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What to expect: This Beverly Hills hotel is a tranquil haven for well-heeled, privacy-seeking travelers who require top-notch accommodations and tech-savvy services. Its location adjacent to DreamWorks and Virgin Records recording studios makes it a favorite with discriminating entertainment industry guests.

Amenity highlights: Designed to combine elegance and privacy, JAAN restaurant showcases modern French cuisine with Indochinese/California flavors and selections from the excellent wine cellar. The eighth-floor RafflesAmrita spa provides body and facial treatments, private steam rooms, and fitness equipment.

Insider tip: The hotel’s unique 24-hour check-in/check-out policy allows guests to arrive and leave according to their own schedule. Rooms are reserved by the date, and will be available whether guests show up at dawn or just before midnight.

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What to expect: Well-dressed adults, well-behaved children, couples, and business executives are escorted through the hotel by white-gloved porters. A dark-wood registration area is staffed by employees who address all guests by name. Traditional oil portraits hang over formal chairs and tables, lending the lobby a royal vestibule ambience. Narrow, elegantly sparse hallways lead to dining areas, spa, and guestrooms.
Amenity highlights: A Depression-era, redwood-covered bridge extends 232-feet over the pool area; it was hand-painted with California landmark murals. Sauna, steam room, locker-room amenities, fitness center, and relaxation rooms are available for hotel guests at no extra charge. Three ballrooms appointed with Tiffany stained glass and European chandeliers are separated by a landscaped courtyard and wedding garden.
Insider tip: Just two miles east are the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens; it’s a memorable jog or bike ride. Three galleries showcase noteworthy French, British, and American art; a library houses rare manuscripts including Chaucer’s original Canterbury Tales ; and a semi-formal tea room is surrounded by 207 acres of superb landscape.

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Please note: This hotel's entrance, lobby, and some public areas will be closed for renovations and enhancements until May 2005. Temporary arrangements have been made to accommodate all guest services and amenities; there will be no elimination of services or reduction in the hours of operation.

What to expect: A National Historic Landmark from 1929, this renowned hotel was once the abode of John Wayne and Howard Hughes, and has been painstakingly restored to its original glory with period furnishings and fixtures. The luxurious accommodations still lure notables in the entertainment industry, as well as other guests who also appreciate the exciting West Hollywood location. Amenity highlights: The highly regarded Fenix Restaurant is popular with locals for its stylish ambience and creative American and pan-Asian cuisine.

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What to expect: It’s L.A. hip all the way, and has been since 1949, when a bevy of famous stars (including Marilyn Monroe) called it the Beverly Carlton. The hotel has been so faithfully redesigned, it seems completely original (the hourglass pool actually is). During the week, guests are primarily from the fashion, publishing, and advertising industries. On weekends, anything (or anyone) goes.

Amenity highlights: The Olympic building’s blue on blue restaurant and bar, and adjoining pool with private dining cabanas, are the spots to hang with the perpetually thin and hip adorned in their finest attire. Service is available poolside. Both the fitness center and room service operate around the clock. Aura Spa offers in-room massages, body wraps, facials, hairstyling, and other treatments.

Insider tip: Martinis are “in” and come in daily flavors at blue on blue’s hipster bar. The Librarian’s Martini is a combination of Southern Comfort, Amaretto, and the juices of fresh limes and cranberries. Other popular libations include A Walk in Space, Blue Avalon, and the Sex Kitten (Skyy vodka; Cointreau; sweet, fresh, lime juice, and fresh raspberries).

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What to expect: Business and corporate guests are the usual clientele at this large, yet chic hotel, where new arrivals are greeted with freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies. The spacious ground-floor lobby glows with marble floors, crystal chandeliers, and floor-to-ceiling windows. Covered self- and valet parking is tucked within floors two through five.

Amenity highlights: Guests and locals enjoy live piano music in the Bruin's Den cocktail lounge, Tuesday–Friday evenings, while the adjacent Le Café serves all meals in private banquettes. For early or late workouts, the hotel's fitness facility is open 24 hours.

Insider tip: Trendy Westwood Village, just 4 blocks from the hotel down Wilshire Boulevard, is packed with movie multiplexes, restaurants, cafés, interesting shops, and plenty of people-watching.

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What to expect: This historic seaside hotel sits opposite Palisades Park, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and within view of the Santa Monica Pier. Dating from 1933, this refurbished hotel provides Art Deco splendor throughout, including etched glass, marble floors, ornamental fireplaces, and mahogany-paneled elevators. Guests include vacationers, romantics, and nostalgia buffs.
Amenity highlights: The lower-level Speakeasy restaurant, with red leather booths and velvet drapes, was once a hangout for Bugsy Segal, Clark Gable, Carol Lombard, and Fatty Arbuckle. These days the restaurant is the setting for gourmet breakfasts and banquets. Breakfast is also served on the heated veranda, overlooking the ocean. The hotel also provides room service at lunch from neighboring Ocean Avenue Seafood, and a limited menu during all other hours.
Insider tip: Third Street Promenade, a five-minute walk from the hotel, is one of L.A.’s most popular dining, entertainment, and people-watching areas. This pedestrian-only stretch features numerous restaurants, cafés, night spots, unique shops, bookstores, and movie theaters. There are plenty of benches from which to watch the passing parade of the young and fashionable, as well as the eclectic line-up of street buskers.

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What to expect: Across the street from Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport, this large hotel, with separate convention center and 50,000 square feet of meeting space, offers two accommodation towers and a spacious central lobby surrounded by meeting rooms. The hotel caters to airline crews, vacationers, and small tour groups, and is convenient for travelers who want to be near major movie and TV studios.

Amenity highlights: The Daily Grill, a popular chain restaurant known for classic American fare, large portions, and nostalgia-provoking ambience, serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Specialty coffees, pastries, and sandwiches are available 9:30 AM–1 PM at Java Coast, in the lobby. Guests enjoy two outdoor swimming pools, one near each towers, a jetted spa, and fitness room. Complimentary shuttles provide transportation to Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport.

Insider tip: Because of the Daily Grill's proximity to major television and movie studios, this restaurant and bar is often frequented by stage-and-screen stars and industry moguls.

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What to expect: This property caters to refined leisure and business travelers who favor traditional style and ambience. A stay here is akin to being a guest in someone’s European mansion. You’ll run into plenty of local business people in the restaurant and lounge.

Amenity highlights: Though the hotel is compact, there are plenty of public spaces to enjoy. The fine restaurant offers patio seating, the lobby lounge is casual and relaxed, and the rooftop pool area has an air of privacy even though it’s poised in the center of downtown. A spa menu is offered poolside.

Insider tip: Wonder where the often steady stream of pedestrians is headed on the walkway that parallels the lobby lounge? The landmark 1920s Los Angeles Central Library, housing more than 2 million tomes, sits right behind the hotel.

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What to expect: You’ll glide through gleaming glass doors into a sublime lobby filled with flowers and an outstanding collection of Asian art. This is a sophisticated setting, and you’ll be sharing the space primarily with corporate types and conventioneers (quiet conventioneers!).

Amenity highlights: Even if you’ve never given Asian art any thought, you won’t be able to turn away from the extravagant collection of statuary, kimonos, and tapestries. The fitness center goes a big notch above the standard exercise equipment, with a helpful staff on duty, scheduled yoga classes, and juices and energy drinks available for purchase. The second-floor pool, sheltered by glass walls, is a great place to splash.

Insider tip: You’re sitting in the lobby lounge, lulled by the sounds of that gorgeous lacquered grand piano, when suddenly you realize there is no pianist! Welcome to “high techno” music. The secret: a hidden control panel, by the keyboard, where everything from jazz to punk can be digitally programmed to “play.” It’s the new millennium’s spin on the player piano!

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What to expect: This large airport-area hotel and conference center welcomes guests with a large, open lobby filled with live plants, comfy sofas, café-style meeting tables, and marble floors, and is flanked by the hotel’s four restaurants and bars. Weekday guests are mostly business and convention travelers. On weekends, the hotel fills with leisure travelers, groups, and guests with early-morning or late-night flights.

Amenity highlights: The hotel's 24-hour amenities include complimentary airport shuttle service, a self-service business center, room service, and discount access to the on-site 24-Hour Fitness club. The hotel’s third floor has three outdoor garden areas, one in each of three corners of the building and an outdoor lap pool with a spa tub in the remaining corner.

Insider tip: Complimentary, regularly-scheduled shuttle buses to Manhattan Beach, the Manhattan Village Shopping Center, and Hollywood Park and Casino stop near the hotel.

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What to expect: Located high on a hillside, this majestic 24-story hotel is set back from the Universal Studios Hollywood thoroughfare, with a private entrance that overlooks the Hollywood Hills. Valets await arriving guests, who enter a light-filled, marble-clad lobby with crystal chandeliers hanging from the vaulted ceiling. Business travelers comprise the bulk of the hotel clientele.

Amenity highlights: Along with tropical plants, the lobby houses numerous museum-quality bronzes (including pieces by sculptor Frederic Remington) from the Whittaker Collection. The arboretum-style restaurant serves sumptuous Friday-Sunday seafood and prime rib buffets and Sunday champagne brunches. On the first floor, an outdoor pool and spa tub are surrounded by grassy gardens and offer views of the Hollywood Hills.

Insider tip: The Universal City Metro station is located 2 blocks from hotel, affording fast and easy subway access to Hollywood, downtown L.A., and other areas and attractions. Although it's possible to walk there, the path is steep, so guests often opt for the hotel’s free tram to the Universal Studios entrance, where another free shuttle provides transportation to the Metro station corner.

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What to expect: A cobblestone driveway lined with trimmed shrubbery leads to the entrance. The bright, airy lobby has an upscale yet relaxed look, with bronze statues, green plants, garden-inspired murals, floral-patterned sofas, and iron-and-glass coffee tables. Businesspeople visiting nearby corporate offices or universities relax or hold impromptu meetings by the fireplace.
Amenity highlights: A low concrete-and-foliage wall separates the outdoor pool from Cordova Street, blocking traffic views and noise to create a serene retreat. Trevo’s, the hotel’s restaurant, serves buffet and à la carte meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Wireless Internet access is available in the lobby, meeting rooms, and 24-hour business center (surcharge). Wireless cards can be rented.
Insider tip: Beginning three blocks from the hotel, Pasadena's Old Town has been revitalized into a pedestrian-friendly entertainment and retail district. Built around restored early California architecture, the area offers a wealth of restaurants, bars, coffee houses, boutiques, spas, museums, and theaters.

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What to expect: Colorful hanging plants, multiple skylights, and potted trees lend an atrium ambience to the lobby. Conference attendees, wedding guests, and other travelers lounge on earth-toned love seats and browse in the small gift shop.
Amenity highlights: Extensive conference- and banquet-catering options range from Wild West-inspired snack carts to elegant Italian buffets. Guests receive complimentary access to the adjacent LA Fitness center. Complimentary shuttle service is provided to restaurants, attractions, and offices within a three-mile radius. Business services are available 24 hours, and high-speed Internet access is available in the lobby, meeting rooms, and business areas.
Insider tip: A ride through Topanga Canyon makes for a spectacular drive, especially at sunset. Topanga Canyon Road (CA-27) is located one exit west of Canoga Avenue off the 101 Ventura Freeway. The road’s curving southwestern route takes drivers past Topanga Village’s casual restaurants and rustic homes, through the Santa Monica Mountains, and to its ocean cut-off at Will Rogers State Beach. The trip is about 17 miles each way.

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What to expect: This is the consummate beach club, with an interior that recreates a 1920s Renaissance Revival-style resort, rich with elaborate relief work, sculpted figures throughout the façade, and elegant public rooms with fruitwood and bronze furnishings, damask and velvet, and shades of gold, green, blue, and apricot. This is a sophisticated, entirely smoke-free hotel.

Amenity highlights: As befits a beach club, the hotel’s restaurant, lounge, and pool are all positioned on the oceanfront. The casually elegant restaurant features California cuisine, while the lobby lounge serves lunch and cocktails in a heavenly setting with 20-foot-high windows offering unobstructed ocean views. The fitness center and spa offer massage and other therapies.

Insider tip: The restaurant and lounge are delightful, but for even more romantic alfresco dining, guests can use the phone on the landscaped garden terrace behind the pool and order light meals or cocktails (particularly fabulous while watching the sunset). Dine poolside, or at tables set up in the garden.

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What to expect: The lobby has a south-of-France-ambience. An atrium ceiling allows sunlight to filter over cushioned chairs, a rock slab-topped table, and plants in large terra cotta vases. The hotel’s clientele includes weekending locals, European tourists, and extended-stay business travelers.
Amenity highlights: Exterior hallways overlook an open-air pool patio, where guests swim, sun, and relax with cocktails or poolside massages (surcharge). Upstairs, an airy third-floor veranda offers Pacific Ocean views. Comfortable chairs on the entryway terrace encourage lounging, quiet conversation, and street watching. Complimentary wireless Internet access is available throughout the hotel’s public spaces for guests who have wireless-ready laptops.
Insider tip: On the grounds of a historic trolley depot less than three miles from the hotel is the Santa Monica Museum of Art and trendy Bergamot Station, a colorful complex of warehouses-turned-art galleries. Forty galleries sell works by new and established artists, including modern paintings, photographs, ceramics, furniture, and dining utensils.

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What to expect: From inside the sleek lobby, it’s hardly evident that the hotel is connected to a shopping mall. Business people congregate at the spiffy bar at one end of the lobby, while shoppers tend to prefer the buffets in the breezy brasserie. Guests are mainly corporate types, but sports team members who enjoy the extra-high ceilings and special rooms fitted for tall builds can be seen here, as well.

Amenity highlights: The Grill offers intimate dining by candlelight. When games are on, guests can escape to Martini’s Bar, which has a pool table and wide-screen TV. There is a fitness center onsite, and passes to nearby fitness centers such as Gold’s Gym are available (small fee). In addition to Macy’s and other mall shops, a post office is right outside the lobby.

Insider tip: Guests can cross the street to the Metro stop (7th Street/Metro Center) to catch either the Red Line to Hollywood and Universal City, or the Blue Line to Long Beach, the Queen Mary, Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, and the ferry terminal to Catalina Island. Both are direct routes, with no transfer necessary.

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What to expect: This hotel is favored by business and professional folks who connect to the adjacent convention center via an open-air walkway. The wall of windows in the expansive, marble-floored lobby overlooks the lagoon, harbor, and marina. Numerous tourist attractions, such as the famed Aquarium of the Pacific, are nearby, but this hotel tends to be “all business.”

Amenity highlights: Great city or harbor views are offered from nearly every angle. Guests can dine adjacent to the blue lagoon, relax with cocktails in view of an ocean sunset, or grab a cup of Starbuck’s and a pastry in the lobby as the marina comes to life. Guests take advantage of the pathways along the lazy lagoon and Shoreline Drive for walking, jogging, or cycling.

Insider tip: The Passport shuttle bus runs every 12 minutes, connecting Shoreline Village with downtown, and stops at the Queen Mary, Aquarium of the Pacific, and Metro Blue Line (the subway to L.A.). It’s free, and collects Hyatt Regency guests right outside the door.

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What to expect: Formerly the Hotel Nikko, this property received a 2001 makeover that preserved most of its Asian décor while incorporating modern European style. The sophisticated lobby offers a sleek bar and intimate, flower- and plant-filled spaces perfect for cocktails or chats. The predominately business and corporate clientele is well-tended by the hotel's efficient staff. Amenity highlights: A business center next to the lobby also serves as a lounge, with large work desks, high-speed Internet connection, club chairs, and flat-screen TV. The swimming pool in a private courtyard is sheltered from the street, while the hotel's French/Mediterranean restaurant affords ample people-watching through large windows. Bedside telephones enable guests to control the TV, stereo, lights, climate, and other gizmos.