The Fairmont is the grand old lady of Nob Hill and famous for doubling as the establishment in the old TV series "Hotel".  However it offers much less for the Bond martini traveler.

The new premiere bar at the Fairmont is the Laurel Court, which occupies a very large space just through the main lobby.  It is actually a restoration to the hotel's original configuration of many years ago.  However, its open airy atmosphere just doesn't click with the clubby style that bespeaks the world of 007.  Adding a bad martini to that doesn't help.

A couple of surly chaps behind the bar took our order as they were locking up the taps and preparing to close the bar at midnight.  When asked what vodka they were going to use, we were told "Smirnoff, it's not bad."  That should have prepared us for what came:  3 harsh martinis, poured sloppily into our glasses.  We sipped, scored, and then moved on so as not to cheat the evening of better martinis ahead.

Cmdr. John Morse notes "no style points for taste or mixology" at the star-crossed Fairmont Laurel Court.