Hi everybody,
My husband ,I and another couple are going to stay at the Modrian hotel the 24th of Feb. to that Sun. the 27th. I know the Oscars are that weekend. This is our first time in California, then we are off to Vegas. Its my 40th birthday celebration. We were wondering about good resturants in the area, open to anything, reservatons now?? Price is not an issue. Clubs?? We are a fun bunch, we are definatly going to the Sky bar. Weather? Also one of the days we want to do a senic drive up or down the coast, sugestions???
Thanks for any help!!!!
T

Its me again,
I hope somebody can help us out there, i don't want to be the tourist type, we live in Florida near Cocoa Beach....we just need a little guidance that would be very appreciated!!!

Well, if you're going to be at the Mondrian, you'll be rubbing elbows with celebs in town for the Oscars. That will be fun.

Asia de Cuba is, of course, a place you should go (and it will make it easier to get into SkyBar next door). Hit Lucques down on Melrose, it's great. I, along with some other posters, listed some other eateries to hit in a recent thread-- Ago and JiRaffe (this last one in Santa Monica) were mentioned. The Ivy could be fun-- definitely a celebrity and industry hangout, but for the prices the food should be a bit more spectacular.

Weather? We had torrential rains followed by hot, gorgeous days, and now we're in the normal pattern of clouds and mid-60s weather. February could be a bit drizzly-- or not. My money's on daytime highs in the mid- to upper-60s range, and nighttime lows in the 50s. But I've been wrong-- it was in the 80s two weeks ago.

For a scenic drive north, take Sunset west to the ocean, turn right and drive up PCH to Malibu. Gorgeous for the most part. A scenic drive south is a little more involved, as it doesn't get truly spectacular until you're south of Huntington Beach in Orange County. If you're interested, it's Sunset west to the 405; take it south all the way to Harbor, then follow that down to PCH, make a left and drive all the way down to San Clemente. The Crystal Cove portion is breathtaking.

Hi rjw,
Thank you so much for your info, can't wait for the drive!!! The resturants sound great, do we need to make reservations now because of the weekend that it's on??? What other clubs could we get in???
Thanks again!!

RE: Reservations at the restaurants. I don't know that you'd have to do anything this far in advance except for the places right in the thick of it on Sunday. I'd call Lucques now, if you're at all tempted-- just to be safe, as well as Asia de Cuba. The other places should be OK, but the concierge at the Mondrian should be able to take care of your every whim (especially at the prices that place charges).

I confess that I'm not at all "up" on the LA club scene, as I live in untrendy Long Beach and don't party much up here (I work in Santa Monica). The bar at the Standard used to be kinda hip, but that was oh, so long ago (what? Two, maybe three years). You can check out the LA Weekly online at laweekly.com-- although it doesn't keep a handy list of LA's watering holes a click away. Gawd, I feel so old...!!

That's the benefit of staying at a posh/trendy hotel: utilize the concierge. He/she should be able to get you into whatever restaurants and clubs you want to go to. I don't think you need to make reservations until a couple days or so beforehand... I guarantee you if you make a reservation today, the dumb, but pretty blond who's hosting until she finds her Hollywood break, will most likely lose your reservation between now and the end of February.

Have fun! Keeping my fingers crossed for some good weather for you. It was rainy yesterday, but today the sun peeked through.

February can be rainy. Don't head out for the coastal drive if it's been raining, this is mudslide season.

Hi,
Thank you all for the info, hopefully it won't be rainy for sure!!! I will definatly check with the concierge when we arrive.
Thanks again,
T