Inside that fancy hotel, there may be an even fancier one

Don’t want to mix with humdrum hotel guests? No problem.

More hoteliers are offering special floors of guestrooms that have their own entrances, concierges, lounges and other services to pamper their most demanding customers. In the latest twist, some are opening hotels within hotels.

Call it the new class system. But you don’t always have to be rich or famous to benefit from these hidden top-tier enclaves. You just have to know about them.

These facilities can promote family togetherness. Frequent snackers who enjoy a cocktail or two may even save money. That’s because if you indulge often enough, extras such as free food and, often, free liquor may be worth more than the rate difference between regular and premium floors.

For others, shelling out an extra $90 or more a night can buy a brief excursion into how the other half lives.

Ritz-Carlton Club floors, where guests generally pay 30% or 40% above regular room rates, provide the “ultimate indulgence,” said Vivian Deuschl, spokeswoman for the luxury chain. “You never have to ask for anything,” she said. “They ask you what you want.”

Club floors have been staples of Ritz-Carlton since the company’s inception two decades ago. But top hoteliers are constantly improving and expanding their elite products to gain an edge with high-end customers.

“There’s not much more luxury hotels can do to improve the guest experience,” Deuschl said. But that doesn’t keep them from trying. Among their efforts:

* Fairmont Gold at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts: Nearly half of the Toronto-based chain’s 43 hotels worldwide offer this elite option.

The program first landed in the U.S. in September at the Fairmont Washington, D.C. The Fairmont Orchid Hawaii added it in December, and Boston’s Fairmont Copley Plaza expects to have it by April, said spokeswoman Lori Holland.

At the Fairmont in Washington, free Gold extras include continental breakfast (with such items as mini eggs Benedict, crepes, mini steak-and-egg sandwiches); 2 p.m. “high tea” (finger sandwiches, scones); and hors d’oeuvres, 5 to 7 p.m., with an honor bar. Gold guests get their own lounge and check-in area for their 52-room section and an eight-member concierge team. By comparison, four concierges serve the hotel’s 363 regular rooms, said Clarence McLeod, Fairmont Gold manager.

“We become [a guest’s] aide-de-camp,” McLeod said of Gold concierges. “We also become the psychotherapist. We give hugs.” With some celebrities, “we create our own ‘A’ list,” he added. “They have my cellphone number, and I have theirs.”

Published rates for regular rooms at the Fairmont Washington, D.C., rated four diamonds by AAA, start at $229 per night; Gold rooms are $100 extra. (800) 257-7544, www.fairmont.com.

* Maison Orleans in New Orleans: This is what the 527-room Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, has dubbed its Ritz-Carlton Club section.

The club’s lobby and 75 rooms, on the Canal Street hotel’s fourth to ninth floors, have their own entrance at the rear on Rue Iberville. Maison Orleans is even listed as a separate lodging, with its own address and phone, on the chain’s Internet site, www.ritzcarlton.com.

Spokeswoman Char Schroeder described Maison Orleans as a boutique hotel. Guest- rooms have sunken tubs, Egyptian linens and other luxuries. The room rate includes breakfast, 7 to 10 a.m.; a snack, noon to 2 p.m.; tea, 3 to 4:30 p.m.; cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., with open bar; and desserts and cordials, 8:30 to 10 p.m.

The section has its own concierges; the number varies by occupancy, which has been good lately. Maison Orleans and the bigger Ritz have been sold out every weekend since September, Schroeder said, even though Maison Orleans is little advertised, depending on word of mouth and the Internet.

Maison Orleans rooms are generally priced $90 to $100 above Ritz rooms, which have published rates starting at $419 during the current high season but may fall to $179 during the June-July low season, Schroeder said. The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, is rated five diamonds by AAA. (800) 241-3333.

* The Enclave at Hilton Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego: This hotel-within-a-hotel, connected by a terrace to the 252-room main building, was created by accident. It was originally planned to house stores and loft-offices for Internet businesses, but it was redesigned after the dot-com bust, said Maureen Dime, director of marketing.

Its 30 guestrooms include lofts with 22-foot ceilings; about 90% are larger than the Hilton’s regular rooms. The Enclave, opened in 2001, draws music and film celebrities and business executives who value its privacy (separate entrance, with key access to the elevator), luxury (Frette linens) and personal service (special toiletries; dog-walking), Dime said. There’s no separate lounge with food; the typical guest uses room service.

Enclave room rates start at $350 a night, compared with $189 for regular rooms at this Hilton, which is rated three diamonds by AAA. (800) 445-8667, www.hilton.com.

The benefits of staying in top-tier hotels-within-hotels go beyond privacy and free food. Guests may get a remarkable level of personal attention.

For the ultimate in seclusion, “probably the world’s biggest rapper” (Dime wouldn’t give the name) asked to have the floor-to-ceiling windows of the $4,200-per-night Presidential Suite blacked out. The Enclave complied, using a black film, Dime said.

When a Gold guest at the Fairmont Washington, D.C., a lawyer from the Bay Area, lamented being away from his daughter on her first Halloween, McLeod’s staff called his wife and asked her to e-mail a photo of the girl in costume, which they framed and put in his room.

“This was a stern man who showed no emotion,” McLeod said. But when the lawyer saw the photo, “he broke down and bawled like a baby.”

Jane Engle welcomes comments and suggestions but cannot respond individually to letters and calls. Write Travel Insider, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, or e-mail [email protected]