Kinky La Rue

I am actually here in Los Angeles now as I’ve been building up to for some time.

Last week I suffered what I would consider my first real death in the family. I’ve had distant relatives and people that my parents knew when they were kids pass away but this one was real family, my first real loss. So I spent last weekend coming to terms with it.

I even contemplated whether or I not I should still go to LA. But I pulled myself together, got my sh*t together and went. So I’m here. In between the quiet mourning, the jet lag, and seeing a couple of customers, I haven’t been able to sit down properly and blog since last week. So to those who enjoy my ramblings, my apologies for the erratic writing.

I was going to write something when I was at my hotel in Heathrow on Tuesday, until I was told that the internet was £16 for 24hrs, which I would only use for an hour at most. Yeahhh, I think not. I was a little ticked-off, because I did phone and ask beforehand what the cost would be, and I was told it was free. I should’ve known better really, shouldn’t I? After all, it is an airport hotel.

I haven’t had a chance to see much of LA yet. I’ve been to a couple of malls in El Segundo, not too far from LAX; had a wander around a lovely big grocery store called Whole Foods Market, (they pride themselves in providing nothing but healthy natural foods, there’s a couple in Central London now). I stopped at Borders (again, we have them in the UK too but if you’re unfamiliar with them, think Waterstone’s) and treated myself to a David Baldacci novel that was on sale for $3.99, reduced from $12.99, so I consider that to be a real bargain.

As lovely as Whole Foods Market was, it was a tad beyond my budget to do a whole shop, so I treated myself to a few things and stopped at another, much more reasonably-priced grocery store on the way back to get some juice and water etc. for myself and any thirsty customers I might have. My hotel room has a tiny little kitchenette with a fridge and a microwave, which was handy for the shopping I did.

Tomorrow I’m going to see if I can get to Manhattan Beach, which technically is a town but as implied does have its own beach. There are couple more to choose from if Manhattan Beach doesn’t work out, Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach. They’re all coastal towns, but Manhattan Beach is closest to me here. I think I’ll ask at the front desk.

I was told by one of my favourite customers to try and pay a visit to Santa Monica if I could, so that may be another option. So little time and so much to see in between customers,lol.

I’m not driving (I was determined not to, as I do enough of it at home, plus, I wanted to enjoy a glass of wine or two without worrying). Considering I’m not in the heart of the city, the public transportation here isn’t too bad.

Wish me luck.x

I’m usually like a babbling brook aren’t I? Although I haven’t been too busy with work (just a couple of bookings), I really haven’t minded too much, it’s given me the chance to rest my knee and do some webby stuff. I really would like to be in tip-top condition when I go to LA next week. It is getting better though, surely but slowly.

Goodness, I can’t believe the trip’s nearly here already. It finally hit me this week when I started making preparations. I’ve signed up to an American forum,  The Erotic Review to see if that might help with the tour. I reckon it’s also good for the odd overseas visitor to the UK. I already have a couple of old reviews on there so I thought, why not. And our American friends must be laughing with the weak pound at the moment. I’ve also put an ad up on Eros.com, which is brilliant for US tours, I did well with it when I toured NY two years ago. And I’ve even found a site where I’ve bought one of those US sim cards that I can use in my UK work phone.  And because I don’t know when to stop looking, I’ve found yet another hotel in LA that’s well within my budget. It’s near shopping, restaurants and not too far from the beach. Plus it’s got free internet too, which is good as I plan on bringing my laptop with me. Thank God for being an obsessive,lol.

Yes, I do have those moments,lol.

I’m going to spending the night before my flight to LA at Heathrow. I don’t know about you but I always feel better spending the night before a  long flight at an airport hotel and being more rested than getting up 6am and facing the daunting prospect of having to travel at that time of the morning to the airport, then having to endure an 11 hour flight. One of the inner circles  of hell in Dante’s Inferno in my opinion. I’ve done it before and no, it wasn’t good.

I digress. Two years ago when I went to New York I did the same thing, and I was lucky enough to have a dinner date the night before, which was brilliant as it was in good company and also gave me a bit more shopping money.

Although I didn’t advertise it as such then, I’m thinking of doing the same thing but with an incentive:

With the current financial climate in mind, I was thinking of offering a hugely discounted overnight (with certain conditions), or a discount on a dinner date (not as substantial obviously).

My overnights rates are normally £700. In this case I was thinking of offering an overnight for a rate of £500. My conditions would be that dinner would still be on you obviously and you pay for your own parking if driving to Heathrow. But think about it, you don’t have to fork out for a hotel room as it’s already been booked and paid for. It’s a lovely 4* hotel I might add. Or…..

My dinner rates are normally £400. In this case I’d knock it down to say £300. You would still get the same two hour private time plus two hours at dinner. And there’s a lovely restaurant at the hotel I’m staying at so we wouldn’t have far to look for somewhere to eat. When you think that my usual two hour rate is £250 I reckon you’d have yourself a bargain there.

What do you reckon? Tempting? As I said, not only would you get a huge discount on either service, the hotel room is already paid for by me.  And what I’d get out of it is (hopefully) great company the night before my flight, and more spending money for shopping in LA. It’s a win-win situation don’t you think?

I would stress though, that this would be a one-off offer, never to be repeated. I’m basically taking advantage of having a hotel room at my disposal for the night.

I’m going to have a bit more of a think about it today and maybe start advertising it. It wouldn’t be until the 7th April, but it would give those interested an opportunity to save.

Yeah, I reckon I’ll go for it.

…..I would love to hear from you for some advice on where to stay. Either that or anybody that has stayed in the LA area before.

My flights and hotel accommodation are already booked for my tour in April, but it’s been one of those lazy net-surfing days and I’ve found a great deal at one of the hotels in the downtown area. It costs less than where I’m already booked, and it’s half the price of booking through their own website. Without giving too much away, it’s a big, gorgeous, very posh-looking hotel in the downtown area as I say. By its surrounding description it has easy access to the freeways which I know is very important as everybody drives in Los Angeles.

I’m really really tempted to book it, it’s absolutely gawwwjuss! I thought it was beyond my budget until I found the hotel on Netflights.com. What I like most about it, apart from it looking wonderful, is that it’s massive, allowing for discretion and anonymity.  My original hotel is nowhere near as big.

My question to Los Angelians is, what is the parking like in the downtown area? Is it crap like here in Central London? Is it congested? If you were a customer would you mind coming to visit me in the downtown area?  Or do people make the sign of the cross and say a quick prayer everytime they have to tackle the Los Angeles traffic. I’ve read and heard that it can be quite a nightmare.

Should I take the special offer of the posh hotel in downtown LA, or stay nearby the LAX area where I’m already booked? Please let me know what your thoughts are.

Many thanks.xx