Dorothy

L. Frank Baum, creator of the world-famous story The Wizard of Oz, was born on May 15, 1856. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was first published in 1900, and it is one of the most popular children books ever written. As a child, I used to know the lyrics to every song from the movie, something I didn’t realize until I was about fifteen and found myself singing the songs as I was watching the movie!

If you’re a fan of Frank Baum and the Wizard of Oz, it might be fun to plan a little vacation celebrating his birthday. There are actually quite a few sites around the country

Hotel Belle Helene

Ok, so this hotel doesn’t actually have anything to do with Frank Baum, other than the fact that it’s about three miles from Chittenango, New York, which is where he was born. Chittenango, New York, is a very small town, but they do have several Frank Baum sites there. There’s the Wizard of Oz Museum, an Oz Cream Parlor (cute!) and a yearly festival called Oz Fest which is held in late May or early June. And yes – there are even actual yellow brick roads, which have been inlaid into the sidewalks. The town’s original yellow brick road is what gave Baum the idea for the movie.

The Culver Hotel – Culver City, California

If you’ve seen The Wizard of Oz movie, you surely remember all the wonderful munchkin characters. The characters were played by a large number of midgets, most of whom stayed at The Culver Hotel, which was a short distance from the studio. Over the years, the hotel fell into disrepair, but it was completely remodeled and re-opened in 1997, almost 60 years after the movie was made. A “Munchkin Reunion” was held for the 14 surviving actors from the film.

Crown Room Hotel del Coronado

Hotel del Coronado -San Diego, California

The crown-shaped chandeliers in the gorgeous, 10,000 square feet Crown Room, the hotel’s formal dining room, were designed by Frank Baum. He apparently did a lot of the writing for The Wizard of Oz at this spectacular hotel on Coronado Island in San Diego, California. In fact, rumor has it that Baum’s designs for Emerald City were based on the hotel.

Dorothy’s House in the Land of Oz – Beech Mountain, North Carolina

Not really sure about this one. It looks interesting, but again, doesn’t really have anything to do with the book or the movie other than the name.

Victory Inn – Wamego, Kansas

I only included this hotel because it’s in the town where you can find the Oz Museum. Could be a fun weekend trip with the family!

I’m actually shocked to find that no real, Wizard of Oz theme hotel exists, especially given the popularity of the book and the movie. There’s a business opportunity there, I think!

Photo Credits: VirtualErn, DBKing

Kentucky Derby

The exciting Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs has been held in Louisville, Kentucky since 1875. This year marks the event’s 135th anniversary, and it promises to be even more fun than usual! The Kentucky Derby is the first leg of the renowned Triple Crown – the Belmont Stakes and the Preakness Stakes follow. If you’re planning on attending the KEntucky Derby, you’ll have to move fast – tickets for the event are still available, but hotels are selling out quickly!

Here are some hotel ideas in Louisville, Kentucky, for the exciting May 2 weekend. The race itself is only two minutes long, but Louisville is a fun city to visit and there are many things to see and do.

Holiday Inn Airport & Fair/Expo

Clean, basic accomodations less than three miles from Churchill Downs, the site of the Kentucky Derby. There’s an indoor heated pool, a 24-hour fitness center and high-speed Internet access in all rooms.

Hilton Garden Inn – Airport

All rooms are non-smoking and offer free wireless Internet access. You’ll be only a few miles from Churchill Downs. Two restaurants are onsite, making grabbing a quick bite to eat easy and convenient.

Ramada Limited – Airport

This Ramada offers more basic accomodations than the previous two, but you’ll still be close to all the Kentucky Derby action. There’s a heated pool!

Photo Credits: boboroshi

If you’re a mini-bar connoisseur, you’re probably aware of the lack of premium wine found in most hotels. Heck, you’re lucky if you can find a cork screw and wine glasses in most places!

This is a huge tragedy for wine folk, and I just discovered that online Wine Super Hero Gary Vaynerchuk has started to do reviews of the wine found in hotels. What a fun concept!

He did the first one in LA at Hotel Sofitel, in Episode 625, Chardonnay from a Hotel in Los Angeles. There he found a Clos du Bois 2006 North Coast Chardonnay — half bottle with a screw top. Which was lucky because the room didn’t have a cork screw, and he wound up drinking it out of a tumbler. A nice tumbler, but still, for wine folk that’s a thing.

Nice, but unexciting rooms at Sofitel LA

It’s kind of surprising that the Sofitel doesn’t have fancier wine, because it’s a luxury hotel. Rooms start in the $250/night range and then so sky high. But maybe all of the rich, famous people who stay there go down to Rande Gerber’s Stone Rose Lounge to get liquored up. You know Rande is Cindy Crawford’s husband, right?

Where's Cindy Crawford?

In Episode 664, Hotel Wine Search in San Diego, Gary has better luck at the W Hotel in San Diego, finding two bottles in his room, a Coppola Merlot and a Root Cabernet Sauvingnon from Chile.

The seriously bright W San Diego room

The W is way more wine friendly, providing stemmed glasses, a cork screw, and smart marketing — there is a tag on the bottle of Cab recommending that you order a cheese plate to go with it!

Mmmm blueberry mojitos!

You can usually count on the W to be beautiful and well appointed, and the property in San Diego lives up to this. Rooms are bright and sunny, and when you finish all of the wine in your room, you can head down to the Magnet bar for a blueberry mojito.

Maybe that’s not what Gary would order, but some of us cannot live by wine alone! I will, however, be watching for Gary’s next hotel wine review. It’s good to know when you need to BYOB!

Hotel Shangri-La, Santa Monica, CA

Everyone wants to feel like a movie star, even if you have no desire to trod the boards or too many scruples for full frontal. The Hotel Shangri-La, in Santa Monica, California, is the kind of old school glamorous hotel that real celebrities prefer, the ones who want the luxury that fame brings, without the gawkers and paparazzi that a stay at the Chateau Marmont entails. They might not even let Lindsay Lohan stay here, she’s so B-list these days!

The ritzy yet paparazzi-free lobby

The property is finishing up a $30 million renovation, and you have to admit, they spent their money well. This place looks like a movie set! Photographer Bruce Weber — inventor of the soft core porn pretty boy Ambercrombie model shots — loves to use the hotel as location for his shoots.

This is what celebrities see when they wake up

Hotel Shangri-La was built in 1939, and has seen its share of celebrity guests, from JFK Jr. to Madonna to Tom Cruise. It sits on a cliff above the Pacific, offering amazing views, and it’s also walking distance to the Santa Monica pier. They’re advertising introductory rates from $255/night.

And this is the suite where celebrities drink coffee, vodka or both

I would probably do full frontal to stay there. But of course, I love hotels. And drinking vodka on animal print rugs.