Best Hotels
Conde Nast Traveller’s Readers Choice Awards came out last week, and the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles in Beverly Hills was named the best hotel in Los Angeles. It was ranked No. 8 last year. Readers said they particularly like its pool and the fact that it has a library. Of course, it’s not cheap; a stay this coming Saturday night in a superior king room with a balcony was listed at $925.
Rounding out the top five, beginning with No. 2: The Pendry West Hollywood, Sofitel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills and the Hotel Figueroa.
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Does it seem to you that something’s got to give? Employees continue to report that they generally love remote work and do not intend to return to the office, at least not often. Bosses continue to report that they loathe remote work and intend to call everyone back.
According to a survey taken of 1,000 bosses and released last week by ResumeBuilder.com, 90% of companies will require employees to return to the office next year. And 21% of them will fire workers who do not.
Not surprisingly, bosses overwhelmingly believe (as in 96% of them) that in-office work is beneficial. The most cited benefits, in order: Improved communication, greater creativity, more productivity and enhanced company culture. And for those companies that now have a hybrid work arrangement, 77% of bosses say they intend to call workers back to the office.
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Meta released its annual Global State of Small Business Report last week, and it concluded that small- and medium-sized businesses are still recovering from the pandemic but remain generally optimistic about the future despite deteriorating economic conditions. In California, as in North America as a whole, 18% of smaller businesses are closed, which is not good, but it is the best rate in the world. (It is 33% in the Middle East.)
Of operational small and medium businesses in California, 32% reported that their sales in the past 30 days were higher than the same month last year. While that’s good, it is well down from the 42% who reported the same one year earlier. But economic conditions are darkening: 31% reported that they expected challenges in the next few months. That’s up from 26% a year earlier.
The Insider column is compiled by Editor-in- Chief Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].
