Mom blames Tori for Aaron Spelling's death

[SFK]

And I can definitely understand that sentiment. But I think when you have all of those sliding glass doors and a pool downstairs and/or on the roof, I mean, you pretty much get the L.A. experience. And you never have to mow your lawn or deal with critters. Although being in a highrise during an earthquake no matter how earthquake-proof the property would be a crap your pants experience any way you dice it. And see, I would never buy a condo/coop in NY unless I was stinking rich. The city conveniences are great, but I'd rather have a larger apartment or townhouse/single family home in Stamford or White Plains where I got more for my money and my kids could enjoy urban/suburban life. The city's a short rid away and you can always grab a hotel for the weekend if you're hungry for "the experiece"

[alphanguy74]

Oh my cow... I hate Ritz Carlton management with a passion. When I was 20, and in charge of the landscape design and maintinence for the Alameda Plaza hotel in Kansas City, Ritz Carlton bought the property out, and totally RUINED it. The lobby had two-sided woodburning fireplaces, a THREE STORY ceiling, beautiful mediterranean decor, three story windows to go with that ceiling that looked out on the enornmous pool and garden terrace (which was covered in beautiful flowers), a glass elevator, a third floor catwalk around the perimeter of the lobby. And Ritz Carlton spent 22 MILLION renovating a hotel that needed NOTHING. When they got through, the lobby was a single story, 9 foot ceiling... decorated like a damn funeral parlor. They closed off ALL of the windows that lookd out on the garden terrace, and all the windows that lined the front entrance. They took out the large fountain in the center of the circle drive in front that cascaded down to the ballroom entrance below... and then 5 years later the re-sold it to Fairmont. I went downstairs one day to find the Alameda's 3 story tall tapestry draperies lying in the DUMPSTER. It made me want to cry. And to add insult to injury, They thought MY SOCKS were unprofessional. At that time, I had a pair of shorts that had various colored panels on them, they were peach,gray,and blue. So when I wore those shorts, I would wear one gray sock and one blue sock... and that somehow offended them. they wanted WHITE. And the general manager came out when I was doing the spring planting, pointed at the bed and said... "Are those going to grow?" It took everything in me to not go ballistic sarcasm on his ass and say "NO, PLANTS DON'T DO THAT!!".

[SFK]

LOL, that is hilarious! Oh my cow, as you said, that sounds absolutely criminal what they did to what sounds like a gorgeous property. Trump and Ritz, both love to put up big unimaginative overpriced buildings that coast on name alone.

[DaytimeFan]

I don't think it's bizarre for someone like Joan. She has four homes, that requires a lot of maintenance and it requires a good deal of security. She goes months on end without being in any one place so the lower fuss of a condo is great. Plus, the staff in that building, specifically, is second to none.

[Sylph]

<span style="font-size:105%;">For Joan, right. </span>

[DaytimeFan]

Exactly, for her situation, with four homes on 4 coasts, it makes sense.

For someone living solely in LA, like Diahann Carroll...I would suggest that perhaps a low maintenance lifestyle allows for people to live within their means? As well, being a single woman, perhaps the security provided by a condo is comforting. If I was an older person, I would see the appeal of it.

[alphanguy74]

We were discussing hotels on the previous page, and I just found some footage that showed our doomed Hyatt Regency right after it opened. It was part of a video on the disastrous collapse, but the first portion showed what the lobby looked like right after it opened. I thought it looked GORGEOUS. Kansas City certainly had some of the most beautiufl hotel properties, IMO.. this, the Alameda Plaza, and the Westin Crown Center with it's giant 5 story tall waterfall in the lobby were sights to behold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oWFDqlSczM

[SFK]

I watched this when you posted it the other day and meant to comment, I was shocked when they said so many people had perished! Naive me thought a couple of bumps and bruises, I wasn't expecting that many people to have been under there. Awful. I agree, it was a stunning layout (reminds me of the Rodeo Collection in Beverly Hills, as seen on The Colbys ) and to renovate it to only one story seems like a dumb move. But can you imagine trying to shake the stigma of this tragedy?? Geesh.

[Sylph]

Thank you, alphan, for the Hall residence photo. It kind of looks just like I imagined it would.

[alphanguy74]

SFK, this video wasn't the hotel that was renovated to one story... that was the Alameda Plaza (I have yet to find a picture of that lobby) the video was of the Hyatt Regency. I was 13 when this happened, and the news coverage went on for WEEKS, litigation, investigations... 114 people killed was a pretty huge disaster. The majority of the people who were killed were standing on the second floor skywalk, and they were crushed when the fourth floor skywalk "pancaked" down on top of them. The people below in the lobby fared better as there were 5 or 6 seconds in which they could run, and in that lobby, they had a place to run TO. the lobby of the Hyatt doens't look much different today, except updated colors and such. It has a rooftop revolving restaurant called "Sky's", I went there with a date once for drinks... he had two drinks, and I had a sprite, and the tab was 27$, I was stunned. Glad HE was paying! LOL but anyway... I do have a nice overall picture of the outside of the Alameda Plaza, with a full view of the Garden terrace which surrounds the swimming pool:

And here is a picture of the lobby of the Westin Crown Center I was talking about which has the huge atrium and waterfall:

[SFK]

In the first pic, I love how the garage and waterfall (which does an awesome job of beautifying it) are built into the hill with the tree-lined pool looking like it's floating. Very cool. And the second pic is also stunnng, reminds me of Falling Water (one of your faves).

I got really interested in the Hyatt Regency incident and was shocked to read that in terms of U.S. structural disasters/lives lost, it's seconded only to the WTC on 9/11.