Friday, July 18, 2008

His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan Stays At Benbow



The King of Jordan, His Majesty King Abdullah II, his brother, and his son, Prince Hashem arrived Thursday on a motorcycle tour of the North West Coast and stayed Thursday night at the historic benbow Hotel after touring the Avenue of The Giants and Redwood State Parks.

John and Teresa Porter, Owner and Managers of the Hotel officially welcomed the King upon arrial. Secuirty was tight and special precautions were taken to protect the Royal Family. This is another historic moment for the Benbow Hotel. We have hosted Presidents, Prime Ministers, Diplomats, Dignitaries and Hollywood Royalty, but this is our first King. We are honoring the King's request not to show certain photos of him, or of him on his Harley-Davidson, but these show the security at the hotel and the King's entourage departing. There was a lot of coordinating to do prior to arrival and the staff was very excited. The secret security teams were all great to deal with. "We are honored to have King Abdullah as our guest," said John Porter, " And we are pleased the Benbow Hotel was chosen as part of their North Coast tour."

Very exciting times here this week at Benbow!

Monday, July 7, 2008


Summer is here and we had a wonderul Jazz In June with some terrific jazz musicians who entertained our guests on the hotel terrace. The experience of dining outside under the stars and listening to jazz is truly magical. If you missed Jazz In June, come for the Summer Jazz Series which begins August 17th. We have a terrific line-up and it's a wonderful venue.

Wildfires last month created smoky skies all over Northern California, but they have cleared for the most part. This photo looking northeast over the hotel terrace was taken this afternoon. Some fires are still buring south and east of us and if wind conditions shift from our normal on shore breeze, we get some light smoke, but not bad. Sadly, our local Chamber of Commerce had to cancel our Annual 4th of July Fireworks Show and Community Picnic this year due to Cal Fire's limited resources and high fire danger. However, that didn't stop us from having a great holiday weekend. We had our traditional family kids & pets bike parade at the RV Resort and guests enjoyed the swimming pool and golf course. Our guests soaked up the perfect weather which was clear, sunny skies and lots of sunshine. Everyone had a safe and fun weekend here in Benbow.

We have several wonderul exchange students working with us this summer from Russia. We continue to enjoy having these bright young people stay and work with us from all over the globe. We all laugh a lot as we try to learn their language and as they learn ours. The exchange is a wonderful, positive exerpience.

The weather today will be sunny and warm with temperatures in the high 90's. Work on your tan, go swimming, golfing, or hiking in the Redwoods...or, just relax. If you're looking for a great vacation spot come visit us.