Following the February Board of Directors meeting, information was gathered about how many smokers wanted a room but couldn’t get one, and how many non-smokers had to settle for one of those rooms.

The results showed that the rooms were occupied 40% of the time by exchange guests, 30% by corporate clients and 15% by Owners. There seemed to be no instances of smokers or non-smokers not getting the room type they wanted, leading to the conclusion that six was the appropriate number of rooms.

The system is used for accounting, reservations and all other aspects of operation, according to Hotel General Manager Trond Aakre.

Aakre said Shell is spending $3.5 million on the new system. The Donatello is the first property to install it, something for which Aakre had campaigned. He commented that it will be two years before all the Shell properties get it. He described the system as "state-of-the-art" and "intuititve."

How do you like your room? Do you prefer a goose-down pillow or foam? Do you want a full turn-down with the bedspread removed, or simply a turn back? Would you like the blanket brought out?

With the new Hotel/Club system there will be a way to store this information (once it is gathered) and automatically attach it to your reservation so you’ll always get the treatment you want when you check in.

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Five more companies have joined the Club Donatello Gold Card program, providing discounts to  Owners who show their Gold Card. More places will be added to the fold soon.

Pier Market, Chic’s, San Francisco Coffee Roasting Co., Local Taste of the City Tours and Hobnob Tours participate along with Palio d’Asti restaurant and La Scene Café & Bar. Macy*s Welcome Savings Pass cards, good for 11% discounts, continue to be available.

The discounts are also available to all Guests in the Club who obtain a temporary card from a Management Team member.

Pier Market, Chic’s and San Francisco Coffee Roasting Company are all located on Pier 39. A Pier 39 discount book covering other Pier 39 establishments is available from the Club Management. Those spots include Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Crab House, Neptune’s Palace, North Beach Pizza and Swiss Louis Italian and Seafood Restaurant.

Pier Market specializes in mesquite grilling of fresh fish, served with fresh bread and local wines. Its clam chowder has won awards.

Chic’s, also a seafood restaurant, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and the Bay. San Francisco Coffee Roasting Co., as the name suggests, is a stylish place to relax with a cappuccino or latte.

Local Tastes of the City Tours enables you to eat your way across San Francisco with explorations of Chinatown, North Beach, Golden Gate Park, the Haight and Fisherman’s Wharf. These five walking tours go into local bakeries, restaurants and cafes – usually right into the kitchen. Each tour ends with a full meal at a neighborhood restaurant with phenomenal food.

Hobnob Tours provides really in-depth walking tours of Nob Hill. The local guides bring alive the silver kings and railroad barons with history and humor. From the sites of the railroaders’ homes to the ballrooms of the Fairmont Hotel (whose stone walls survived the 1906 earthquake), every spot on the hill exudes San Franciscana. Breakfast, luncheon or high tea before or after a tour are optional.

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Many changes will greet those who attend this year’s Club Donatello Holiday Party Dec. 4, including a 15% reduction in the price.

While everything else in the world escalates in price, some judicious planning by the Social Events Committee has trimmed the price this year to $85, without cutting any of the things that have made the party such a popular, festive event.

After several years at the Westin St. Francis, the Committee decided it was time for a change and selected the recently redecorated ballroom of the Marines’ Memorial Club just one block from The Donatello at Sutter and Mason Streets.

Like the St. Francis, Marines Memorial reflects the grandeur of another era, with its high ceilings and period moldings.

The new chef at the Marines Memorial has received good reviews in the city. Committee members have been pleased with their testing, too.

The music at last year’s party received good reviews and the group has been invited back. Everybody enjoyed them so much that they were sorry when the evening ended, so this time they’ll play a little longer.

A new menu with many more choices is in the works for the Club Donatello Buon Giorno breakfast.

The additions are in response to requests for items such as yogurt or some other protein. The new items will add to the price of the Buon Giorno breakfast, but the Board is evaluating a discount for Owners, so there may be no change in the cost to them.

Mandy Vergara, Rooms Operations Manager, reported to the Board of Directors in April that the current breakfast revenue is "just above break-even."