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Hotel Maven Briancuttermd dropped in a first person review on the hotel page for the Sofitel LA. And while we usually point people in the direction of interesting comments, we thought this one deserved its own post because it's so detailed. And when you're done, check out Jaunted's review of the Beverly Center across the street.
After the jump, Briancuttermd's full review.
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by juliana
[Ed. Note: Jaunted contributing editor Claire had quick stopover in Los Angeles. Here's her hotel experience.]
When we checked into the Wilshire Grand in Los Angeles last week at 2 a.m. after flying cross-country, we stumbled into the bathroom to brush our teeth, before toppling into bed. The next morning, we woke up to shower, and walked into the bathroom. Slowly, we realized we were standing in a different bathroom. We did a double take, and discovered that the standard-sized room has hotel has two, separate single bathrooms (see open doors on left and right side of the image).
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by ced138
Perhaps heeding the hellacious reviews on TripAdvisor and elsewhere, the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel has announced plans for a $29 million renovation which will include a Spa Luce spa, a new bar and lounge, and complete redos of the guest rooms, the outside pool and the lobby.
The name Spa Luce originates from the Italian word for "light," a guiding principle for the spa's design. When completed, natural sunlight will stream into the spa, creating an environment where light and warmth are seen for their regenerative, healing properties.
The hotel has already broken ground on the spa construction and expect it to open next winter.
Meanwhile, in other Los Angeles hotel news, the Hotel Bel-Air also announced their plans for a new 12,000 square foot spa, set to break ground this September and open in August 2008. So try not to visit these hotels until next year.
[Photo: Jay.Tong]
Related Stories:
· Spa Luce at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel Breaks Ground on Construction [Los Angeles Biz]
· Hotel Bel-Air Announces Plans For The Spa [Digital50]
· Renaissance Hollywood Hotel Has Too Much Action Going On [HotelChatter]
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The hotels below would not be caught dead wearing the uniforms above.
Los Angeles magazine has a quick write-up of the latest area hotels to get in on the hotel designer uniform craze.
Jason Pomeranc hired stylist to the stars Rachel Zoe and fashion designer Jenni Kayne to creat unis for the Thompson Beverly Hills Hotel staff (the hotel is expected to open this summer, our sources say.) The waittresses at Teddy's in the Hollywood Roosevelt are already sporting Diane Von Furstenberg dresses.
The Peninsula Beverly Hills puts the spa staff in blue and beige pants and sweater sets by luxury knits line St. John's.
The Sofitel LA employees get "gray pin-striped dresses with matching scarves" by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, a French designer.
And Jeff Klein's employees at the Sunset Tower sported Ted Baker uniforms until Klein reverted back to standard suits and polo shirts. Apparently, these staffers were so well-dressed, "everyone thought they were fellow guests." Ahh...the dangers of designer uniforms.
[Photo: Chrispitality]
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Sorry if we seem to be heavy on the Southern California hotel news today but we popped into the W Westwood Hotel last week and noticed gigantic photographs of celebrities on display, like this one of Susan Sarandon.
Turns out the pictures are part of the hotel's White Space exhibition (a W Hotels fine art series) and are the work of famed photographer Mark Seliger (he was chief photographer at Rolling Stone).
Other celebs featured include Salma Hayek, Jerry Seinfeld, Alicia Keys, Muhammad Ali and Michael J. Fox. The photos will be hanging in the lobby from now until June 24. You can buy the photos but they're expensive, ranging from $8,000 to $10,000.
Check out more photos of the W Westwood at HotelChatter's Flickr Pool
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Learn about the HotelChatter Photo Pool Here.
Thanks to Pat+, we have a killer photo of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites in our HotelChatter Flickr Pool.
Unfortunately, what's not so killer is what goes on in this hotel. Reviewers said the rooms are sorta outdated (particularly the walls and the carpet) and the service was terribly unhelpful. Also the hotel does not have the best location in Downtown LA. The surrounding area was frightening enough for the Qantas flight attendants to ask for a new crash pad.
Additionally, there are some extra charges to be aware of like $12.95 for ethernet in rooms with a speed that "is close to that of a 56K dialup service" and a $35 parking rate.
Related Stories:
· Westin Bonaventure reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Pat+'s Photostream [Flickr]
The other week when we reported on an episode of MTV's "scripted drama" The Hills in which the "cast" dined at the NineThirty restaurant at the W Westwood, a hotel worker wrote in to us that MTV's editing crew had got the story wrong. The foursome ate an entire meal, not just dessert, and spent about two and a half hours in the restaurant with one of the best servers on hand.
Perhaps sensing our skepticism at W service, we were invited to try out NineThirty for ourselves. And we, always in the mood for food and drinks, accepted the invitation.
So last night we pulled up to 930 Hilgard Avenue (get it?) for a 7:30 reservation. We walked carefully up the lighted blue steel steps at the hotel's entrance and made a quick left in the lobby towards the restaurant.
Now back in the day, when the W Westwood was only a year or two old, you would enter the hotel and be greeted with a darkly lit lobby and a bar right in the center of the room. Imagine arriving after a long flight at 10pm to find a loud party happening in the lobby?
Fortunately, the hotel has undergone a series of renovations so that when you first step into the hotel, it's still dimly lit (W-style) but the front desk and concierge are brightly lit stations to your right, the bar Whisky Blue and NineThirty are to the left, and a Living Room (W branding, not ours) greets you in the center with a curtained off sitting area just before the elevators. Now, that's more like a hotel.
MORE on Nine Thirty with pictures
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Update: Stupid fake reality shows. They can never be trusted, not even when commenting on skipping dinner and getting desert. We just got a note from a W Westwood worker who was present during the fake reality shoot:
I wanted to let you know that the party of four actually ate a 2 ½ hour dinner at our restaurant NineThirty, enjoying appetizers, entrees, and dessert. I know, because I was there the entire time overseeing the shoot. In the editing, they cut out the footage of the group dining. I just re-watched the segment, and can understand why it seemed as though they did not have a full dinner due to the nature of the editing. I want to ensure you that the group received top service – we had one of our best servers assisting them all evening.
Now if we could only get that servers name, so we could request him next time we go to NineThirty...
We're not a big fan of the MTV scripted "reality" show, The Hills but we did happen to tune in the other night out of sheer boredom.
Luckily for us, it just happened to be the night that LC (of Laguna Beach fame) decided to go on a double date with a girlfriend at the celeb-loving W Westwood Hotel.
Recently, the W has gotten a new look, including a swank new restaurant, Nine-Thirty and revamped Whiskey Blue bar area. This reality foursome hip up the restaurant and kept saying over and over again, "This place is nice" and "This place is great" which was probably part of the deal with W to shoot there.
However, their waiter took a bit too long in taking orders so the kids just ordered dessert. Sounds like what we would expect W Hotel service to be.
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