Celebrity Travel News 11.23.07

Backseat Britney

First, folks, the bad news. Britney Spears didn’t do anything outrageous this week. In fact, she actually did something smart and responsible. She let someone else drive her and her sons around Los Angeles. I am sure the feet on several paparazzi breathed a sigh of relief at that news.

But the semi-responsible Brit sighting leads us to our question of the week: why is Britney Spears always at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills? I mean, it’s a great hotel and all, but why does she need to be there multiple times a week, every week. The girl lives in Malibu.

Anyway, you can watch her rolling through the parking lot – this time in the backseat with her kids – in this video from x17.

Brad Bails with Blond

Now that we’ve got that burning question out of the way, we can move on to what is, for better or for worse, the week’s biggest celebrity travel news. Brad Pitt reportedly left a post-premier party for wife Angelina Jolie’s new film Beowulf and headed to the Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel with – gasp – a blond and some other unidentified person. Though no one has proof or even vaguely convincing circumstantial evidence to back this up, the rumor is that Brad flirted with the aforementioned blonde, Angie got upset and Brad left with the other woman and was seen exiting the hotel around 4 am.

Pissed Off at the Polo Lounge

David Hasselhoff is back in the blogs after reportedly causing a stink at the Beverly Hills Hotel restaurant the Polo Lounge last week. Though everyone in Hasselhoff’s camp denies the rumors, onlookers say they saw Hasselhoff get huffy and storm out of the lunch after complaining to his agent about all the crap jobs he’s been getting recently. You know, it’s probably completely his agent’s fault. ‘Cause I’m sure the shirtless, drunken hamburger incident had nothing to do with it.

Meanwhile…

On Tuesday, Lindsay Lohan was spotted exiting a Ritz Carlton in Manhattan. We’re not sure whether the hotel is question was the Ritz Carlton Battery Park
or the Ritz Carlton New York Central Park. In fact, all we can really confirm is that she stood on a Ritz Carlton rug and has really long fake blond hair that we hate and wish she would leave alone because her red hair was so much prettier.

Also on Tuesday, Tara Reid reminded everyone that she still exists. Proving that not every celebrity cares what she looks like in public, a frumpy Tara Reid flashed the paps with her thong at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday.

Virgin America’s Secret

If there were any doubt that Virgin America is vying for the title of sexiest airline, this should put it to rest.

Celebrity Travel News 11.16.07

Foot Fetish

The Four Seasons Hotel Beverly Hills figured heavily in the news this week, thanks to Britney Spears. The nutty singer reportedly ran over a photographer’s foot as she was attempting to drive out of the hotel parking lot. You can see it all with your own peepers below.

While some cry foul and accuse the pop star of poor driving (this was apparently the third foot she’s run over this month), anyone who knows anything about the paparazzi knows that those guys are practically plastered to the side of her car wherever she goes. They have a right to snap away in public places, but it’s their own darn fault if they get their feet banged up in the process.

Also at the Four Seasons this week? Another blonde pop star known as Shakira. But the paps didn’t snap any pictures of her, as far as we could tell. Instead, her visit got reported, thanks to a Fox News writer who chanced upon her in the elevator. We hear Shakira spent the ride obsessing about her looks and asking anyone who would listen whether she looked okay.

Queer Eye for the Traveling Guy

Elsewhere in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times writer Valli Herman visited the W Los Angeles – Westwood and gave the swish new interiors designed by Queer Eye for the Straight Guy alum Thom Filicia the thumbs up. Our take? The new environs look, um, exactly like every living space from the television series. And of course, plenty of throw pillows and candles. Because throw pillows and candles make everything better.

French Connection

Jennie Garth – if she still counts as a celebrity – was spotted lifting her glass in honor of Beaujolais recently at the Paris Las Vegas Resort. We got way too much Garth way back when she was a real celeb during the halcyon days of Beverly Hills 90210 (will there ever be a character as unintentionally funny as Steve Sanders?), so we’re going to show you a photograph of the Paris Las Vegas Resort pool instead:

Dude Looks Like a Lady

Tomorrow night, travelers to the Bay Area can get a load of celebrity judges Sandra Bernhard, author and personality James St. James (a.k.a. club kid who piggy-backed off convicted murdered Michael Alig’s notoriety), Peaches Christ and Anna Conda at the annual Miss Trannyshack Pageant, which, if you don’t know, is a very San Francisco affair featuring some of the best-dressed dames who aren’t really dames this side of Texas. Actually, better make that anywhere.

Dumb Tattoo News

Celebs from Julianne Moore (love her) to Heath Ledger (so-so) descended on the Bowery Hotel in Manhattan this week for a screening of the film I’m Not There, which features a bevy of big name actors playing different aspects of Bob Dylan’s complex personality. The big news from the event? Heath Ledger sported a new tattoo during a screening. It’s of a dragonfly. Fascinating. He might as well have gotten a dolphin inked around his ankle while he was at it. We would have preferred something a little more hardcore. Like skulls or something. Or maybe Jake Gyllenhaal, though that’s really more Reese’s territory these days. Also in attendance? Richard Gere, Bruce Greenwood and a wasted looking Todd Haynes, the film’s director.

If you’re in New York over Thanksgiving, there’s no better way to get over your all-American food hangover than Big Onion’s Annual Multi-Ethnic Eating Tour of New York, held on Nov. 23, 2007. Sponsored by the Museum of the City of New York, the walking tour ushers attendees through the Jewish East Side, Little Italy and Chinatown for edible specialties from each neighborhoods. You’ll eat well along the way, but you’ll walk away with more than a full belly. The tour is packed with anecdotes and factual information about the diverse cultures in each ‘hood and their very different histories. Reservations are required for attending the tour, which costs $20 for adults, $12 for seniors and $10 for students.

Sounds like a plan, but you’re not in town the day after Turkey Day? No worries, mates. Private tours with “enhanced noshing” opportunities are available year-round.

Celebrity Travel 11.09.07

Things have been relatively quiet in celebrity travel news this week, a few things of note did happen. Just don’t get too excited.

Jen’s Haunted House

Halloween may have already disappeared in the rear-view mirror, but Jennifer Anniston is still acting like it’s in full swing. The actress is reportedly staying at the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Oregon while filming upcoming movie Management (which also stars Woody Harrelson, whom we absolutely love for being such a certifiable nut and total Hollywood iconoclast).

While the five-star Heathman does not actively promote its designation as a haunted hotel, the current hotel manager acknowledged the hotel’s ghostly goings-on, but said guests shouldn’t be worried. Apparently, the supernatural guests at this Portland lodging option are the friendly sort. Considering the location, they’re probably the ghosts of hippies past.

Nicky On the Block

In news we already knew but lacked the legal documents to prove, it looks like Nicky Hilton’s Nicky O Hotel is dead. But this time, it’s deader than dead. Instead of just not happening, the hotel project now has the embarrassing tarnish that only bankruptcy can bring. According to court documents obtained by TMZ, a judge has ordered the Breakwater hotel that was supposed to become the first Nicky O Hotel property to be sold at auction to make up for some of the bungled project’s $60 million of debt.

High-Energy Holmes

Last weekend, Katie Holmes reportedly treated daughter Suri to a posh tea party at the Carlyle Hotel’s Bemelmans Bar on Saturday. The next day, the star ran in the New York Marathon.

Sheesh, the girl just might qualify for the most energetic woman of the year award. On second thought, I’m starting to think she might be a robot.

Bada Bling

Pockets were getting padded at the El San Juan Hotel and Casino launch party held in Puerto Rico last weekend. Sopranos actor Robert Iler (a.k.a. “AJ”) reportedly won $10,000 playing craps at the resort, which was celebrating the completion of its $100 million renovation project. Other celebs at the party included Nick Lachey, Vanessa Minnillo and Michael Lombardi.

Speaking of the Sopranos, we hear that Lorraine Bracco was hanging out in the VIP lounge at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, FL.

Also last week, the Gramercy Park Hotel was the much-talked-about site of Ashely Olsen and Lance Armstrong’s reported spit-swapping session. This week, the celebrity magnet hosted Duran Duran, Richie Sambora, Roberto Cavalli, Fran Drescher and Donovan Leitch, among others.

Here’s hope the celebs get into some better rumbles next week.

The group dinner experience any night in any major city can be challenging. But when the night is Friday and the city is New York, dining out with large group is something best planned in advance and executed with skill and acumen. Luckily, my pal Darren knows a thing or two about three very important subjects: Manhattan, eating and crowd chaos theory. And he has a winning solution for a Friday night group dinner in New York City that won’t break the bank, leave you fighting over the bill or make you choose between a roomy table and good ‘ole cooking.

That solution is Mario Batali’s Otto Enoteca Pizzeria. First of all, it’s hard to please the finicky tastes in any group, much less a large one consisting of both vegetarians and meat eaters. But everyone likes gourmet pizza. And Otto is surprisingly affordable for a large group.

If you’ve got a group of 12 or more, which we did last Friday night, menus start at $40 per person, but for $75 a head, our crowd kicked off the evening with Champagne, an overflowing vegetable antipasti platter, a cheese assortment and several plates of deliciously salty meats, including procsciutto and salume. Next came the bruschetta of the day draped with melted cheese and accompanied by multiple plates of oil, honey and other dipping concoctions. Our main course featured four different varieties of thin-crust pizza, which we snarfed down while enjoying unlimited glasses of red and white wine. We rounded out the meal with coffee and gelato (the restaurant’s has been voted best in NYC numerous times) to fuel up before heading out to neighboring West Village bars.

As anyone who’s tried to dine out in New York on a Friday night knows, $75 a person is an indisputable deal for a unlimited beverages and what amounts to three courses. And there are the added benefits of showing up, not having to deal with the laborious process of determining what to order, having drinks already on the table and eating within five minutes of sitting down. At the end, everyone knew exactly what they owed, paid accordingly, and that was it.

To book a group event at Otto, you can contact the restaurant’s group dining diva Stephanie Goldberg up to three months in advance.

Otto Enoteca Pizzeria
One Fifth Ave.
New York, NY 10003
212-995-9559

P.S. Thanks D and the NYC crew!

Over the weekend, I happened to be introduced to a combination of edible items that illustrate how two separate entities can become – as if by some magic – exponentially better once combined. These two items are bagels and lox, but not just any bagels and lox. The special combination to which I was introduced by a collection of folks not only familiar with Manhattan, but also motivated enough to divide and conquer to get the very best on a Sunday morning despite acute headaches caused by the previous night’s activities. And because of their heroic efforts, which took them from Brooklyn to Manhattan twice, I was able, for the first time and certainly not the last, to feast on fresh bagels from Ess-A-Bagel topped intermittently with lox (varieties from two different coasts, no less) from Russ & Daughters.

One can, of course, obtain smoked fish, cream cheese, sable, whitefish salad and New York bagels at both spots - something that could shorten your trip and get you back to brunch and your eagerly waiting cohorts much more quickly. But faster and more convenient does not always mean better. No, the consensus among a mixed roomful of lifelong New Yorkers, transplants, avowed bagels-n-lox fans and admitted skeptics was that one cannot hope to achieve any gastronomic triumph greater than that which comes from Russ & Daughters lox draped over slightly warm, sliced bagels from Ess-a-Bagel.

And my mouth agreed.

Ess-a-Bagel
359 1st Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Phone: 212-260-2252

831 3rd Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Phone: 212-980-1010

Russ & Daughters
179 East Houston Street
New York, NY 10001
(212) 465-4880

Hungry in NYC? Here are some great places to eat cheap (sorta) when you’re dining with five or more people:

Since Virgin America launched flights from San Francisco to New York’s JFK International earlier this year, I’ve been dying to experience the new airline’s suite of offerings – all of which have been endlessly described as slicker, hipper and just plain better than those available on the lion’s share of airlines.

After spending just over five hours in a Virgin America A320 aircraft today en route to New York, I have to admit that I’m under the upstart airline’s spell.

Here’s why:

When it’s 6:30 a.m., and you’re boarding a plane, hoping you take off on time, but not quite knowing what lies ahead, there’s something wonderfully relaxing about sinking into a black leather seat bathed in the glow of soft purple and blue hues, which Virgin America describes as “mood-lighting.”

And even though the cabin does look a little bit like a nightclub with wings, I found the clubby lighting much more relaxing than the usual yellow glare on other planes.

Once seated, I immediately began pawing the seatback entertainment screen. Here’s the screen that greets you when you first sit down:

Cable television channels are available via the Dish Network, as are premium shows that you can pay extra to watch (think hit episodes of The Office, Nip & Tuck, etc.) just by sliding your credit card through the remote control device lodged in the armrest.

Not all of the channels were working correctly during my flight, but there were movies (Knocked Up, Casino Royale, many other mainstream flicks and a slew of foreign films) available for $8, as well as some freebie short films.

Instead of watching anything, I busied myself with an in-flight chat session. There’s a keyboard on the flip side of the entertainment console’s remote that you can use to instant message passengers in other seats.

And now for one of my favorite Virgin America amenities: the innovative food and beverage service. Instead of blocking up the aisles with carts at pre-determined intervals, the flight staff delivers passengers drinks, snacks and light meals upon request. The entire menu is available through the seatback entertainment system. You just navigate to the item you want, press it with your finger and a few minutes later, it appears at your seat on a tray.

Water, coffee and non-alcoholic beverages are free (there’s also a mini-frig with water for the taking in the back of the plane), while snacks like granola bars and chips fell into the $1-$3 range. Sandwiches and special menu items were significantly more. There was a steak sandwich for $9 and a fruit and cheese plate for $12.

Other perks on Virgin America were more subtle, like the adjustable entertainment screens. If the person if front of you reclines, you can change the screen’s angle – very helpful for fighting glare.

I also want to give Virgin America props for the in-seat power outlets (great for the laptop-obsessed), choice of headphones (ear buds or headband style) and Method eco-friendly hand soap in the ultra-clean lavatories.

It’s thoughtful touches like the ones I’ve described here that just might be able to convince passengers that flying can – wait for it – be part of the journey again instead of just a way to get there.

The latest exploits of Britney Spears kind of remind me of Thelma & Louise, only with one woman and better hotels. This week alone, the tabloid trainwreck has been spotted checking into the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel, the Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel and the Viceroy Santa Monica Hotel, where she reportedly bunked in for the evening only to venture out around 2am with an unidentified man driving a white Lamborghini. All this for a girl who lives in the Hollywood Hills. Gossip-mongers at TMZ.com have posted plenty of comments pegging Brit’s hotel hopping as an ongoing, highly contrived photo op, but I’m betting she’s just in it for the room service.

In Vegas tonight? Page Six reports that Nicky Hilton will be celebrating her first quarter century tonight at the Luxor Hotel and Casino’s over-the-top club LAX. Oh, what a world it would be if we could all get paid megabucks to show up for our own birthday parties.

In other celebrity travel news this week, the lovely Kate Beckinsale got snapped leaving the Ritz-Carlton New York only to get frisked at the airport later. Singer Faith Hill checked out of a Ritz Carlton somewhere, Cameron Diaz and Bradley Cooper reportedly dined at Morgans Hotel and Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielson reportedly plans to open a hotel and restaurant named Rick’s in the raging metropolis of Rockford, Illinois. Blond bombshell Gwen Stefani smiled for the lenses when she left the 5-star Claridge’s Hotel in London last week with son Kingston in tow.

Rapper 50 Cent, whose head seems to be growing ever-bigger by the second, has wowed the staff at Croatia’s Antunovic Hotel with requests for Skippy peanut butter (which I am sure is readily available in Croatia), Norwegian salmon, six flavors of soy milk, exotic scents for his jacuzzi and unlimited quantities of Hennessy and Dom Perignon for his room. As an aside, we have to wonder how celebrities can drink so darned much Champagne. Don’t they also get headaches from the French bubbly? Or is that something that only happens to those of us drinking $15 Korbel? But before you wrinkle your nose at 50’s bevy of requirements, you should know that he also requested that everything brought into his room come from 100 percent recyclable materials. He even bans paper products from backstage catering at his concerts, reports new site Javno. Aww, we love an environmental gangsta.

Looking ahead, in just two weeks the Hotel Palomar Dallas will welcome a star-studded list of guests for Dallas International Fashion Week 2007. Be prepared to spot celebrity designers like Alvin Valley, Nicole Miller and Jamie Pressly (yes, she still has a clothing line) who’ll be in town for the four-day event.

Here’s a new concept in airline marketing: The Sky360 by Delta, a temporary lounge and event space that showcases Delta’s “unique in-flight experience” and amenities. The joke potential here is all too obvious (how much do you wish you were sipping a cocktail in a cramped coach class seat while eating a half-dead sandwich right now?). But the airline aims to wow travelers nonetheless with screenings of in-flight entertainment options like Sex & the City, the Sopranos and recent film Knocked Up (None of which, incidentally, could I really see any airline offering as entertainment in the main cabin. It always seems like in-flight movies these days are the tamest, most kid-friendly features possible, which always kind of bums me out). By day, visitors can sample free coffee and Coca-Cola beverages. At night, the lounge will be serving cocktails designed by Randy Gerber (I’d go at night). You can also dine on Delta’s new in-flight food offerings. I wonder if they give you the little plastic utensil packet, too.

While the opportunity to eat airline food while not actually on a plane sounds oh so enticing, I think the real reasons to stop by the Sky360 are the free wireless Internet access available throughout the 3,500-square-foot space and the charging station, which offers complimentary charging for a bevy of mobile devices. Now those are perks real travelers can appreciate.

The Sky360 will be open today through Nov. 11, 2007, and is located at 101 West 57th St (@6th Ave.).

Delta Brings Award-Winning In-Flight Experience From the Skies to the New ‘SKY360 by Delta’ in New York City