Identity card
Currency: mid-November 2008, 1 US dollar = 0.79 euro
Area code: +1 followed by the area code
Time difference: minus 9 hours
How to get there
AIR TAHITI NUI. As the airline likes to say, "the change of scenery starts when you board". The programme includes tiare flowers offered as soon as you step on board, seats in the colours of the South Seas and a welcome in outfits straight out of a Gauguin painting. Admittedly, this 'holiday' atmosphere may seem out of place for a business clientele, but when you consider that Air Tahiti Nui, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary, has been named 'Best Pacific Airline' five years running, taking advantage of eleven hours' respite to relax and prepare for your meeting is probably not such an unpleasant prospect. Air Tahiti Nui offers up to seven direct flights a week to Los Angeles. Practical information: from 12 January, all passengers travelling from Paris to Los Angeles on Air Tahiti Nui and Air France will be required to complete a new questionnaire, the Esta (Electronic System for Travel Authorization).
Tel: 0825 02 42 02 (0.15 euro/minute)
Internet: www.airtahitinui.com
AIR FRANCE offers 15 non-stop flights a week from Paris in three-class B777s.
Tel: 3654 - Internet: www.airfrance.fr
Hotels
HYATT REGENCY CENTURY PLAZA. In the heart of Century City, not far from Beverly Hills, this grand hotel with 726 rooms and suites has been specially designed for business travellers. Free high-speed Internet access in all the hotel's public areas - bar, restaurants, lobby, etc. - five meeting rooms that can accommodate from 10 to 2,000 people, a special concierge service at the Regency Club, a Penthouse floor with fifteen suites, multilingual staff... and to top it all off, an outdoor swimming pool where you can refocus before signing a big contract.
2025 Avenue of the Stars - Tel: +1 310 228 12 34
Fax: +1 310 551 33 55
Internet: www.centuryplaza.hyatt.com
FOUR SEASONS BEVERLY WILSHIRE. Standing majestically in front of the famous Rodeo Drive, this splendid Tuscan stone building is the haunt of celebrities who gather here for press conferences or lunches. A scene from Pretty Women immortalised this legendary Beverly Hills establishment which, despite its glamour, is first and foremost a luxury hotel. A limousine service is available for transfers to the other Four Seasons in Beverly Hills.
9500 Wilshire Boulevard - Tel: +1 310 275 52 00
Fax: +1 310 274 28 51
Internet: www.fourseasons.com/beverlywilshire
FOUR SEASONS HOTEL LOS ANGELES AT BEVERLY HILLS. More discreet than its famous counterpart on Rodeo Drive, the Four Seasons at Beverly Hills is nevertheless frequented by the very best. You can meet Tim Robbins simply in the lift and, as you would expect, starlets lounging by the sumptuous pool lined with lemon trees. But you can also work at your leisure by hiring a computer or mobile phone in case you forget. The price of high-speed internet here is ten dollars instead of fifteen at the Wilshire, and the multilingual staff at the business centre will respond to any specific requests.
300 South Doheny Drive - Tel: +1 310 273 22 22
Fax: +1 310 859 38 24
Internet: www.fourseasons.com/losangeles
THE LANGHAM, HUNTINGTON HOTEL PASADENA. Just ten kilometres north of Los Angeles, The Langham, long known as The Ritz-Carlton, is a haven of peace immersed in lush greenery and peacefully surrounded by mountains. In all, 380 rooms and suites, numerous meeting rooms equipped with the latest technology, and an exceptional business lounge, The Langham Club Lounge, where a sumptuous buffet is served at any time of day. Cable Internet access.
1401 South Oak Knoll Avenue, Pasadena
Tel: +1 626 568 39 00 - Fax: +1 626 568 37 00
Internet: www.pasadena.langhamhotels.com
HOTEL CHATEAU-MARMONT. This legendary 1920s establishment, overlooking Sunset Boulevard, has lived through the highs and lows of the cinema of yesteryear. Today, the Château-Marmont may not be the liveliest or the most comfortable hotel, but it remains a Hollywood landmark, with its garden cottages, swimming pool and neo-Gothic colonnades.
8221 Sunset Boulevard - Tel.: +1 323 656 10 10
Fax: +1 323 655 53 11
Internet: www.chateaumarmont.com
HOLLYWOOD ROOSEVELT HOTEL. This famous Spanish-style Hollywood hotel, opened in 1927, has played host to some of the world's greatest stars. It is said that the spirit of Marilyn Monroe, who lived for two years in one of the cabanas surrounding the swimming pool decorated by David Hockney, continues to haunt the premises. The mirror from her room, suite 229, which now hangs in the lobby, still sometimes reflects her image. This glamorous venue, where the first Oscars ceremony was held in 1929, offers all the technological conveniences of the 21st century.
7000 Hollywood Boulevard - Tel.: +1 323 466 70 00
Fax: +1 323 462 80 56
Email : infoHRH@thompsonhotels.com
Internet: www.hollywoodroosevelt.com
Other major business hotels
THE SHERATON LOS ANGELES DOWNTOWN HOTEL
711 South Hope Street - Tel: +1 213 488 35 00
E-mail: concierge@sheratonla.com
Internet: www.starwoodhotels.com
THE HILTON CHECKER LOS ANGELES
535 South Grand Avenue - Tel: +1 213 624 00 00
Fax: +1 213 626 99 06 - Internet: www.hilton.com
THE WESTIN BONAVENTURE HOTEL LOS ANGELES
404 South Figueroa Street - Tel: +1 213 624 10 00
E-mail: labon@westin.com
Internet: www.starwoodhotels.com
THE MARRIOTT HOTEL LOS ANGELES DOWNTOWN
333 South Figueroa Street - Tel: +1 213 617 11 33
Fax: +1 213 613 02 91 - Internet: www.marriott.com
THE SHANGRI-LA HOTEL
1301 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica
Tel: +1 310 394 27 91
Internet: www.shangrila-hotel.com
Budget-hotels
THE CRESCENT. This small, understated boutique hotel is housed in a Beverly Hills townhouse built in 1926. Admittedly, it's not a very business-like hotel, but wi-fi is free and you can walk to Rodeo Drive. Bonus: an outdoor fireplace for informal, very Californian meetings on the terrace.
403 North Crescent Drive - Tel: +1 310 247 05 05
Fax: +1 310 247 90 53
Internet: www.crescentbh.com
THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER. Playful, colourful, unpretentious and, above all, very 'motel revisited', this small hotel in the Fairfax district, very close to Hollywood and Beverly Hills, is also very well located.
115 South Fairfax Avenue
Tel: +1 323 937 39 30 - Fax: +1 323 932 16 08
Internet: www.farmersdaughterhotel.com
Conference centres
PASADENA CONVENTION CENTER & CIVIC AUDITORIUM. In the heart of colonial Pasadena, this convention centre dates back to the 1930s and has long hosted the Emmy Awards ceremony. Today it is undergoing serious renovations that will soon add two new buildings. Nearby hotels include a Sheraton, a Hilton, a Westin, a Marriott and a Ritz-Carlton.
300 Green Street - Tel: +1 626 793 21 22
Email : info@pasadenacenter.com
Internet: www.pasadenacenter.com
LOS ANGELES CONVENTION CENTER
1201 South Figueroa Street - Tel: +1 213 741 11 51
Fax: +1 213 765 42 66 - Internet: www.lacclink.com
Restaurants
GEISHA HOUSE (HOLLYWOOD). It doesn't get much more Hollywood than this restaurant owned by Demi Moore's young husband Ashton Kutcher. On the menu: sushi, but what sushi...
6633 Holywood Boulevard
Tel: +1 323 460 63 00 - Fax: +1 323 460 23 44
Internet: www.geishahousehollywood.com
THE WATERGRILL (DOWNTOWN L.A.). This fish restaurant is a benchmark in Downtown fine dining. It offers tuna, crab and sturgeon in Asian, Oriental and Latin styles.
544 South Grand - Tel: +1 213 891 09 00
Internet: www.watergrill.com
MELISSE (SANTA MONICA). Quite simply one of the best restaurants in L.A. This Franco-American restaurant, which has two Michelin stars, is a Mecca for... world cuisine.
1104 Wilshire Boulevard - Tel.: +1 310 395 08 81
Internet: www.melisse.com
CUT (BEVERLY HILLS). Opened in 2006, the restaurant at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire continues to be the place to see and be seen. Its chef, Wolfgang Puck, was awarded a Michelin star in 2008 and is constantly opening new restaurants. Here you can enjoy contemporary cuisine that revisits the classic American steakhouse.
9500 Wilshire Boulevard - Tel: +1 310 276 85 00
Internet: www.wolfgangpuck.com
PATINA (DOWNTOWN L.A.). This "Cal-French" restaurant, located in the famous Walt Disney Concert Hall designed by architect Franck Gehry, is "the" restaurant in Downtown. You can also lunch and dine al fresco. An ideal setting for a business meeting.
Walt Disney Concert Hall, 141 South Grand Avenue
Tel.: +1 213 972 33 31
Internet: www.patinagroup.com
NOBU. This famous Japanese restaurant, which no longer needs any introduction and which dots the world's major cities, from New York to Melbourne via London, Milan and Hong Kong, also exists in several Californian versions. In Malibu, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood (owned by none other than Robert de Niro).
903 North La Cienega Boulevard
Tel.: +1 310 657 57 11
Internet: noburestaurants.com/losangeles
Information
LOS ANGELES TOURIST OFFICE > 333 South Hope Street, 18th Floor
Tel: +1 213 624 73 00 - Fax: +1 213 624 97 46 - Internet: www.discoverlosangeles.com
PASADENA TOURIST OFFICE > 171 South Los Robles Avenue - Tel: +1 626 795 93 11
Fax: +1 626 795 96 56 - E-mail: cvb@pasadenacal.com - Internet: www.visitpasadena.com
CALIFORNIA TOURIST OFFICE > California Tourism, PO Box 1499, Sacramento
Tel: +1 916 444 44 29 - E-mail: web@visitcalifornia.com - Internet: www.visitcalifornia.com
OFFICIAL SITE OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES > City Hall, 200 North Spring Street
Tel: +1 213 485 21 21 - Internet: www.lacity.org
UNITED STATES ECONOMIC MISSION TO SAN FRANCISCO > Since 30 April 2006,
The Los Angeles Economic Mission has been closed and is now based in San Francisco.
88 Kearny Street, Suite 700 - Tel: +1 415 781 09 86 - Fax: +1 415 781 47 50
E-mail: sao-etatsunis@missioneco.org - Internet: www.missioneco.org/etatsunis
FRENCH-AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN LOS ANGELES
10390 Santa Monica Boulevard, Suite 130 - Tel: +1 323 651 47 41 - Fax: +1 323 651 25 47
E-mail: director@frenchchamberla.org - Internet: www.frenchchamberla.org
HOLLYWOOD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE > 7018 Hollywood Boulevard - Tel.: +1 323 469 83 11
Fax: +1 323 469 28 05 - E-mail: info@hollywoodchamber.net
Internet: www.hollywoodchamber.net
