Hollywood, CA - January 2015

Hollywood Sign

Neither of us had ever done the cheesy tourist weekend in Hollywood before. We usually head to North Carolina for MLK weekend but John and Jo were going to be away so we decided to head to California to experience Hollywood.  We got to see and do quite a bit and really enjoyed it all.  The weather was also perfect with temperatures during the day in the low 70s.

Accommodation:
Chamberlain Hotel - Just northwest of Santa Monica and La Cienega in West Hollywood, this boutique hotel was incredibly convenient for all our activities.  The hotel is only four stories and the room was nice and clean.  They had a pretty nice gym considering it's such a small hotel and a nice rooftop pool (which we did not use since it was too cold).  They also have a bistro that is open all day.  The staff were incredibly nice and they provided great service.  

Activities:
Keith was in Phoenix for his company's annual kickoff meeting the week before, so he flew from Phoenix  to Burbank on Thursday night.  Shawna flew in from Denver, but our flights landed at Bob Hope airport within 45 minutes of each other.  We grabbed the rental car and headed straight to the hotel since we had already had dinner.

Friday was a working day - we both had conference calls all day.  Keith had intended on visiting some of his communities on Friday but stayed busy on the phone.  We did both get a workout in at the hotel gym before heading to Warner Bros for a visit to the sound stages and the back lot.  The tour lasts about two hours and you get to see most of the exterior props, a few sounds stages and the prop room which is enormous!  We got to visit the set of Ellen which was interesting to see how small everything is compared to how they appear on TV.  It was all quite interesting, with the highlight of the tour a visit to the Friends set.  We followed the tour with a delicious dinner out.

Central Perk Set from Friends

On Saturday, we did the super-cheesy Hollywood driving tour with Ultimate Hollywood Tours.  There were two open-air buses that held about 12 people each.  We drove through Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Strip, the Hollywood Hills, and Beverly Hills - seeing many of the amazing houses owned by the stars.  There were a few for sale, but we doubt we could afford the taxes - never mind the mortgage!  A few of the more famous houses we saw included Will Farrel, Charlese Theron, Jennifer Aniston, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio,  the Spelling house and the Playboy Mansion.

House from Fresh Prince of Bel Air

After the tour, we walked around Hollywood Boulevard to see the stars on the sidewalk.  We then took a 30 minute  tour of the Dolby Theater, home of the Oscars since 2002.  Following that we went next door to the Chinese Theater for a tour.  We then found out that American Sniper was playing on the Imax in the Chinese Theater so we decided to watch that in the most famous theater in the world.  The sound system was amazing!  That wrapped up at 6pm so we hurried back to the hotel to change before heading back out to dinner and some people watching.

Entrance to Chinese Theater

Standing in Jimmy Stewart's Shoes

We spent the entire Sunday at Universal Studios Hollywood.  Shawna had pre-purchased the VIP experience, which was excellent.  It started with a really nice breakfast, then a guided skip-the-line tour of all the rides/shows, followed by what must be the best amusement park lunch in the world - a delicious buffet that had all kinds of options - sadly, since we were dieting, we didn't get to taste as much as we would have liked.  After lunch, we toured the sound stages, prop room and back lots where all the TV shows and movies are filmed.  We saw the Bates motel, the crash scene from War of the World, the town square from Back to the Future, the Who houses from the Grinch that Stole Christmas and the Desperate Housewives street of Wisteria Lane.  In the back lot, we also got a 3-D experience of King Kong, a teaser of Jaws, and saw how they film flooding in a street and subway.  It was a long day so thankfully our dinner was walking distance from the hotel.

Back to the Future Court House

Eva Longoria's House on Desperate Housewives

On Monday, we went for a hike in the Hollywood hills in Runyon Canyon.  We first went up the middle path and hiked down the eastern path.  Since that only took about 45 minutes, we then hiked up the western path (which is quite steep) and then hiked back down the middle path.  In total, we hiked about 1.5 hours.  The views were great and it was nice to get some fresh air and exercise.  We then returned to our hotel to shower and pack up.  Our flight was delayed by 30 minutes but we still got home at a reasonable hour.

Hike in Runyon Canyon

Restaurants:
Chamberlain Hotel restaurant - We had every breakfast here - the food was reasonable and we were able to get in and out quickly.  The decor could use some updates.

Riva Bella - A great Italian place in West Hollywood.  We started with Farmers Salad and Kale Salad and shared the beef ragu which was all very good.

Tortilla Republic WeHo - This is a trendy Mexican restaurant in West Hollywood.  For starters, we shared the skinny tacos and tortilla soup and then shared a salmon dish for our entree.  Everything was very flavorful.

Eveleigh - This is a great restaurant with casual decor in West Hollywood.  We shared a quinoa salad, roasted squash and beef tenderloin.  This was our only night where we allowed ourselves one glass of wine each so we sipped these throughout the meal.  The food was very tasty and was our favorite dinner of the three nights.