This Family Travel Forum family spent a weekend at the Fairmont and shares their experience at this San Francisco, California landmark.

When a deluxe hotel group started touting "Affordable Luxury for Families" we wanted to learn what that concept was all about. On a recent visit to the Fairmont Hotels & Resort's flagship property, the beautiful Fairmont San Francisco, my family was lucky enough to find out.

The Fairmont, recipient of several historically accurate facelifts since its 1906 opening, boasts its original grandeur without sacrificing any of the modern conveniences one might expect from a luxury hotel. With high-speed Internet access tucked into Georgian armoires, rattan and brocade furnishings and a combination of chinoiserie and contemporary art in the public areas, it is once again the palatial inn designed by architect Julia Morgan in 1906.

We quickly understood what luxury means to kids; it's a whole other lifestyle, where no one has chores and everyone is pampered and indulged. In a Fairmont, 'palace,' luxury means down pillows, silk fringe, generous toiletries, plush robes, a private fax machine to send greetings to grandparents, even a controller for the in-room Playstation.

Your kids may be the first to appreciate the Fairmont's over-size Corinthian columns: both the slender pair which support the limestone porte cochere and the gold marble ones which grace the lobby and main restaurant. Their bulk kept the original building, commissioned by James Graham Fair (a silver millionaire from Nevada) from collapsing during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. However, Mr. Fair's Fairmont was gutted by the massive fire that followed and required another year to reopen.

Since then it has continued to welcome government, hosting every U.S. president since William Howard Taft, visiting dignitaries, and even the diplomats who drafted the 1945 United Nations Charter under its roof. Celebrities frequent the 'Western White House' as well; Louis Armstrong, Roseanne, Shirley Temple Black, Judy Garland, Ernest Hemingway, Mick Jagger, the Dalai Lama, Willie Mays, and even Tony Bennett, who debuted "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" on its Venetian Room stage in 1962, have all been guests.

Mixing Culture with Cuisine

If the huge scale and ornate gilding doesn't impress your brood, spend time in the hallways admiring the framed photos of yesteryear. We didn't mind that the original swimming pool, which resembled San Francisco's arcaded Sutro Baths, had been converted in 1945 to a tropical lagoon for the Tonga Room, a Polynesian theme restaurant. Even today, when the Asian cuisine restaurant's rattan seating, faux palms, plastic grape clusters and sculpted totems are back en vogue, and the next generation of children celebrate special birthdays, most mouths still drop open when lightning strikes. Yes... every half hour, rain pours down, thunder clatters and lightning illuminates the silky black ceiling above the lagoon pool in the famous Tonga Hurricane.

After 8pm nightly, a live band performs on a moving boat while kids and couples of every age dance under the knotted ropes of the schooner bar. The family can also take advantage of Happy Hour, where a wide assortment of dim sum, Indonesian spring rolls and other hot hors d'oeuvres accompany virgin or rum-laced exotic drinks with, of course, little paper umbrellas.

High Tea is another culinary and cultural adventure which caters to kids. It takes place daily in the Laurel Court, an elegant, three-domed, stained glass parlor that dominates the hotel's lobby and inspires 'inside voices' at first sight. Service includes miniature tea cakes and puddings on gleaming silver with hot chocolate in bone china, and includes cookie dough and cutters so kids can make their own treats and have them baked while they wait. Prices may seem outrageous, but parents don't often find such an appropriate or joyful venue in which to teach old-fashioned manners.

At the delicious something-for-everyone buffet breakfast served in the same elegant space, kids under 5 eat free; those under 12 are half-price, and those 12+ pay the full tariff. An alternative we heartily approve for tired or fussy kids is room service, our family's favorite luxury. At the Fairmont, you not only get the kind of deluxe digs that qualify as their own tourist attraction, you also get a varied and affordable room service menu offering special Children's Menus for under-12s. We can vouch that room service - whether its pancakes decorated with bacon to resemble a clown face or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - arrives promptly, is delivered cheerfully, and is garnished with a rose in a bud vase.

Fairmont's Rooms

In San Francisco, family rates begin at $$ per night for a Fairmont Room with two queen beds in the main wing (these rates vary greatly depending on the season). These tastefully furnished, large rooms boast powder rooms or walk-in closets befitting long-ago families who spent the entire summer living at the hotel. We were particularly enchanted by the historic main wing when we learned its ultra-wide carpeted hallways had been built to accommodate the girth of women in hoop skirts, walking side by side.

We found all of the Fairmont's facilities welcome families. If you elect to stay in the pricier Tower Rooms located in the 20-story wing built in 1963, you'll have splendid views over the city and, when it's not foggy, out to Alcatraz Island. If not, ride the exterior glass elevator to the Crown Club for free! The hotel's full-service health club may be members only, but your teens will want to know they can purchase a day pass to take exercise classes or use the equipment. Between the wings is a sprawling terrace where toddlers can run around in complete safety and enjoy a small fountain. Other family amenities include private babysitting for a fee, arranged in advance by the concierge staff (and The Fairmont was the first hotel in the United States to have a Concierge!), and cribs, highchairs and strollers at no extra charge.

San Francisco Below Nob Hill

"All roads lead to Fairmont" proved to be true, as we found our lofty Nob Hill location just perfect for sightseeing. Within a block of the hotel is the pretty Huntingdon Park and playground for letting off steam, and the Mason, Powell and California cable car lines for getting out into the city. The CityPass enabled us to hop on and off the cable cars, and visit several attractions such as SF MOMA (415/357-4000), the modern art museum where a painting retrospective was baffling many kids.

On one cable car ride, we paused at Union Square, the city's heart for more than 150 years. Renovated with a granite patio, raised stage for public performances and metal benches, it has sleek glass and chrome food concessions for a snack. The century-old, 90-foot-tall Dewey Monument at its center is topped by a Victory statue, which we learned was modeled after a tantalizing beauty who married rich and later built the Legion of Honor to house her Rodin sculptures. Now, the gilded Ms. Alma de Bretteville Spreckels seems dwarfed by the marquees and shop windows of Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Levi's, Niketown, Saks 5th Avenue and other superstores which surround her.

We took a chilly one-hour Blue & Gold Fleet round-the-bay cruise, and held our breath as wakeboarders and windsurfers jumped over the ferry's wake at blazing speeds. Although our ferry circled "The Rock," star of the Nicholas Cage/Sean Connery thriller of the same name, we promised ourselves that the next time we would book the often-sold-out tour of Alcatraz Island well in advance.

Afterwards, when we sat down along the very touristy Pier 39 to regroup, we had our CityPasses stolen. Naively, we'd never thought of pickpockets in San Francisco. Although atop Nob Hill these aspects of urban life seem lightyears away, parents and kids must be mindful.

America's Favorite Pasttime

Without our CityPasses, we visited an attraction that wasn't prepaid: Pacific Bell Park, the city's dazzling baseball arena. Easily reached on the silver MuniRail system, we arrived about two hours before game time and bought bleacher seats. They are a terrific value, with open-air seating on the shoreline side of the stadium, and easy access to the park's Coca-Cola Fan Lot kids' zone and center field's wonderful food outlets. The Fan Lot has several free game areas, where kids can practice their batting, base running and pitching, slide through tunnels, or otherwise wear themselves out before the first inning.

It was chilly, and watching a losing NY Mets game was no fun -- even for Yankee fans. We got up and strolled around, sampling the favorite hot dogs at Doggie Diner, the jerk chicken with beans n'rice at Orlando's Cha-Cha Bowl, some of the microbrews on tap, a glass of a Coppola vineyard red wine, the incredibly popular Gilroy garlic fries which scented the bleachers, and the gloppy burritos. Satiated but not yet sick, we passed on the pre-made sushi, ice cream concoctions and waxy-looking nachos, but few others did. This communal food and baseball lovefest was the highlight of our trip.

By the way, we forked out $45 for an SF Giants sweathshirt to stay warm, and you'll have to buy gloves, an overpriced SFG homeboy cap, or a polyester orange and black blanket unless you come prepared to survive the elements.

A Weekend to Remember

What did we get out of our two-night Fairmont stay? Classic style, superb service, memorable food and great fun, plus true relaxation and a rich, shared family experience.

We are now firm devotees of the "Luxury-for-Families" concept. Having sampled some of Fairmont's other properties: le Château Manoir Richelieu, Château Frontenac, Château Laurier, Château Mont Tremblant, Hotel Vancouver and the Royal York in Canada, the Fairmont's Plaza Hotel in New York and the Copley Plaza in Boston, we can confirm that when it comes to introducing The Good Life to your children, all roads lead to Fairmont.