Shockingly bad deal at the St. Regis is an inconvenient truth

Al Gore's hotel, the San Francisco St. Regis, has been selling a standard room for $954 per night, a price so jaw-droppingly ridiculous that HotelChatter.com is using it to launch an entire section of the site called "Bad Rate."

The site asks: "Are people who stay in luxury hotels really that dumb, or do the suits just think they are?"

Here's a bigger question: Is a lefty environmental activist Democrat like Gore really happy living next to people who could only afford be there by winning no-bid Iraq reconstruction contracts and suspiciously lucrative stock options?

Maybe. But he's almost certainly not happy living next to clueless people who pay $450 above the Regis' standard rate for $300 in "free" spa services, plus breakfast, a couple of robes and some skin care product. In fact, Gore is likely sighing audibly as we speak.

HotelChatter: $954 Spa Package at St. Regis San Francisco