A taste of L.A. in Miami

A swank new hotel in Miami’s fashionable South Beach neighborhood is taking a page or two from Los Angeles.

At the all-suite Regent South Beach, which was to have opened last week, diners sit down at a satellite of Table 8, Govind Armstrong’s trendy Melrose Avenue take on California cuisine.

Penthouse guests and other VIPs get the Hollywood treatment. Using mini cellphones, dubbed Regent Pocket Butlers, they can summon butlers, chauffeurs and other hotel staff without leaving their beach chairs or from just about anywhere in Miami.

Other luxuries at the five-story, 80-room hotel: balconies with all rooms, marble-and-granite baths and a glass-panel pool with waterfalls. The 27 penthouse suites come with hot tubs and private terraces.

A spa is expected to open next summer; meanwhile, guests can get spa treatments in their rooms.

Introductory rates, good through Jan. 25, begin at $425 per night. The hotel is at 1458 Ocean Drive; (800) 545-4000, www.regenthotels.com.

-- Jane Engle

jane.engle@latimes.com

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Quake claims Hawaii hotel

THE earthquake that rattled the Hawaiian Islands on Oct. 15 has claimed a major casualty: The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on the Big Island’s Kohala Coast has closed indefinitely.

The 41-year-old luxury property, operated by Prince Resorts Hawaii, had closed about 100 of its 310 rooms -- including badly damaged beachfront wing lanais -- immediately after the earthquake as a precaution while damage was being assessed.

But consulting engineers found a “significant safety hazard” from damage to the roof of the main building, Donn Takahashi, Prince Resorts president, said in a Dec. 1 statement. It may take “many months” to repair and restore the property, he said.

The hotel is not accepting new reservations. Guests staying at the Mauna Kea were transferred to Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, a sister property. Guests holding future reservations are being contacted, and the hotel is making efforts to find accommodation for them.

Mauna Kea’s golf course and clubhouse remain open.

Although Dec. 15 through Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year, and hotels typically sell out, Marsha Wienert, tourism liaison for the state, said last week that she is confident the Big Island -- with 11,351 units in hotels and condos in Kona and across the island in Hilo -- can accommodate visitors.

-- Beverly Beyette

beverly.beyette@latimes.com

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Illuminating an ancient art

SEQUELS sometimes take a while -- but 500 years? That’s about how long it’s been since illuminated Bibles were widely produced. The invention of printing spelled the end of the hand-lettered, hand-painted Bible, painstakingly produced by laboring monks.

But a new Bible, developed at St. John’s Abbey in Minnesota, reminds us of the intense devotion of those ancient scribes and how beautiful the printed word can be.

Parts of the St. John’s Bible, projected for completion in 2008, are now on view at Washington, D.C.’s Library of Congress.

The vellum (calfskin) pages, about 16 by 24 inches, were hand lettered by calligraphers in a Welsh “scriptorium,” using traditional goose, swan or turkey quills and hand-ground inks. The (New Revised Standard Version) text is in English, with only a few verses per page.

The rest is adorned by hand-painted illustrations or decorations, their vivid paints mixed with egg yolk, following an old recipe.

But not everything in the Bible’s creation was traditional: Computers were used to coordinate the layout and division of labor among the various artists.

The St. John’s Bible will be on display at the Library of Congress until Dec. 23. It will move to Naples, Fla., from Jan. 26 to April 6 and then be on display in Phoenix from Dec. 9, 2007, to March 7, 2008. Info: www.saintjohnsbible.org.

Jerry V. Haines

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Briefly

Grand Canyon

closure: The historic Bright Angel Lodge in Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park will be closed to overnight guests Jan. 2 to April 30 for renovations. Public areas of the main building, including the lobby, restaurant and gift shop, will remain open. Guest rooms will get new bathroom fixtures, furniture and other improvements; www.grandcanyonlodges.com.

Caution on Fiji: Americans should “defer all non-essential travel” to Fiji’s capital of Suva, the State Department advised on Dec. 1, four days before wire services reported a military coup there. As of the Travel section’s deadline Tuesday, Fiji has set up military checkpoints in big cities, but the country was calm and traffic was flowing, according to the U.S. Embassy in Suva.

Transtlantic start-up: An airline called L’Avion plans to begin flying nonstop between Paris’ Orly airport and Newark, N.J., on Dec. 27. Using a leased Boeing 757-200, it will offer business-class-only service with round-trip fares of about $2,130. L’Avion is the latest start-up serving transatlantic business fliers; Eos Airlines and MaxJet Airways launched last year to London.

Train pass: Rail Europe is selling a pass good for one day of travel throughout France for $90 in second class and $129 in first class You must buy it by Dec. 31, before leaving North America, and use it within six months. (888) 382-7245, www.raileurope.com (Click on “France Rail Day Pass” under “Specials/Promotions.)

Times staff and wires