Strange thing about L.A. That very New York phenomenon known as "Summer Fridays" doesn't really exist here. Perhaps that's because we don't have to race out of our offices to get to paradise, because well, we already live there. (I'd add neener, neener, neener, but that seems a bit cruel.) Still, Asia de Cuba has a Friday-night special that tips its hat to the same concept: "Out of Office Fridays." From 1-4 pm, the fancy schmancy restaurant in the Mondrian is offering a $5 food menu, with $5 cocktails and $5 valet. This is a deal at any bar -- even more so at a place where the average appetizer is $28, and the entrees run as high as $76. Perhaps the temporary special is a tacit admission that even rich people are hurting from this recession too, poor dears.

I find the Fourth of July in Los Angeles, or really any major party holiday, kind of terrifying. When you add driving to the equation of barbeques and all-day beer drinking, you end up with a mess. This is why last year, I spent the evening in Venice and biked to the beach and the parties we attended, as did all the people in the area. It was fun. That said, if you insist on driving around to Fourth events, we have a few:

Five ways to ring in the New Year in Tinseltown.

1. Katy Perry performs at the Gridlock NYE party 2009 at Paramount Studios. $100-$200.
2. The Standard is hosting two "Gold 009" parties, one poolside and one in the Purple Lounge. There will be live music, dancing, DJs, and plenty of champagne. $25 for the poolside party, $40 for the Purple Lounge.
3. The Kress is hosting a party from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., with an open bar and three floors of dancing. $125.

The Mondrian South Beach, set to open December 1, is adding another feature to its roster: Tivo. The Mondrian opted for the deluxe Tivo package so guests will be able to record two shows while watching a third. If this pilot Tivo program goes well, look for the Tivo at all the Morgans Group Hotels, which include: New York's Morgans Hotel, the Royalton, Hudson Hotel; Miami's Delano, The Shore Club; Los Angeles' Mondrian; San Francisco's Clift Hotel; Scottsdale's Mondrian, Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel, and London's St. Martin's Lane and the Sanderson. All the more reason to order room service.

While every other hotel group has been scrambling to launch twee eco sub-brands, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, in conjunction with L.A. nightlife hotshots SBE, has been plotting in the direction of megaluxe. And so, this winter, Beverly Hills will see the launch of the SLS Hotel -- the first of a new lineup of ultra-chic lairs. With interiors by Philippe Starck, the SLS will be awash in boutique-y hotel trappings (sleek furnishings, designer minibars and a futuristic gym), but with 297 distinctly posh sleeping quarters, it will more likely be luring guests away from the Peninsula than from hipster magnets like the Standard.

The beautiful people check in, but they don’t check out.

1. Hollywood Roosevelt (Hollywood) - The starlets and their friends rove in packs and get bottle service by the pool.
2. The Viceroy Hotel (Santa Monica) - Santa Monica’s sexiest. Not the oldest, not the classiest, but always full of eye candy.
3. The Standard (West Hollywood) - Could this be an unofficial model casting office? Just being here makes you hot by osmosis.