Dad's turn for royal treatment

Southern California moms had such a good time at the Orange County Hilton-Costa Mesa's second annual "Queen Mother for a day" event on Mother's Day that they're going to pull out all the stops again. This time, dads will get all the attention as the Hilton puts on its first "King for a Day" celebration.

Father's Day festivities at the Hilton will feature comfortable recliners so dads can relax while watching sports on big-screen TVs and feast on appetizers or salad and entrees of Kobe beef burgers, grilled rib-eye steaks or baby-back ribs. The meal fit for kings will end with a dessert of chocolate fudge cake with vanilla gelato.

Dads will also enjoy the cigar lounge, golf tips from local pro and opportunity drawings for Hilton giveaways. Pictures of dads will be taken, too.

Dads will especially want to get a raffle ticket for a free weekend rental of a Jaguar, courtesy of Bauer Jaguar in Santa Ana.

The event was inspired by the popularity of the hotel's Mother's Day parties, said Shaun Robinson, the Hilton's general manager.

"Most of the [fathers] who were here for mother's day said they had such a great time they wanted to know, 'What're you going to do for us?' We said, 'We'll make you king for a few hours,' " Robinson said.

"Then we got to thinking how can we make the dads feel like kings, and we thought recliners, remote control, put on their favorite sports channels, give them a few beers, cheeseburgers, oh, and don't forget the cigars," Robinson said.

Tickets to the event cost $35 per person with a 10% discount for seniors, and $9.95 for kids age 12 and under. Call (714) 438-4927 for reservations.

— Paul Anderson

contributed to this story.