ICONIC AND CLOSE: While we vacationers dream of trotting off to faraway away locales, famous locations bustle and carry on within our Southern California-close sphere. We don't need a plane to get to Disneyland, nor Malibu, and Beverly Hills, that mythic town sitting grandly near the middle of our busy megalopolis. With saving and planning and dreaming and actually taking time off, a night or two away in all of these well-known-everywhere destinations could be a reality; it is certainly what people far from our LA borders do.
So a local jaunt to the 90210, to a place like Mosaic Hotel, a 49-room boutique property, sans the airplane, could be just the ticket for your life, if a longer, farther-away vacation isn't in the cards. The hotel, which is a Gemstone Hotels & Resorts Beverly Hills property, just revealed its multi-month refurbishment in July, a "glittery gussy up" if you will. (If you're going to live the Beverly Hills way of life, "glittery" fits most things.)
AS FAR AS THAT GUSSY UP GOES? Look for a subtle theme of California-ness throughout the hotel. This Golden State spirit is depicted in "the injection of bright colors and original design elements," elements that run from wallpaper that's described as "whimsical" to "the ultramodern artwork." The wallpaper is Fromental -- with "a nod to artist David Hockney" -- and the theme hue of the Mosaic, sage, is ever-present. To polish off the polished look with Beverly Hills-style posh-a-tude, the doorman sports a bowler.
IF YOU'RE WONDERING... if Maison 140, which is just a short strut away, is in the same family as Mosaic, it is. Nope, they don't look exactly alike -- Maison 140 sports a Kelly Wearstler design -- but that cool, burnished, easy 'n elegant Beverly Hills laid-back-ness reigns at both properties. To see all of Mosaic's fresh touches, the ones that just made the jump back into the public eye in July, there's a pretty gallery on the site. Or you can book your stay-close-to-home stay starting here.
