Remember the movie “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?” There’s a scene at the end, after Charlie learns he has won Wonka’s contest, where the two of them get into Wonka’s Great Glass Elevator, push an until-then forbidden button, and then hold on tight as the elevator bursts clear through the roof of the factory to offer stunning views of the landscape below.

I couldn’t help but think of this scene as I stood on the deck of the brand-new, fully custom, 173-foot Benetti motoryacht Latinou at last week’s industry-only charter show in Genoa, Italy. No picture-taking was allowed onboard, but I got special permission from management company Fraser Yachts Worldwide to snap the photographs you see in this blog post, of the glass elevator that runs from Latinou’s bottom-deck massage/hair styling room clear up and through onto her sundeck. Here’s a close-up of the elevator itself:

The representative from Fraser Yachts Worldwide–who was instrumental in the yacht’s construction–told me Latinou’s owners were keen on having an elevator that accessed all decks instead of stopping one level short of the sundeck, as is common on other motoryachts in this size range. The idea is that you can be sitting in the hot tub one moment, zip down to have your hair done the next, and then be right back on the sundeck in time for cocktails at the bar.

I didn’t get to ride in the elevator, as it is one of several things aboard Latinou that aren’t yet complete. The yacht appeared at the boat show nearly done and was scheduled to go right back to the Benetti shipyard for finishing touches starting this week before becoming available to charter clients this summer in the Mediterranean.

Thus, you won’t see photos of this yacht anywhere else for a while–but you will see the handful of interior shots Fraser allowed me to take in addition to these sundeck pictures. Latinou’s interior decor is in the style of a 1930s steam ship, and believe me, it’s every bit as interesting as this glass elevator.

I’ll have the photos posted along with my First Impression review here on CharterWave soon.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 8:21 am and is filed under Charter Yachts, Photos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.