4. Places to Stay
A rough little guide, probably running from most expensive to least. I haven't stayed in all that many hotels, but I've been in quite a few rooms.
BEVERLY HILLS / BEL AIR
- Chicest place I've been to (and spent a night in - a long [and moderately scandalous] story) is the Hotel Bel Air. Incredibly charming in this very understated, exclusive sort of way. In the midst of a verdant rainforest seemingly. Quite unique in LA. A little far from things though. I told someone to stay here and they really disliked how far it was. It’s also owned by the Sultan of Brunei (Beverly Hills Hotel too) who’s now passed laws for stoning gay people. So probably give it a miss.
- Waldorf Astoria - The newest hotel in the area. Pretty slick. Not really my taste. Glossy contemporary opulence. The rooftop pool is quite nice and the restaurant around the corner from it is lovely. The rich Russians I know love this place. I've never seen the rooms. The ballroom has black everywhere and is awful.
- Beverly Wilshire - Hotel from Pretty Woman. Need I say more? It's at the bottom of Rodeo Drive on Wilshire. Cool old building. Bars are ordinary - at least scene-wise - have never seen the rooms.
- The Montage - Awful faux European. A lot of fancy cars in the drive.
- Beverly Hills Hotel. Cool if you’re hella into Instagram, but super overpriced, kind of a tourist trap, and the staff around the pool are rude and the service is hopeless(!). Lovely old-Hollywood aesthetic though. The weird little diner inside and downstairs is quite charming, but again - heavily overpriced.
- I've been in The Sixty in Beverly Hills a few times. It's nice but very much "a hotel" if you know what I mean. Rooms are nice. Building's a little boring as are the communal spaces. Rooftop is really lovely in the summer, cold in winter.
- Beverly Hilton. Rooms are a bit ordinary and a little dated, but I kinda love the ‘50s glam chic. The lobby has this kind of retro golden Japanese thing going on that I'm quite into. But I was incredibly high when I was sitting in there to be honest.
- Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills is a little mid-century modern gem. Haven't seen the rooms, but I've been to some parties there, and the whole thing is great. My pick in the area.
- W Beverly Hills - Awful. Haven't seen the rooms but boy the bars and lobby are bad. Also, it isn't really even in Beverly Hills.
HOLLYWOOD / WEHO
- Chateau Marmont is the place for celebs etc, but the rooms are a bit ordinary (the villas are significantly nicer than the rooms in the hotel proper). Musty old Hollywood charm though. To give a little more clarity on this - because apparently I was slaughtering a sacred cow - I've been in about a dozen rooms over the years and every one has been different, and they do tend to have some quirky/charming furniture and fixtures and some have cool views, but the price is very expensive for what you get. If you just want to party though it is a good pick.
- I'd put The London in weho in the same category as The Sixty. Nice, but very much a "hotel." More upmarket than The Sixty.
- Number one for old world charm in all of LA I'd say is Sunset Tower, though I've never seen the rooms. Magnificent art deco tower, see the WeHo section in the Suburb Guide for more detail.
- Dream Hotel is probably pretty slick but I think the building is kinda ugly, though it looks quite cool at night. That's the newest. Rooftop bar is nice though a massive scene and not especially cool.
- A good friend of mine swears by the Sunset Marquis. I've never seen the rooms but the outdoor restaurant is lovely. Just off the Sunset Strip. The weird little bar is the place to find legendary rockstars relaxing on tour.
- Petite Ermitage is fun and has allegedly been known to have orgies in the rooftop pool (I swear I'm just told). My friend Ralf did the interior design. Rooms are quirky and charming.
- The Roosevelt is cool but on Hollywood Boulevard which is a shit show. I can't help but love the place though. Wonderful Spanish Revival style tower and lobby, while around the pool is mid-century modern (Marilyn Monroe lived here for a year or two). The pool is rad and has a lot of parties. There’s also a cool secretive nightclub with a bowling alley in it. Rooms I've seen have been nicely done. Locale is rough though (not violent really so much as yuck, Hollywood), but could be what the doctor ordered if you really want to get the full underwhelming Hollywood Boulevard experience each time you walk out the door.
- The Mondrian. Can’t remember the rooms very well - clean and white I believe - but the pool and bar (it’s called Skybar) is about the best on the Sunset Strip.
- The Standard WeHo. Is kinda similar to the Mondrian. Both have fairly glam pools. Can’t remember what the rooms look like. There’s a hot chick in lingerie lying in a glass tank in the lobby which is a plus I guess.
- I've never been in the rooms of Mama Shelter but I love the rooftop!!
DTLA / Koreatown / echo park
- The Line Hotel in Koreatown is super retro and fun. I have seen a room but I can't really remember it - cool unique art pieces. The whole place is great though, and a real time warp experience.
- The Standard DTLA is similar to the Line in some ways though a little less well done I think. Wonderful little restaurant/diner on the ground floor though. Pool is a bit underwhelming. I haven’t seen the rooms.
- The Ace Hotel is housed in a really great - like really great - old building on Broadway. Kinda Spanish Gothic. Lobby/decor etc., is cool, but is going to date fast. The Ace in Palm Springs has a similar style - think exposed concrete, inexplicable nautical ropes, bicycles on the ceiling or whatever the fuck, and partial original tiling. Decor is minimal to the point of sparse. Cool but meh. The rooms are very small. One of the best rooftop bars in LA though, has a beautiful central African sort of feel to it (says the bloke who's only been to Egypt). The pool is small and more like a spa, but I’ve had a lot of stroppy fun in there so I can’t really fault it - probably my favourite public(ish) pool in DTLA.
- Freehand Hotel is very new. I’ve only seen the lobby but I really really love the decor, and you can read my thoughts on the restaurant above in the DTLA section (it’s called The Exchange). Worth looking into. Apparently very cheap.
- Paradise Motel - If Instagram is your game, think about staying here. I’ve never seen the rooms and it looks quasi-sleazy but it’s about the most quintessential American Motel imaginable. It’s pretty much in Echo Park very close to Downtown.
AIRBNB
Honestly though if I were you I'd think about finding a really cool Airbnb either in Venice, West Hollywood, or Silver Lake. It'll be cheaper and you'll get more bang for your buck, plus a better and more immersive experience of LA anyway.
If you want advice on Airbnb locales in Venice, WeHo, or Silverlake just let me know and I can help you pick out a place in a great position. As a rule of thumb: Venice you want to be near the beach or near to Abbott Kinney. WeHo you want to be close to Melrose or Santa Monica Boulevard. Silver Lake you want to be close to Sunset. As a tip for imperial measurements, anything beyond about half a mile isn't really "close."
As mentioned above in the Geography section, suburban boundaries in LA are incredibly dubious. Rental properties will also regularly outright lie about their location. If you follow the rule of thumb it should be ok, but it really is worth double checking an area with me. You can go from really nice to super sketchy in about a single block in LA. Places will say they are Silver Lake when really they're a not-so-nice part of Korea Town, Echo Park when they're Westlake, Miracle Mile when they're South Central, or - as recently happened to my friend - Los Feliz when they're a bad part of Hollywood. As a measure of what this means: he really twigged that this wasn't the neighborhood he was envisioning when he saw someone right outside his door get their face bashed in with a metal pipe...
MY COUCH
For the budget conscious, or if you just want to wake up and see my smiling bleary eyed face every morning, then you can probably just crash at mine in Miracle Mile.