Briggs announced him with frigid dignity at the doorway of the top-floor suite in the east wing.

The sound came from the staircase that led downward from the top-floor suite that Barfield inhabited.

Investigators and employees said the diplomat, who was not identified by the authorities, stayed in a top-floor suite Saturday night and flew back yesterday to Los Angeles, where he works.

Most ironic of all, it was from the top-floor suite that Harmon Kurth controlled not only International Pictures but most of Hollywood itself.

Kurtz- man's research had revealed that the top-floor suites had their own duct system and independent air-conditioning units.

On orders from the Amerikafuhrer himself, she'd been installed in one of the most luxurious top-floor suites inside the rambling Reichstag.

It is not the biggest or swankiest hotel - though its top-floor suites are like mansions.

The largest of the hotels along this stretch is the Hilton in Independence Park (24 42 22) where a double room costs $99, while a top-floor suite can cost as much as $230.

The blue and turquoise balconied Botel overlooks the Italianate harbor, but except for top-floor suites that sleep four, rooms share bathrooms and offer little in the way of amenities.

He had taken a top-floor suite.