Fredo Vita was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. He spent his high school years commuting to Hollywood High School Performing Arts Magnet on a big yellow school bus an hour/and sometimes hour and a half each way. “The traffic was horrendous, but I loved to explore the city and people watch while on the school bus, I think the commute really helped me appreciate this big city of L.A at an early age, Fredo said. At that time, living in the Valley limited Fredo to the mountains surrounding him throughout his childhood, and knowing that LA is such a big city, he yearned to reach every corner of it as much as possible.

After Hollywood High, Fredo traveled north to UC Santa Cruz to pursue a Theatre degree. Santa Cruz is a beautiful town and has such a beautiful campus, but after the hard hit El Nino winter up north Fredo was eager to return to his unexplored city and discover the amazing places it had to offer. After a year at UC Santa Cruz, Fredo decided to transfer to Loyola Marymount University in Westchester. While at Loyola he participated in various acting, writing, and directing projects. One of his favorite consisted of playing the part of an elderly Irishman in the US debut of Portia Coughlin an Irish Come-tragedy about a woman driven to despair and suicide by her haunting past. Those of you who know Fredo will attest to his comic relief which came in handy for such a morbid play.

Soon after his Irish stint, Fredo decided to travel abroad and study Theatre in London for a year. He enrolled at Richmond the American International University in London. He immediately fell in love with London’s international feel, the people, and accent. Fredo will often break in to an accent if approached by his British clientele. “I just can’t help it, after spending a year there, it became second nature” Fredo says. It was in London that he was exposed to his friend’s one woman show. His friend was in a bind to complete her Senior Thesis project and Fredo jumped in to help direct and produce her solo performance “She.”

“She” was a huge success off, off, off, London’s West End and from that experience Fredo was able to write and perform his own solo show “Adventures in Destinoland” (for his own senior thesis) at the end of that year back at Loyola Marymount.

Before graduating LMU, Fredo applied for the Eugene Escallier scholarship to study a form of political street theatre known as Theatre of the Oppressed. He worked closely with Roberto Mazzini and Tiziana Bortuzzo who are part of Giolli, an activist theatre company that utilizes theatre as an educational tool. Fredo won a scholarship to study with Giolli for a season. At the end of his studies in Italy, Fredo decided to travel throughout Italy for two months, dedicating himself to applying his Italian language skills which luckily he still possesses. Fredo truly enjoyed Italy and is hoping to return one day to live for some time.

Fredo truly fell in to the hospitality business. He had been walking on Ocean Ave. in Santa Monica when he fell outside on the sidewalk of the Viceroy hotel. He had walked in to the lobby to find a bathroom to clean himself up, when he became engulfed in the hotel’s green patterns and mirrors. “I was broke after my trip to Italy and I really needed a job, I asked for their job hotline and found myself part of the opening team!”

After the Viceroy, Fredo stuck to swanky and chic boutique hotels and made his way to the Mondrian in West Hollywood. He got asked by millions if they could get in to the Sky bar and unfortunately, 99.9 percent of the time he was unable to accommodate. Fredo was never disappointed by that, given that it was mostly non-guests who would ask him for help getting in. Guests are always allowed of course. Little did he know he would make it to one of the two most prestigious hotels in Southern California; Raffles L’Ermitage Beverly Hills where he has been working since August of 2005.

Fredo says “I really enjoying working in a hotel where I am challenged every day to know and dig deeper in to what Beverly Hills and Los Angeles has to offer. Knowing this city like no other normal person does, from a new restaurant in town to old favorites, the people I meet and the familiar faces are what brighten up my day. I love forming new relationships with my guests and love to see that they return time and time again because of the 5 star 5 diamond service we provide them.” Fredo has enjoyed working for all of the hotels but finds that L’Ermitage is very special and that guests will sometimes see time as something we can buy along with their room. “The pressure is high to meet the guest standards, and that makes me prepared for anything the world throws my way.”