Hotel Bel-Air has announced its plans to reopen next summer. Now that wasn’t such a long, bad sleep, was it? Among all the remodeling, which fortunately didn’t involve bringing in a nightlife company, the famous piano bar and restaurant are both undergoing patio-mad extensions. Where will the new additions be?
The bar will extend into two outdoor garden “niches,” Hospitality.net reports, with a little bit of polish added to the piano and wood-paneled walls inside. So no massive changes within because, let’s face it, old people are really uncomfortable with new-fangled additions like i-Pod docks and blaring flat screens.
A bar will be added on to The Terrace, where there will also be a retractable screen that allows diners to take in the grounds when it’s nice outside and keep them warm when it’s windy, or as a further barrier between them and protesters screaming on megaphones at The Governor when he (or maybe, possibly she) is eating, as did happen once when we chose to sup here.
The dining room will also have a new indoor/outdoor patio, and in a bid to lend a groovier touch to the place, there will be glass wine cellars showing off 2,400 bottles, with the centerpiece of the restaurant being the largest wine cellar, which will separate the private and public dining areas.
Overall, nothing too dramatic is taking place, and refreshingly, those nasty Hills-types aren’t being courted here. If anything, the youth being targeted through the refurb are more likely the 40-somethings in Brentwood who still need a few more years to become like the matrons and patrons that haunt the place daily. We’ll see if it works come summer.
Hotel Bel-Air Los Angeles to Reopen Summer 2011 [Hospitality.Net]
