Los Angeles

The New Santa Monica! While the iconic Santa Monica Pier celebrates its 100th birthday, brand new restaurants, attractions, hotel upgrades and renovations smartly blend new with old and serve to make Santa Monica a must-see destination.

A shining star among Los Angeles beach communities, Santa Monica has it all and holds her own as both a charming seaside community and a bustling city in motion. Santa Monica's group offerings are many - from heavenly coastal resorts to award-winning dining opportunities to cultural offerings and happening attractions. We have highlighted a few selections of what's hot and new in town for the perfect group experience.

Hotel Updates:
Santa Monica has most definitely stepped up the pace with its high-end hotel offerings and upgrades. The beachfront, 342-room, Loews Santa Monica, with its palm tree-lined lobby, allows guests to be seaside, sun-soaked and star-struck in one fabulous location. Its Ocean Spa & Fitness has undergone a transformation offering the latest in new spa and salon treatments, a eucalyptus steam room and dry sauna, an outdoor Jacuzzi and more.

Shutters on the Beach has been re-invented by President Barack Obama's White House interior designer. Guestrooms and suites promote relaxation in a "private beach house" setting with rooms featuring hardwood floors, four-poster beds, reading libraries and inspiring artwork.

A new Sea Wellness Spa invites guests to take in the healing ocean air at Hotel Casa Del Mar, incorporating eco-friendly design, revitalizing and health-benefiting spa treatments and a variety of fitness programs for mind and body. With 129 guestrooms renovated last year as part of a multi-million dollar redesign, Casa del Mar combines hip with the best of Old Hollywood.

The Huntley Santa Monica Beach has added 5,000 square feet of modern event space, creating the ideal setting for retreats and special events from 25 to 125 people. The Penthouse, an 18th-floor rooftop restaurant and lounge complete with 360-degree views of the Pacific Ocean, the Malibu coast and cliffs, and the bright lights of Hollywood, recently earned Top Decor honors in the Zagat 2010 Los Angeles/Southern California Restaurants survey.

Conde Nast Traveler calls the 162-room Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica, "one of the hippest new hotels" and "one of the 50 hottest hotels in the world." This "urban retreat at the shore" fuses classic sophistication and contemporary chic to create a thoroughly modern and uniquely luxurious beach boutique hotel.

Restaurants:
Dining is a special treat in Santa Monica which offers up great cuisine paired with the seaside experience. New palate-pleasing eateries include Anisette Brasserie, located in the historic Clock Tower Building, painstakingly replicated as a traditional brasserie with distressed mirrors, carefully mismatched light fixtures and leather banquettes. This summer, "Top Chef" Stefan Richter launched his renovated version of the LA Farm, now Stefan's at LA Farm, which serves up California Cuisine sprinkled with a few Eastern European specialties. The originally rustic space is now a modern, sleek restaurant with marble-topped tables, fire pits on the patio, a long wooden bar, and dining space bedecked with abstract art.

An old Santa Monica mainstay, Santa Monica Seafood, recently relocated to a new location with outstanding features including more than 60 linear feet of state-of-the-art seafood refrigeration cases, a full-service cafe offering a wide selection of fresh seafood, an Oyster Bar and a greatly expanded wine selection.

Cache Restaurant offers a casual atmosphere showcasing a market-based menu by award-winning local chef Josiah Citrin. This new venture takes over the former space of Hidden restaurant, taking advantage of a beautifully lit outdoor patio complete with fire pit lounge, private dining areas and bar, as well as a quieter interior dining room.

When Chinois on Main first opened in 1983, Wolfgang Puck had created the first, and many say still the best, example of America's fusion cuisine. With a stunning design, colorful interior and open kitchen, this restaurant has been a favorite for over two decades. Now it boasts a brand new dining room with a built-in sound system and plasma TV screen that can accommodate up to 50 guests.

Attractions:
This past summer marked the debut of a new 3,300 square foot seaside pavilion located in Santa Monica's Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier. Perfect for special events, this covered space can accommodate groups from 25 to 300 persons while the entire park serves as a great venue for large groups. Take your pick from the many games, eateries and rides located in the park including the Pacific Wheel, the world's only solar-powered Ferris Wheel.

Opened in late 2008, The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage features a 499-seat state-of-the-art Theater anchoring a performing arts complex at the Santa Monica College Madison Campus. An Art Gallery features student and faculty exhibitions in addition to works of world-class artists. A smaller rehearsal hall is utilized for the presentation of spontaneous and experimental works as well as other types of performances. Talk to the team at ACCESS Los Angeles about incorporating the Broad Stage as a special event venue in your conference itinerary.

Santa Monica Place, originally designed by Frank Gehry, is getting a major makeover in downtown Santa Monica. Scheduled for opening in August of 2010, this shopping complex will feature a broad plaza surrounded by curving walls that open to both the street and toward the beach. A rooftop dining level will allow ocean views while the retail complex will offer unparalleled shopping experiences with a wide-ranging mix of great brands including Nordstrom, BCBG Max Azria, Michael Kors, Swarovski and Bernini.

Also on the slate for 2010, the Museum of Flying is due to open in the spring in its new location at the Santa Monica Airport with a display and exhibit area of nearly 22,000 square feet. The new Museum will chronicle the history of flight and the development and growth of the aviation and aerospace industry in Southern California with nearly two dozen aircraft tracing the history of flight from a replica Wright Flyer all the way to the jet age, with the BD-5 micro jet and the FedEx 727 nose section.

Too many choices? That's where we come in! Allow the destination management experts at ACCESS Destination Services to help you target the perfect events and activities based on your needs and budgets for your next conference, meeting or incentive travel program earmarked for the Los Angeles and Santa Monica areas. Photos represent the hip, new Viceroy Hotel, private dining space at Chinois, and the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage.

Palm Springs

Never leave a marine behind! "Leave no serviceman stranded at the airport" is the motto of a dedicated Palm Springs volunteer organization whose mission is to provide free rides to servicemen and women stranded at the Palm Springs International Airport en route to assignment at the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base. Many of these service members do not have the $200.00 taxicab fare needed to get to the base. Thanks to the volunteer efforts, no service personnel will ever be stranded at the airport overnight. Not only does this organization transport servicemen to and from the base, they raise funds to pay for the gas, insurance, and upkeep to maintain this service.

To integrate an inspiring component into your next Palm Springs program, whether at a special event or as a meeting inclusion, contact the ACCESS Palm Springs team to arrange to have the organization's founder talk about the origins of this volunteer effort and where it is heading. This organization began in January of 2007 when its founder, while at the Palm Springs International Airport, encountered an injured marine, on crutches with a full leg cast, who had just missed the last bus of the day to the Marine Corps Base. That night, she gave this Iraq War veteran a ride to the base and promised herself that, from this point on, no marine would be left stranded at the airport waiting for a ride to his or her next duty station.

For more information on this and other community service programs in the Desert Resort Communities, contact the team at ACCESS Destination Services today.

Spice it up with ACCESS

White Chocolate Sweet Potato Cake
Perfect for the holidays! This lightly spiced sweet potato cake, courtesy of Martha Stewart Living, is layered with white chocolate mousse and sprinkled with toasted macadamia nuts.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Coat potatoes with 1/4 cup vegetable oil, and place on baking sheet. Bake until tender, 30 to 40 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove skin, and mash flesh with a fork into coarse puree.

2. Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees. Butter two 8-by-1 1/2-inch round cake pans, dust with flour, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add remaining 1 cup vegetable oil; beat on medium speed until well combined. Add the cooled sweet potatoes; mix until combined.

3. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; mix into sweet potato mixture. Mix in vanilla and brandy until combined. Remove batter from mixer; fold in 1 cup macadamia nuts by hand.

4. Evenly distribute cake batter into prepared pans, and transfer to the oven. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let pans cool on a wire rack 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack; cool completely, about 1 1/4 hours.

5. Meanwhile, chop white chocolate into small pieces; set aside. Bring 1 cup cream to a boil; pour over chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Chill for 30 to 40 minutes.

6. When chocolate mixture has cooled, pour remaining cup cream into an electric mixer; whip on medium until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture until fully incorporated.

7. Cut each cake layer in half horizontally, creating four layers. Spread 2/3 cup chocolate frosting on one layer, then stack next layer on top, and frost. Repeat frosting-and-stacking process until each layer is frosted. Spread remaining frosting on sides and top of cake. Arrange remaining 1/2 cup macadamia nuts on top of cake, and serve.

Enjoy!