Luxury

The wait for tables is getting longer at Buck's, a popular breakfast spot for the tech elite and a weather vane for the Silicon Valley economy. Here, like everywhere else, Facebook is the talk of the town. "Charles Schwab was in the restaurant the other day, and I asked him to hook me up with some Facebook shares," said Jamis MacNiven, owner of Buck's, in the wealthy suburban enclave of Woodside. "He told me even he can't get Facebook shares. " The new tech boom officially gets underway Friday when Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg rings Nasdaq's opening bell remotely from the company's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters, launching the largest initial public offering of stock in Silicon Valley history.

Last month, four of the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena's bosses decided to catch the Boss, so they used their government position to claim a luxury suite for Bruce Springsteen's sold-out stand there. The taxpayer-owned venue is in financial ruins, but the officials took their customary perks, enjoying Springsteen's blue-collar brand of rock 'n' roll from digs that included a private entry, spacious bathroom, kitchenette, lounge area and television screen. The 19 elevated seats, boxed off from the crowd, offered dead-on views of the stage for the officeholders and their guests.

Like first-timers at a key party or a cheesehead's trek to Lambeau, Lexus is on a quest for passion and it couldn't come at a more critical time. Toyota's luxury division lost the title of America's bestselling luxury brand in 2011 for the first time in 11 years. Lexus rightly blames Japan's earthquake and tsunami and their effect on supply chains, but have you driven the company's product line recently? A $400,000 supercar notwithstanding, my daily bowl of Grape-Nuts is more exciting.

I love my dog. Sure, he has issues - what lover doesn't? He wheezes when he sleeps, or when he's awake. There is an unexplainable darkness to his soul that emerges when he's under extreme stress. He also has a taste for the blood in mosquito bites. (The vet thinks he might be a vampire.) Being from L.A., our dog is prone to anxiety attacks and an almost debilitating sense of envy, particularly when coming upon younger, fitter dogs, which almost all dogs are. The last time we weighed him, he was close to 300 pounds.

Auto leasing deals abound these days, with offers that often seem too good to be true. How about a well-equipped Honda Accord for $250 a month with no down payment or any other drive-off fees? Or better yet, $199 a month for a Chevrolet Malibu? So, what's the catch? There isn't any if you know what you're getting into. There are always details. You need top-tier credit to qualify. You pay a penalty if you turn that Honda in with more than 36,000 miles. And the payment is not $250 a month because of that little matter of tax. It is more like $275, depending on where you live.

Cadillac hopes the third time's a charm. In yet another bid to unseat upscale German brands BMW and Mercedes-Benz, the luxury division of General Motors Co. unveiled its new ATS small sedan at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The ATS will battle in the most crowded segment of the luxury market, facing off against a new version of the BMW 3 Series, the perennial leader, and competent rivals including the Infiniti G, Lexus IS and Mercedes C Class. PHOTOS: Highlights from the Detroit Auto Show "People who buy the BMW 3 Series are probably some of the most educated and savvy buyers in the U.S. These people know how good the car is," said Mark Reuss, president of GM North America.

Cadillac, the upscale General Motors Co. brand, plans to come out with a luxury electric compact car — based on the decidedly blue-collar Chevrolet Volt. GM said Wednesday that the Cadillac ELR will use a drivetrain similar to what it developed for the Chevrolet Volt, which will enable the new model to travel some distance on only electricity before a gas motor kicks in to act as a generator and extend the vehicle's range. Such a system is known as a series plug-in hybrid vehicle, but others, including GM, call it an extended-range electric vehicle.

A Pennsylvania developer spent $85 million on a Beverly Hills apartment complex it plans to turn into a luxurious extended-stay hotel. Korman Communities bought the Crescent Beverly Hills apartments from C-III Capital Asset Management. The upscale apartments at 155 N. Crescent Drive were completed in 2006. When the property reopens this summer, it will be called AKA Beverly Hills. Rent for the AKA's 88 suites will start at about $400 a night and guests must agree to stay a minimum of 30 days, Korman said.

Maybe by now your summer is booked. But up in the high desert of Oregon, a luxury ranch resort is eager to lasso you for fall. It's called Brasada Ranch , and it's an 1,800-acre hotel, golf and vacation-home development at Powell Butte, Ore. That's about 15 miles northeast of Bend in the high desert, with distant views of the snow-capped Cascades. It includes 80 cabins (one to three bedrooms, families welcome) and eight suites (500 square feet and up; children under 14 forbidden)

While the article by Katherine Salant on luxury tubs and showers ("Scrub the Whirlpool Tub and Go for a Super Shower," Feb. 8) attributed a lack of "time to luxuriate" as the reason for the growing unpopularity of such devices, it failed to note a more realistic cause: their sheer wastefulness. A larger hydrojet spa tub can drain an average water heater without raising the temperature much above tepid for its 100-gallon-plus capacity (which then promptly goes down the drain), and the conservation qualities of a six-headed shower, even when used by couples, is questionable at best.

Ask a hard-pressed mom what she wants forMother's Dayand she's apt to say she'd like a break from chores. No cleaning, shopping, cooking, volunteering, driving or organizing. Herewith, a few luxurious getaways where moms will never be asked to do any of the above. (Moms, we suggest you leave this article in a strategic location.) Carmel Valley Ranch Carmel Valley Ranch takes great pains to cater to families and adults - separately. Although it is an ideal retreat for families, it is also one of the most serene places to go with friends or partners.

Sunnylands, the 200-acre Annenberg estate in Rancho Mirage that hosted five decades of political and Hollywood luminaries behind its pink walls, opened to the public for the first time in March. Consider this 20,000-square-foot dwelling, set in a far-as-the-eye-can-see expanse of golf course green, as a latter-day incarnation of the Gilded Age mansions of Newport, R.I. Inside the house, digital reproductions of the Annenbergs' $1-billion-plus Impressionist art collection compete for space on the few walls not made of glass.

Los Angeles supermarket magnate Ron Burkle went upscale with the latest addition to his portfolio: fashion retailer Barneys New York. Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. and Perry Capital took ownership of Barneys in a debt-restructuring deal, Barneys announced Monday. Perry Capital is the majority owner. The deal slashes Barneys' debt to $50 million from $590 million. "This agreement provides us with increased free cash flow that will be used to revitalize our stores, invest in Barneys.com and further enhance our customer experience at a time when our operational financial performance is very strong," Barneys Chief Executive Mark Lee said in a statement.

The Century, a luxury condominium tower in Century City, will soon house a restaurant operated by high-profile Los Angeles chef David Myers. His yet-to-be-named restaurant will be open to the public and also cater private meals and events for residents of the 41-story tower such as Candy Spelling, who owns the top two floors. The ground-floor restaurant will have a separate driveway and entrance from the residences, said Jeff Blau, president of the Related Cos., the developer of the tower on Avenue of the Stars.

Apparently there is a limit to how much people are willing to pay to pamper their cars and save a few minutes, even in car-crazy L.A. An effort at Bob Hope Airport to provide super luxury valet parking for $14,600 a year has been a flop and will be discontinued. Despite the upsides - reserved, extra-wide, covered spaces and shortened wait times - the deluxe valet service has not drawn a single customer. "We've had no takers since the product was introduced," said Clint Joy, a vice president for Standard Parking, which took over operations at Bob Hope last month.

Drivers gave the service departments of the Lexus and Mini brands the highest ratings in the latest J.D. Power & Associates customer service index study. Lexus was the top luxury brand. The Toyota Motor Corp. unit scored 861 points out of a possible 1,000 on the J.D. Power scale and stood out in three of the five measures: service initiation, service facility and service quality. The rest of the top five in the luxury segment were Cadillac (852), Jaguar (849), Acura (838) and Porsche (836)

Luxury is fun! I do hope you will feature more and more homes of elegant opulence, of drop-dead decor. I much prefer to peek through the windows of a simply marvelous mansion than a boring, bourgeois bungalow. (Actually, the former provides many more decorating tips I can endeavor to emulate. I know for a fact that real people abide therein and thoroughly enjoy them.) Not all of us dine in our BVDs. Eunice Blauk Beverly Hills

A 45-story Las Vegas condominium tower that went bankrupt in the real estate crash has been repositioned by Southern California investors and units are back on the market at half their previous prices. The former Panorama Tower North, now known as the Martin, was third in a trio of luxury high-rises conceived during the last real estate boom and built near the Strip. By the time it was completed in 2009, the local condo market had collapsed. Santa Monica investor iStar Residential took title of the property through a foreclosure and brought in the Kor Group of Los Angeles to conduct a redesign of the tower on Dean Martin Drive.

A century-old brick apartment house and former drug den near Staples Center is slated to be reborn as a luxurious inn as demand for hotel rooms grows in downtown Los Angeles. The boarded-up building is a conspicuous ruin in a neighborhood decidedly on the upswing, alongside a trio of top-drawer condominium towers built in the real estate boom of the 2000s. The condo developers tried to buy the three-story derelict at the time but were unsuccessful. "The problem was figuring out who owned it," said Homer Williams, one of the developers of the 19-story Luma residential high-rise next door.