Los Angeles: Mid-Summer Pride Fetish Ball

I haven’t been to the Pride Fetish Ball, but trust me: These are not the most scandalous costumes you’ll see.

We love the new and ever-improving downtown L.A. area. What used to be a gritty, scary, urban wasteland is now transforming into a fabulous, must-go destination in its own right.

And what to the folks at TwistMyNight.com, creators of Unusual Earth Events, do? They decide to turn part of it back into a gritty, scary, event called PRIDE FETISH BALL. Though of course the difference is you’ll really want to check this out. Halloween is one of West Hollywood and L.A.’s most exciting time to visit with folks really dressing up (this is home to Hollywood, for heaven’s sake), especially with slutty, sexy, and fetish-type costumes.

This “scandalous masquerade,” is scheduled for Friday, June 8 from 9pm-2am at Infusion Lounge at Universal City Walk in Los Angeles.

Information:

• Tickets: $20, available in advance at 665 Leather-West Hollywood, Stockroom-Hollywood and Rough Trade-L.A.; online atwww.twistmynight.com or at the door.
• Recommended dress:  Tasteful fantasy/fetish.   Ages 21 & over.  I.D. required.  Infusion Lounge is located at: 1000 Universal Studios Blvd, Ste 208 Universal City, CA  For more information, visit www.twistmynight.com

What’s Hot in Los Angeles and West Hollywood: Listen In

Proud FM Toronto’s latest travel Tuesday segment aired last week. Find out what’s new, hot and happening in Los Angeles and West Hollywood with their “travel guru” — yours truly. Discover new restaurants, bars, a revitalized downtown and much more.

Click here to listen: http://www.proudfm.com/interactive/podcast_player/554

 

A Super Halloween Costume Carnaval in West Hollywood, CA

Courtesy Flikr/sdoorly

West Hollywood, CA boasts one of the best and biggest Halloween celebrations and parades. Although it’s become increasingly popular with spectators versus participants over the past few years, it really is still a fun largely gay party.

It’s called the West Hollywood Halloween Costume Carnaval and it attracts about 500,000 people. Purists, the organizers always schedule it for Halloween night no matter which day of the week that falls on.

More info here: http://www.westhollywoodhalloween.com

The SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills sent out information about two special offers that may be helpful as you plan your visit, including a make up session — great for all manners of costumers.

It also offers a package price that includes shuttle service to the big event and other goodies described below.

Photo courtesy Flikr/sdoorly

Halloween: A Gay High Holiday

Revelers at last year's Halloween celebration in West Hollywood; flikr/domasan1

Originally published in GPS.OutTraveler.com

There’s nothing like a pagan holiday to get the LGBT community all excited!

Halloween — with roots in a Celtic harvest festival — has distinct appeal for queer people. It’s primarily an adult holiday in urban settings. We can express our inner crazy, and society sanctions it. There is no seeing family or buying gifts involved. And if you’re lucky to live in a big city, there’s probably also an incredibly fun parade and party. There are often parties during the weekends before or after Halloween, but purists mark the day on October 31.

This year, consider traveling to one of our favorite Halloween destinations. Here are three we love along with a few highlights.

• New York‘s 38th annual Village Halloween Parade kicks off at 7PM. You must be in costume to march. Looky-loos: Grab a viewing spot early as the small streets of the Village get packed quickly.
• New Orleans, which is already scary fun, amps it up for Halloween. The historic French Quarter is where the action is all weekend, but especially on the big night (October 31). The Bourbon Pub & Parade offers pretty much non-stop parties from Thursday, October 28 through Sunday, Halloween.
• West Hollywood‘s 23rd annual Halloween Costume Carnaval is expected to attract nearly a half million revelers to Santa Monica Blvd., attracted to the parade, crowds, costumes, and entertainment. Some have complained that there are more spectators than participants, but it’s difficult to top the sheer creativity of those in costume. This is after all the epicenter of the entertainment industry.
  • This year, WeHo celebrates the 35th anniversary of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Las Vegas is not known for the scale of its Halloween celebrations like these other destinations, but we heard of the following offer and wanted to pass it along. The super gay-friendly Mandalay Bay is offering a “Till Death Do Us Part” special promotion, which includes a commitment ceremony in a themed haunted chapel!

Check out our Out guides to these destinations

• New York
• Los Angeles

 

The Chamberlain Hotel West Hollywood

One of the Chamberlain's rooms, which are very large. This view is from the bedroom towards the sunken living room area, which can be used for business meetings or just to relax and watch TV, and towards the curtained-off balcony.

Originally published in GPS.OutTraveler.com

During a recent trip to West Hollywood — WeHo to friends — I made a few discoveries.

First, the city is only 1.9 square miles. Also, it’s probably the gayest city on the planet, considering it was founded over 25 years ago by a group of gay men who essentially wanted to carve out a fabulous part of unincorpated Los Angeles turf and create valuable property. Which they certainly did.

I also discovered the Chamberlain West Hollywood, a luxury boutique hotel property in the heart of the city. It used to be known as Summerfield Suites, but along with the name change came a costly and meticulous renovation. It’s popular with gay travelers and, like many of the 14 hotels in WeHo, it has a large clientele from the entertainment industry.

Here are a few things that I love about this hotel property

• It’s located in a quiet, leafy residential area in the middle of WeHo.
• The rooms are huge, and not just because I’m from New York! They consist of a living area separate from the bedroom area and a balcony. There’s a fireplace in the room for those cool LA evenings. Note: Bizarrely, the on-off switch is located in the thermostat.
• There’s a beautiful pool on the roof that can be a a fun scene. This past weekend the pool attracted a pod of gorgeous young lesbians who enjoyed cocktails and food and the occasional dip in the pool.
• It’s steps from the gayest Starbucks on Earth (at Santa Monica Blvd and Westmount Drive), which itself just benefited from a huge makeover, making it also the prettiest Starbucks on Earth and a Trader Joe’s where you can stock up on water and thousands of other necessities.
• There’s an iPod and iPhone docking station so you don’t get that annoying message about incompatible devices, and it charges your iPhone. Note though that AT&T has notoriously poor coverage in LA.

Is it gay friendly you ask? The Chamberlain puts its money where its mouth is, donating to various causes, including the Santa Cruz Diversity Center, Young Musicians Foundation, Life Rolls on Foundation, and Providence St. Joseph’s Foundation to name a few. The hotel is also planning on supporting Pride next year, but details are still to be determined.