Nov. 4--When Berkshire Hathaway announced Tuesday that it wanted to buy the shares it didn't own in Fort Worth-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad company, things started falling into place for Matt Mildren.

Mildren owns The Ashton Hotel in downtown Fort Worth, where Warren Buffett, Berkshire's chief executive, and the rest of the Berkshire Hathaway board met two weeks ago for one of its annual off-site meetings.

"Now I understand why Mr. Buffett wanted all the staff out of the Ashton wine cellar Thursday night," Mildren said Tuesday.

On the first night of their stay, Buffett had a private board dinner in the wine cellar, and the hotel staff was under strict orders not to enter unless otherwise summoned, Mildren said.

"I'm honored and hugely humbled, to say the least, that the biggest Berkshire Hathaway investment in history was cut at the little Ashton Hotel in downtown Fort Worth," he said.

Berkshire Hathaway booked the hotel six months ago, but based on Buffett's comments on national television early Tuesday morning, the deal with BNSF wasn't cut until after Buffett arrived in Fort Worth on Oct. 22. The BNSF deal was done the next day.

Buffett even mentioned The Ashton -- a 39-room boutique hotel at 610 Main St. -- in his network interview.

Mildren appreciates the plug and said he fielded calls from friends asking whether he knew about the pending deal.

Buffett was appreciative, too. On Friday, The Ashton staff received a 5-pound box of See's chocolates. Berkshire owns the California-based candymaker.

SANDRA BAKER, 817-390-7727

-----

To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. NYSE:BRK, NYSE:BNI,