Inside the $33 million makeover of the Four Seasons Los Angeles, Beverly Hills


Los Angeles is no stranger to facelifts, nip-tucks and makeovers, but when a luxury hotel decides to go under the knife the finished product is worthy of a red carpet debut. The Four Seasons Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, finished its $33 million makeover this year and on a recent visit to Los Angeles, I got an inside look at the renovations, and learned why this hotel is so special to Hollywood’s elite.

The renovations spanned two and half years and in the end, all 285 guestrooms and suites, the ballroom, lounge, restaurants and pool and cabana areas were renovated. I met with General Manager Mehdi Eftekari to learn how the hotel managed the makeover while still operating at full capacity, and hosting celeb-studded parties, including some Academy Awards parties, with ease.

THE DECOR

Walking into the foyer of the Four Seasons Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, is like walking into a zen garden. Fresh floral bouquets greet guests and you’re suddenly overwhelmed by varying scents of freesia, lilies, roses and more as you make your way to the check-in desk. The lobby is draped in soothing yellow, golds and deep brown tones, and the same hues extend through the entire hotel, providing an inviting entrance no matter what floor you’re on.

THE ROOMS

The new design of the guest rooms pays homage to old Hollywood glamour. King-sized beds are positioned against white-gold headboards and each bedroom features a modern floral motif on the wall. New tan carpet infuses a splash of coral, plum or aqua into the mix and according to hotel staff, the carpets were custom designed to play off the owners’ love of flowers and gardens.


My favorite part of the rooms were the French doors that open to private balconies overlooking Beverly Hills, downtown Los Angeles or the Hollywood Hills, depending on which side you face. One-bedroom suites come complete with a living room area, pull-out sofa and desk space. Internet access comes at a fee, the only downside to staying at the hotel.

If you’re so inclined to stay in one of the hotel’s suites, you won’t be disappointed. Cashmere throws, grand pianos and Swarovski crystal are just a few of the perks that come with the suites. The rooms can be transformed from upbeat and inspiring to romantic and indulgent with the turn of a light switch. Walk-in closets in the suites are the size of some small apartments, so prepare to be envious (and start planning the renovations of your own closet back home).THE BATHROOMS

Each guest room’s bathroom has a stand-up shower and a bathtub, and comes furnished with all the proper amenities including robes and slippers, which I highly recommend you lounge around in. Truth be told, I spent a lot of time in the plush slippers and the best part is, you can take the slippers home for free (the robe will cost you $100). I’ll admit, the Four Seasons slippers are one of the best additions to my shoe closet.

THE RESTAURANT

Windows Lounge on the ground floor is the see-and-be-seen gathering spot for Los Angeles guests and Hollywood figures. At any given time you might see agents working deals, aspiring models looking for their next break, or you might catch a glimpse of your favorite celeb walking by. It’s important to point out the lounge isn’t a gawking spot for tourists. If you want to break out the camera, head down the street to Wilshire Boulevard and get your flashes ready. At Windows Lounge, order a glass of wine or relax with your favorite martini and you’ll feel like you’re part of the A-list crowd.

The lounge is a great spot to start before having dinner at the hotel’s new restaurant, Culina, Modern Italian. A blend of traditional Italian dishes with eclectic flavors make this restaurant worth the wait.

THE SPA, POOL & FITNESS CENTER

Ever wonder what it feels like to walk on a cloud? Step into the new pool and walk across the cushioned bottom, and you might get the sense of weightlessness you’ve been yearning for. Relax in one of the cabanas, which can be fitted with TVs, Internet access and food and beverages for the day for a fee. The restaurant on the third level offers poolside service amid gardens and orange trees, providing necessary shade for hot days.


The Four Seasons Spa features steam rooms, a sauna and a range treatments. For a truly relaxing experience, ask for your treatment from one of the poolside cabanas, where you can lounge in a chair and enjoy the fresh air while being pampered.

The hotel’s fitness center is the last piece of the puzzle to be renovated, but the current state of the center will get you pumped up to work out. Located poolside and set in an outside environment (with proper shades in the event of rain), the fitness center, while small in size, has treadmills, elliptical machines, stair-steppers, bicycles and a weight section. My perfect morning started off with a 5-mile run, followed by 20 minutes of elliptical training and ending with 20 minutes by the pool. Sometimes, a little ‘me time’ is necessary.

THE STAFF

When you stay at a luxury hotel, you expect luxury service, and the Four Seasons didn’t disappoint. I asked Eftekari how he managed to keep the hotel moving during the renovations, and he praised his staff who he said, “They believe in what they do.” It couldn’t be more apparent that the hotel staff love their jobs. From the check-in desk to the concierge to the maid service, everyone said “hello” with a smile and was eager to help with any request. The waitstaff knew when I needed more coffee, and even suggested a little protein in my diet when I had ordered only vegetables for lunch one day. When the last raspberry danish was given to another guest one morning, they made sure to save me one for the next day.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Imagine a place where Frank Sinatra might have played the piano late-night, or Lauren Bacall might have flipped her hair when Humphrey Bogart walked in the room, and you have the essence of the Four Seasons Los Angeles, Beverly Hills. If you listen closely you can the secrets of Hollywood’s elite whispering through the walls.

The bottom line: If you’re going to spend the money to stay in Los Angeles, you might as well be treated like a star and the Four Seasons Los Angeles Beverly Hills will gladly roll out the red carpet for you.

How to spot fake (and real) hotel reviews

Two decades ago, hotel reviews came solely from travel brochures and word of mouth. You’d see the fantastic photo of the property, and a brief description. The actual hotel would usually remain a surprise until you arrived. More often than not, the place would look nothing like what you had expected.

The Internet has changed a lot of that, and hotel reviews are usually refreshingly honest. That said, hotel reviews are also an ever growing source of fake and misleading information.

When anyone can post a review, you’ll run into overly positive remarks, as well as an abundance of negativity, most likely because people only tend to voice their opinion when something was bad.

AOL Travel has compiled a list of 10 ways you can determine whether a review is fake. Some of the tips are pretty logical (reviewers with no track record), while others are things you’d not normally think of.

Sites like TripAdvisor are adding warning messages to reviews that may not be entirely honest, and newcomers to the review market like Oyster Hotel Reviews are building their entire business around professional reviews.

So, next time you are shopping for a hotel, pay close attention to the reviews, you’ll be amazed how much misinformation there is out there.

Gadling hotel review – Hotel Arista, Naperville, IL

The Hotel Arista describes itself as “eco-chic”, and after my first stay here, I’ve got to agree with that description. The hotel is located in the western Chicago suburb of Naperville. About 45 minutes from downtown Chicago, the hotel is easy to reach as it is right off the expressway.

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How the Hotel Arista does “green”

The Hotel Arista is the first LEED certified hotel in Illinois. Being LEED certified means the hotel underwent a extensive “green audit” by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Thankfully, staying in a “green hotel” does not mean you need to sleep on hay and brush your teeth with ash and salt. In fact, the majority of green efforts at the Hotel Arista were very well implemented, and some of them actually made my stay even more enjoyable.

The green initiatives are twofold – the majority of them are behind the scenes, while others are out in the open.

In the public spaces, almost all lighting is LED, greatly reducing energy usage. Room climate control is only activated when a guest checks in, which means the system no longer needs to heat empty rooms. The hotel restaurant recycles all its cooking oil, and the chef grows his own herbs in a garden in front of the hotel.

In the rooms, wall control panels instantly control all the lights – these panels are next to the door, in the bedroom and next to the bed. With one push of a button, all the lights are dimmed. All rooms feature large floor to ceiling windows, greatly reducing the need for additional lighting. In addition to this, some of these windows can be opened, allowing fresh air into the room.

The toilet is a dual flush model, all bathroom paper products are partly recycled and the sinks feature low flow faucets.

To me, one of the most impressive methods of recycling is that the hotel supplies all its left over newspapers and magazines to a local shelter as bedding for the animals and their unused in-room amenities to a local homeless shelter, along with sheets, table linens and other items. Newspapers are delivered in a cloth bag, hung from the door each morning, instead of plastic liners.

All these initiatives mean the Hotel Arista uses 31% less water, and 21% less energy than a comparable property, and as I mentioned earlier – you never get the feeling you are being forced to be “green”.



Geek heaven

The Hotel Arista takes in-room technology to a whole new level – and was one of the best equipped hotels I’ve ever had the pleasure of staying in. My room was equipped with 2 42″ flat panel HD TV’s, one of which offered an easy access connection panel.

The TV channel lineup was equally impressive – offering a huge lineup of HD channels, including multiple premium movie channels. Additional features on the TV included a full hotel amenity guide, bill preview and room service menu.

A third TV is in the bathroom – behind the mirror. A splashproof remote control means you can fill the tub and watch the news.

The desk is equipped with a Cisco 7875 color IP touch screen telephone. The phone was updated with software offering instant access to maps, news, weather, voicemail-to-email interface and a full interactive hotel guide. The bedroom has a cordless IP phone.

Hidden behind the desk was an Ethernet cable offering access to the hotel broadband service. Speeds during my test were excellent – almost 30 mbps down and 25 mbps up. Wireless access is also offered, with a good solid signal and great speeds. The Ethernet cable could do with a label or some other way to let guests know where to find it.

There were no outlets above the desk, so I had to use the only spare outlet under the desk and use my own splitter to charge my phone and power my laptop.

The hotel offers a great lineup of extras for in your room – during your stay (or even before you arrive), you can request a Wii, Wii Fit, a DVD player and a variety of chargers and cables. This is the first time I’ve actually seen Blackberry chargers available for guests.

The Wii in your room is fantastic if you don’t plan to venture outside (and during my stay, the weather kept me indoors). My Wii was delivered in a Nintendo carrying bag, and came with Wii Sports and the Wii fit platform.

Thanks to the front panel hookup, I was up and running in about 5 minutes. There is something oddly cool about playing Wii Sports in a large room with floor to ceiling windows on the 12th floor.


Hotel amenities

The hotel has several on-property amenities, including an in-room spa and an award winning restaurant. A fitness center offers most of the equipment you’d expect from a good hotel health club, including showers and lockers. In addition to this, the staff can deliver fitness equipment to your room.

The hotel lobby is well designed, and features a discrete check-in desk and spacious “living room” with complimentary coffee and newspapers. Hotel staff were always around willing to help with doors and luggage.



In-room comfort

To be comfortable in my room, I only need a couple of things – a good bed, decent climate control and an easy to set alarm clock. The room provided two out of three. Like many hotels, the Arista installed the iHome iPod alarm clock, but since these are probably one of the most complicated to program, I opted to set an alarm on the Cisco IP phone (which was much easier to program).

Climate control in the room was very good – each room had its own thermostat. Guests who hate dry air can request a humidifier.

The bed was great, and the modern look and feel of the hotel meant I got a nice comforter instead of the horrible hospital style sheets found in other hotels.

Next to the bed is a control panel for turning off all the lights, and switching to nightlight mode, and on each side of the bed is a flexible nightlight. With one push of a button, all the lights dim and your nightlights can be turned on.

The minibar had a limited selection of beverages, and several snacks. Prices were surprisingly decent at just $4 for soda and $6 for most alcoholic beverages. Next to the fridge is a small snack tray and coffee maker. The hotel refers to its minibar as the “Nosh Box”, and items are located in the minibar, in the bathroom (bath salts) and next to the bed (face mask, sleep aid, intimacy kit).

Unlike most hotels, the minibar at the Hotel Arista can be designed to fit your personal needs. You can request more (or less) of products, add your own personal favorites, or request your own cocktail kit.

The bathroom in my room featured a stand-alone tub and a walk-in shower. Bathroom amenities are from the Gilchrist & Soames brand, and offered everything from a shaving kit to mouthwash. In other “green hotels”, I’ve noticed a trend towards wall mounted dispensers, but I still prefer good old tubes and bottles, so I was happy to see the Arista stick to these.

One of the more convenient features in the bathroom is floor lighting – dim light shows your way to the toilet for those middle of the night trips to relive yourself.


The Naperville area

Opening a luxury hotel in Naperville may have some people scratching their heads – the location is not exactly conveniently located anywhere exciting. That said – there is something to be said for staying away from the city.

At just 45 minutes from downtown Chicago, it is perfect for a romantic getaway.

For just $289, you get a 2 room king suite, Champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, a couples in-room massage and breakfast for two plus early arrival/late departure. That is at least $300 cheaper than a similar package in a downtown luxury hotel.

Within 10 minutes from the hotel are the Aurora premium outlets, where you can treat your significant other to something from the Coach (or Sony) store. Just down the road from the hotel is the Fox Valley mall, with over 180 stores.

And finally, starting at just $309, you can combine your stay with a round of golf at a local course.



Final thoughts

I’ll be going back to this hotel – even though it is within driving distance of where I live, it offers the kind of peace and quiet in a luxury surrounding we all need every now and then.

Their romance package is extremely well priced, and any couples in the area should seriously consider saying “I love you” in the luxury of their own two room suite.

The green features are perfectly balanced – you know they are there, but you don’t feel they get in the way. There is ample free parking around the hotel (including plenty of street parking).

You’ll find the Hotel Arista at 2139 CityGate Lane in Naperville. Their web site is at www.hotelarista.com.

Big up Kingston – The Spanish Court Hotel

Hotels provoke strong reactions among travelers. Stay at a really terrible, cookie-cutter property, and it’s likely to color an entire trip. Just the opposite is also true – when a traveler finds himself at truly unique hotel, aligned with the rhythms and particularities of a destination, tempered by friendly hospitality, it can vastly improve any travel experience.

With these two extremes in mind, Gadling recently had a chance to visit Kingston, Jamaica’s new Spanish Court Hotel. We found ourselves immediately taken by the latter of these two extremes. In a city of hotels characterized by their bland, unassuming accommodations, the Spanish Court is truly a breath of fresh air, bringing much needed style, sophistication and casual Jamaican hospitality to a city very much on an upward swing. This 107 room “boutique” hotel also represents something of a Caribbean coup: having been built entirely using local Jamaican artisans and materials it is an entity that is distinctly Jamaican in its identity, from the locally influenced food menu to the black and white photos of Jamaica in the hotel’s lobby.

Over two quick nights earlier this month, we jumped around on the Spanish Court’s mattresses and scrutinized the thread count on the towels, sampled the breakfast buffet and took a swim in the pool. On the whole, we liked what we found. Ready to take a closer look? Check below for our gallery and observations.

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Public Spaces
Upon arriving at the hotel, guests enter the property’s thoroughly modern main lobby. The most immediate impression is of the space’s modern feel and distinctly Jamaican touches. The dark hardwood floors, black and white photos of Jamaican plant life and open-slat room dividers lend the area a distinctly Caribbean feel.

Complementing this are the room’s more modern touches, including futuristic cloth-covered chandeliers and electric blue furniture. You feel as though you’re sitting in a kind of futuristic living room, comfortable yet defiant in its quirkiness and aura. To up the comfort level, the room is scattered with daily Kingston newspapers and coffee table books to encourage relaxation.

On the other side of the main lobby is a small dining area, which plays host to a small breakfast buffet each morning featuring a relatively basic setup of toast, fruit and cereal. Also within the dining area is a small bar where guests can gather for a nightcap or socialize with friends.

On the second floor is the Spanish Court Hotel’s pool area and Sky Bar. The pool is notable for its style, a freestanding above-ground rectangle that forms a single unbroken solid shape. The water laps right to the form’s edges. From the pool deck, visitors can also “drink in” a bird’s eye view of New Kingston’s nearby office towers while enjoying a cocktail at the pool deck bar.

Guest Rooms
Inside the hotel’s 107 rooms, guests are greeted by a similarly upscale experience to the property’s public spaces. Though a little small, all rooms are appointed with a nice mix of style and amenities to maximize comfort. The room we stayed in was outfitted in a color scheme of beige and dark red. On the wall behind our bed was a series of black and white photos similar to what was found in the main lobby. Next to the double bed was an iHome iPod clock radio, ensuring we were able to cue our favorite Reggae soundtrack throughout weekend – always a nice touch.

The bathroom was comparable to the main room, filled with the usual arrangement of towels and decked out in marble flooring. We particularly liked the “rain shower style” shower head, a simple feature many upscale hotels still frequently overlook.

The room was flanked one one side by a series of floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on the hotel’s courtyard. Since we happened to be on the ground floor, this resulted in a less-than-desirable level of outside noise (part of it was probably the grand opening ceremony). Thankfully the shades and curtains helped to lessen this Make sure when you get a room you ask for something on the second/third level or off the main courtyard.

Gadling was recently invited by the Spanish Court Hotel to visit Kingston, Jamaica’s unexplored capital of music, food and culture. All this week we’re bringing you our observations on all this up-and-coming city has to offer. Though the trip was paid, all opinions remain our own. You can read our previous “Big up Kingston” posts HERE.

Relax in style at the Hotel Hivernage

The greeting you’ll receive at the Hotel Hivernage is pure charm, but it requires patience. Instead of tapping your toe at the front desk while the guy in front of you spills his life story, you’ll be invited to sit in the lobby while you complete your check-in forms. The staff is not in a rush, so set aside your New York-sculpted expectations. This first taste will set the tone for your stay: relaxed, luxurious and high-tough.

When you visit Marrakech, you’ll be tempted to stay in the medina (i.e., inside the city’s walls). Trade proximity for comfort with the Hivernage. It’s a short walk to the medina, though a taxi is prudent (and cheap) depending on where you want to go. Being able to retreat from the craziness of the narrow alleys at the end of the day will be worth the seeming inconvenience. While the action inside the walls is fast and the environs confined, the Hivernage is spacious and clean.

No detail is overlooked, from the melon juice cocktail served at check-in to the rose petals scattered in your room’s sink and bathtub. Stretch out on the king-sized bed at the end of the day, or sip a glass of wine out on your private balcony.

Hivernage offers several dining options, including a bar, full-service restaurant and café (which is great for breakfast). Menus are available in both English and French, and the waitstaff can accommodate both languages (and Arabic), as well. The food is tasty, but neither adventurous nor exotic. Both local and western dishes are provided.

Be sure to block a day off to spend in the hotel’s spa. You can take advantage of a variety of treatments, including several traditional therapies. The contrast to the souks – the shops in the medina – is profound, but you’ll be too subdued to care when the stress of haggling with the medina’s merchants is kneaded from your back and shoulders.

This touch of luxury is not as expensive as you would expect. A comparable hotel in New York or Paris would cost you at least $500 a night. I spent just under $150 a night for the Hivernage … expensive by local standards but absolutely worth it.