Tag: Los Angeles Hotels

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Now, Here are Three Hotels in LA You Can Actually Book

May 20, 2013 at 4:31 PM | by | Comment (1)

This morning, we rounded up some of the planned luxury hotels coming to this world and while we're excited to stay in those future hotels, that's, like, years away at this point. We need something to satiate our new hotel fix now. Luckily, we don't have to fly around the world--just to Los Angeles. Here are three hotels that are now taking reservations:

· The Line Hotel, Los Angeles: The first Korean-American-inspired hotel in Los Angeles will open now on September 16. Rates on the website are going for about $349 a night, $319 if you use your AAA card. Inside the hotel will be a bar from the Houston Brothers, food options by Chef Roy Choi of the famous Kogi Korean BBQ food trucks and a "carefully curated" art boutique concept store. Los Angeles based designer Sean Knibb did the interiors.

· The Moment, Hollywood: This hotel was supposed to have its big moment in February but now it's happening on June 1. An introductory offer, called "Start Your Moment", has rates at $239 a night and includes two drinks on the Moment Roofdeck, breakfast for two and the staff's Hot Hollywood picks on sights, bites and activities.

· Palihouse Santa Monica: We got the scoop in March on the third hotel from the Paligroup set in a residential nabe of Santa Monica. Now it's your turn to peep the goods, starting on June 1. Rates are going for $299 a night and yes, that includes free WiFi.

[Photo courtesy of Paligroup]

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Prohibition Menus Come to The Georgian

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  Site Where: 1415 Ocean Avenue [map], Santa Monica, CA, United States, 90401
May 9, 2013 at 4:00 PM | by | Comments (0)

Here's the latest happening in the luxury hotel world as told by JustLuxe.com. Got a question about luxury hotels, the travel biz, and where to stay? Send it in and we'll have JustLuxe answer it.

If bartenders these days are to be believed, Prohibition was not the dangerous, skeevy, Mob-controlled booze era that history books and Hollywood movies have shown us. No, no – cocktailing during Prohibition was sexy and elegant, and when a bar today really wants to prove its mixology credentials, it rolls out a special Prohibition cocktail menu. The latest one to do so is The Georgian, Santa Monica’s distinctive Deco hotel and former hangout of Clark Gable, Carole Lombard and other Hollywood greats.

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We're Certainly Curious About Beverly Hills' New Sirtaj Hotel

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  Site Where: 120 South Reeves Drive [map], Beverly Hills, CA, United States, 90212
April 26, 2013 at 9:51 AM | by | Comments (0)

A brand new hotel has opened in the heart of Beverly Hills, just steps from the famed Rodeo Drive. Earlier this month, Sirtaj, has opened its door in one of America's most famous zip codes. Well kinda, since, technically, this is in 90212, but who's counting?

The super trendy digs feature 32 rooms with free WiFi and creature comforts like Egyptian cotton linens. If the welcome cocktail isn't enough and you just need to raid the minibar, expect SoCal goodies as the custom mini-bars are stocked with locally-sourced treats .Oh, and java-addicts will appreciate the in-room LavAzza coffee-machines to prevent any dropping after Rodeo-Drive shopping.

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Your Freewheelin' Guide To Hotels With Free Bike Rentals

April 25, 2013 at 9:52 AM | by | Comments (0)

As summer nears, hotels are going to start up with the usual warm-weather offerings: rooftop bars, poolside cabanas, and those awkward tanning concierges. But as far as we're concerned, it all boils down to one question: where can we ride a bike for free?

Unless otherwise noted, all of the below hotels offer free bike rentals on a first-come, first-served basis (that means no reserving the night before!), and all bikes come with a helmet and a lock.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on the public bikes at Public Chicago, and we recommend you do the same! Guests can grab a Trek Bicycle and take out for a spin down to Lake Shore and cruise along the beach's bike path—which are just three blocks from the hotel. Oh, and did we mention it's free?

In time for the first shoots of spring in London, £1-favorite Hoxton Hotel is now offering guests four custom UK-made Mango Bikes in the hotel’s colors to tool around town in. Both Sanderson and St. Martin’s Lane counter with equipment from the home of cycling, with Dutch bikes by Public J7.

Santa Barbara's El Encanto Resort has something special for adventuresome guests: electric bikes! The electric component can be turned on or off, so if you don't feel like cheating, you can pump all the way to the beach and back. But when it comes time to head back to the hotel (which sits in the Santa Barbara hills), that motor is going to come in pretty handy.

Sofitel So Bangkok offers three bikes for rent—a number suitable for the cast of Three's Company, but hey, free is free! Head across the road and pedal your heart out around Lumpini Park, the city's answer to Central Park, where you can ride along the Komodo Dragons basking in the sun on the banks of the lake.

For 12 more hotels (and hotel brands) with free bike rentals, read on!

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Lotsa New Looks and a Not-Yet Open Hotel For LA

April 24, 2013 at 3:17 PM | by | Comments (2)

Once again, here's your semi-regular update on the Los Angeles hotel scene....

The Loews Santa Monica: We've been chronicling the exterior update to the Loews Santa Monica since the beginning of the year. The other day we drove by at sundown and noticed special light projections on the exterior as well as a living wall. Pretty! But it turns out changes were happening on the inside as well. Guestrooms have new glass balconies that enable better enjoyment of the Pacific Ocean views. Later this year the pool will get premium poolside cabana rooms and beach-level rooms that will have residential-style patios, complete with fire pits. Rates at the hotel start at $498 a night for a weekend in mid-May. Ocean view rooms are more at $588.

The Moment: Last we checked in on The Moment, the new boutiquey hotel in Hollywood (above), the place had missed its planned February opening. Looking on the hotel website today, we still can't book a room for tonight or later this weekend or the first of May. We were, however, able to find a room in mid-May for $235 a night for a queen bed. That includes free WIFi and complimentary bikes. While the website may not have room rezzies open for tonight at this time, it does sport some cool new photos of the rooms. If you can splurge, the king suite patio at 600-sq.ft. looks the coolest with two flat-screen TVs and even a Keurig machine.

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Dishing On Dining Rooms and Disney Characters at Oceana Santa Monica

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  Site Where: 849 Ocean Ave [map], Santa Monica, CA, United States, 90403
April 24, 2013 at 9:17 AM | by | Comments (0)

Oceana Santa Monica General Manager, Christoph Moje

Have you ever flirted with a hotel concierge? In our series, Concierge Interviews, HotelChatter goes behind the Front Desk and gets chummy with the men—and women—whose job it is to never say no. Got a burning question you'd like us to ask? Or have someone in mind for us to interview? Email us your requests!

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Did We Stumble Upon A Secret Passageway At Millennium Biltmore LA?

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  Site Where: 506 South Grand Avenue [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90071-2607
April 23, 2013 at 9:17 AM | by | Comment (1)

We reported last month on the flurry of trendy new hotels coming to Downtown LA, but one place that's not likely ever to go out of style is the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, which opened back in 1923.

Located on Pershing Square, the hotel was designed by the same firm as the Waldorf-Astoria, and its richly-decorated interiors are appropriately over-the-top.

For example, Rendezvous Court (which originally functioned as the main lobby) was inspired by a Spanish cathedral, and features vaulted wood ceilings, Italian travertine stone walls, and a bronze double staircase. The impressive space was even featured on a recent episode of Glee!

Wandering through the hotel's opulent ballrooms (there are four total), we came across a bizarre feature in the Gold Room, a large banquet room that's divided into an upper and lower half by a semi-circular balustrade. And at the far end of the room, we noticed that a small door had been left ajar. Not one to pass up the opportunity to act out an Indiana Jones scene, we peeked inside and realized (to our delight) that we had discovered a secret passageway leading to another part of the hotel!

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We Lived The Life Aquatic At The Shore Hotel

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  Site Where: 1515 Ocean Ave [map], Santa Monica, CA, United States, 90401
April 22, 2013 at 9:17 AM | by | Comments (0)

Last week, we gave you our full review of Blue Plate Taco, the scene-y Mexican restaurant attached to The Shore Hotel. Despite reading constant positive reviews about this place, we were a little underwhelmed by the so-so tacos and poorly mixed cocktails.

Suffice to say, we were a little disappointed. However, there's still one (major) part of the experience that we haven't gotten to yet: our stay at the hotel itself!

We booked a Garden View Junior Suite, which, as the name implies, doesn't actually face the ocean but rather a small ground-floor patio tucked around the back of the hotel.

Far off in the distance we could spy a little bit of ocean, as well as the top half of the ferris wheel at Santa Monica Pier. But the fact that we were staying at an oceanfront hotel (literally, on the "shore") never once escaped us. For starters, the lobby is a giant gray cube that lets in plenty of natural light, including views of the beach across the street.

More importantly though, the design is incredibly water-focused. Pretty much everything—from the stark silvery hallways to the pool to the guest rooms' aquamarine decor—made us feel like we were underwater.

Read on to see photos from inside and all around the hotel!

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LA's Calabasas Now Has Its Own Boutique Hotel, The Anza

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  Site Where: 23627 Calabasas Rd [map], Calabasas, CA, United States, 91302
April 17, 2013 at 2:40 PM | by | Comments (0)

Calabasas is a ritzy enclave outside of Los Angeles, far from the city's happening hotel scene but the quiet suburb (probably best known as being home to the Kardashian Klan) is now getting its own stylish boutique hotel.

The Anza Hotel will officially launch in May with 122-rooms managed by Evolution Hospitality (The John Hardy Group was the project developer.) Formerly a Country Inn and Suites, the property has ben renovated from top to bottom to create a "casual, comfortable California feel." The hotel will also open a bistro on-site called the Graze Bistro and Bar serving simple gourmet food, craft beers and California wines, along with a private pool with cabanas and a fire pit for the chilly nights.

Nearby is Old Town Calabasa, a historic area home to the Leonis Adobe Museum, a former ranch from the 1800s and the Commons of Calabasas shopping center (site of many Kardashian photo ops.)

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The Sun Has Shone On Oceana Santa Monica's New Renovations

April 16, 2013 at 9:20 AM | by | Comments (0)

It's Guess the Hotel revealed!

We could have picked plenty other parts of LA for our West Coast jaunt this weekend: Downtown LA, West Hollywood, Studio City, or maybe, if we were feeling reaallly generous with ourselves, Beverly Hills. But no, we had to be stubborn about it and go after beachy, balmy Santa Monica.

The sun, the sand, the waves, we wanted it all. The only problem was, luck wasn't on our side, and the weather all weekend stayed cloudy and in the 60s.

Harrumph.

This gave us a good chance to acquaint ourselves with our room, a spacious Ocean View Suite at the Oceana Santa Monica (ocean views are normally a good thing, but this time it just reminded us how we were missing out on quality sprawled-out-on-the-beach tanning time).

Inside the room, we caught up on work, watched Gladiator on TNT, and even played a few rounds of checkers with our friend. (Yup, that's right! The mystery flip-top checkers board table we showed you yesterday is indeed found at the Oceana Santa Monica.)

Then, just as we were getting ready to check out, we saw shadows start to become defined on our wall, and realized—gasp!—the sun was finally coming out! And just in the nick of time. So we did what any hotel geek would do and scoured the property to take photos of the hotel the way it's meant to be seen.

Click through for our photo gallery of the sun-drenched lobby and pool courtyard!

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The W Westwood is Rolling Out a Mobile Fashion Truck

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  Site Where: 930 Hilgard Avenue [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90024
April 1, 2013 at 2:04 PM | by | Comments (0)

We thought maybe this was just another April Fool's Joke but the W Westwood is actually offering a fashion pop-up shop in the form of a mobile truck. Think food truck but with all the latest fashions!

The Le Fashion Truck will come to the hotel every second Friday of the month this spring and summer, starting April 12 and running through August 9. Inside the stylish pink jalopy will be a variety of merchandise from handmade jewelry, handbags, designer tees, vintage fashions and more. There will even be a dressing room on hand so you can try stuff on before plopping down the cash (or let's be real, plastic.)

Even though the W Westwood is walking distance to the shops in UCLA village and the new City Target as well as Brentwood and Beverly Hills, having Le Fashion Truck outside will make it more convenient for guests who need something special for their night out in LA. Rates at the W on April 12 start at $246 a night.

[Photo: Le Fashion Truck/Facebook]

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Standard Hollywood's New Pop-Up Shop Will Charm Bookworms and Floraphiles

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  Site Where: 8300 Sunset Boulevard [map], Hollywood , CA, United States, 90069
March 29, 2013 at 9:16 AM | by | Comment (1)

Ever since Rudy's, a Portland-based hipster barbershop chain, vacated its spot at The Standard Hollywood earlier this year, the hotel has been experimenting with different pop-up concepts. And currently, an LA-based art book shop called Book Stand has installed a 30-day retail residency in the space, based on the theme of plants.

Yup, plants. An entire assortment of art books, magazines, vintage tomes, films, art, pottery and "ephemera" all glorifying nature's different forms of greenery. Kind of a nice change of pace for a hotel mainly known for blacklisting guests and publishing ads of people peeing and drooling.

Out of curiosity, we hunted down a few of the titles that will be included in the shop, and found neat-o items like the zine Sunday Mornings at the River, or photographer Arno Fischer's 1978 monograph The Garden, or Avec, the first issue of a Korean lifestyle magazine devoted entirely to flowers.

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