Omni Shoreham: Presidential Living for $400K

At Washington’s Omni Shoreham Hotel, $440,000 gets you a private jet, a personal concierge, and a puppy. By Emily Leaman

Comments () | Published December 1, 2008

Four guests at the Omni Shoreham Hotel will be living large this January. The hotel’s 44th Commander-in-Chief Package, priced at a whopping $440,000, includes lots of bells and whistles to make its four-night stay for the inauguration as deluxe as possible.

Guests will stay in the two-bedroom, 1,700-square-foot Shoreham Presidential suite. It includes living and dining rooms, a library, a full kitchen, and a balcony. They’ll be treated to private breakfasts and an in-room dinner with entertainment by political satirist Mark Russell. Because tickets for four to the swearing-in ceremony are included, the hotel will make sure that its VIP guests are well coiffed and outfitted for the event: They’ll enjoy a preinauguration makeover by Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door Salon & Spa, a $44,000 shopping spree from the Lambros Jewelry Inauguration Collection, and personalized president and first lady cologne and perfume.

Getting to and from Washington won’t be a problem either: The hotel will arrange a private jet for the guests’ arrival and departure. And when they leave, they’ll walk out the door with a puppy of their choice—yes, a puppy.

Paul Sharp, Omni’s director of marketing, will coordinate with guests ahead of time to determine exactly the kind of dog they want, and he’ll work with local rescue groups and breeders to get it—down to the color. If the foursome is made of up two couples, he’ll get two pups. “Whatever they want, I’ll get,” he says.

Another interesting twist: This package includes a trip to the Kempinski Hotel Moika 22 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Omni Shoreham is billing it as a “Foreign Policy Trip,” part of the presidential experience. The trip includes a five-night stay at the hotel and first-class round-trip airfare for four. Sadly, a dog sitter for this trip is not part of the deal.

UPDATE: The Washington Animal Rescue League sends letter to Omni Shoreham expressing "misgivings" about puppy giveaway. Our report is here. 

What other hotels are doing:
Mandarin Oriental: $200K for Once-in-a-Lifetime Inaugural Package
The Fairmont Goes Green for the Inauguration

>> All Washingtonian.com Inauguration 2009 coverage

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