Beverly Hills

After hanging out some more at The Magic Castle hotel this morning - one of my absolute fav places - I went back to the touristy Hollywood Blvd. This time to visit the Dolby Theatre for a tour. It was a fairly short tour, but interesting to get a little glimpse of the place that is the permanent host of the Oscars. And we saw an actual Oscar, of course :)

A little later I went on a Starline “Movie Stars Homes Tour” - an event that is almost mandatory if you’re a tourist in Hollywood! I’ve done it before, but the tour guide is usually fun, and you get on a nice drive up the Hollywood Hills, Bel Air, Beverly Hills and the Sunset Strip. I don’t think we actually saw that many celeb homes, although we did drive by a few homes that are on the market in the 150-200 million dollar range. It was sad to drive past the last home that Michael Jackson lived in - coincidentally across a home once occupied by another king; Elvis!

Speaking of Beverly Hills, after the tour I checked into the ultra luxurious Waldorf Astoria. It only opened in June so everything still looks brand new and sparkly! They have a very sleek rooftop bar and pool with amazing views. It took a while longer than normal for my room to be ready, so they treated me to a free lunch with drinks! Not bad.

After lunch and a quick walk on Rodeo Drive, I went back to Hollywood to attend a bona fide red carpet premiere at the Chinese Theatre that I toured just the day earlier. It was the US galla premiere of the movie Geostorm starring Andy Garcia, Ed Harris and Gerard Butler as the lead. Turns out I was sitting relatively close to him in the theater, so I ended up walking behind him when we were leaving. Pretty surreal to leave a first screening of a big Hollywood movie with the guy who stars in it. The movie was a bit nuts, but pretty entertaining.

Now it’s time for a night in one of the most fancy and luxurious of the many hotel rooms I’ve tried in this country!Read more