Uh-oh, the holidays are coming! I just got my first holiday card. It was from the King of England. He and I, we go back. The wild stories we have from Prohibition! Sadly, the last King of England hasn’t been around for more than fifty years. Pity the English postal system…

Still, it’s November and Thanksgiving is coming up – another holiday the Brits are not particularly fond of. And December is the home of such illustrious holidays as Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, as well as other slightly less well-known holidays as National Cookie Day (December 4th), Human Rights Day (December 10th), and Poinsettia Day (December 12th). Yes, the fabulous poinsettia gets its own holiday. Don’t you feel smarter knowing this?

All this is a roundabout way of getting to the important point: the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel & Spa, the delightful home of yours truly, is offering a special rate for all those people out there looking for a place to stay this cold winter season. And by cold, I mean under 60° F. Any colder and I get frostbite through my silk undergarments.

The hotel is offering a very low rate of $229 per night for one of our amazing guestrooms and, if you’re really really special and have an Elephant Card from the Hollywood & Highland Center, you can get an even more-special rate of $199 per night. Now, here’s the secret: I’m going to tell you exactly where to get this fabled Elephant Card. Go to Visitors Information on Level 1 of the H&H Center and tell them Bruce sent you. They promised me they would take care of you, my beloved audience. I trust them; you should too. Supposedly you can also get these cards mailed to you by visiting www.hollywoodandhighland.com but who trusts these intertubes anyway?

Now, go forth, and celebrate! Today, November 14, is National American Teddy Bear Day. I thought you should know that.

This is Bruce, signing off.

Goodness gracious, I’m exhausted! Have you been following the election? Congratulations to both Barack Obama and John McCain. It was a long, long campaign and good for us: we still have a working democracy. But oh my, it’s tiring. I haven’t slept a wink in days and I’m finally getting back to updating this blog. We’re going to have more regular updates here in the future.

First, I would like to welcome a new member to our Hollywood family: Dan Shaughnessy. He is our new Director of Sales & Marketing. While he’s new in Hollywood (sorry, ladies, he’s married), he’s a veteran in our industry, with over 20 years of experience in hospitality at hotels and resorts in Rancho Las Palmas, Phoenix, and Marina Del Rey. Most recently, he was Director of Sales for the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa.

Fun facts about Dan: his mother, Ilene Woods, was the voice of Cinderella in Disney’s classic 1950 film and his father, Ed, was the drummer on Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show. A big show-biz background for our newest director… sounds like he’s going to be right at home in Hollywood after all. We just announced his appointment to the media, and I wanted to share this money quote:

“We’re very happy to add Dan to our team,” says General Manager Bruce Gorelick. “His wealth of experience will be a great addition to our current operation and his marketing and sales record really speaks for itself.”

What a dashing young man that Bruce is, even in print… So well-spoken, so articulate. Like a young Abe Lincoln, but more handsome and athletic. Anyhow, I wanted to congratulate Dan on his appointment. I really look forward to working with him.

Finally, I would like to extend hearty congratulations to our former Director of Sales & Marketing, the dear Chris Orr, who is moving on to Baltimore. Good luck, Chris! We’ll miss you!

This morning I got a bit of a surprise in my inbox: a notification from the Mother Ship – aka Marriott Corporate Headquarters - that my hotel is no longer the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel. What? No! I was surprised, alarmed, shocked, then surprised again, for good measure.

And then I remembered. We are now, yes, the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel & Spa.

What’s that? A name change! Sounds good, doesn’t it? That little addition, “& Spa!” Does that mean Spa Luce is going to be opening very soon? Well, you know how I feel about revealing my secrets; I’m like Homeland Security, but less swiss cheese-like. It’s not like I told you about Michael Ausiello’s secret circus upbringing or what my favorite secret power would be… But in this case I’ll make an exception: Spa Luce will be opening its doors on May 1st, 2008.

So, we’ve changed our name and are preparing to open our new spa, and that means we need a new logo for the hotel. You see how the logo has already changed on the website – those tech-guys do things quick. Did you notice how we’ve also changed our sign outside the hotel? Go and check next time. Here’s an image of what we’re going with for now on here:

I find the image quite handsome and, honestly, I can’t see how we ever did without it. But that’s all marketing talk, and you, dear readers, are probably not as interested in that as you might be in this: our new spa menu.

I just got a call from our dear Helen Storer, the Spa Director for Spa Luce, with the finalized version of the spa menu. However, before I share it with you, Helen insists I point out a few details about the spa. I’ll let her words guide us:

“Spa Luce offers a one of a kind tranquil urban oasis within the fast paced excitement of the world’s most famous city. The 6400-square-foot, state-of-the-art luxury spa features personalized treatments, celebrity-inspired pampering, and top-of-the-line beauty and health products. The spa’s commitment to all-around natural beauty is evident in the three exclusive product lines chosen to be used in treatments: Sonya Dakar Skincare, the Somme Institute, and Red Flower.”

For the most part, I’m not sure what she’s talking about but no matter – it sounds marvelous, and very relaxing! Check out the spa menu here.

Now, all that news was all a little too exciting for me. I think I’m going to go have an Ausholitini at the Twist Bar. It is, after all, almost noon.

This is Bruce, signing off.