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PLENARY Pasadena
CONVENE ON SITE Pasadena Comes Up Roses B
EAUTIFULLY preserved archi- tectural jewels,
masterpieces of art, a vibrant restaurant scene, and gardens all were on the itinerary when the Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau hosted members of the media and meeting planners for a fam trip on Aug. 19–21. Media guests stayed
at the 380-room 1907 Langham Huntington Ho- tel & Spa, where historic charm — think Viennese- crystal chandeliers and stone balconies — meets modern luxury. The hotel’s more than 50,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space also blends convenience and high style. Ballrooms have stained-glass windows and gilded ceil- ings, as well as car-drive- through capacity. The hotel’s 23-acre
grounds are oasis-like — a quality that extends to the city itself. Pasadena is only 11 miles north- east of downtown Los Angeles, but feels a world away. The Pasadena Convention Center, next door to the 3,000-seat Pasadena Civic Center, reopened last year with a new 55,000-square- foot exhibit hall and 25,000-square-foot ballroom. The com- plex, which includes 29 breakout rooms, is within walking distance of 1,200 hotel rooms. As the birthplace of
Julia Child and home to a Le Cordon Bleu culi- nary school, Pasadena is a mecca for chefs. Many of the city’s more than 500 restaurants are in the city’s downtown his- toric district and make creative reuse of vintage
buildings, such as the sleekly elegant Asian-fu- sion Equator Restaurant and Bar, housed in what was once a horse stable. On Friday morning,
we had breakfast in the convention center’s light-filled lobby before heading out to the Huntington Library, Art Collections, & Botanical Gardens. Established on the estate of railroad ty- coon Henry Huntington, there is something there for everybody, from a British portrait collec- tion, to rare manuscripts, to 150 acres of exqui- sitely rambling botanical gardens. The smaller but stellar Norton Simon Museum offers a breathtaking range of Western and Asian art, showcasing the works of Botticelli, Raphael, El Greco, Matisse, and many other masters. The Pasadena experi- ence isn’t exclusively highbrow — as a dance at the Civic Center Plaza with the Austin-based band the Spazmatics proved. Our tour ended Satur-
A TRANQUIL SPACE: The nine-acre Japanese garden at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, & Botani- cal Gardens is one of the nation’s oldest and largest.
day morning with break- fast in the courtyard of the newly renovated Westin Pasadena, just a few blocks from the convention center. For more information, visit www.pasadena meetings.com. n — Barbara Palmer