HotelChatter

Some of the new features:

40 new villas have been built and the existing 12 have been upgraded, as have all the existing 102 hotel suites. The crown jewel is the Presidential Villa. GM Rod Gruendyke and designer Oliva Villaluz have meticulously thought of every elegant detail for the two-story 3,200 square foot Mediterranean style Presidential Villa, which offers the finest in luxury accommodations - 2 bedrooms, 3 baths, 3 fireplaces, private screening room, dining area for 10, executive office, accessibility by private elevator and 24 hour Villa Butler.

And oh, for guests that consider themselves so Hollywood that they won't rest their butts on anything that doesn't have the Porsche brand stamped on it, there's more.

The hotel also added a new spa with furniture designed by Porsche. Yeah, that Porsche.

And the cherry atop the Hollywood sundae? Upgrades to the recording studio.

Stay in the Presidential Villa, sit yourself on some Porsche furniture and finish off the day in the recording studio -- and voila: now you're totally Hollywood.

Props to Hotel Maven CourtneyMay for keeping us informed ahead of time by dropping some pics of the new look into the HotelChatter Flickr Pool. She did this last month. Go there to see pics of the villas and suites, both new and old.