Are You In Love this Valentine’s Day?

As we approach Valentine’s Day next week, we all are being reminded by the shelves full of chocolates in red heart shaped boxes in every retail store, the ads for flowers and the Valentine’s Day packages available at hotels, spas and restaurants. We decided at this hotel to do a Valentine’s Day ard and chocolates for all or our guests staying with us on that day. Which made me think, how did this holiday evolve in America and I found this interesting tidbit on History.com:

“Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap." Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.) Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.”

So make sure you show some love to that special someone next week. Based on the above statistic, most likely the ladies are already planning to, but the men have some catching up to do!  Happy Valentines to all!!

Be Well,

Michael D’Amodio

It’s Winter in Beverly Hills! A Perfect Time to Visit

Each January, as soon as everyone is over their New Year’s Eve hangover, the Rose Bowl Parade and trying hard to keep those newly made new year resolutions, Beverly Hills and Hollywood are gearing up for the annual awards shows. This past weekend we had the always festive Golden Globes held in Beverly Hills, and this weekend the town hosts the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) Awards. Then in February we move onto the Grammy’s and, of course, the Granddaddy of them all, the Academy Awards. Needless to say, the city is bustling with celebrity sightings, parties and gossip on which actor or movie has the inside track of being nominated, and ultimately winning. My Oscar pick is The Descendants starring George Clooney. Surely it will be nominated and hopefully it will win Best Picture, and George has a good shot at Best Actor too! 

I really enjoy this time of year in Southern California because of the awards shows but also for the very pleasant winter weather we have here compared to what most of our country has to deal with. Today, a few of us at work were commenting that it was a little “chilly” and the temperature was “only” 65 degrees today. Yes for us that is chilly. However, after chatting with another hotel friend who works in Vermont and hearing that the high temperature was 18 degrees and her driveway is covered in ice and snow and she almost couldn’t get the car started this morning, I realized how lucky we are here! We have no right to complain at all since we have very little rain each year, we average 325 sunny days and our average high temperature is 74 degrees and our low average is 58 degrees. Now, that is what I call winter!

So if you are reading this from a less optimal climate, we welcome you to come visit. Now is a great time to take advantage of all there is to do in the California sunshine. And if you come pay me a visit, I just may be able to steer you into the right shopping area or restaurant where you are sure to see a few of those award happy celebs about town this time of year! 

Be Well,

Michael D’Amodio

What do business travelers truly value?

Greetings All,

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday!  Hard to believe that we are quickly closing in on the Holidays and the end of 2011.

I came across this article that I wanted to share that really shows the value of the Residence Inn brand and specifically mentions the Residence Inn Beverly Hills!

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/what-do-business-travelers-want-most----i-need-my-space-134772003.html

Enjoy,

Michael D’Amodio

Trick or Treat?

I cannot believe that fall is here and the holidays are fast approaching.  As a kid, Halloween was one of my favorite holidays and signaled to me that Thanksgiving break was not far off.  I couldn’t wait to pick out a costume and go trick or treating.  Today, Halloween is one of the biggest commercial holidays in the USA. It is estimated that over 150 million Americans celebrate Halloween in some form or fashion.  Of course, a good portion of those 150 million people are the kids going door to door for candy and treats.

According to Wikipedia, the practice of dressing up in costumes and going door to door for treats on Halloween dates back to the Middle Ages.  Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when folks would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food and treats in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls' Day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain   although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy. 

I am sure that most of us were not even aware of the origin of this day.  However, it is a fun day for most kids and many adults too!  At the hotel, we usually see a decline in occupancy on October 31st, since so many parents want to be home with their kids for the trick or treating and costume parties.  So enjoy Halloween and for those guests that are checking into the hotel on October 31^st I will make sure we have plenty of candy and treats for each of you!

Be well and more to come soon!

Michael D’Amodio

End of Summer Already?

August 24, 2011

Wow, it is really hard to believe that the unofficial end of summer is upon as we approach Labor Day Weekend and the start of the school year for most grade schools, high school and colleges! I thought summer flew by when I was a kid, but it seems to be going by faster as an adult. It seems like we were just talking about Memorial Day plans and barbeques, no? 

I hope everyone had a great summer and did some vacationing. I was lucky enough to spend a long weekend in Palm Springs in June, but I am holding off on a longer vacation until the fall with a trip home to NYC to visit my family, catch two Broadway Shows, and enjoy some real authentic Italian home-cooked food. However, at the hotel it seems many people took and enjoyed vacations as this summer was good for us. Our guests took advantage of our Shopping Package and competitive room rates available in the hotel. There is still plenty of warm weather and summer fun left for those of us who want the season to continue.

I always despised Labor Day Weekend as a kid in school. Although I did well in school, I was a procrastinator. So Labor Day Weekend meant I had to read the four books I was supposed to read over the entire summer in three days and then do a book report on each book. Ugh! For any of you who don’t need to do any last minute book reports, there is still so much going on in the Beverly Hills/Los Angeles area. Here is just a sample of some of the September festivities:

Labor Day Weekend Events Around Los Angeles
Long Beach Blues Festival
The Taste Food & wine event in Beverly Hills, Hollywood and Downtown LA
Orange International Street Fair, City of Orange, Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend
Mexican Independence Celebration and Latino Heritage Month Events
Port of Los Angeles Lobsterfest at Ports O’ Call in San Pedro
Redondo Beach Lobster Festival 310-937-5555
Fiesta Hermosa arts festival Labor Day weekend in Hermosa Beach
Greek Festivals in Long Beach, LA, Arcadia, Covina and more.
Los Angeles County Fair, Pomona; 909-623-3111, www.fairplex.com
Abbot Kinney Festival, Music, arts and crafts festival on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice
Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture at Pt. Fermin Park in San Pedro; 323-913-4663
Brazilian Street Carnival in Long Beach, 562-438-3669
Feast of San Gennaro Italian Festival in Hollywood
TarFest, film, theatre, visual and performing arts festival on Museum Row
Septemberfest American style beer festival

So, don’t procrastinate! Plan that getaway or event now. There are places to go and lots to see. Keep this in mind: Halloween costumes are already being sold in the department stores right now!

CARMAGEDDON, SHMARMAGEDDON!

Well, by now the country (and a lot of the world) knows that Los Angeles survived  through the 10 mile closure of the 405 freeway. We not only survived, but thrived!

The huge traffic jams and clogged side streets never materialized and traffic throughout the whole LA area was very light to moderate at best.  Way better than any other day.

The reason is that most of us stayed home and stayed out of our cars, which is like asking an Angeleno to give up their first born child. Nonetheless, it was an opportunity for all of us from LA and guests visiting in the hotel, to explore the local neighborhood.  This past weekend we gave many more directions and recommendations for the many restaurants, bars, cafes and coffee houses within walking distance to the hotel, not to mention Rodeo Drive.  Many guests, if they drove at all, stayed with in a 2-3 mile radius of the hotel.

Even the street I live on seemed to come to life.  Kids playing in their front yards, couples walking together for exercise and a slew of people doing home chores outside.  It certainly was a nice change of pace for many of us.  However, by this morning’s rush hour all was back to normal with the usual daily freeway backups, accidents and even a short high-speed chase that LA is famous for.

Oh well, we have to do it all over again in 11 months, so ‘Carmegeddon: The Sequel’ will soon be here again! 

Be well and more to come!

Michael D’Amodio

JUNE: The month for Grads, Dads and Fads!

As a child I always LOVED the month of June. It meant the end of the school year, the opening of the backyard swimming pool and the longest days of the year to play more kick ball, red rover and hide and seek.  What more could a kid from Brooklyn ask for?

Even today, I still love the month of June. Outside of the beginning of summer, this month is always a month of celebrations and recognition in many families. With the graduation season already in full swing, I would like to congratulate all who are graduating this month from grade school, high school or college. A special shout out goes to all of our UCLA and USC grads and their families who stay at our hotel for the big weekend. What a special time to reflect on the past curricular and extra-curricular accomplishments of each grad and to celebrate the exciting future ahead. Congrats to all the Grads of 2011!

Of course, the month of June also brings us Father’s Day this upcoming weekend. Is it just me or does Father’s Day seem less celebrated than Mother’s Day?  Not sure why, but it sure feels that way. Nonetheless, Fathers do deserve their day of thanks and recognition to celebrate their parenting and fatherhood. The first Father’s Day in America was celebrated in Spokane, Washington on June 19, 1910 in honor of William Jackson Smart. His daughter threw a big party for Smart to thank him for raising six children as a single parent. The party became an annual event across Washington and the rest of the country. So make sure you make it a special day for our Dads and let them enjoy the day free from mowing the lawn, painting the garage door, and running to Home Depot!

Lastly, this month I have seen more articles, websites and news coverage on what is now one of the hottest fads in Los Angeles (and many other American cities): Food Trucks. These roaming restaurants feature a huge variety of food and show up all over the city at announced times.  Many people follow their favorite Food Truck on Twitter to get something to eat. Some trucks park outside office building complexes for lunch and the hottest bars and clubs at night until 3am. Some of the most popular Food Trucks are the Grilled Cheese Truck, Fish Lips Sushi Truck, Korean Bar b Q Truck and even a Lobster Truck which appropriately was parked in Beverly Hills this past week a few blocks from our hotel. For dessert, you will find the Sweets Truck, Chunk n Chip Truck and Cupcakes A Go Go.  The latest in this fad is for 4-8 trucks to converge on one block at the same time. Talk about a buffet, right!?  Bon Appetit!

Be well and more to come!

Michael D’Amodio