How Jackie Siegel’s Gulfstream Private Jets Power The Queen Of Versailles

From her home base near Orlando, Florida to Europe, Central America and all over the place, Jackie Siegel proves how private aviation access is a time-machine. The philanthropist spouse of Westgate Resorts’ founder and executive chairman David Siegel uses a pair of Gulfstream G550 large cabin jets to conduct business on a global scale. Known as the Queen of Versailles for a 90,000-square-feet replica mansion still under construction, Siegel recently stopped for a few moments to update us on her hectic schedule, latest ventures, how she uses business aviation and an update on the mega-mega mansion. How often do you use the airplanes? I'm using it tomorrow. I'm going to Las Vegas for Mrs. World. I'm a sponsor of Mrs. World. We're hosting it at our Westgate Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, famous for Elvis Presley's performances. When we bought the hotel and refurbished Elvis Presley's penthouse, which high rollers love, anyone can stay there and sleep in it. I have so much travel that I really need to be doing. Usually, every week, I have some place that I need to be. The private jet makes it easier for me because there is a family health issue. If I need to go almost anywhere in the country except for California, I can go somewhere, do my meeting, and fly right back. If I'm somewhere else in the country and I'm staying overnight, and if I have to come home on a moment's notice, I can do that. Where else have you been traveling? We flew to France, where we were shooting an episode for one of our TV shows. We flew to Versailles nonstop and Spain. We stayed at Versailles, so it was quite amazing. The plane has been featured in our TV shows and things like that. We've flown directly from our house to Hawaii. It was fantastic. The thing is, our family is so big that we take up the whole plane. We had a G280, which was too small for our family. We are planning to go to Egypt. What about when you're not flying? We also use the plane for some of our executives at Westgate. My husband owns Westgate Resorts, so it's a little perk for them. The planes are very active. My friends wanted to start using the planes. I've got five pilots and two flight attendants, and we now charter them. I'm going to have to buy more planes. Tell us about the charter business. I formed a company called Queen Air to charter our jets. This is a new venture for me. We have two Gulfstream G550s. With them, we can go pretty much anywhere in the world. It's a crowded market. Do you have a point of difference? We've got wonderful flight attendants. We do a lot of fun stuff when people charter our planes. We do themes. If it's someone's birthday, our flight attendants will get the birthday cake, birthday hats, the little horns, and all that good stuff. I had someone who wanted a Tiffany theme. He met this girl, and we had all kinds of Tiffany-colored balloons going up the steps to the plane. We bought Tiffany tableware for this trip. This person that chartered fell so in love. He flew the girl from Orlando here up to New York, then took her to Tiffany's, where he gave her a beautiful necklace, and then flew her back down on our private jet. We get a lot of fun people on our planes. It's cool. I'm really enjoying the business. I need to get more planes. I want to catch up with Richard Branson and learn how he built the Virgin airline brand. Do you have any favorite hotel groups? My favorite hotel group besides our own is Montage. I love the Montage in Laguna Beach. Whenever there's a Montage, I usually stay at it, like the one in Montana. The one in Laguna Beach is a place that I go to when I want to do a health retreat or cleansing because I love doing yoga, and they have a big lawn there. The beach is incredible, the food is excellent, and it's beautiful. Beyond Westgate, do you have any favorite hotels? One of my favorite hotels in the world is the Hotel de Paris (in Monaco). I love going there. I've taken my kids several times to the Grand Prix. It's like the fairytale being there. I've been to the Red Cross ball where the prince is there. I love just the elegance. Of course, me being the queen, I like all that fanfare. It gives me a chance to wear my crown legitimately. Everyone is wearing crowns over there. They're all royalty or debutantes or something. I really like the history there. I also love Villa Bokéh in Antigua, Guatemala. The owner hosted a party, and she really went out. She flew everyone by helicopter when they landed with their private jets. The event was three days, and she had to spend nearly a million dollars just on welcoming us to Guatemala. When I was there, we took a tour up to the volcanoes. And that's when I got the idea for another business. We drank the coffee, we tasted it, and it was amazing, so different than anything I had ever tasted. So, that was when you started you coffee brand? Yes! It's called Queen of Versailles Coffee. They said that if I do the coffee with them, I get first picks, the best of the beans first before. It's ultra-premium. They handpick all their ripened red beans slowly because they're all under the macadamia trees. That's why our coffee is so amazing. It's a limited edition. It's doing great. I almost have more orders than we can handle, and we are expanding the distribution with my partner, Michael Glovaski. We will soon be on cruise ships and duty-free. It's already very successful, and I see a lot of growth. You can buy it online, too. You are building a 90,000-square-foot house, and I know it is taking a while. How's it going? I think it's going to be ready in about four or five months. I want to have a huge charity event for Victoria's Voice in memory of my late daughter. It's going to be her 10-year anniversary since she overdosed on drugs. That's a big thing that I want to use this house for - giving back. This is not just for the drug epidemic but also for raising awareness about many causes. It could be for animals, it could be for cancer, mental illness. Philanthropy is my passion right now. I've had a wonderful life, and I've been blessed. I want to do what I can for the betterment of the community and our world. That's really my thing right now. I also feel the more you give, the more you receive. In a way, whether spiritually or in friendship, you attract really good people.