News of June 2003
27/06/03
Robbie Williams has hired the whole of his favourite hotel in Vienna to avoid being disturbed by fans. He will take over the 72-room Hotel Triest for his concert at the Ernst Happel Stadium on July 4. And the star has reportedly asked for an exact replica of the bar to be built backstage at the gig. Concert organiser Alex Nussbaumer said: "Because Robbie has completely fallen in love with the bar at his favourite Vienna hotel, we now have to build an exact replica backstage at the stadium." He added: "I have already sent Mr Williams brochures about our museums and famous sights at his request." Williams, who usually stays in the Hotel Triest's luxury suite when he is in Vienna, hopes to avoid autograph hunters by booking the entire hotel, according to Austrian magazine News. The Triest has 72 rooms, an Italian restaurant, a fitness centre complete with sauna and solarium and a cocktail bar called the Silverbar. The singer is expected to fly into Vienna from Paris on July 3, accompanied by an entourage of 140 and to stay in the capital for three days.
15/06/03
FROM THE SUN:
Restless star Robbie Williams has forked out £2.5million on another London house
- after spending a fortune doing up his Notting Hill pad. The former Take That
singer has splashed the cash on a swanky penthouse apartment overlooking Chelsea
Harbour. The block, right, which is one of the most exclusive addresses in the
capital, is home to a host of stars including Sir MICHAEL CAINE. Friends say
Robbie has upped sticks from his humble £2million Notting Hill home because the
place has turned into a huge tourist attraction. He packed his bags after
blowing £1.5million on a complete revamp of the four-storey Victorian mansion.
Since he bought the house three years ago, Robbie has had it transformed into a
proper bachelor pad. Builders created a state-of-the-art recording studio in the
basement and turned the ground floor into a huge sitting room and library. They
put three guest bedrooms and two bathrooms on the top floor. Then Robbie ordered
them to turn the entire first floor into his sleeping quarters, with a huge
bedroom, en-suite dressing room and luxurious bathroom. He caused a spectacle
when he hoisted a huge Jacuzzi bath into his garden with a crane. And to make
himself feel even more at home, Robbie installed his mum Jan in a £1.2million
three-bedroom house just down the road. Now Robbie has told pals he has had
enough of living there, with its high public profile. The property has been
described as a "goldfish bowl" and there is nothing but a strip of pavement to
keep sightseers away. A pal of the star's told me: "Robbie wanted to have some
privacy so he decided to move to somewhere more exclusive. "He didn't like the
idea of people just being able to walk up to his front door so he thought an
apartment with tight security would be better. He's not going to sell the other
place, though. "He will still make money on it because he's talking about
renting it out." Robbie has now moved into upmarket Chelsea Harbour which boasts
unrivalled views of the Thames - and a super-tight security system to protect
its mega-rich residents. Not bad for a bloke who was raised in a semi in
Stoke-on-Trent. All this chaos in London and Robbie still spends most of his
time across the Atlantic at his £5million Los Angeles mansion. Still, given his
earnings, I don't suppose he has to count the pennies.
10/06/03
FROM THE SUN:
Robbie Williams moans about London, saying he is always surrounded by fans. But he seemed to be having a great time with actor pal Max Beesley. Last month I caught the singer grinning on a night out in New York., Memo to Robbie: Keep it up, you look so much more handsome when you smile.
05/06/03
Robbie Williams must be running
out of bare flesh on his toned body as he's got another tattoo.
Needle nut Rob, 29, showed off his latest piece of body art - a pair of swallows
on his stomach - when he performed for Milan's biggest music festival,
Festivalbar 2003.
The singer, who had them done a few weeks ago in LA, already has six tattoos,
including a lion, a Celtic cross and the chorus from the Beatles' song All You
Need Is Love. Yawn.
