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AFTER DARK

Living the Suites life in Deerfield Beach

seize18@aol.com

Paris Hilton and I are so similar we could be sisters. We're both blonde and beautiful. We're both billionaire heiresses. We're both on the guest list of every exclusive party in Vegas and we're both YouTube stars thanks to our risqué home movies.

OK, I might be confusing myself with somebody else. But I did recently stop at an Embassy Suites, owned by Hilton Hotels, so one could say that we're almost related.

I whipped my car into the circular driveway at the Embassy Suites in Deerfield Beach (950 S. Ocean Dr.), a carbon copy of what you'd find in front of an upscale hotel in the Caribbean. The walls are canary yellow, the foliage is lush but manicured and the valet parkers are decked out in linen shorts and short sleeve button-downs.

I got out of my car and flipped the keys to the valet who told me I had two hours of free parking but would be charged $10 if I stayed the day. I shrugged my shoulders in response as if I were a high-rolling Hilton on vacation.

I set the alarm on my cell phone to alert me in an hour and 55 minutes and then headed to the pool deck and smoothly took a seat at the poolside tiki bar as if I were a guest of the hotel.

Although it appeals to my sense of adventure, you don't have to skulk around like James Bond to get served here. The tiki bar and BT's Oceanfront, the indoor restaurant and bar, are open to the public.

On the weekends, last call by the pool is around 4 p.m. so nod to your new friends in bikinis and bring your business inside to BT's (open til 11 during the week and midnight on weekends).

There are four reasons you'll want to hang at this beachside hotel bar:

1. The tranquil mood of travelers on vacation is infectious and the bartenders are trained to treat you like royalty. They sport Hawaiian shirts here and always serve with a smile.

2. It's the perfect place when you need a break from the same faces you always see in downtown Fort Lauderdale and on Hollywood Boulevard.

3. If you're on the prowl, singles on vacation have been known to adopt the Las Vegas principle of whatever happens here, stays here.

4. ''Let's meet at the Embassy Suites on A1A,'' sounds infinitely more inviting than ``Let's meet at the Starbucks at the corner of so-and-so and so-and-so.''

BT's is spacious and spotless. You could literally eat off the gunmetal gray tiled floors although you may blend in better if you refrain from doing so and make use of the matching marble bar counter instead. The skylights along with a wall of windows facing the ocean, allow bright natural light to fill the room. After sundown, overhead high-hats illuminate the bar where vacant leather bar stools become hot commodities.

If you're interested in a more energetic evening, head to the American Rock Bar & Grill, also in Deerfield Beach at 1600 E. Hillsboro Blvd.

On Mondays, enjoy '80s music videos. College Night is on Tuesday night and drafts are 25 cents each. People line up for karaoke on Wednesdays and women drink for free. Live bands play on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and concert movies are shown on Sundays.

An uninhibited crowd of young professionals congregate here, but if you're 60ish and still want to rock out, you'll fit right in checking out the framed Stones and Hendrix posters. The 4,000 square feet insures you'll always have at least a bit of elbow room -- even when the Beatles cover band takes the stage at 9 p.m. Sept. 13th.

Try a Smashing Pumpkins Pomegranate martini mixed with Van Gogh Pomegranate vodka and Rose's Pear Infusion. Or throw down a specialty shot like the Nirvana Nuts & Chuck Berries. It's made with Van Gogh Acai-Blueberry vodka, raspberry liqueur and cream.

If you're starting off on an empty stomach, dig into the Spin Doctors Dip and then pig-out on a huge chicken dish called Buffalo Springfield.

Pigging out doesn't seem to be a genetic trait because my sister Paris, unlike myself, doesn't look like she ever does.

COMING UP

• Loose Cannon, one of South Florida's hottest cover bands, is playing Saturday at Premier Billiards & Sports Bar (9120 Wiles Rd., Coral Springs). The show starts at 10 p.m.

• Reggae trendsetters, Toots & the Maytals play at the Culture Room Sunday (3045 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale). Doors open at 8 p.m. and tickets are $25.

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