What song would you want playing while you show?

Click on the link and keep an eye out for Joe Wolfe. He is the best, a good fella and a friend.
http://vimeo.com/7925984

Can a Doorman in Las Vegas Make $500,000-a-year?

Getting into a Vegas nightclub often takes clout -- or big bucks. Vacationers routinely hire VIP services to help bypass hours-long lines at hot clubs.

Norm Clarke, man about town and author of the popular Vegas Confidential column for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, has written a bombshell article saying that the IRS is looking into what door staff at Pure make. It could be as much as $500,000 a year, he writes, since wannabe clubgoers routinely slip doorstaff big bucks in hopes of getting past the velvet rope and Pure has huge capacity (more than 2,000).

Clarke writes that authorities raided Pure headquarters Wednesday and took computers. He has heard of door staff pocketing as much as $10,000 a night before sharing tips with fellow staffers.

Read the entire article HERE.

Marriott Opens a New Line of Boutique Hotels called "Edition"

Edition was the brainchild of Ian Schrager. He's the guy who created the whole boutique hotel segment with exciting hotels like the Mondrian in West Hollywood, the Delano in Miami and my very favorite, the Gramercy Park in New York. Ian is a creative genius and that's one of the reasons why we partnered with him seven months ago.



When we first looked at the boutique hotel segment, we knew there was an opportunity for a unique concept on a global scale. We now have 18 lodging brands, but we were not a player in the boutique sector. We also recognized where our company's strengths were and where we could benefit from outside expertise, and that led us to Ian Schrager.

The Love Mattress and the Bath Organizer

Designed by Mehdi Mojtabvi, the mattress is actually made up of single slats, each covered in with a smooth fabric. The slats allow you to dip your arms to better hug your partner in bed.




Place it over your bath and you are provided with a handy shelf to keep all of your knick-knacks! You can be unoriginal and use it to store your soap and sponge, or you can indulge and utilise the adjustable wine glass holders, adjustable candle holder and adjustable book prop to full effect.

Find more cool and unique things at Freshome.

Overheard on the Subway in New York City

"ladies and gentlemen, i'm sorry to be bothering you while you're working, but i just need some money for a warm breakfast. my only talent is my singing voice, but it's too early for me to sing at the moment. please give me money."

Find more cool stuff at Jazz in Strange Places blog.

A Night in the Hermitage Hotel by Deep Fried Kudzu

Room:
The room was a nice size; it featured an armoire for the television and minibar, a desk with internet access, a sitting area, and a very nice bathroom with double sinks, a glass-enclosed shower, nice-size bathtub, and the commode area was enclosed. The bath products - soaps, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and gel - were from Molton Brown (we liked the Molton Brown shampoo so much that we bought a bottle of it from the shop downstairs). The room's overall decor was very nice, and very comfortable. Robes were provided. Our room rate included the cost of breakfast the next morning. It was a **great** value. The Hermitage is Tennessee's only AAA 5* hotel recipient.

Service:
The service was Fantastic. The bellman, Frederick, took us on a little tour, and made it a point to let us know what he suggested to have for supper, what the hours were of the little shop (but also said that since we were guests of the hotel that no matter what time it was, we could have anything we wanted - uh, you don't hear that very much), and that we would be 100% taken care of the whole time we were at the property. Turn-down service included cookies, ice, slippers, and bottles of water. The check-in was nice, the concierge let us know that he would arrange anything in the world we wanted, and when we left the valet was prompt and let us know just how much they appreciated us coming for a visit, and to come again soon. Y'all, we drove up in Av's van - not my Volvo, and neither of us dressed all that great walking in - in fact, Av was wearing shorts and sandals - and they treated us like rock stars. Hermitage, you have my heart.

Extra:
The hotel is downtown, so it makes for a great location, especially for people on government business. Everything about the hotel is top-notch.Our experience is this: From now on, as long as there are rooms available at the Hermitage, we're not staying anywhere else in Nashville. We used to stay at the Opryland Hotel quite a bit, and especially enjoyed the balcony rooms, but there is absolutely NO comparison between the two hotels.

In fact, I'm listing The Hermitage as my new #1 hotel pick, moving the Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans to #2.



Visit Deep Fried Kudzu to read more about her visit to the hotel and Nashville.

Guess Where George Clooney Had Dinner and Win a Free Dinner Cooked by Chef Mario Batali

Productivity at Eater HQ has ground to an absolute halt at the moment, as the collective stares at this video trying to figure out where in the hell George Cloony and friend ate last night. Good guesses have been thrown around—Frederick's, Primola—but we're stumped.

Details of note: wood paneling, light fixtures, a prominently-located dessert display and, seating in close proximity to a storefront (this was shot through the front window). So, we'll put it out to you all: name this restaurant and win a date with Sam Talbot AND a new 2008 Zagat AND a reservation at Per Se AND a dinner for ten cooked by Mario Batali.* Your best guess goes here.

This post comes from Eater blog.

Visit TMZ to see George Clooney and Sarah Larson having a romantic dinner.

A Delicious Looking Dessert

I bet this taste as good as it looks.
~~~~~~~


Visit Paris Breakfasts to sink your teeth into the rest of this delicious post.

In The Words of Bill Marriott: All I Can say about Macau . . . is WOW!!!

Give the Chinese a crack at capitalism and all heck breaks loose - that's my main take-away after seven days here in Asia. The consumer potential of this country is awesome. That's why Marriott is so bullish about our growth plans here.

China's economy is growing at the rate of 10 percent a year. If you think that's impressive, wait 'til you get a load of Macau. It's growing at more than 20 percent a year.

This tiny, little island is about one-sixth the size of Washington, D.C. and only an hour-long ferry ride from Hong Kong. About 100 million people are within a three hour car ride and 3 billion people are within a five hour flight.

No surprise that last year, Macau overtook Las Vegas in gambling revenue.

You should see the monstrous casinos at the brand new Venetian. It's the second largest building in the world after the Boeing plant in the state of Washington. They have an entertainment center under construction that will accommodate 15,000 people for major events like rock concerts and NBA exhibition games.

The lowest bet at the high roller tables is $3000. There are no slot machines - well there are just a few - some baccarat, a lot of roulette, blackjack and "sic bo," which means high-low in Chinese.

And talk about speed to market: the Venetian was a $2.4 billion project but only took 24 months to build.

Read the entire post in Mr. Marriott's blog, Marriott on the Move.

Chocolate Beetles

This is from the blogger Un-Swiss Miss. Check out her blog for some great photos and stories. http://unswissmiss.blogspot.com/


What next?


America is, with some justification, considered one of the most consumeristic countries in the world. However, in some ways Switzerland is just as bad. When I was here back in October, I saw that many shops had already started displaying their Christmas wares. Then, Fasnacht cakes took the place of Christmas lebkuchen and läckerli cookies, and those in turn were nudged aside by enormous chocolate Easter bunnies and elaborately decorated eggs. Whenever I'm here, there's been something special for sale in the stores.

Now that Easter is over, I've been wondering what they'll come up with next. As far as I'm aware, there are no religious, national, cantonal, or city holidays coming up. So what excuse will Coop and Migros use to get people to indulge?

Well, yesterday I went into Migros for the first time since Easter, and the answer seems to be: BEETLES.