Transplant. Native. Vistor. Everyone needs a pillow to rest their head.
And sometimes we like that pillow fluffed during the turndown service.
Seeing as we’re all just passing through (on some level), we’ve made you the L.A. Hotel Guide.
Share it with your friends and family.
Because checking-in to a local hotel is the perfect way to visit your own city, it’s also for your enjoyment.
Stay in comfort.
Hotel Normandie
Koreatown
Concept: Renaissance Revival style, big in the year it was built, 1926, Hotel Normandie sits around the corner from The Line Hotel, in Koreatown. Smaller. More exclusive. The elder statesman of the nightlife scene there.
Rooms: The furniture in each room is slightly different and thus imbued with character. Maybe it’s the reading chair. Maybe it’s the headboard.
To Eat: Le Comptoir, is a 14 seater serving a different menu each night. Tough res to get, but worth it if you do.
Also there, Cassell’s Hamburgers, which grills one of the best new hamburgers in L.A. It’s simple: high-grade beef and cheese on a soft bun. The pies aren’t to be missed.
To Swill: For a small place, The Hotel Normandie has A+ nightlife. Normandie Club and The Walker Inn are sick cocktail bars with exclusive, dark vibes. The latter is an omakase-style cocktail den, which requires a reservation and is hidden in the back of the Normandie Club.
Details
(213) 388-8138
Mosaic
Beverly Hills
Concept: 1960s-style elegance in the heart of Beverly Hills. It’s across the street from Spaulding Surgery, and their patients often convalesce in the Mosaic’s cloud-like beds.
To Sleep: The rooms are nautically themed with deep navy blues and battleship greys, and have crisp, clean beds. You can stream your Netflix on their televisions.
To Eat: Classic California cuisine (big salads with grilled things), and a lobby bar with happy hour that goes from 8-10pm.
Details
MosiacMAP
(310) 278-0303
Maison 140
Beverly Hills
Concept: Located in a small building behind Mosaic, Maison 140 used to be a boarding house for starlets.
To Sleep: The bedrooms are pick and have ornate headboards. Great spot to make some babies.
To Lounge: That Chinese themed lobby bar is like something out of L.A. Confidential. Kind of a local secret and only thirty-something chars.
Details
Maison 140
MAP
Mama Shelter
Hollywood
Concept: Six stories and 70 comfy rooms from the French family that brought you Club Med. Mama Shelter is kind of like the Ace of France, only way higher quality (not price) and far more attuned to the energy of our city.
Rooms: It’s simple and elevated. Keith Richards’s autobiography accompanies the obligatory Bible. There’re iMacs instead of TVs. Marble bathrooms with all natural products.
Food: All meals served. Coffee bar and grab and go counter, which includes a ham, gruyere and butter on a baguette a la Gjusta. Sitting down? Get the burger and a Brussels sprout salad.
Beverage: The bar is intended to entertain. The big TVs, meant for game-watching, don’t kill the vibe. KCRW DJs can sometimes be found spinning in front of the foosball table.
Details
(323) 785-6666
The Garland
North Hollywood
Concept: It was once Gene Autry’s horse ranch. Then it became a hotel. Now the same family just remodeled it to look super 70’s. Jackie Treehorn would be proud. It’s pimp.
To Sleep: Mid century furniture and mesa-modern patterns on the carpets and walls give it the retro funk. But the beds have the 500-thread sheets needed for a serious slumber.
To Eat and Drink: The Garland’s restaurant, The Front Yard, is worth visiting the hotel for, alone. Its food is served at the lobby bar and to the tables in its courtyard.
To Do: To keep the California energy, they made the lobby spill out into the courtyard, where the pool also is located. Yoga on the weekends, and tours to the Brady Bunch home.
Details
619-255-7069
The Carlyle
Beverly Hills
Concept: If you like swanky ‘20s art deco served up Dick Tracy style, The Carlyle in downtown Beverly Hills is your time machine.
To Sleep: The rooms are small, have puffy beds and pattern-heavy walls.
To Eat and Drink: You’ll have to venture out into the wilds of Beverly Hills. We like SugarFish, Mastro’s (upstairs) and Spago.
Details
(310) 275-4445
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