High-End Media Strikes Back at 'Luxury Bashing'

Big room, brilliant view, fawning staff ... you name it

(NEWSER) - What's $1,000 a night, when you can keep out the riff-raff, eat high on the hog, and get tickets to American Idol? That's the thinking these days at smaller chi chi hotels, where ultra-luxurious grand-a-night rooms are becoming more common, the Wall Street Journal reports. So just how do they pamper the 1% while 99-ers are lumping it at the Holiday Inn?

• Big room, gorgeous view, and fawning 24-hour staff are givens—as are spas and top restaurants with short waiting lists.

From Facebook to Google, Silicon Valley frowns on flashy spending

(NEWSER) - Facebook's staff may be full of zillionaires, but don't expect Ferraris in the parking lot. Silicon Valley, where almost 14% of homes earn more than $200,000 per year, is deeply opposed to conspicuous consumption—hence Mark Zuckerberg's iconic hoodies and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's underground house. "The message here is, ‘Keep shipping product,'" an insider tells the New York Times . "If someone buys a fancy car and posts a picture of it, they get ridiculed and berated." More»

Suburbs of Washington, DC, lead the way

(NEWSER) - Forbes rounds up the richest counties in the US, with the DC suburbs in northern Virginia again dominating. The top five:

1. Loudoun County, Virginia: $115,574 median household income
2. Falls Church City, Virginia: $114,409
3. Fairfax County, Virginia: $105,416
4. Los Alamos County, New Mexico: $103,643
5. Howard County, Maryland: $103,273

Adam Davidson probes elite world of New York nannies

(NEWSER) - Want an elite New York nanny? Adam Davidson considered hiring one until he saw the price tag: $180,000 a year plus Christmas bonus and a $3,000 apartment on Central Park West. "I should be her nanny," quips Davidson in the New York Times . So he probed the world of top-notch Manhattan nannies to see what people are paying for. "A typical high-priced nanny effectively signs her (and they are almost always women) life over to the family she works for," he writes. "That kind of commitment is essentially built into the price." More»

Blond prom queens luck out

(NEWSER) - The Daily Beast has turned its list-making prowess to wealth, following up articles on how to know you'll get married ... or cheat ... with one that outlines 15 signs that you'll be rich. Cross your fingers, and read on:

1. It's good to be good looking: Attractive men earn 9% more than their homely counterparts; women earn 4% more.
2. Homecoming queens luck out: Those who were popular in high school earn 10% more than their more friendless classmates.