Content Is King » Spa + Luxury http://ecgladstone.com the homepage of E.C. Gladstone Tue, 06 Jul 2010 03:31:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Designer Dodd Mitchell http://ecgladstone.com/2009/11/designer-dodd-mitchell/ http://ecgladstone.com/2009/11/designer-dodd-mitchell/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:00:44 +0000 admin http://ecgladstone.com/?p=342
Dodd Mitchell's My House nightclub

Dodd Mitchell's My House nightclub

No two spaces are alike for hot LA-based interior designer Dodd Mitchell (click here to download PDF) who continues to top himself with one impressive restaurant or nightclub design after another. I was lucky enough to be able to print one of the more rare lengthy interviews with him.
Other intriguing designers I’ve interviewed include Thomas Schoos and Roger Thomas.

]]> http://ecgladstone.com/2009/11/designer-dodd-mitchell/feed/ 0 The Best Las Vegas Restaurants http://ecgladstone.com/2009/09/the-best-las-vegas-restaurants/ http://ecgladstone.com/2009/09/the-best-las-vegas-restaurants/#comments Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:49:24 +0000 admin http://ecgladstone.com/?p=158 l_8818c4fe1f66c44044ff3849dbefe2aa

The carne cruda at Mario Batali's Carnevino (Palazzo). Worth the trip alone. pic ECG

Even while it caters to tourists from Boise, Beijing and Bavaria, Las Vegas has become a legitimate foodie destination…if you know where to go. Here’s a primer on All The Star Chefs of Vegas… And click here for my ratings on:

• Top Ten Strip Steakhouses

• Top Ten Italian Restaurants

• Top Ten Gourmet Burgers

• Top Ten Las Vegas Buffets

• Top People-Watching Places

• Best Spots for Sipping Wine

• Best places to Breakfast

l_12874166b83148cebdfddab17a08bb82

With Chef Michael Mina (four restaurants in LV and counting!)

• Best Cheap Eats on the Strip

]]> http://ecgladstone.com/2009/09/the-best-las-vegas-restaurants/feed/ 0 If you’re going to rate the best pool cabanas in Vegas… http://ecgladstone.com/2009/09/if-youre-going-to-rate-the-best-pool-cabanas-in-vegas/ http://ecgladstone.com/2009/09/if-youre-going-to-rate-the-best-pool-cabanas-in-vegas/#comments Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:58:55 +0000 admin http://ecgladstone.com/?p=142 EG, Holly Madison and

EG, Holly Madison and Dana DiCillo by Hew Burney. Yes, it was hot out.

By all means, do it with Holly Madison and Playboy model Dana DiCillo. We had fun at Hard Rock’s legendary Rehab party… but these were the real winners.

]]> http://ecgladstone.com/2009/09/if-youre-going-to-rate-the-best-pool-cabanas-in-vegas/feed/ 0 Rating The Best Spas In Vegas http://ecgladstone.com/2009/09/rating-the-best-spas-in-vegas/ http://ecgladstone.com/2009/09/rating-the-best-spas-in-vegas/#comments Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:44:11 +0000 admin http://ecgladstone.com/?p=137 Spa Lobby - Photo by Russell MacMasters

Breathtaking lobby of the Encore spa. Photo by R. MacMasters, courtesy Wynn

Don’t let the breezy tone of this Orbitz blog fool you: Rating the very best spas in Las Vegas (a city which may have more spas per-capita than anywhere in the world) was no easy feat! I had to pay attention while being pampered… ;)

]]> http://ecgladstone.com/2009/09/rating-the-best-spas-in-vegas/feed/ 0 Orbitz: Get a Room, already! http://ecgladstone.com/2009/09/orbitz-get-a-room-already/ http://ecgladstone.com/2009/09/orbitz-get-a-room-already/#comments Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:33:40 +0000 admin http://ecgladstone.com/?p=132 FLV_MiniSuite_lvng rm_dariusKuzmickas

Flamingo's GO Junior Suite: Possibly my favorite room in all of Vegas.

In Vegas it’s always hard to separate the hope and the hype. Here are links to my Orbitz Vegas blogs discussing many of the hotels I’ve stayed in on (and off) the Strip:  Top Ten Standard Stays … my favorite Hot Habitats and Sumptuous Suites… Where The Celebs Stay… Top Ten Off-Strip Stays…surprising Family-friendly casino-resorts… The new Hard Rock Hotel towers … Concierge Level at the Palazzo… impressive Casino-Free Destination Resorts … the wonder-filled Wynn Encore… Monte Carlo Mk II… How Flamingo Created The Coolest Rooms in Vegas… and a preview of the long awaited City Center!

]]> http://ecgladstone.com/2009/09/orbitz-get-a-room-already/feed/ 1 Somerville Summit http://ecgladstone.com/2009/09/somerville-summit/ http://ecgladstone.com/2009/09/somerville-summit/#comments Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:51:54 +0000 admin http://ecgladstone.com/?p=77 0918090943aRed Carpet glamour may focus on “what are you wearing?” but let’s be frank: if you haven’t got it going on above the neck, what’s below won’t matter. So facial guru Kate Somerville made use of the Emmys moment to gather together a small dream team of aesthetic pros in her “White Room” medi-spa, reminding Hollywood that you can’t fake the fundamentals. Oh, and to gift-suite some nice products to celebs and their happy media tagalongs. Denise Richards, Sal Masekela, Julie Benz, Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter), Rachel Harris (The Hangover) and Aaron Stanton (Mad Men) were among the celeb turn out yesterday, and Marla Sokoloff wandered in while I was there, just after todays press presentation with Kate, Bare Escentuals CEO Leslie Blodgett, and Alexandre Chouery, the official hairdresser for the royal Saudi family, and in his spare time, one of Frederic Fekkai’s Creative Directors (with the French accent to prove it). All three stressed the importance of customer care in all service elements and proven results for products as the keys to their success. In other words, even at luxury levels, it’s time to break away from b.s.

With Kate Somerville

With Kate Somerville

Goodies and gimmies included a KS Ageless Collection package (her Quench, Deep Tissue Repair, Total Vitamin and Line Release serums in a glam little sliver kit case)…some baobab and olive oil-based products from Fekkai’s new line…a bare escentuals BareMinerals sampler…Clarisonic’s new travel-sized skin care brush…GoSmile’s pocket-packable flavored tooth whitener vials…Ajne natural-based perfume…and one of Dayna Decker’s very fancy candles–sorry, “chandels” (I dropped a suggestion that they adapt their cool oil lamp for a channukah menorah).

I even got a (near-perfect) manicure from Yuka Nishizawa of Calgel, a South African company–apparently huge in Japan–that does long-lasting gel-based nail art. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take advantage of the Fashion Forms lingerie table (note to self: bring lingerie wearer along next time) or the Michael Greene pearls the size of gumballs (note to self: bring along filthy rich lingerie wearer next time) and my hands were too full to take a Sprinkles cupcake!(clearly I have my priorities upside down)

Also notable:

Fekkai just moved his salon out of Beverly Hills to the less showy, more boutiquey Melrose Place (near Somerville).

Somerville has a big book coming in March 2010, and hopefully before that, the long awaited debut of her take-home light therapy device…

UPDATE: Debra Messing, Lauren Conrad, Debi Mazar (Entourage, Dancing with the Stars), Lisa Rinna, Sally Pressman (Army Wives), Judy Greer (Love Happens), and Michaela Watkins (SNL) also showed up after me on Friday. Guess I shoulda loitered more… And then on Saturday, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Felicity Huffman, Bryan Batt, Paris Hilton, Kate Walsh, Jordana Brewster, Perrey Reeves, Olivia Wilde, and Rachel Boston came by for freebies. Paris apparently made lunch of it, when she found out M Cafe was catering…

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