Archive for January 2013

Rodeo Drive, Beverley Hills, USA

We arrived in LA really early in the morning, which means that immigration and customs were quick and easy. We caught a Super Shuttle from the airport to our hotel at the L'ermitage in Beverley Hills ($15USD each plus tips). The trip didn't take too long but there wasn't any exciting sights to look at.

Our hotel was kind enough to offer us with early check-in and after an hour of rest, we were out and ready to see the famous Rodeo Drive.

I loved the fact that our hotel is located in a nice residential area and it's located only a short-walk away from one of the world's best shopping street. The walk from the hotel to Rodeo Drive is very pleasant with lots of greenery of perfectly manicured landscape along the way.

Rodeo Drive was decorated with Christmas ornaments and faux-snow, on top of that, delightful melodies of Christmas carols filled the clean, crisp air.

The shops were impressive, almost over the top. The shop assistants, both men and women were gorgeous and immaculately dressed (perhaps that's the reason why they can be slightly arrogant?).

My favourite shop has to be the Cartier shop, it's like a jewellery gallery inside. Remember to wear your sunnies inside, so the diamonds won't blind your eyes.

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Chocolate Pavillion, 13/14 Little Stanley Street, SOUTH BRISBANE QLD 4101

we had a very lazy Saturday last week. A copy of the latest edition of Conde Nast Traveller, two croissants and a pot of French Earl Grey kept us content and relaxed for most of the day… until the last ray of the summer sun disappeared from the horizon. Our stomachs were empty and there was nothing in the fridge, not even an egg for me to split in half.

We headed to South Bank on a mission to hunt for food.

It’s funny, we discussed the many available dining options as we walked through the mall, Chinese, perhaps some Japanese or Spanish tapas, but in the end, we settled on going directly for dessert - at Chocolate Pavillion to be precise.

We shared their signature waffles and pancakes with a couple of cold drinks. The food wasn’t strikingly delicious and I wasn’t overly impressed with the service (or the lack of). I’m glad that I’ve tried it, but I’m definitely not in a rush to head back again. For the same price, I’d rather walk across the street and go to Max Brenner.

Total Bunnie Dollars Spent: $47.

This can also be found at Westfield Carindale:

ChowHouse, 39 James Street, FORTITUDE VALLEY QLD 4006

So we had this grand eating plan scheduled for our weekend, it involved eating out and lots of it. Unfortunately, the steamy hot weather stopped us and we thought it was a much cooler idea to stay at home, chill and do some serious holiday planning.

On Sunday morning, we woke up feeling extremely hungry and the other travel bunnie declared that it was my soon-to-be wifey duty to come up with a place for some decent breakfast.

We had been away for a while and I was eager to try something new. Chow House came up on my screen when I searched for the most talked-about restaurant on Urbanspoon and we decided to try it out.

Chow House is conveniently located in the centre of the James Street precinct, where James Street Bistro used to be and it provides hawker styled food. The breakfast menu offers a wide selection of traditional breakfast options, but you can also get Asian specialities like Nasi Goreng ($17) and black sticky rice pudding with fresh mango and coconut cream ($12) and that's what we had for breakfast. Mind you, having Nasi Goreng at 9 am in 30 degree heat was definitely a first for us. To go with our meals, we ordered pineapple, lime and coconut frappé and mango and coconut smoothies, both $7.50 each.

The presentation of our food was excellent, the dishes were colourful and appetising. As for the taste, both of our dishes would've been much better if they had that extra little flavour. The black sticky rice was quite bland and the dish wouldn't have had any real flavour if it didn't come with a juicy mango cheek.

The service could be better but it was a very busy Sunday morning service. Still, I thought the idea of being able to have Nasi Goreng for breakfast in Brisbane is pretty awesome and good on Chow House for bringing something exciting to Brisbane's food scene.

I can't wait to go back and try out their dinner menu.

Total Bunnie Dollars Spent: $47

L'Ermitage Beverly Hills, 9291 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, USA

It was a fourteen-hour flight from Brisbane to Los Angeles, although the flight with Qantas was quite pleasant with minimal turbulence on board and plenty of snacks to stop my stomach from making freakish noises. When we arrived however, we were tired and slightly jet-lagged.

We made a reservation at the L'ermitage in Beverly Hills well in advance. I was eager to stay at this establishment as I had read that many well known celebrities have either held parties or stayed here. Now a part of the Viceroy Hotel Group, this five-star hotel is discretely located on the wide, palm-tree lined Burton Way in the prestige residential section of Beverly Hills, yet still a short way away from the glamourous and touristy Rodeo Drive.

Check-in was effortless and we were offered an early check-in at 10am.

Our room was spacious and simple, no sleek modern designs or over-the-top gold gilded beds, but it was very comfortable, serene and well equipped with all the latest gadgets. The bathroom was particularly spacious with a large shower, comfortable two person bath tub and his and hers sinks and closet space.

I quite liked the private balcony despite there being no real view whatsoever as I thought it was pretty cute overlooking the lush hedges.

L'ermitage is also equipped with a S500 Mercedes as their hotel car that can take you to any place within a three mile radius of the hotel. We found the car quite handy and used the service a few times during our stay with minimal fuss.

The hotel also has a beautiful roof-top swimming pool that provides a 360-degree view of the city as well as private cabanas. I should've taken a photo of it when I had a chance, but we never ended up having a sun-baking day as we had originally planned given there was too much else to do.

The service was very personal and we found the concierge to be rather helpful as they managed to get bookings for us at a number of popular restaurants.

We really enjoyed our stay at the L'ermitage in Beverly Hills, the experience was intimate and the service was very efficient and effortless.

Bunnies' travel notes:

Bunnies' room number: 205

Number of rooms: 119

Swimming pool: yes

Check-in / check-out times: flexible

Standard price: $380+