90069 Travel Guide - Page 2
Bed Bugs / Hotel Hell / Celebrity Scoop / X Factor Hotels / SImon Cowell / → All Tags
The Grafton On Sunset Has The X Factor, If By X Factor You Mean Bed Bugs
Sleep tight! Don't let the bed bugs bite. Ohh...
Bed bugs are never something we like to think about. Bed bugs at a posh hotel? Even less so. The NYC bed bug invasion crossing to the West Coast? It doesn’t bear thinking about.
So the news that the The Grafton On Sunset in LA might have infected the contestants of the X Factor with bed bugs is making us a little queasy.
According to that ever-reliable (cough) source the Mail Online, “at least four” contestants were bitten while they stayed at the hotel. They saw a doctor, were diagnosed with bedbugs and swiftly switched hotels:
A few of them were covered in bites, itching on their necks and legs. We didn't know what it was at first but we soon worked it out, it was pretty shocking.
Now we've all moved hotels and everyone's clothes have been cleaned.
Halloween Hotels / Los Angeles Hotels / LA Hotels / Standard Hotels / Morgans Hotel Group / Hotel Parties / → All Tags
These LA Hotels Will Reward Your Halloween Costume Efforts
West Hollywood is raising the bar for this year's Halloween Carnival, with a Project Masquerade contest that will attempt to pre-determine the most outlandish costume designs. Contestant are asked to submit their sketches to West Hollywood's Facebook page by next Monday, and three creative minds will be rewarded with a free night at The London West Hollywood. On the day of the parade, one finalist will be chosen for the $250 grand prize.
Luckily, The London isn't the only hotel getting in on the fancy-dress action. Several other spots around the city are doing it up with costume parties of their own. So whether you're into Oompa-Loompas or dead British people, we're pretty sure you'll find something that appeals. And if none of these options seem scary enough for you, just be thanksful you don't have to attend any parties at the spookiest hotel of them all.
Hotel Poetry / Hollywood Hotels / Standard Hotels / Miranda July / Movie Hotels / → All Tags
Before You Jump Into That Hotel Pool, Why Not Write A Poem About It?
Miranda July, whose new movie The Future is narrated by a dying cat, turned up at the Standard Hollywood last month to do press interviews. Though we've never had the unique pleasure of being besieged by dozens of journalists in a fancy hotel room (all we can think of is that scene from Notting Hill, when Hugh Grant pretends to be a reporter from "Horse & Hound" in order to speak to Julia Roberts), we imagine things must get a little tedious.
But the ever-resourceful July made use of her idle time in the hotel room to compose a poem—about the hotel. Ready for the cutest, weirdest, and albeit shortest, hotel-inspired poem ever? Read on.
Closings / SPIN Ping Pong / Morgans Hotels / Los Angeles Hotels / Hotel Fun / → All Tags
SPIN Ping Pong Club Has Closed at The Mondrian
The fun is done at the Mondrian Los Angeles as the SPIN Ping Pong Club has closed.
The NYC-based ping pong venture (run by Susan Sarandon, her boyfriend Jonathan Bricklin and partner Franck Raharinosy) opened its first outpost at the hotel last July and set up two ping pong tables in the lobby (with a third one out on the deck at SkyBar reserved for special events).
When we attended SPIN LA's opening party, we were all sorts of giddy about having ping pong in the hotel. But word is after a while, the cramped lobby got too crazy with ping pong balls flying everywhere. We guess SPIN won't be branching out to other Morgans Hotels then.
Life at the Mondrian has since returned to its usual minimalist vibe but we hear there might be something new in the works for the space. We'll keep you posted as soon as we find out.
Celebrity Scoop / Victoria Beckham / West Hollywood Hotels / → All Tags
Posh's Baby Shower Actually Went Down at the Petit Ermitage
We initially heard that Victoria Beckham was going to have her baby shower at the Beverly Wilshire, but it turns out that hosts Eva Longoria and hairdresser Ken Paves brought the celeb-filled party to the Petit Ermitage hotel in West Hollywood, Us Weekly reported.
As evidenced by the above photo that Posh tweeted, even the stars play lame toilet paper party games, just like us! Though we must say, we've never created a whole TP ensemble, complete with accessories.
Snapshot / Oscar Hotels / West Hollywood Hotels / → All Tags
This is What Was Going on at The Grafton Over Oscar Weekend
It's been universally acknowledged that the Oscars awards show this year was both horribly boring and horrible in general. From the awkward hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway to the downright shameful acceptance speech from Melissa Leo and the anti-climatic King's Speech sweep of Best Actor and Best Film, we're not sure many people would ever want to come back to Los Angeles to participate in the action.
BUT if they were inclined to give Oscars 2012 a chance, we suggest checking into The Grafton on Sunset, just a few short paces from the Sunset Tower where the legendary Vanity Fair party takes place.
We popped into the hotel over Oscar weekend to visit a friend and this is what the pool scene was like. Pretty quiet huh?
Oscar Hotels / Celebrity Scoop / Los Angeles Hotels / Justin Bieber / Madonna / → All Tags
Good Luck Trying To Crash The Sunset Tower Hotel Oscar Bash
Madonna, sans bottoms, makes an appearance at the Sunset Tower Hotel with daughter Lourdes.
It's no contest that the hottest post-Oscars spot is the Vanity Fair bash at the Sunset Tower Hotel, an uber-exclusive party attended by A-listers like Madonna, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal. But don't even think about sneaking in to the star-studded soiree.
Apparently, it's easier to get into Fort Knox than to crash the Sunset Tower Hotel party. After all, the highest security is needed when guests like Justin Bieber come with throngs of screaming, crazy tween fans.
Oscar Hotels / Celebrity Scoop / Los Angeles Hotels / Justin Bieber / Madonna / Jason Bateman / Taylor Swift / → All Tags
Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez Come Out on Oscar Night at the Sunset Tower Hotel
Everyone's still buzzing about last night's Oscars, including the predictable winners, the red-carpet ups (tangerine-clad Jennifer Hudson) and downs (Melissa Leo's heavy doily dress). But the real thing to gossip about is what happened at the the after-party: Justin Bieber and his cougar Selena Gomez came out as a couple at a hotel bash. Twelve-year-olds everywhere are crying.
Earlier in the day, the Never Say Never star Bieber and Gomez stepped out at the St. Regis Monarch Beach, as documented by some totally overwhelmed fans. They were spotted in the lobby and were then bombarded by eager Biebers hoping to get pictures of the heartthrob while he was waiting for a car outside of the hotel.
Valentine's Day Hotels / West Hollywood Hotels / Hotel Packages / → All Tags
An (Intentionally) Crappy Package To Get Yourself Dumped On V-Day
Last week we gave you the lowdown on Valentine's Day deals that we'd actually book. This week, it's time to show you the strange, outrageous and plain cray-cray packages that are out there.
If you're stuck with a grenade this Valentine's Day and you have to flee the scene, the Grafton on Sunset will help you out with its Dump 'Em on the Strip package.
Hotel Rebranding / Hotel News / Viceroy Hotel Group / West Hollywood Hotels / → All Tags
Viceroy Hotel Group Ditches The Chamberlain
SEE UPDATE BELOW
Thanks to an eagle-eyed commenter, we learned that West Hollywood's Chamberlain Hotel was dumped by the Viceroy Hotel Group about a month ago.
No reason has been given but we're guessing the Viceroy is thinking a lot bigger these days than the small boutique hotels it once started out with. Or maybe there was something a little more scandalous to it. After all, the hotel just got a glamourous new look last spring.
This is the second hotel that Viceroy has dropped. The first was the Loden Vancouver back in December of 2009.
For now, judging by the Viceroy's Urban Retreats site, it looks like Maison 140 in Beverly Hills, the Avalon Beverly Hills and the Delfina in Santa Monica are all still part of the family. We'll see how long that lasts.
Anyone with scoop on what happened over at The Chamberlain? Let us know!
Movie Set Hotels / Sofia Coppola / West Hollywood Hotels / Hotel News / AB Hotels / Stephen Dorff / → All Tags
Spend the Weekend with the Chateau Marmont 'Somewhere'
The critics so far have loved Sofia Coppola's latest movie, Somewhere, which takes place (as every hotel geek already knows) in the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood. And now, we can finally go see it for ourselves.
The movie was released on Wednesday in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington and we just happen to be in one of those cities right now. The movie will have a wider national release in January.
In case you haven't read our previous stories on the movie, this is what it's about:
Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) is a bad-boy A-List actor stumbling through a life of excess while living at Hollywood’s legendary Chateau Marmont Hotel. His days are a haze of drinks, girls, fast cars and fawning fans. Cocooned in this celebrity-induced artificial world, Johnny has lost all sense of his true self. Until, that is, his 11-year-old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) unexpectedly shows up and unwittingly begins to anchor him.
Holiday Hotels / Los Angeles Hotels / Andy Samberg / Jeff Klein / → All Tags
This is What the Sunset Tower is Sending Out for the Holidays
Hmm...we can't really classify this under Holiday Hotel Decorations. Perhaps we need to start a new series, Holiday Hotel Cards?
The Sunset Tower in West Hollywood is known to bow down to every request put forth by their celebrity clientele. (Want an oven in your suite? No problem! Just ditch that drunk make-up artist.)
But for the holiday season, hotelier Jeff Klein decided to reach out to a few regular celeb guests for some help. The NY Times' Media Decoder blog reports that Klein enlisted the help of "Lonely Island" aka SNL writers/stars Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone to create a holiday video greeting to send to his list of 5,000 very special hotel guests.
