W Los Angeles – West Beverly Hills

The W Los Angeles-West Beverly Hills is really in Westwood, and is a hip hotel with a California party vibe in a quiet residential area near UCLA. The W offers guests a taste of Southern California glam with the Backyard, an enormous outdoor restaurant and bar that feels intimate and tucked away, with lovely landscaping, including lush palms and a rocky waterfall. The Backyard offers a variety of seating areas, including cushioned banquettes, a chic covered bar area, long tables that are perfect for groups, and a tented dining room. The Backyard even offers a super fancy dog menu, for dogs who enjoy a power lunch. The adjacent pool area, by celeb designer Thom Filicia, features private cabanas with rugs, sofas, and flat-screen TVs, sprawling white daybeds positioned around the small freeform pool, and ranks of stylish lounge chairs with tables for resting cocktails. Relaxing poolside “Blissages” are available to relieve the excess tension. 

The W’s lobby is high energy and modern, with tall banquettes in silver and complementary blue chairs and sofas, bright throw pillows, egg chairs, and cool coffee tables. The chandeliers are huge and mod, and the walls are hung with big and splashy modern paintings. The overall effect is sexy, particularly at night, when the cool lighting comes into play. The Living Room Bar serves a light menu and signature cocktails with a live DJ. For guests who want a more substantial meal, there is STK LA, a hip modern take on a traditional steakhouse, with circular white leather booths and lots of gold and black trim. Even the business center is a little over the top, with lots of gold, large conference tables, sofas, and chairs on swings, and workstations that face the windows and palm trees outside. The vibe is young, hip, and high-energy, whether guests are coming for business or pleasure.

The W's biggest drawback -- and it's not much of one -- is the one thing it can't control: its location. Clean, safe, but somewhat staid Westwood is a fine base for exploring other parts of L.A., and you'll probably have a car no matter where you stay, but if you're not in town for something taking place at UCLA, there's little reason to actively seek out this part of town. If you are in town to conduct business or celebration at UCLA, there isn't a lot of choice nearby anyway. (As you'd expect, the W tends to fill up for graduation, parents' weekend, and during alumni-related events, so keep those dates in mind when you book.)

The W Los Angeles-West Beverly Hills is actually in Westwood -- more like Beverly Hills-adjacent. The immediate area is quiet and residential, with the UCLA campus two blocks away. The only local party scene is at the hotel, but there's plenty of food and shopping nearby, including cafes, restaurants, Whole Foods, and a Target. Westwood Village is nine minutes away on foot. The L.A. subway is also close to the hotel. Rodeo Drive and the Getty Museum are each a 10-minute drive away, and the Santa Monica beaches are 15 minutes away by car. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is a 35- to 40-minute drive from the hotel on the 405. The hotel charges for parking, but there is ample street parking nearby.

The 297 rooms start at 400 square feet and come in a variety of categories with superlative names that include, in order of luxury: Wonderful, Fantastic, Spectacular, Fabulous, Mega, and EWow (for Extreme Wow). Decor features gauzy curtains, impressionistic palm trees on the walls, tasteful carpeting, and lots of glass. Each room has a large, glass-topped work desk with a white Eames office chair (and plenty of outlets for electronics). Beds are either king- or queen-size, with pillow-top mattresses. Whimsical accent pillows say "Dream" on the back and are flipped over at turndown service.

Bathrooms are modern and chic; some rooms have large, luxurious, glassed-in showers; others have freestanding soaking tubs and separate showers. Some rooms have no dresser drawers and scant closet space. The walls tend to be thin, so light sleepers may want to bring earplugs. In addition, the outdoor bars and downstairs event spaces can be noisy in the evenings; higher floors are quieter and offer better views. Hypoallergenic rooms are available upon request. Amenities include 42-inch flat-screen TVs with DVD/CD players, video game consoles, iPod docks, minibars, in-room safes, and free Bliss toiletries, but there is a daily fee for mini-fridge rental.

The W Los Angeles-West Beverly Hills features a 7,000 foot outpost of the luxe Bliss Spa, with 10 treatment rooms, a huge menu of spa services, movies at the manicure stations, and a brownie buffet. There's also a large 24-hour gym with cardio and weight machines and free weights. The hotel provides area running maps to guests who prefer to exercise outdoors. The pool is too small for laps but perfect for lounging. Yoga classes and loaner bikes are free for guests. 

The W offers plenty of dining choices, including STK LA, a trendy steakhouse with a raw bar and DJ accompaniment. The lobby's Living Room Bar also has a DJ and serves small bites, including truffle popcorn and cheese plates. The Backyard is the W's outdoor restaurant and pool bar, and serves breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, and more. There's a happy hour, and once a month, the W puts on a popular concert and party called Rendition. At the end of the day, the W provides turndown service for guests' pets.