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You’ll need it. With a visit to Los Angeles for HITEC 2014, you’ll need to know these five things about us.
1. Bring Your Appetite and Your Sense of Adventure – Los Angeles is One of America’s Top Culinary Destinations.
Find out why Food and Wine Magazine called Los Angeles “America’s best new food city” in its March 2014 issue. Los Angeles is home to thousands of restaurants, offering everything from Michelin-starred fine dining (Water Grill, Mori Sushi, Asanebo Corp, Patina Restaurant, Providence, Cut, Urusawa, Hatfield’s, Gordon Ramsay at the London-West Hollywood, Osteria Mozza, Melisse) to authentic international street food. Los Angeles invented the food truck and the celebrity chef, and you can dine in their restaurants, sample their cooking and often catch a glimpse of them in the kitchen or greeting diners.
Four Los Angeles restaurants were among those named by GQ Magazine in its annual 25 Best New Restaurants in America in March 2014, the only city on the list to have four restaurants named. L.A. Tourism’s dine L.A. Restaurant Week is the largest in the country, with 362 restaurants drawing 59,600 diners.
Here are definitive guides to dining in L.A.
2. Downtown L.A. is Cool
Downtown L.A. is a cosmopolitan, walkable urban hub of culture, entertainment and dining. The center of all the action is the L.A. LIVE sports and entertainment complex. Catch a Lakers basketball game, or a Kings hockey game at their home stadium, the STAPLES Center. Go for cocktails and bowling at the nightclub/bowling alley Lucky Strike. See some of the biggest names in pop, from Justin Timberlake to Beyonce at the Nokia Theatre, home of the Grammy Awards. Downtown is full of historic vaudeville theatres, museums, hip boutique hotels, art galleries and cool new shops. GQ Magazine called Downtown L.A. “America’s coolest new downtown” in January 2014.
Learn more about Downtown L.A.’s features.
3. L.A. Has World-class Cultural Attractions
Los Angeles is home to 105 museums and 225 theaters. See Gustavo Dudamel leading the L.A Philharmonic at the Frank Gehry-designed architectural wonder, Walt Disney Concert Hall. Visit the beautiful Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, the Natural History Museum or Space Shuttle Endeavour at California Science Center. See thousands of antique, rare and racing vehicles at the Petersen Automotive Museum, or watch fossils being excavated from the still-bubbling tar pools at the unique La Brea Tar Pits & Paige Museum. The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM) are world-renowned art museums.
Learn more about L.A.’s cultural sites.
4. It’s True What They Say About L.A.’s Beaches and Fantastic Weather
Los Angeles County has 75 miles of gorgeous coastline and beaches, bathed under nearly 300 days of sun and warm weather a year. L.A.’s beaches offer world-famous surfing spots like Malibu Surfriders, volleyball tournaments at Manhattan Beach, and paddleboarding, kayaking, sailing and cycling and rollerblading on the 22-mile Strand bike path along the sand. Numerous day boats depart for sportfishing, whale watching or scuba diving out of Marina Del Rey, Redondo Beach’s King Harbor and Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro.
Learn more about L.A.’s beaches.
5. L.A. is the Entertainment Capital of the World
There is only one Hollywood, and in L.A. you’ll find endless Hollywood-themed attractions and activities. Universal Studios Hollywood, Warner Brothers Studios and Paramount Studios all offer backlot tours of the working film and TV studios. Universal is Southern California’s premier theme park, with immersive 3D multi-media rides like Transformers: The Ride- 3D. Madame Tussauds Hollywood has the world famous wax figurines of the stars, and the Hollywood Museum boasts the world’s largest collection of showbiz props and treasures. You can see live tapings of your favorite TV shows, including The Price is Right, Real Time With Bill Maher, Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel Live and Jeopardy!
Learn more about the attractions in Hollywood.
Kathy McAdams was appointed the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board’s Vice President of Convention Sales in March 2014. She is responsible for driving citywide convention sales, with a focus on new business generation and achieving hotel room night goals. Kathy is a seasoned hospitality executive, well-versed in selling the destination, having joined LATCB in 1994 as Director of Sales, and serving most recently, as Vice President, Eastern Region Convention Sales.
