through our own experience, we saw that people wanted the level of service they got in five-star hotels,” Ormerod says.

“Luxico was born from the idea that we could provide more than just the keys to a great property, but that people staying in amazing properties want extra services built into that.”

Want to get a feel for what’s on offer? The TV series Billion Dollar Playground goes behind the scenes at Luxico, exploring the world (and shenanigans) of the high-end holiday rental market.

A members-only service is the next stage of their offering. Spread across offers three membership tiers, from an annual $1500 to an intriguing “price on application”, its benefits include “personal concierge services, VIP provisioning and exclusive experiences”.

At the base tier, that goes beyond the home being exactingly styled (being accepted as a Luxico property is a serious process; doilies will be given short shrift).

A team member will prep the house – lights, heating and air-conditioning – and greet guests at the front door; no lock boxes here.

The fridge, pantry and cellar will be stocked with pre-arranged goodies, and a five-star service will smooth the way to the perfect holiday. Private chefs, restaurant bookings, tour itineraries and hard-to-get tickets? No worries.

Luxico is taking a “if you can dream it, we can do it” approach to offer a broader range of indulgences, Ormerod says.

“The sky’s the limit, but people tend to be restricted by their imaginations, so we’ve devised an experiences menu,” she says. “One of the most popular things is a caviar bumps and bubbles tasting experience – it’s a lovely little add-on.”

Elite travellers want to be cared for and surprised. Some of the challenges to which the Luxico team has risen include a bottle of Penfolds Grange from a guest’s birth year (“we had 24 hours to do that one, which was quite a challenge”), procuring a baby grand piano, and flying in a particular brand of mattress for one fussy celebrity.

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Luxico even has more than 50 ultra-exclusive properties that aren’t on its website but might be available to rent – at a cost.

“It’s our little black book,” Ormerod says. “They’re contracted on a case-by-case basis, to suit the need for the particular guest. So they’re not available ever in a public domain, but through the network, we can bring them on to facilitate a guest’s stay.”