92651 Travel Guide
Cool Hotel Jobs / Hotel Employees / Montage Hotels / Laguna Beach Hotels / → All Tags
Best Hotel Job Perk: Montage Laguna’s Sommelier Classes
Last week we told you about how seriously the Montage Laguna Beach’ takes its wine program, and about its weekly Sunday Artistry of Wine tasting series. This time, we’re going to fill you in on the employee continuing education class that just might be the coolest hotel job perk ever: sommelier training open to every staff member interested.
Wine Tasting Hotels / Montage Hotels / Laguna Beach Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Hotel Wines / → All Tags
Montage Laguna Beach Loves Its Wine
Most people come to the ritzy Montage Laguna Beach to take advantage of its incomparable location along the stunning SoCal coast. During a recent visit, though, we actually came to experience the resort’s comprehensive wine program. Not only does it have 7 sommeliers on staff among its three restaurants managing a list of over 45,000 bottles of 2,100 wines, but it also holds a weekly wine-tasting for guests and locals called the Artistry of Wine series.
Hotel Gardens / Laguna Beach Hotels / Hotel Restaurants / Hotel Spas / → All Tags
The Montage Laguna Beach Starts a Garden for Its Restaurant and Spa
People most likely come to the Montage Laguna Beach for its sweet on-the-water locale. But they may start heading there for Studio restaurant's new garden-to-table dishes or herb-filled spa treatments, made of veggies and spices that the Orange County hotel grows on its own.
Outside of the eatery sits the new 1,000-square-foot Studio Garden. Its five raised garden beds are full of lettuce, tomatoes, beans, strawberries, blackberries, lavender, sage, chamomile, rosemary, Fuji apple trees and fingerling potatoes among other goodies.
Celebrity Scoop / Dennis Rodman / Bad Celebrity Behavior / Hotel News / → All Tags
Dennis Rodman Continues To Be the Worst Hotel Guest On the Planet
Yes, it's happened again. Dennis Rodman should just avoid all hotels from now on because there is something about a hotel that makes him go nuts and get kicked out.
The latest victim is the Surf and Sand Hotel in Laguna Beach, Calif. Fresh off hosting a pool party at the Hotel Indigo East End, Rodman was staying at the Surf and Sand and filming a UK reality show when he got "drunk and disorderly" at the hotel bar.
Hotel Openings / Hotel Opening Rates / JDV Hotels / Laguna Beach Hotels / Orange County Hotels / → All Tags
JDV Officially in The OC with The Pacific Edge Hotel
Nearly two years ago, JDV Hotels announced they would be opening a hotel in the "real" Orange County, California by taking over the old Vacation Village hotel on the beach.
Now, The Pacific Edge Hotel is just about ready to make its debut. And in typical JDV fashion, the hotel is holding a contest to determine the hotel's new logo.
The hotel is looking for a design that captures the "spirit of Pacific Edge and "communicate the special qualities of the hotel." However, only California residents may enter.
Sweet Suites / Hotel Renovations / Surfer Hotels / Themed Hotel Rooms / Laguna Beach Hotels / → All Tags
Laguna's Casa del Camino Just Got a Whole Lot Cooler
On what ended up being a sunny, yet slightly overcast day in Laguna Beach, we had the opportunity to check out ten recently overhauled rooms at La Casa del Camino, a comfortable boutique hotel that lies just above the city's famed shoreline. And just in case you're wondering, no, we didn't run into any ex-cast member of a certain O.C. reality television show.
Anyways, we're of the "we have to see it to believe it" variety; almost daily we catch wind of the latest multi-million dollar renovation, but it takes an in-person visit to determine exactly what makes those new, meticulously chosen linens and architectural changes worth a guest's time and, sometimes, extra money.
Casa del Camino's Surf Project differs from your run-of-the-mill update for many reasons. Not one, but ten designers were paired up with ten quintessentially Orange County companies that represent the best of surf and skate culture, from Roxy to bikini line L*Space. When we first entered the hotel, its traditional Spanish architecture, soft, recessed lighting, and a familiar seaside bungalow ambiance belied the hypermodern changes that lay inside the ten rooms.
Hotel Restaurants / Montage Resorts / OC Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
Studio at The Montage Laguna Beach Wows Critic With Its $1,200 Bottle of Chardonnay
Now that Chef Craig Strong has taken over the kitchen at Studio, the restaurant at Laguna Beach’s Montage Resort, L.A. Times head restaurant critic, S. Irene Virbila, decided it was time to venture down the coast for a meal there, and the usually hard-to-please reviewer was positively raving about the food by the end of her dinner(s).
No other restaurant in Southern California has this mesmerizing view, and this happy combination of setting, great food, polished service and deep wine list makes Studio at Montage one of the region’s true destination restaurants.”
Holiday Hotels / Laguna Beach Hotels / → All Tags
Half-Off Rates at Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach
If you’re looking for a California Christmas/Chanukah (or Christmukkah, for you OC-reruns-on-SoapNet fans), you’ve got five more days to book the Surf & Sand Resort’s “Night to Remember” package
Book a room at Surf & Sand Resort before November 30 for a stay between December 1 and 30 and get 50 percent off room rates of seaview accommodations with a private balcony, breakfast for two and complimentary valet parking, Rates start at $590, which, if you do your grade school math, amounts to $295 per night.
Although, we still think that's a bit pricey of a room rate and given the hotel's mixed reviews, we hope you’re don’t wind up part of the clientele who want to forget their visit.
JDV Hotels / Hotel News / Chip Conley / OC Hotels / → All Tags
Chip Conley and JDV Move Into Lauren Conrad's Territory, Laguna Beach
Chip Conley and his JDV Hospitality Group have taken over managing the 130-room beachfront Vacation Village in Laguna Beach, just five blocks from the city's downtown.
The OC Biz Journal reports:
The move is part of the company's plan to double its hotels in the next five years.
Joie de Vivre now has 35 hotels and expects most of its growth to be in Southern California.
It already has hotels in the Brentwood-Westwood area, Studio City and Long Beach and will manage the Shorebreak Hotel in Huntington Beach slated to open early next year.
Vacation Village just underwent a $2 million room renovation last year so we doubt that it will need much sprucing up. But it will of course, need the complimentary JDV WiFi.
The hotel also two pools, a whirlpool and a 4,000-square-foot private residence, Pacific Edge, available for groups of up to 65 for events. So like, kids can hold their after-prom parties here or their "we just wanna party because we can" parties.
And we really hope that Chip and co. have a hotel-naming contest here. What would you call this place? The Real O.C. Hotel?
[Photo: Vacation Village]
Laguna Beach Hotels / TV Set Hotels / Hotel Packages / → All Tags
Thankfully, There's No LC Drama in This LB Hotel
Google "Laguna Beach" and the top result is a link to the third season of MTV's faux reality show. But Laguna Beach is more than a town that spawned numerous addictions to "The Hills."
In fact, in the amount of time you spend on the couch taking in yet another Hills marathon, you could be scoping out Laguna Beach for yourself with Surf & Sand Resort's "60 Hours at Surf & Sand" package, in honor of the resort's 60th anniversary this year.
Available from April 1 through June 30, the package is priced from $849 and includes two nights in an ocean-view room with a balcony; daily breakfast; $60 resort credit toward the resort's spa or food and beverage services; and "special surprises" delivered to guests' rooms throughout their stay, which we're hoping doesn't include spoilers of the next season of "The Hills."
Still fans of LC, Lo, Stephen and Kristen will rest peacefully knowing they are sleeping where the "Laguna Beach" kids partied in Season 1.
Hotel News / → All Tags
The Montage Takes a Page from MTV's Playbook
"Like everyone wants to be discovered in Laguna Beach ya know? Like me and Steeepheenn for example. We are just like the hottest things right now, ya know?"
We only wish Kristen from "Laguna Beach--The Real OC" had actually said those words. Then she could be the spokesperson for Montage Resort & Spa and their "Star in Your Own Romantic Getaway" offers.
Panoramic ocean views and sun-kissed beaches set the stage this February as Montage rolls out the red carpet for romance. Spectacular food and wine, sensual spa treatments, designer lingerie and glorious sunsets are among the starring attractions.
Talk about trying to cash-in on the MTV show.
But the deals aren't on the cheap. "The Romance Package" which includes two-night Ocean Front Suite accommodations, dining, a couple's massage, breakfast in bed and "a rose petal bath drawn especially for you by the resort's 'Romance Artist' is going for $5,000.
Related Stories:
· Star in Your Own Romantic Getaway in Southern California [Yahoo! PR News]
· Montage Laguna Beach reviews [TripAdvisor]
