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The Custom Hotel is Offering $12 Rooms for Those Who Can't Handle the Holidays

Where: 8639 Lincoln Blvd [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90049

If you're in need of a desperate escape from the holiday season but can't exactly afford to just get up and go, then consider spilling your heart out to the Custom Hotel in Los Angeles.

The hotel is currently giving $12 rooms to the "most deflated of Christmas spirits." People who write in with their holiday sob stories of how they just can't handle their relatives or how they got yet another crappy year-end bonus or how their grandma actually got run over by a reindeer will get to escape to the hotel for just $12.

Considering that rooms at the hotel are over $100, that should be a nice little stocking stuffer. Blackout dates for the sad Christmas spirit winner do apply and the voucher must be used by March 31, 2012. But hey, a room in LA for $12 is quite a nice treat.

Wanna see what you will be getting for $12? Take a look at the Custom Hotel's new airport-inspired look right here!

Hotel Technology / Hotel Gadgets / Plug Panels / W Hotels / → All Tags

The W Hollywood Will Provide 'Sanctuary' For Your All Your Gadgets

Where: 6250 Hollywood Boulevard [map], Hollywood, CA, United States, 90049

After touring the W Hollywood yesterday (sorry, no photos allowed just yet) we learned that the hotel will be using Sanctuary Chargers in-room. Awesome! But wait, what are Sanctuary chargers you ask?

Sanctuary is a product from Bluelounge that enables you to charge all of your gadgets in one box, by offering a multitude of charging cords from cellphones to iPods, iPhones, PDAs and other gadgets that use a USB or mini-USB port to charge up. In fact, The Sanctuary is capable of charging over 1,500 different types of gadgets. Here's how MacWorld describes using the product:

Using The Sanctuary couldn’t get much simpler: remove the tray, plug in its AC adapter, find the correct cord for your device, thread it through one of the notches, replace the tray, and voilà. A green LED light on the power brick will tell you that your devices are receiving power—if it starts to blink or dim, it’s a sign that you may have too many things connected, and that The Sanctuary has had to reduce its power intake.

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Celebrity Scoop / YouTube / Adam Lambert / JDV Hotels / Room Trashers / → All Tags

Adam Lambert 'Trashes' The Hotel Angeleno

Where: 170 N Church Ln, [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90049

But don't worry, it was just for a music video.

American Idol runner-up, Glambert, and friends hit up a room at the Hotel Angeleno to film a promotional spot for Vevo, a new music video website that launched last month.

The video intersperses shots of the hotel with Glambert and his friends "trashing" one of the rooms to one of his songs. Glambert takes a flat-screen TV off the wall and throws it out the window, then he begins jumping on the bed while his friends crawl around on the floor.

There's also a Stifler's mom type of lady walking around the room, clutching the remote control and crying about the loss of the TV until Glambert tells her "There's Vevo, you don't need this." And promptly throws the remote control out of the window.

As for the "trashing", it's pretty benign. But it really does look like they threw a TV out the window of the Angeleno which is kinda cool. Then again, it took a lot of effort to get the hotel world to convert to flat-screen TVs in the guestrooms and this is how Glambert repays them?

Hotel Deals / Travelzoo / Luxe Hotels / Bel-Air Hotels / → All Tags

Free Breakfast, Free Parking and a Low Rate at the Luxe Hotel

Where: 11461 Sunset Blvd. [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90049

The four-star Luxe Hotel in Bel Air is looking to give guests a little summer loving in the form of a $179 per night room rate on Travelzoo. The special includes free breakfast, valet parking and a free room upgrade based on availability.

Rooms at the hotel usually start at $250, so that’s a pretty big discount to start. The other perks add up to about $90, so it’s sort of like paying half-price. Or, at least that’s what the hotel tells us. However, we applaud any place that takes care of the notoriously pricey hotel parking.

And if you think you will not need a car, think again. This is Los Angeles and this hotel is right next to the freeway (although tastefully hidden.) Unless you want to have a chauffeur take you around, a rental car is necessary.

There are, of course, a few conditions. You have to book your room by May 29, though the offer is good for travel any day of the week through the end of September. Blackout dates are: May 29-30, June 3-5, 13-14, 19-27.

Call (800) 468-3541 to make your reservation, and be sure to mention the promo code TZ0309.

[Photo: Cfinke]

Easter Hotels / Los Angeles Hotels / Hotel Restaurants / Family-Friendly Hotels / → All Tags

The Easter Bunny To Make Appearance at Luxe Hotel On Sunset

Where: 11461 W Sunset Blvd [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90049

Even the Easter Bunny likes to hop to Bel Air for an occasional brunch date, and this Easter he’ll be putting in an appearance at On Sunset’s Jazz Brunch at the Luxe Hotel. While adults graze and groove to the strains of a jazz trio, the tykes can cavort with an Easter Bunny entertainer.

Brunch lasts from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm, though the Easter Bunny will only be there from 11:00 – 2:00 pm. After all, he’s got a lot of places to hit on his busy day.

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SLS Hotels / Hotel Music Videos / Lionel Richie / Hotel News / Celebrity Scoop / → All Tags

Lionel Richie Goes 'All Night Long' at The SLS Hotel

Where: 465 S La Cienega Blvd [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90049

Our veteran Starwood watcher Andrew Calvo tipped us off to this awesomely bad video featuring Lionel Richie and his new song, Just Go, which was filmed entirely at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles.

Let this video serve as a default video tour for the hotel (especially since they wouldn't let us film anything when we toured the place). You mostly see Lionel making hand gestures around the rooftop pool area but you also get a glimpse of what it's like to arrive at the hotel, kick it by the pool, dine and drink at the Bazaar but sadly, there are no shots of the guest rooms.

Also making a shout-out is Akon, which truthfully excites us more than the appearance of Lionel. Sorry, Nicole Richie, but it's true.

Hotel Openings / HotelChatter-Hollywood-Star-Map / → All Tags

Hotel Angeleno's "Old-Time" Celebs Make the Map

Where: 170 Church Lane [map], Los Angeles, ca, United States, 90049

HotelChatter Hollywood Star Map

We've added the Hotel Angeleno to our Hollywood Star Map as stop #14, thanks to the celeb attendees like Justine Bateman, Gabrielle Carteris, Jenny McCarthy and Allison Janney. Of course we would have preferred some more scandalous personalities like Lohan, Simpson, or Hilton but beggars can't be choosers. And Justine and Jenny ended up having some history with the place as a former Holiday Inn (Justine had a prom there; Jenny used to put her parents there in her early Playboy Bunny days.)

As if that were not enough, we are adding an extra bonus for you: A Viewlicious Photo Gallery of pictures taken during the party.

If that's still not enough for you, check out the complete set of photos on Flickr, courtesy of photog Javier Marcheselli.

Now, don't say we don't do anything nice for you.

Hotel Openings / JDV Hospitality / → All Tags

Hotel Angeleno: Inside the JDV SoCal Lair

Where: 170 Church Lane [map], Los Angeles, ca, United States, 90049

With all the tequila tasting that went on the other night at the Hotel Angeleno opening party, it's amazing that we remembered to actually check-out the rooms in this joint.

We already got a sneak peek at the place the other month, and we were pretty impressed. This time, we took note of the buzz floating throughout the party was that people were amazed this used to be a Holiday Inn. JDV Hospitality did a bang-up job of renovating the rooms with neutral tones and sleek furniture. Same goes for the lobby and with the hip ambience of the restaurant WEST, the hotel will be a swank and enjoyable place to stay.

Catering to business travelers, the place is wired with free wireless throughout and also has a small business center with both a Mac and a PC. The pool area is a tad small but will get the job done on a hot July day. The fitness center is mid-size with plenty of machines for several guests to work out at the same time. There's even a little coffee shop on the lobby floor where you can grab a bite to eat and a cup of cappuccino in the morning.

Lastly, despite the location right next to a freeway exit, the rooms are surprisingly quiet and not as noisy as one would expect. All of this detail is paying off as the hotel has been receiving more guests than anticipated (probably thanks to the introductory rate of $139).

There's still a bit more work to do here and there on the place. The restaurant WEST is open but only to hotel guests and private parties until June 15. The pool is also expected to be open within a week. And we think there is still some construction going on the wall that shields the hotel entrance from the view of the 405. But the 405 will never look good no matter how much you try to dress it up.

More Opening Party Pics Here

Related Stories:
· Party Dispatch: Hotel Angeleno Opening Party [HotelChatter]

Hotel Openings / → All Tags

Party Dispatch: Hotel Angeleno Opening Party

Where: 170 N. Church Lane [map], Los Angeles, ca, United States, 90049

HotelChatter Exclusive :: Opening Party Coverage

Last night was the official opening for the Hotel Angeleno and HotelChatter has the official Party Dispatch on what happened, who was there and what tequila tastes the best.

The hotel has been taking guests since March but the finishing touches like the top-floor restaurant, West, and the pool have not been seen until now.

The crowd was a mix of travel agents, business clients (like the hotel's wine and spirits distributor) and community folks with celeb appearances by Allison Janney, Jenny McCarthy and Justine Bateman. Interestingly enough, both Jenny and Justine had stories about the hotel in its past life as a Holiday Inn---Justine had a prom there and Jenny used to put her parents up there when she first moved to LA. We thought Hef would go higher quality than the Holiday Inn for his nineties cash bunny, oh well.

Despite the corporate guest list, the party was anything but a typical corporate function. Guests were taken on a ride from the bottom of the hotel up to the top, sampling a little bit of what the hotel can offer.

Poolside there were oyster treats from the restaurant and pomegranate martinis. On the 7th floor was tequila tasting and a ginormous bowl of guacamole and chips. Heading up to the 15th floor, party guests could indulge in a 5-minute hand massage. Continuing on to the 16th floor in the Brentwood Suite, available for private events, was a Spanish guitar player and a mojito bar.

But the biggest hits of the evening were the handwriting analysts who could tell from the way you crossed your Ts whether you were a good dancer or not. Finally, guests arrived at WEST where groovy music played and people mingled against the backdrop of the LA skyline. Yet the most fun came from riding the large elevators up and down with other guests from floor to floor.

Sadly, like all things in LA, the party was marred by the parking situation and the traffic jam that ensued as people were trying to hand off their cars to the valet.

More Party Dispatch and photos by Javier Marcheselli after the break

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Hotels / → All Tags

Sneak Peek at Hotel Angeleno

Where: 170 N. Church Lane [map], Los Angeles, ca, United States, 90049

Hotel Angeleno is open! We headed over there to check on the status of construction and instead of men on scaffolding, we saw actual business travelers walking through front doors held by doormen. The valet men were busy taking and parking cars and when we peeked beyond the doors we saw live people behind the desk. Amazing!

As we took a few snapshots, we learned that the hotel has been open for close to three weeks and that only five floors of rooms are open for business--the classic "soft open", or beta phase. The pool and the restaurant, called West, are still under construction but will most likely open by April 1. Of course, opening something April First always gives folks the old "April Fools" excuse in case things don't work out.

More jaw-dropping details and astonishing photos post-click

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