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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...
Tags: New Year's Eve 2009 Hotels / New Year's Eve Hotels / San Francisco Hotels / California Hotels / Fairmont Hotels / → All Tags
Luau in San Francisco for New Year's Eve
It's hard to believe, but New Year's Eve is less than two months away, which means a parade of hotel party tickets will soon be—or already are—available to the public. Most of these are highfalutin affairs where you'll find women competing in unofficial "Who has the shortest skirt?" contests, and where bottles of champagne circulate throughout the evening. These swanky soirees are easy enough to find, but for an unusual change of pace, you may want to consider heading to The Fairmont in San Francisco, where an inaugural New Year's luau will be held at the historic Tonga Room.
HotelChatter reader Mark, a long time Tonga Room patron, tipped us off to this unique NYE event and had good things to say about his experiences there:
On ocassion I visit the Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar to have a drink and some appetizers. It's a historic restaurant and bar...and unusually so has a rain storm every half hour or so...right in the bar area! I just heard from the staff last week that for the first time they are [having] a luau for New Year's Eve, and this isn't in Hawaii...it's in San Francisco! Kinda off the wall and should be fun.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Los Angeles Hotels / California Hotels / → All Tags
Torrance Gets a Sleek, Green Japanese 'Hybrid' Hotel
Los Angeles is just the kind of city that embraces cool cultural influences, particularly those from the far East—and we're not just talking about the multitude of sushi restaurants in greater LA County. We've seen contemporary tea houses, high end hot spring spas, and we just got news that a thoroughly Japanese hotel, The Miyako Hybrid, will soon be opening its doors to the public.
The Miyako line is apparently well-known in Japan for being ultra-modern and sleek, so its arrival in the City of Angels comes as no surprise. What's shocking is that you won't find it sharing block space in Beverly Hills or West Hollywood, but in Torrance of all places. We're scratching our heads right alongside you. That's not a dig against Torrance, but, quite honestly, it seems like the target audience of such a hotel is more accessible in the trendy heart of LA, not deep in the South Bay.
Tags: Hotel Deals / Hotel Promos / California Hotels / JDV Hotels / → All Tags
JDV Hotels Say, 'C'mon, Give Us a Smile,' With Third Night Free Promo
JDV's Hotel Erwin on Venice Beach
Hotels these days seem to be enthusiastic about "Third Night Free" promotions, and we're not complaining. In addition to last week's reportage on the Rosewood Mayakobá's customer-friendly offer, our latest helping of happiness comes from the news that the Joie de Vivre group's "Joy of Vivre" campaign includes a free third night with promotion code "JOIE" when you book in advance. The deal is good for JDV's 35 properties through June 15th of next year, and as a head's up, you'll have to make the reservation by May 31, 2010.
After what has been an inarguably difficult year for many, and with possible S.A.D. looming around the corner with the onset of grey weather (even in normally sunny California), the Vivre campaign is meant to inject a little more lightheartedness into the public's general attitude. They're well aware that the best way to extract said joy is to offer guests extras and the promise of prize winnings, which is how they're encouraging prospective customers to "explore living joyfully, happily, and exuberantly." This would border on being annoyingly twee if there weren't concrete bonuses to be had, which there are.
Tags: Fairmont Hotels / Florida Hotels / California Hotels / Eco-Friendly Hotels / Mexico Hotels / Hotel Packages / → All Tags
Fairmont Hotels Inspired to Give Back by Ken Burns' New Documentary
The Fairmont San Francisco jumps on the state park philanthropy bandwagon, details below
If you've ever seen any portion of the sweeping TV-documentary The Civil War, then you know who Ken Burns is. The PBS mainstay has been producing and directing films for the network for a quarter century about everything from the Statue of Liberty to architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
When Burns speaks, PBS-o-philes listen, and he's not one to shy away from advocating causes close to his heart. His latest documentary The National Parks: America's Best Idea (how's that for a bold statement?) recently premiered on PBS; it takes a look at famous outdoor landmarks like The Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone, and the "people who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved."
That's all well and good, but what exactly does it have to do with hotels? The Fairmont has jumped on the Ken Burns bandwagon, promoting park and nature-related packages and making charitable gestures in the spirit of PBS' giving filmmaker. Hey, if The Fairmont Newport Beach can push an Orange County, naturalist-led "Gold Coast" tour and donate 10 percent of proceeds to the California Commission at the same time, why not?
Tags: Hotel Spas / Breast Cancer Awareness / Spa Packages / California Hotels / → All Tags
La Costa Offers Guests Spa Discounts with the 'Pink Ribbon Treatment'
You can lounge here after your charitable spa treatment.
You can ease your guilt about splurging at the spa by telling yourself that you're doing it to help others. For real. If you book La Costa Resort and Spa's "Pink Ribbon Treatment," a portion will benefit breast cancer research.
To celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the spa will offer the Pink Ribbon Treatment daily except for Saturdays, Oct. 1 to Nov. 7. The special allows you to book any 50-minute spa service for $125, and $5 of that will be donated to the San Diego chapter of the Susan G. Komen For the Cure. It still may seem like a lot of dough, but you can save up to $40. The lomilomi—a Hawaiian-type of massage that uses continuous, flowing strokes—usually costs $165 and the custom facial normally is $160.
Tags: Insane Hotel Packages / California Hotels / → All Tags
One Reason To Stay at Pechanga: Hot-Air Balloon Rides
Hotels offer all sorts of crazy things-that-go gimmicks, whether it be a couple's massage on a gondola or a free cocktail cruise. But the Pechanga Resort and Casino literally goes above and beyond with its "Up, Up & Away" hot-air balloon package.
You'll start before day breaks and take a hot-air balloon ride over Temecula Valley, SoCal's own wine country. As you peacefully float up to 3,000 feet in the air, you'll get a great perspective of the vineyards, wineries, lakes and citrus groves as the sun rises over the mountains.You won't have to worry about maneuvering in the seven-story balloon and getting lost in Oz like the Wizard, since a pilot from Grape Escape Balloon Adventures will guide the 75-minute tour.
Tags: Hotel Restaurants / JDV Hotels / California Hotels / Beach Hotels / → All Tags
Tapas and Tagines Dinner at Shorebreak Hotel’s Zimzala
We started the day talking about lunch and now we'll wrap it up talking about dinner. Yeah, we're hungry over here!
Have a hankering for tapas in Huntington Beach? Next Thursday, September 17, Joie De Vivre’s Shorebreak Hotel is hosting a special dinner at its restaurant, the Spanish-Moroccan Zimzala. The dinner is a three-course multi-cultural nod to the cuisine of Mediterranean cookbook author and James Beard Award winner, Chef Joyce Goldstein, who consults with Zimzala’s Executive Chef, Vincent Muraco, and will feature a veritable cornucopia of Spanish and Moroccan specialties.
Tags: Hotel Renovations / California Hotels / Palm Springs Hotels / Motels / John Lautner / → All Tags
John Lautner's Desert Hot Springs Motel Is Getting a Facelift
The name John Lautner is synonymous with Californian architecture. His work in the greater Los Angeles area from the 1940s forward represents some of the best in contemporary design—often dramatic, forward-thinking, and very much relevant today, which is why both long-time Lautner devotees and newfound fans continue to applaud his work. (It could also be the Brad Pitt-effect that's getting more people to stand up and pay attention to the field.)
Interior designer Tracy Beckmann, who, as we reported last week, is also responsible for the recent overhaul of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, and husband Ryan Trowbridge (a furniture designer) recently purchased the John Lautner Desert Hot Springs Motel and plan to reopen the property in 2010. Beckmann and Trowbridge are enthusiasts of the architect and are making sure that every step of renovation process falls in line with "green technologies that Lautner himself would have approved of." Like we said yesterday, green is definitely the new black.
Tags: Hotel News / Luxury Hotels / California Hotels / Hotel Emergencies / → All Tags
Los Angeles is Burning, Luxury Hotel Provides Shelter
The Terranea Resort, unaffected by the current fires, offers shelter to displaced residents.
If you live in Los Angeles, you were probably awakened by the pungent smell of active flames on Sunday morning. And, depending on how close you are to the wildfires currently sweeping La Canada Flintridge and surrounding areas, you may have noticed tiny flecks of ash dotting the windshield of your car as well.
Governor Schwarzenegger has deemed the fires "totally out of control," according to Sky News, while the L.A. Times' "L.A. Now" blog notes that with temperatures having reached the "mid- to high 90s" in recent days, fire conditions have reached extreme new heights.
Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Sacramento Hotels / California Hotels / JDV Hospitality / → All Tags
Follow The Chef With an Intimate Lunch at Grange Restaurant in Sacramento
Eating fresh, local, sustainable food is quickly moving from niche lifestyle to commonplace practice. The next time you find yourself in Sacramento, the Golden State's capital, why not opt to learn more about produce grown around the area? It's a very special, meaningful way to become familiar with different places you travel to, and Sacramento is rich with excellent locally-sourced fruits and vegetables.
At Grange Restaurant & Bar (adjacent to The Citizen Hotel
and within easy walking distance of the state capital), Executive Chef Michael Tuohy has attracted nationwide attention for his undying commitment to regional, seasonal, and sustainable foods. Dine at Grange and plan on the best of California’s bounty paired with wines from around the state and the possibility of politico sightings. Arnold needs to eat (and eat well), too.
Tags: Summer Reading / California Hotels / Eco-Hotels / Interviews / Lena Katz / → All Tags
Seek Out the California 'Sun' at These Four NorCal Hotels
The Bardessono in Yountville, Calif.
As part of our Summer Reading List for Hotel Geeks, once a week, we will review a book about hotels — whether it be fiction, non-fiction, historical, auto-biographical or even just a cool coffee table book with incredible photos. These could be the perfect books to kick back with while laying poolside, or while working the late-night shift at the front desk or while entertaining friends with your high-falutin' aspiring hotelier schemes. Our latest read is of the travel guide variety but we loved these California hotel picks.
As a former long-time California resident, we were excited to learn about fellow travel writer Lena Katz’ new Travel Temptations series of books, SNOW, SIP and SUN – especially SUN: California: Delicious Destinations, Secret Hideaways, Expert Sources , since this HotelChatter contributor moved to the land of Vitamin D deficiencies, a.k.a. Seattle.
We asked Katz to dish on her fave summer vacay destinations in the Golden State. She shared with us four Northern California picks, all known for their emphasis on nature – not artificial materials.
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