Most businesspeople travel to the same cities over and over. For those who fit into that category, here are some sources of information to keep them from going stale on these places and to help enliven off-meeting hours.
Imagine a desktop card file with more than 4,500 phone numbers and addresses of restaurants, government contacts, media outlets, corporations, clubs and shops in an often-visited city. Metro File has ingeniously compiled such fingertip treasures for two dozen cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston, Miami, San Diego and Atlanta.
Cleverest is the 24-hour section listing all-night eateries, messenger services, dentists, pharmacies and other needs and pleasures. Transportation listings range from airlines to limousines and, in Los Angeles, even Venice Gondola Rides. Restaurants are defined by location, price and cuisine, from Argentine to Vietnamese. Also listed: Recorded information on stock-market results and theater and sports tickets.
Metro File can be found in department stores and gift shops for $35, or, for the same price (including postage and handling), by writing or calling Metro File, 1963 Palmer Ave., Larchmont, N.Y. 10538; 914-834-5200.
NEW YORK OF FILM
When anyone mentions the movies, most of us think of Hollywood, but over the years New York City has costarred in many films, too. Who can forget the subway grating in ”The Seven Year Itch” where Marilyn Monroe lost control of her skirt? And how about the Brooklyn Bridge, featured as the backdrop in such memorable films as ”Sophie`s Choice,” ”Saturday Night Fever” and
”Prizzi`s Honor”?
New York doesn`t have a Universal Studios tour, but for business travelers with some time on their hands, Richard Alleman has made it possible to see the movie sights of New York simply by picking up his book, ”The Movie Lover`s Guide to New York” (Harper & Row, $14.95).
Alleman, the travel editor of Vogue, has taken great pains to collect more than 240 attractions from motion pictures, past and present, to pack into his 327-page book. He uses facts, photos and anecdotes to make a self-guided tour of New York City pleasurable and informative, and he includes a nice selection of maps. Besides movie locations, the guidebook looks into historic studios, movie stars` homes, famous theaters and even celebrity burial sites. GOING HOLLYWOOD
In a companion volume, ”The Movie Lover`s Guide to Hollywood” (Harper & Row, $14.95), Alleman uncovers the secret archeological layers of Tinseltown itself, and other parts of Los Angeles, revealing that some of the buildings still standing are not at all what they were intended to be.
Take, for example, the Bel-Air Hotel. In the `20s, the main buildings of this elegant retreat were established as a real estate office for the immediate community of Bel Air. Le Dome, on the Sunset Strip, has for a long time been a popular restaurant, but former actor William Haines built the neocolonial building to house his design studio, where he served such clients as Joan Crawford, Constance Bennett and Jack Warner.
The present-day headquarters of KFAC radio was once the Italian restaurant Villa Capri, which, back in the `50s, was James Dean`s hangout. The day before he died at the wheel of his Porsche, the young actor was chastised for reckless driving in front of the popular bistro.
Both books are available at most bookstores. –
