Alberta
- The Grande Rockies Resort recently opened in Canmore. The 150 one- and two-bedroom suites offer large flat-screen televisions and wireless Internet. The resort also offers a restaurant, lobby bar and indoor pool with a waterslide. It features a small business center and conference and meeting space. There are three meeting rooms, banquet and conference facilities and a ballroom for up to 200. For more information, call 403.678.8880.
California
- Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills recently unveiled a $33 million renovation that included all 285 guest rooms and suites, its ballroom and pool area. The hotel also opened a new restaurant, Culina, which serves modern Italian cuisine based on seasonal ingredients. The newly renovated 4,000-square-foot ballroom, where arched windows now allow for more natural light, features new carpeting and decor. The Windows Lounge, long a gathering spot for Hollywood celebrities, has been updated with a new backlit photographic glass bar top, a green onyx patio and an expanded patio with wrought iron cabanas. The new guest room decor gives a nod to 1940s Hollywood with mirrored wall paneling and champagne-colored linens. For more information, call 310.273.2222.
- Evergreen Lodge, a resort located on the western border of Yosemite National Park, opened a new mountain retreat. The John Muir House is a private three-bedroom cedar home that totals 2,500 square feet. It includes a kitchen, a screened porch and a 1,000-square-foot private deck. The retreat also includes complimentary wireless Internet. Also new this year at the lodge is an expanded wellness program. Adding to the Evergreen Lodge’s spa services is daily yoga instruction for guests, with morning classes held outdoors in a nearby meadow. For more information, call 209.379.2606.
- The former Los Angeles Stock Exchange, one of the city’s architectural landmarks, recently reopened as Exchange LA, a nightlife and special events venue offering audiovisual capabilities, while preserving the building’s Art Deco character and original historic elements. The building itself, which broke ground just before the notorious stock market crash of 1929, was once home to the Los Angeles branch of the now defunct Pacific Stock Exchange. Located along downtown Los Angeles’ Gallery Row, in an area once known as the Wall Street of the West, Exchange LA weaves this history into its existing incarnation. The entire venue is 25,000 square feet and includes four stories and four bars. Throughout the venue, room names pay homage to the building’s storied past, including the main event space and dance floor, dubbed the Trading Room, the mezzanine level, called Federal Reserve, and the private fourth floor area, titled The Board Room. A few of Exchange LA’s preserved historical elements include 12-foot solid bronze doors at the entrance, weighing 1,400 pounds apiece. An events concierge is available for groups. For more information, call 213.627.8070.
