At hotels, it?s the pampering and the party lure that the year-end guests are queueing up for. Picture by Rashbehari Das

This New Year?s Eve, instead of slipping behind the wheel, take the elevator. This New Year?s day, instead of being woken up by your milkman, wake up to bed tea from room service.

Rooms in five-star hotels are filling up fast on the last night of the year, and not all guests are from outside the city. More and more party people in town are opting for star comfort in the final countdown to 2006.

Champagne brunch, free passage to every party on the premises, loads of food and beverage options ? hospitality addresses in the city are doing all they can to cash in on the final fad of the year: spend the last weekend ? or maybe just the last night? amidst five-star facilities.

?We have got a fabulous response to our year-end packages for guests from the city. Those staying with us will enjoy access to the gym and the nightclub, with a complimentary breakfast the next morning,? says Modhurima Sinha of Taj Bengal.

And joining Calcuttans at the sign-in counter will be revellers from Jamshedpur, Durgapur, Bhubaneswar and even Bangladesh.

?We have a year-end package for people coming from adjoining towns and cities. They want to come and spend the countdown to the New Year in Calcutta, the party capital of the east, and leave the next day,? says Salmoli Mukerji at The Park. And there are many Calcuttans, she adds, who will check in on Saturday afternoon, party through the night and check out on Sunday.

The comfort factor is the clincher, especially for the less adventurous.

?There are two types of party people. Those who hop from one place to another, and those who want to spend a relaxed year-end. They prefer settling down at one place and spending a leisurely last few hours of the year,? says D.K. Jaiswal, managing director, Hotel Hindusthan International.

Then there is the safety factor of just climbing ? or crawling ? up to your room, rather than driving or being dropped home, either through choked arteries or through deserted streets ruled by reckless drivers.

?After partying the entire night, it is often a risky proposition to drive home or be dropped by friends. Many hard-core party people now prefer to go up to their rooms after having a blast on 31st Nite,? says a spokesperson for Hyatt Regency.

The one-night package for couples at the star hotels are priced at anything between Rs 5,000 and Rs 12,000, depending on the extent of pampering. ?The basic idea is to provide value for money and some. Otherwise, why should anybody leave home and check into a hotel?? argues Salmoli.