Tuesday, September 20, 2005
SEP 20: W Hotel Los Angeles Hosts Star-Studded Fundraising Event To Benefit Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts
John Goodman, Willie Garson, Jason Biggs, Jean Smart and other celebs will take part in exciting evening of live New Orleans-flavored musical performances and chances to win incredible prizes
All Proceeds Will Go Directly To The American Red Cross
W Hotel Los Angeles-Westwood will host a star-studded fundraising event on Tuesday, September 20 from 7-9pm, in an effort to raise more than $100,000 for those devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The event will be held poolside at the W Hotel in Westwood and will feature a celebrity-hosted auction of extraordinary items such as an authentic piece of the historic Berlin Wall. The event will also feature live New Orleans-flavored musical performances by Joe McBride and the Crescent City Cats and a chance for every ticket holder to win one of more than 40 incredible raffle prizes, including stays at Starwood Hotels and Resorts around the world. Other prizes include luxury Bliss Spa products, season tickets to the Geffen Playhouse, and celebrity-autographed movie and sports memorabilia. Celebrity hosts John Goodman, Willie Garson and Jean Smart will help auction off nearly a dozen incredible auction items valued at up to $50,000.
Tickets for this W Hotel fundraising event are available for a minimum donation of $100 to the American Red Cross and can be purchased online at http://www.redcrossla.org/whotels or in person on the night of the event (guests interested in purchasing tickets in person should RSVP to rsvpwlaevents@whotels.com). A minimum donation of $100 includes complimentary cocktails, delicious hors d'oeuvres and one raffle ticket per person for the chance to win one of more than 40 raffle prizes including luxury hotel stays in resorts around the world, luxury spa products, signed memorabilia, and more. All proceeds from this W Hotel Los Angeles event will go directly to humanitarian efforts for the victims of Hurricane Katrina as provided through the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
"With two W Hotel properties located in New Orleans, this tragedy has hit close to home for us all, so now it's time to reach out and help," said Valeriano Antonioli, General Manager of W Hotel Los Angeles Westwood. "Our goal is to raise more than $100,000 to benefit the victims of this devastating hurricane. In doing so, we also hope to provide our generous guests with an incredibly entertaining evening."
W Hotels has two New Orleans properties, located in the French Quarter and the Central Business District of New Orleans.
Celebrity auctioneers include New Orleans resident John Goodman (Roseanne), Willie Garson (Sex and the City) and Jean Smart (Designing Women). Additional celebrity auctioneers are still being confirmed for this event. This W Hotel Los Angeles event will feature live New-Orleans flavored music by blues and jazz band Joe McBride and the Crescent City Cats. The event will also feature surprise musical guests who promise to entertain New Orleans style.
The evening will include delicious hors d'oeuvres generously donated by NINE THIRTY, The Backyard, Tengu, The Lincoln and Venice Cantina restaurants. New Orleans-style Bacardi cocktails will also be served at the event.
The American Red Cross provides shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. As of September 8, since Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore, the American Red Cross has housed almost 159,000 survivors in nearly 650 shelters across 17 states, served nearly 5.4 million hot meals and more than 5.5 million snacks to survivors of Hurricane Katrina, and deployed more than 32,000 trained disaster relief workers from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Evacuees and loved ones separated by this by this disaster can go to www.redcross.org or call 1-877-LOVED-1S to join the Family Links Registry.
The W Hotel Los Angeles fundraiser host committee includes Karin and Valeriano Antonioli, General Manager, W Hotel Los Angeles; Diego Brasioli, Consul General in Los Angeles, Italian Republic; Sandy and Jerry Brown, President, Holmby-Westwood Property Owners Association; Robert and Jill Bucksbaum, Owners, The Majestic Crest Theatre; Paul Colichman, Chairman, Regent Entertainment & Founder & CEO Here! TV; Sean Grumman, Agent, Creative Artists Agency; Amy Holm and Robert Glenn Ketchum, Photographer; Barry Krost, President, Barry Krost Management; Christopher Lloyd, Writer/Director, Frasier; Phillip Mendelsohn, Park Westwood Towers HOA; Carole and Charles Magnuson, President, Westwood Hills Property Owners Assn.; John G. Morris, President, Morris Management Company; Steven Sann, Partner, NINE THIRTY; and Arleen Sorkin, Actor/Writer/Producer.
W Hotel Los Angeles is located at 930 Hilgard Ave. in Westwood. For more information about this event, please contact W Hotel Los Angeles at (310) 208-8765.
About W Hotels: W Hotels is a global lifestyle brand with 20 properties in vibrant cities around the world. Inspiring and indulging its guests with thoughtful, refreshing and stylish experiences, signature restaurants, bars and destination spas, W has become the fastest growing luxury hotel brand in the world. Each hotel offers a unique mix of innovative design, comfort and cultural influences from fashion to music to art and everything in between. Recent openings include W's first property in Asia, W Seoul - Walkerhill, which opened in August of 2004 and its first property in Canada, W Montreal, in October of 2004. Residence properties, offering the W lifestyle at home, have been announced for Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, Scottsdale and Hoboken. In addition, there are more than a dozen W Hotels in the development pipeline in city and resort destinations. For more information, visit www.whotels.com.