Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Amusing: I'm gone for three weeks, most of it spent in an icy wonderland near the South Pole, and I return to Austin (normal winter highs around 60) in the middle of the city's worst ice storm in a decade. This being a town unused to wintry weather, the entire city shut down for the better part of a week, never mind that the roads were ice-free for half of it. But never mind all that ... my trip was amazing, and I had a fantastic time in both Antarctica and Buenos Aires. Click here if you're interested in checking out my photo album of the former.
Anyway, back to business: I'm heading to L.A. on Sunday (with a two-day side trip to Palm Springs) on a reconnaissance mission of sorts. I'm admittedly not a fan of the city, but it's similar in a few ways to Austin, namely its mild weather and laid-back, casual atmosphere. What it has that Austin lacks, however, is a plethora of small boutique hotels, many of them repurposed out of older buildings in slightly off-the-beaten-path locations. I'm particularly curious to check out the Kor Hotel Group's various properties, which include the Maison 140 (a boutique take on the B&B concept, something I've considered doing myself) and the Avalon, fashioned partially out of two adjoining, '50s-era apartment complexes. There's also the Sunset Tower, arguably the most fashionable hotel in town at present (for the over-35 set); I stayed there years ago in its previous incarnation as the St. James's Club, so I'm curious to see how it's changed. And then there's the Farmer's Daughter, which embraces a gingham-heavy farmhouse motif and frequently hosts guests in town for tapings of "The Price Is Right," filmed across the street. Normally this would have me recoiling in horror, but it's getting surprisingly good reviews (and not just from "Price Is Right" contestants), so they have to be doing something right.
Anyway, back to business: I'm heading to L.A. on Sunday (with a two-day side trip to Palm Springs) on a reconnaissance mission of sorts. I'm admittedly not a fan of the city, but it's similar in a few ways to Austin, namely its mild weather and laid-back, casual atmosphere. What it has that Austin lacks, however, is a plethora of small boutique hotels, many of them repurposed out of older buildings in slightly off-the-beaten-path locations. I'm particularly curious to check out the Kor Hotel Group's various properties, which include the Maison 140 (a boutique take on the B&B concept, something I've considered doing myself) and the Avalon, fashioned partially out of two adjoining, '50s-era apartment complexes. There's also the Sunset Tower, arguably the most fashionable hotel in town at present (for the over-35 set); I stayed there years ago in its previous incarnation as the St. James's Club, so I'm curious to see how it's changed. And then there's the Farmer's Daughter, which embraces a gingham-heavy farmhouse motif and frequently hosts guests in town for tapings of "The Price Is Right," filmed across the street. Normally this would have me recoiling in horror, but it's getting surprisingly good reviews (and not just from "Price Is Right" contestants), so they have to be doing something right.