Ice Skating rink over the pool at the W Hotel in Westwood – somewhat nonplus but still a good time – faux ice, real lattes

W Hotel Los Angeles Westwood has opened “Chill at the W”, a synthetic ice skating rink over their pool. Order S’mores Tart With Star Anise Honey and Chocolate Sauce, drink spiced lattes or adult hot chocolates. There is no admission and no advance reservations are required. Skate rentals are $10 per person, per hour. Opens Sun. Mon.-Fri., 3-10 p.m.; Sat. & Sun., 10 a.m.-10 p.m. November 13, 2009 through January 24, 2010. We also here the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego and the Trianon Palace Versailles in Paris have also erected a skate rink for the holidays! YAY!

Disclaimer – I had fun with my little sister but this is not real ice and it’s kinda disappointing. Props to the hotel for even trying this and I am sure REAL ice would not be economical and it’s a really great community thing to do but it’s just not that great. I would definitely not bring children or go with the excitement and expectation of actually ice skating. When it gets a little colder – I think it’s a cool place to go have a drink but it’s not the wintery wonderland day of icy, chilly mitten weather and running into bungalows to heat up with coco that we were expecting – the “ice” is some wierd cardboard sheet that sucks. It looked like skating on hard plastic. That said, the hotel is beautiful and we got great photos and had a good convo over macchiatos. The food menu looked spectacular as well – I photoed it below.