If you have $125,000 to spare and fancy a rather special place in the sun for 10 days over the New Year, then Steven Chew may be your man.

The 38-year-old Briton has created a niche, renting out fully staffed, luxury private properties through his Brazil-registered company, Brazilian Beach House. The one with the $125,000 price tag is on Ilha Grande, near Angra dos Reis on the coast south-west of Rio de Janeiro.