LA's best hotel bars

Contrary to popular belief, hotel bars aren't all about $18 drinks and bougie clientele. Some of the best cocktail bars in LA are found in hotels, both budget-friendly and swanky. The best part? If you've had one too many, there's a bed with your name on it just steps away. From casual rooftop bars to celebrity-studded lounges, here are our favorite hotel bars—no room reservations necessary. 


Drink up at these top hotel bars:


- The Spare Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt

A bowling alley might not be the first place you’d think to grab drinks in Hollywood, but this isn’t any ordinary bowling alley. Stashed away in the shadowy mezzanine above the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel lobby is the Spare Room, devised to evoke pure revelry. A show-stopping set of lanes dating back to the early 1800s stretch the length of the handsome parlor, oozing with Art Deco elegance and a clear view of Hollywood Boulevard out of big cast-iron arched windows. Though let’s face it: the real reason to visit this covert gaming lounge bookended by two gleaming bars is the ace drink program, recently revived by head bartender Yael Vengroff. Punch bowls and tiki drinks abound here—and yes, they just might make your bowling game better. 


- Library Bar at the Hollywood Roosevelt

Yet another outstanding bar can be found inside the Roosevelt Hotel, this time in the ground floor lobby. Amidst the soaring beamed ceilings and Mediterranean tiles centered around an indoor fountain, you can sip on fantastic libations driven by seasonal ingredients. Order a cocktail and settle into black leather couches, or take it for a wander through the hotel’s many nooks and crannies to stalk out a hidden corner. 


- Bar at Culver Hotel

Hollywood gets all the credit for creating movies, but at one time, Culver City is where most of the "lights, camera, action" actually happened. As movie posters and memorabilia dotting the lobby will remind you, the Westside’s historic hotel housed silver screen legends from the Munchkins during filming of the Wizard of Oz to Greta Garbo and Charlie Chaplin, who allegedly sold the hotel for a dollar to John Wayne in a game of poker. Despite the dramatic outfitting—massive stone fireplace, heavy draping over arched windows—the lobby bar has a low-key, neighborhood feel. Groups can spread out on comfy, velour couches, while tables for two are perfect for date-night, pre-dinner cocktail or night cap. Come after 7:30pm on any night of the week, and you'll be treated to live jazz. 


- MiniBar at the Best Western

On the ground floor of the Best Western Hollywood Hills Hotel is the aptly named MiniBar. Born of the brains that brought us Dominick’s and Little Dom’s, this 32-seat hideaway offers a sanctuary for the pensive imbiber; a place to get out without the usual chaos that accompanies going “out”—and with parking validation to boot. The moment we entered the bar, we were captivated: every square inch of the space is thoughtfully designed, with accordion-style warm wood paneling, retro brass light fixtures and white leather swivel chairs. Our favorite drink here, the Fuzzy del Navel, is refreshing, colorful and garnished with a cute little cocktail umbrella.

LAX Car Service - MGCLS

New Bristol Bullet – V8 British sports car

British sports and luxury car firm Bristol – best known in recent times for the short-lived V10-engined Fighter – has released the latest teaser image of a new sports car set to be unveiled on July 26.

Known as the Bristol Bullet, the car last made an appearance as a concept at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in striking camouflage, but will be unveiled undisguised later this month.

First announced at the 2014 Hampton Court Palace Concours d’Elegance as Project Pinnacle, the company recently announced the official Bullet name. Perhaps not coincidentally, it shares its name with a Bristol biplane used in air races in the 1920s.

The car will be a celebration of the automotive firm’s 70th year, and is described by the company as ‘a reference to Bristol Cars’ rich and exciting heritage’.

That heritage is clear in the styling. There’s a distinct retro vibe to the Bullet’s appearance, with strong nods to models like the 404 and 405 of the 1950s, which also featured the Bullet’s small, snout-like grille flanked by round headlights.



It’s certainly very different from the Bristol Fighter, a closed-cockpit sports car which ran between 2004 and 2011.

The Bullet will adopt the up-to-date construction of historic Bristol models too, albeit swapping aluminium construction for in-vogue carbonfibre.

And while those similarly-styled early Bristols used inline-six cylinder engines, the Bullet is set to utilise a naturally-aspirated V8 – a 4.8-litre BMW unit, expected to develop around 400bhp.

LAX Car Service - MGCLS

Spirit Airlines second-quarter earnings top expectations

Spirit Airlines on Friday reported second-quarter earnings that topped expectations.The airline posted adjusted earnings of $1.11 a share on revenue of $584.1 million.

Analysts polled by Reuters has expected Spirit Airlines to report earnings of $1.08 a share on revenue of $587.1 million.

The company said it was experiencing pressure on yields and expects that to continue through the summer travel season.

"While in line with our expectations, our second quarter 2016 financial results were negatively impacted by continued pressure on yields," Spirit CEO Bob Fornaro said in a statement. "Looking ahead, we see strong volumes for the peak summer leisure travel period but anticipate yield pressures will persist."

Spirit reported an 8.6 percent drop in second-quarter cost per available seat mile from the same period a year earlier.

Aircraft fuel expense decreased in the second quarter of 2016 by 11.5 percent, or $14.7 million, compared to the same period last year.

LAX Car Service - MGCLS

Los Angeles 2024 Olympic Bid Venue Plans Revealed

The opening ceremonies for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio are just a week away, but the United States and the city of Los Angeles are already looking eight years ahead.

On Friday, Los Angeles 2024 unveiled its plans and renderings for venues that would house the Summer Games.

One of those venues is the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the home of USC football that opened in 1923.

Los Angeles would also construct a temporary "elite, purpose-built open-air swimming venue" out of USC's Dedeaux Field, which is the school's baseball stadium, to hold all aquatic events.

The committee added more plans for swimmers, stating that USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center will serve as a training venue to be remodeled in the fashion of the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska, which is the home of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

It is a part of LA 2024's "proposed Downtown Cluster, which includes state-of-the-art stadiums and arenas like Staples Center, Galen Center, Microsoft Theater and Los Angeles Football Club Stadium at Exposition Park."

Los Angeles is bidding against Rome, Paris and Budapest, Hungary, to host the Games. The winner will be announced in September 2017.

Los Angeles hosted the 1932 and 1984 Summer Games. On both occasions, the Coliseum was the setting of the opening ceremonies.

LAX Car Service - MGCLS

BMW i8 shines in Frozen Black

Bob Smith BMW is once again thinking outside the box by creating one of the most unique BMW i8 hybrids available today. Earlier this month they flexed their muscles with another hot i8, painted in the beautiful Nardo Grey color. This time around, they went for a matte color to enhance the looks of the already gorgeous i8 plug-in hybrid.

The color of choice was Frozen Black, but instead of doing a full blown paint job, they’ve gone the route of applying a vinyl wrap. “Frozen” colors are yet to be made available for the i8 in the US, but we expect to see a BMW i8 Individual Program in the future. For example, BMW UK will be the first to offer BMW Individual colors for the BMW i8 hybrid sportscar.

BMW’s new Individual color collection will be priced upwards of £5,495 in this UK where it will include Java Green, Speed Yellow, Solar Orange, Twilight Purple Pearl, Frozen Grey, Frozen Black, San Marino Blue and Grigio Telesto Pearl, among others.A variety of finishes are available including non-metallic, metallic or Xirallic, which uses a mixture of synthetic mica or aluminum flakes to produce scintillating effects.

The 2016 BMW i8 is offered with a choice of four colors:  Ionic Silver, Protonic Blue, Crystal White and Sophisto Grey.

As far as the Frozen Black BMW i8 seen here, one thing that stands out is the perfect combination between the dynamic design lines and the blacked out look which gives this i8 a “Batmobile-like” look.

Unfortunately the car was already sold, so the only chance to see it is somewhere on the Californian roads.

LAX Car Service - MGCLS

Airlines will need 617,000 pilots over next 20 years

If you’re looking for a new career, Boeing suggests checking out the airline industry.Based on the number of plane orders and airline expansion plans in the works, the aerospace giant predicted this week that the industry will need to hire 617,000 new commercial pilots, 679,000 maintenance technicians and 814,000 new crew members by 2035.

That means the worldwide industry must hire an average of about 31,000 pilots, 35,000 technicians and 40,000 flight attendants each year over the next 20 years.

“Airlines across the globe are expanding their fleets and flight schedules to satisfy demand generated by global economic expansion,” Boeing said in its annual “Pilot and Technician Outlook” report.

The biggest growth in the industry will be in Asia, where air traffic is growing by 6% a year, fueled by the surge of middle-class travelers. The growth means that Asia will need about 40% of all the new pilots, technicians and flight crew members in the next 20 years, the report said. The growing popularity of low-cost carriers around the world also has triggered the demand for planes and their crews.

North America will need about 17% of the new pilots and technicians and 21% of new crew members, the report said.

Boeing spokesman Tom Kim said the company operates several pilot training and development programs to help meet future pilot demand. He said the purpose of the outlook report is to “hopefully encourage people to pursue careers in those fields.”

LAX Car Service - MGCLS