San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel is making sure no one overlooks its 100th birthday. Its once-in-a-century offer: Two nights in the penthouse for US$100,000.

 

For that rate, the luxury hotel is throwing in a few bonus items, including a 10-carat diamond bracelet, a Rolex watch, a gourmet dinner for 12, and a bottle of 1907 Madeira, Bloomberg News reported.

 

If that isn't enough to keep the guests in their rooms, they can tool around in a Maserati Quattroporte - a car that sells for about US$140,000 - during their visit.

 

The Fairmont's centennial deal, part of a year-long anniversary celebration, comes amid a wave of consumer spending on luxury items from wine and watches to private jets and special events.

 

The Merrill Lynch Lifestyle Index, a measure of stocks linked with luxury brands, climbed 22 percent last month from a year earlier and more than doubled in the past five years.

 

"People buy Rolexes, they buy jewelry and they pay a lot of money for great meals," said Francisco Gomez, general manager of the Fairmont. "There are people who look for excellent experiences because they can afford them."

 

Hotel consultants said over-the-top promotions generally are intended to generate publicity rather than profit.

 

"My gut feeling is that there are not a lot of people lining up to spend US$100,000 for something of such little intrinsic value," said Tom Callahan, president of PFK Consulting in San Francisco, which has done work for the Fairmont. "If I had US$100,000 to throw away, it's not where I'd throw it."

 

The Fairmont is deeply rooted in San Francisco's history. Already under construction, it was damaged by the 1906 earthquake and fire that leveled much of the city. It opened a year later, in April 1907, and some wealthy families uprooted by the earthquake moved in and stayed for years.

 

Tony Bennett gave the first public performance of his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," at the Fairmont in 1961, said his publicist, Sylvia Weiner.

 

Presidents, heads of state, royalty and rock stars have stayed at the hotel, now co-owned by Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal's Kingdom Hotels International and Los Angeles investment firm Maritz Wolff & Co. The hotel is operated by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc.

 

The Italian Renaissance-style building, a historic landmark, sits atop Nob Hill at California and Mason streets, across from the exclusive Pacific-Union Club and near the city's three cable car lines. The eighth-floor penthouse has 560 square meters of space: Three bedrooms, a formal dining room, a library, a billiards room and a terrace with views of the downtown skyline.

 

The usual charge for the penthouse is US$12,500 a night. The value of the promotional package is in the extras, including the US$44,000 bracelet and US$22,700 Rolex, Gomez said.

 

"We may not have a Chateau Margaux '54 with dinner, but we can provide almost anything else," the hotel executive said.

 

(Shanghai Daily April 23, 2007)