Orange County #Spa Hotels struggle at height of travel season

On a sultry midweek afternoon at the grand new Resort at Pelican Hill in California, a scant dozen vacationers lounged at what is billed as the world's largest circular pool, flanked on one side by a Coliseum-style amphitheater and on the other by an ocean-view golf course.  A few miles south in Laguna Beach, most of the 170 lounge chairs at the Montage resort's oceanfront pool were empty as the afternoon wore on. Cocktail hour arrived, but at 5:45 p.m. only a single table at the poolside Mosaic Bar & Grille was occupied. Few businesses have been so brutalized by the recession as hospitality.

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