[ouch] america’s best hotel, per forbes, meet the first lady

Forbes released its list of top hotels today, 400 in toto. Topping the list as America’s Best Hotel is San Ysidro Ranch, which is owned by Ty Warner, who, when he isn’t busy owning Four Seasons Hotel New York, Las Ventanas al Paraiso and Four Seasons Biltmore and Coral Casino Beach & Cabana Club, both in Santa Barbara – ownership can be exceedingly time-consuming – runs Ty Inc., the company that released those controversial First Daughter Dolls (Marvelous Malia and Sweet Sasha) over the weekend and then lied about there being any connection to the Obama girls.

How intellectually dishonest can we get here?

The ranch has quite a history, more fortunate than today’s inconvenient coincidence. From the PR Newswire release:

San Ysidro Ranch - A Brief History: The story of San Ysidro Ranch, named after San Ysidro the patron saint of Madrid, is intertwined with the history of Old California. Originally part of land titled in 1769 by the King of Spain, the Ranch served as a way station for Franciscan monks in the late 1700s, a working citrus ranch in the 1800s, and hosted its first guests in 1893. In the 1930s, Hollywood discovered the Ranch, transforming it into a hospitality haven for celebrities. Famous guests over the years range from Audrey Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Bing Crosby and Groucho Marx to Winston Churchill, Somerset Maugham and Sinclair Lewis. Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier were married at the Ranch, John and Jacqueline Kennedy honeymooned there and John Huston completed the script for African Queen during a three-month stay.

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