CA Travel Guide
Tags: Holiday Hotels / San Diego Hotels / Hotel Deals / → All Tags
Se San Diego Offers a Naughty Holiday Package for a Nice Price
The holidays are all about Santa, cookies, snow and all that cheery goodwill toward others, but sometimes during the chaotic season you need to just get away with your honey for some coal-worthy behavior. All you bad boys and girls can head to the Se San Diego for its Naughty and Nice holiday package.
The one-night package allows you to get dirty in a Moroccan Rasul steam room. There you'll get the Se Spa's mud bath for two—the mud treatment is the spa's signature service, so it should be good. Then you and your sweetie can clean yourselves off with a soak in in a couple's tub.
Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Gordon Ramsay / West Hollywood Hotels / → All Tags
We Do Lunch at Gordon Ramsay's Boxwood Cafe at the London WeHo
Though famously cantankerous chef Gordon Ramsay hasn’t been seen around the kitchen at the The London West Hollywood lately, the restaurant there still bears his name. It’s also still pretty empty. Maybe all that will change with the recent opening of Ramsay’s new Boxwood Café in the front section of the restaurant space.
The new Boxwood is much more casual than Ramsay’s main restaurant, and is the second installment of this franchise for Ramsay. The first opened at the Berkeley Hotel in London in 2003. No white tablecloths and hushed teams of waiters clearing every stray crumb here. Instead, the service is friendly but not overbearing, and you can get every meal of the day with minimal fuss.
Tags: Hotel Brunch / Hotel Breakfasts / Thompson Hotels / Hollywood Hotels / → All Tags
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Gets Jazzed About Brunch
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel has a long and checkered history that well pre-dates today’s celebrity tantrums and “Super Sweet 16” parties. As a way of hearkening back to that golden-hued heyday, the hotel has started offering a new ”Jazz Brunch” on Sundays from 11:00am-3:00pm.
Since the special brunch starts at $18 per person, it’s actually a pretty good deal, especially for a Thompson Hotel, and especially considering that overnight parking will run you around $30, and the standard rate for a stay at the hotel starts at $225 a night.
If you’re anything like us, you’re naturally dubious about any meal that is accompanied by live music. What is this, the shoe department of Nordstrom’s? But we checked up on it, and here’s the scoop.
Tags: Snapshot / Do Not Disturb Signs / HotelChatter Galleries / Santa Monica Hotels / → All Tags
'Do Not Disturb' The Counting of The Sheep at The Hotel Oceana
So we continue to geek out about Do Not Disturb signs (as well as in-room coffee makers) and today we thought we'd show you this cute little DND sign from The Hotel Oceana in Santa Monica. No, it's not real lambswool but it is soft to touch. So you can totally forgive us for swiping this from the hotel, can't you?
Tags: Kid-Friendly Hotels / Movie Hotels / Palos Verdes Resorts / → All Tags
Aspiring Scorseses Can Get Schooled in Film at Terranea Resort's Kids Camps
Hollywood seems drawn to the Terranea Resort's scenic location. Although the hotel's new, its oceanfront site is a veteran in the movie biz, serving as the backdrop for blockbusters such as the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Aviator, Pearl Harbor and the Charlie’s Angels reboot. The Hollywood hubbub inspired the hotel to create new movie industry-themed camps for kids and teens.
The camps, available during winter, spring and summer breaks, will cover movie production, video game creation, stunt work and fashion design. Here are the options for your little filmmaker.
Tags: Hotel High Tea / High Tea Hotels / Beverly Hills Hotels / Peninsula Hotels / → All Tags
Pinky Up For High Tea at The Peninsula Beverly Hills
Los Angeles is a city whose locals are fueled by lattes, energy drinks, or sated by cocktails. Yet, that doesn't mean that Angelenos are averse to taking a breather and enjoying tea time, that serene mid-to-late afternoon tradition that's become fashionable at high-end hotels like The Peninsula Beverly Hills. The hotel's cushy, semi-Victorian decor is redolent of a traditional salon, and like most swanky tea rooms, it also bears a "you break it and you buy it" air. That just means you'll have to mind etiquette rules when sitting down with that pot of Darjeeling.
Tea is served in the hotel's Living Room, where a harpist—sadly not Joanna Newsom—sets the mood. There are two seatings per day, one at 2:30 and the other at 5:30, plus a noon seating on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. At these times you're handed a menu and allowed to choose from spreads that range anywhere from $29-59. There's the rub. High-tea is high-end at a place like the Peninsula, not a grab-and-go affair like that $1.50 cup of Tazo you can get at other places.
Tags: Morgans Hotel Group / Hotel Deals / Hotel Packages / Los Angeles Hotels / → All Tags
Mondrian WeHo Encourages Retail Therapy This Holiday
Sky Bar, where post-shopping cocktails can be had, even in the dead of winter
That familiar seasonal tune may claim "it's the most wonderful time of the year," but when you're making lists, checking them twice, and trying to decide what's re-giftable, the holidays can seem less than cheery. Gift shopping can seem like an endless chore, and a very pricey one at that.
The Mondrian Los Angeles has put together a special holiday deal that gives gift givers an ever-so-slight discount on some of the city's chicest stores. Truthfully though, the package's appeal is more self-serving, targeting female travelers with a love of labels and luxury treatments. Through January 10th, ask for their Ultimate Shopping Package when you make a reservation by phone, and you'll get a deal including $100 of hotel credit, valet parking, and a card featuring special discounts at various L.A. boutiques. Some of the price cuts include 20% off of Barney's New York in Beverly Hills, 20% off of Madison and Diavolina on West Third Street, and a complimentary manicure, makeup application or signature treatment with any hair service at Frederic Fekkai.
Tags: Cute Hotel Doggies / Pet-friendly Hotels / Hotel Packages / → All Tags
Surf's Up for This Frenchie in San Diego
As everyone throws themselves full throttle into Thanksgiving prep, let's pause for a moment and think of how much joy our four-legged friends give us. That's right, it's time for Cute Hotel Doggie of the Day!
Today's little surfer dude may not seem seasonally appropriate but we can all benefit from a little cubicle dreaming on a Friday. Besides, this Frenchie is just too damn cute not to share. We found him on the Facebook page for Loews Hotels, snapped hangin' four paws in this year's Loews Coronado Bay Resort annual Surf Dog competition.
When we first heard about dogs surfing we thought it was just a fad for rich hippies or a marketing gimmick, but it looks like the sport is a keeper for Loews. Their contests have raised over $15,000 for charity and attract pups from all over the U.S.
Tags: Hotel Construction / W Hotels / Hotel Delays / Hollywood Hotels / Wollywood / → All Tags
The W Hollywood Gets Pushed Back To January 15th; Will Still Be Paparazzi Central
On our way back home from Los Feliz last night, we were cruising down Hollywood Boulevard and noticed a giant gleaming W sign in the distance. It could only mean one thing--W Hollywood Hotel and Residences is getting close to opening.
The official opening date is not until January 15, 2010 (pushed back from December 3 and reservations don't start until January 28) but the hotel is nearing completion, at least on the exterior.
We took some late-night shots for you which you can peruse in our gallery here. The place is going to be massive, especially since there are residences attached to the building and a Red Line metro stop that runs through the building.
The location is proper Hollywood on Hollywood Boulevard, between Vine and Argyle with the Pantages Theater directly across the street with plenty of nightclubs as well as the Hollywood and Highland complex within walking distance.
Tags: Healdsburg / Healdsburg Hotels / Northern California Hotels / Top Chef / → All Tags
'Top Chef' Hearts Healdsburg and You Can Too
Top Chef and wine country fans alike will be happy to hear this insider scoop we were passed along: This season's finale was shot in one of Northern California's culinary havens, Healdsburg. Those in the know have long been trekking to Healdsburg to eat at restaurants like Cyrus, which one of our close friends—a nearby Sonoma resident—counts as one of her favorite places to dine. It was at Cyrus that part of the finale was shot, according to our channels.
With all of this Top Chef love being thrown Healdsburg's way, we thought it might be an appropriate time to list some hotel options for foodies whose trips are centered around tasting, sipping, and even gorging in extreme cases.
We've heard a lot of good things about Hotel Healdsburg—once again from Northern Californian natives who know the hotel and restaurant scene well. It's the home of Dry Creek Kitchen, which where chef and TC guest judge Charlie Palmer has made his name. One of the biggest events that the hotel hosts is Parker's annual "Pigs and Pinot" weekend, set to return in March of 2010, and involves exactly what the name implies: a helluva lotta Pinot Noir and pork goodness, with real-life top chefs contributing to the benefit weekend. Booking early for the popular event is a smart call.
Tags: Holiday Hotels / Omni Hotels / San Diego Hotels / Hotel Packages / → All Tags
Omni San Diego Tries to Offer Holiday Cheer with New Packages
Spending the holidays in a hotel may not seem very homey and warm, but the Omni San Diego, next to Petco Park in the downtown Gaslamp Quarter, wants to give it a go with several holiday packages.
The Stuff Your Stocking package starts at $99 a night. As you can guess from the package's name, the hotel will give you a personalized holiday stocking filled with coupons to stores and restaurants near the hotel. You'll also get a voucher that entitles you to stay in the hotel for the same rate in 2010.
Tags: Hotel Bars / Los Angeles Hotels / California Hotels / Celeb Scoop / → All Tags
The Five Best Hotel Bars in Los Angeles
Butterflies on the ceiling of Bar Marmont
Cocktail culture is a different breed in Los Angeles. This is a town known for "doing lunch," after all. Aspiring screenwriters and actors usually work during the day and hit clubs late at night, and slick producers hustle deals both during afternoon meetings and after hours. Happy Hour just isn't as popular here as it is in other cities you might visit.
And what makes choosing a bar even more difficult in LA is the rate of trend turnaround; one week some place is the place to be, the next you wouldn't find a Twilight cast member caught dead there.
Recently, the erstwhile travel reporter Jen Leo tweeted @HotelChatter asking us what hotels in Los Angeles would be great for a happy hour. This inspired us to revisit some of the city's most well-known hotel bars to do libation reconnaissance. Below you'll find the results of our liquored social experiment. More after the jump...
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