L.A. via Westwood and Venice Beach

We strolled through Westwood Village during our recent stay in L.A. looking through the shop windows, enjoying the warm weather and the scenery. It became apparent to my Wife and I that it was time to sit and enjoy a refreshing drink at about two in the afternoon, so we began our hunt for a place that had a unique feel and that had seating on the sidewalk.

A couple blocks later we found Jerry's Deli. It is situated off a quite side street, its all mahogany and glass inside (very elegant for a deli), and best of all it had windows that opened to the street so you can sit pretty much on the sidewalk. Best of all was that Jerry's had a smiling waiter ready to take care of our thrist. We ordered a draft beer for me and a Mojito for my Wife, Cristy.

As always, a cold beer in the mid-day can't be beat, but the Mojito was great! Did I say the waiter was great? He took good care of us all afternoon and even abliged us by taking a few snapshots. Best of all, when we came back the following evening for Dinner - he remembered us!

This is a true deli - New York Style. The menu is varied and they pretty much can cater to your taste buds; from steaks to deli sandwiches. We ordered the Corned Beef and Pastrami sandwich, Hey - we're in a deli! The sandwich was HUGE and tasted great! We were smart enough to ask how much food it would be before we ordered, and we split this monster!

Needless to say that if we return to Westwood Village, Jerry's will be on our agenda.

The Hotel Palomar is operated by Kimpton Hotels and is located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. My wife and I have been fans of Kimpton Hotels for some time (specifically the Monaco in Chicago, and the Solamar in San Diego) and they e-mail us regularly about new hotels and discount offers. In early May we received an e-mail from Kimpton Hotels about advance reservation discounts and jumped on the opportunity to get a great stay at the Palomar in Westwood for our 10th Wedding Anniversary in August 2009.

As with all the Kimpton Hotels we have stayed at, this one proved to be a great place to stay and their service was above and beyond. First off, the hotel is absolutely gorgeous. The location is two blocks from Westwood Village shopping and restaurants. The interior and exterior design work is eye catching and very much in style. The services are outstanding! The wine cocktail hour each evening, the popsicles during the afternoon heat, the coffee in the morning, and the staff are always there and always helpful.

Their concierge (Paul) at the Palomar wins 5 stars from me right off the bat for bending over backwards to make our stay delightful and memorable. Two days before our arrival I contacted Paul and asked if he could arrange something special for our arrival and our anniversary dinner. He walked me through some of his thoughts and then arranged to have a beautiful bouquet of flowers in the room prior to our arrival. He selected a florist and did a great job making sure the arrangement met my expectations, and that it was inplace before we got there. My Wife was overwhelmed.

We then discussed dinner opportunities and he suggested the Hotel's restaurant: Boulevard 16 (more to come in a separate review). He was adament that it was top notch and would be very pleasing to us. I agreed and asked if he could just set it up so all we had to do is arrive - no ordering. All I wanted was a chilled bottle of Chardonney at the table and the Chef could decide what would be on the menu. Paul took care to ask our likes and dislikes, and then took care of the dinner arrangements with impecable style.

Overall this Hotel gets a high recommendation from us for great style, location, accomodations, staff, and most certainly for service. If you want to go someplace and REALLY have someone take care of all your needs, the Hotel Palomar in Westwood should be on your top 5 list.