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March 3rd Tuesday
We are scheduled for a 2-hour private tour of Hollywood, which ends up being a lot of fun checking out the movie stars homes, visiting the famous Hollywood sign overlooking Hollywood, visiting the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the stars on the sidewalk. These ‘stars’ honour not only movie actors, but radio, TV and stage performers, directors, singers, songwriters, and other well-known show-biz personalities.
The Hollywood sign was actually a ‘Hollywood Land’ sign erected to sell Hollywood land many years ago and was only meant to be a temporary sign. The ‘Land’ part of the sign fell apart and the residents wanted to keep a permanent Hollywood sign, so a young celebrity at the time, the now famous Hugh Hefner, held parties at his Playboy Mansion to raise money via charity by selling off each letter of Hollywood for $30,000 each
and as a result the famous sign still stands to this day.
Today we check out of our hotel and depart Hollywood for Las Vegas. We fly American Airlines which provides very poor service, especially after flying Virgin airlines so much, where you become accustomed to friendly service. A good trick though is to book only an economy seat online and then upgrade at the airport to Business class. It costs US$550 extra each to purchase beforehand, yet only US$45 at the airport when checking in, so it’s a good tip for traveller’s wanting to save money, especially on a short flight which takes less than an hour.
We check into the Encore, one of Vegas’ newest hotels which is part of Wynn’s Casino. Exceptional hotel and we score a penthouse suite for 40% of the normal price thanks to meeting the Encore Client Manager at the Playboy Mansion party a few days before. The view from the suite is exceptional. We head out for a show and see ‘Zumanity’ at New York, New York Hotel. It has mixed reviews and I can see why. Some people would love it and some wouldn’t.
Afterwards we head off to ‘Blush’ a new nightclub in Encore for a few drinks. Vegas is very quiet to what it’s usually like and the recession is taking its toll but there are still plenty of people in town. We are in bed by 2.30am, but six consecutive late nights means I’m taking tomorrow morning off.
Sunday
The Launch party was held at Chateau Marmont overlooking West Hollywood. Upon entering the venue we were greeted by our Virgin hosts and then by the media camera shots to capture the moment of the V Australia launch to the world.
The Venue was great for the launch party and was split over numerous levels with bars in every corner.
My partner was thrilled to meet her ‘Sex and the City’ idol ‘Charlotte’ (Kristen Davies) who was at the party amongst other celebrities. We mingled with Catriona Rowntree, Australia’s most
famous and liked host, Natalie Gruzlewski – the new host for ‘Getaway’ and ‘The Farmer wants a Wife’ and many other Australians who were all there to be apart of this memorable
moment for the Virgin Group.
Ashlee Simpson was also present, looking great even though I have been informed she has just had her first child – personally I would have been more excited to meet her sister Jessica but life isn’t always fair. Julian McMahon was there along with other Australian actors such as Melissa George to support the V Australia launch. I must say Richard Branson knows how to throw a party and the Virgin team certainly love to party. They made us
feel part of the Virgin family and I must say it was one of the best parties I’ve been to.
Scott Swift the CEO of V Australia took particularly good care of us and is a legend and highlights why Virgin, as a group of companies, is so successful as they go beyond the call of duty to ensure people have a great experience.
I also had the chance to chat with Peter Beattie the former Queensland Premier and made a mental note to send a follow up email to him on how he may be able to help with getting quality Financial Education into Australian Schools, especially now I have Sir Richard happy to put his name behind it.
I met some interesting entrepreneurs to network with including the financier who financed Richard Pratt’s Visy expansion into the US and now finances Virgin as well. I also met Anthony LaPaglia the hit Australian actor from ‘Without a Trace’ who was very interesting to talk to. He is certainly passionate
about soccer and invited us to celebrity soccer match the next day that has many Australian actors playing against other actors with the goal of raising money for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal which is well supported by the Australian community living in LA.
We manage to go with the flow and end up at the ‘after party at Sir Richard’s penthouse overlooking the sensational Hollywood – where dreams are made and unfortunately for some broken as well! I occasionally like to smoke mini-cigars from Cuba so I share some cigars with some friends at the party and we enjoy a cigar overlooking the night sky of Hollywood.
Finally in bed a little after 3am. Jet lag and late nights are catching up and maybe sleep at this point isn’t overrated.
