We take a few 'in-town' getaways each year, and since we have added a third traveler to our holiday adventures, things have gotten more complicated. Our recent addition is an eleven pound "Dachshuahua" - a half Chihuahua, half Dachshund mix who has better travel manners than ANY child and most adults. But even though she is an experienced, well behaved, and charming travel companion, our options are now limited in all areas; hotels, restaurants, activities, etc.

For the two-plus years since "Budley" has joined the party, we have made the Los Angeles Four Seasons our 'home away from home.' Only twenty minutes from our section of the Hollywood Hills, the Four Seasons has a well-deserved reputation for all-around excellence, AND they have a great Pets policy. They do all of the little things that make travelling with a pet easy and enjoyable, and they do it without needless daily surcharges or absurd 'cleaning fees."

But as the economy has hummed along for those at the top, luxury places like the 4 Seasons have found that they do not need to offer any 'deals' to attract guests. The weekend packages that used to get us into this hotel for under $300 per night are long gone. With taxes, fees and reasonable in-room charges, it now costs well over $500 per night to stay there. For those of us who were staying "above our income level' when at the 4 Seasons, this means that we now save it for one or two special occasions per year. And we needed to find something a little more reasonable for 4th of July weekend.

We found the special pet features offered by the W hotel in Westwood to be very interesting, but their $25/day pet surcharge PLUS $100 cleaning fee meant that a two day stay would cost an extra $150 for the dog! Fortunately, the Mosaic Hotel in Beverly Hills came to the rescue. For $275 per day, with NO charges for our dog, they welcomed all three of us.

Some random thoughts:

1. location - just about perfect. immediately behind the CAA building at the corner of Santa Monica and Wilshire Blvds, the Mosaic is the perfect hotel if you want to leave your car in the garage until you check out, (and avoid cabs, as well). We walked everywhere. Only the Regent might be considered better situated, and only by 3 or 4 blocks. (and at over double the room rate!)
2. small can be good - as a small, independent hotel, the Mosaic offers advantages that even the 4 Seasons can't match. Where any corporate hotel has a bunch of rules to follow, places like the Mosaic can bend the rules when appropriate. Over the long 4th of July weekend, there were times when the hotel was busy, and others when we almost had it to ourselves. At one of the slow times, the three of us settled down into a poolside cabana and were served a wonderful lunch right at the water's edge. This would not have been possible at the 4 Seasons for a few reasons: no dogs by the pool, no dogs in food serving areas, and no lunch items served at 6pm. The Mosaic staff saw that no one would be bothered by a dog napping next to an empty pool and bent the rules to provide us with a wonderful meal, for all three of us.
3. Similar "out of the ordinary" requests were met all weekend long. The staff were very helpful and accomodating.
4. The hotel leans toward a slightly younger, hipper crowd than the other Beverly Hills luxury properties. On another slow afternoon by the pool, the staff treated us to a "rockin' pool party' soundtrack, and even on the busy days, the pool area was pumped up by the rock garden sound system.
5. The small restaurant consistently provided us with great food + drinks.
6. On the downside, we've gotten used to the idea of having 24hr room service. While I will always prefer that service when available, we were able to make do with the 6am to 10:30pm service at the Mosaic; it just required some pre-planning on our part.
7. on the morning we were due to check out, we extended our stay - always a good sign that we were having a good time.
8. the room was a decent size and very nicely furnished. And while we were concerned on check-in that our room overlooked the pool area, the walls and windows combine to block out all sound. When we closed up for the night, we heard NOTHING, even when we slept in well past noon.

Conclusion - a GREAT choice for younger guests who want to stay at or under the $300 per day range. You'll get most of the luxury and great service of true high end properties, which now charge close to twice that daily rate. You will give up the occasional perk (like 24hr room service) but that will be offset by the opportunity to receive other advantages that just can't be provided at more corporate properties.