Up for auction: the suite where Paris Hilton slept

A suite costing Dh49,000 (US$13,400) a night, where Paris Hilton stayed, is among the rooms on offer in an online auction by a Dubai hotel. The Monarch, a five-star hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, is auctioning off its Monarch Suite, where Ms Hilton stayed recently. "Give it a try," said Arshad Hussain, the director of business development at the Monarch. "Someone can try for a lower rate and who knows, it might be accepted."

Mr Hussain said the hotel was turning to online auctions instead of lowering its prices, which was counter-productive. "If you keep dropping your rates, when are you going to increase them?" In the face of statistics showing occupancy and revenue-per-room levels down this year for the Dubai hotel trade, the Monarch also plans to launch a "name your price for luxury" auction next month, with rooms, meals and spa treatments on offer.

Meanwhile, other Dubai hotels, including the Atlantis, have signed up to Facebook as part of their marketing strategy, as analysts said it was important for hotels to embrace social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
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