Toy-Themed Hotel That Might Be

FAO Schwarz, which has a small store at South Coast Plaza, is looking for larger quarters hereabouts--and Pointe Anaheim developers hope it’s at their mega-mall across the street from Disneyland. In addition to a toy store, Pointe Anaheim would like to see the name of the noted New York retailer on a hotel--a prospect that may not be all that far out.

FAO Schwarz officials couldn’t be reached for comment on their local plans, but the company already has a partnership with the Trump International Hotel & Tower. Playing to the family travel trend, the five-star New York hotel is packaging two nights in a two-bedroom suite with kitchen, private shopping hours at the toy store, access to its high-end “Best of FAO Schwarz Room,” and a complimentary basket of toys. The price tag: a grown-up $1,900.

Touting the Trump as kid-friendly and having a pool--most Manhattan hotels don’t--hotel spokeswoman Kristina Ruble noted that guests also can hire FAO Schwarz to host private parties for their children.

Details of the local plans are sketchy but seem less extravagant. Guests at Pointe Anaheim’s toy-themed family hotel, the least expensive of three hotels it plans to build, would also find toys in their rooms. But they wouldn’t be free. “You would take ones you like with you,” Pointe Anaheim project manager Robert H. Shelton explains. “Instead of an honors bar, where you pay for what you drink, you’d have toys that people could charge and take home.”